Tom's Mad Blog
January 10th, 2013 | Posted in News
News started circulating yesterday at the venerable Comics Buyer’s Guide will cease publication as of issue number #1699, March 2013. I heard about it via the excellent blog of excellent writer and excellent guy Mark Evanier . . . by the way his post about CBG and its demise is excellent really worth reading. Very sad to see this happen. CBG used to be THE source of news, views and insider info on the world of comics. But, like so many other sources of industry news, it was impossible for it to compete with the instantaneous and 24/7 content of the interwebby. Back in the… READ MORE
January 9th, 2013 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
I find it very interesting that Psy and neither Tweedle Dee nor Tweedle Dum have ever been seen together at the same time… Coincidence? You be the judge. My thoughts on Psy? As my boy, Number One Son Thomas, so astutely put it after seeing him on the “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” telecast: “Psy needs to go away now.” Well said, son. Well said. READ MORE
January 8th, 2013 | Posted in News
One of the true giants of the world of humorous illustration is getting a much deserved, and not-to-be-missed, show of his work in New York City. 1983 NCS Reuben winner, former NCS president and cartooning/humorous illustration legend Arnold Roth has an exhibit showcasing his 60 plus years of incredible work at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, now housed in the Society of Illustrators, 128 East 63rd St in Manhattan. Arnold Roth has been a humorous illustrator and cartoonist all his life and, for most of that time, has freelanced, snatching a living by hustling one assignment after another in a highly competitive market,… READ MORE
January 7th, 2013 | Posted in On the Drawing Board
Things are starting to heat up in the studio already this year: MAD– A very different assignment for me for issue #520. Extremely fun on a personal level. Warner Bros Product Illustrations– This one is held up with some conceptual rethinking Marlin Workplace Poster– My usual monthly assignment Limited Edition Books– Have a new batch to get done this week! Book Illustration– In negotiations but pretty much a done deal. The image above is the last of my Dave Navarro spots for his column in Penthouse, which should have been in the most recent issue. READ MORE
January 6th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Regarding submitting work to MAD, I read your blog post about “breaking into MAD”, but the links to the submission guidelines are dead ends. Considering that there’s no submission section on the website, is it fine to mail the submissions to the address you mentioned under the FAQs section on your blog? Or MAD is not accepting submissions anymore? I am not a caricature artist (I’m more of a vampire caricaturist, I so suck at it). But, I can do cartoons and I can also do funny realistic portraits featuring Neuman in different forms, like those typical MAD covers. However, I read on the… READ MORE
January 5th, 2013 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Awesome news! MAD Listmeister Mike Slaubaugh has decided to resurrect his MAD Lists site, and continue his labor of love after all! I know that sometimes one can feel under-appreciated when putting so much work into something like this, but when you have the likes of Annie Gaines Ashton (widow of Bill Gaines), MAD writer extraordinaire Desmond Devlin, and MAD artist Rich Powell telling you how much they’ll miss your site (and that was just who commented on my blog post yesterday), it’s easy to see it’s very appreciated indeed. Incidentally, now that I look at the updated lists, I actually passed Wally Wood… READ MORE
January 4th, 2013 | Posted in MAD Magazine
I have now been working for MAD for over 12 years…which, incidentally, still makes me the “new guy”. Since my earliest days with the magazine I have been looking forward to a certain milestone . . . having appeared in my 100th issue. That is rarefied air. Less that 40 writers and/or artists have had credits in 100 or more issues of MAD in its 60 year history. My progress at hitting that milestone was greatly slowed down when the magazine went to four times a year in 2009, and only slightly improved when it went up to bi-monthly in 2010. However, I am… READ MORE
January 3rd, 2013 | Posted in News
Today the National Cartoonists Society posted their annual call for submissions for the 2012 NCS Division Awards, and announced some changes to the awards field: Advertising and Product Illustration– The former “Advertising Illustration” division has been expanded to include illustration for retail products. This would include things like cartoon art/humorous illustration for merchandise (posters, calendars, menus, apparel, etc.) as well as for retail packaging (kid’s meal boxes, toy packaging, etc.). It was always a gray area as to if that kind of work was acceptable, now it definitely is. Animation Divisions– The TV Animation and Film Animation divisions are now more specific as to what… READ MORE
