Tom's Mad Blog
July 25th, 2009 | Posted in General
A big thanks to the many (okay… sevaral… okay… three) folks who came looking for me at one of the booths I was at on Friday at the Comic-Con. Great to met you and I am glad you enjoy the MAD Blog. I was so busy drawing and meeting people yesterday I barely got to do anything at the con itself, but I had to sneak away and catch the presentation done by Pearls Before Swine creator Stephan Pastis. Pearls is one of those comic strips that makes me laugh almost every day, and while I enjoy and appreciate many strips that is a rare… READ MORE
July 24th, 2009 | Posted in News
While Number One Son Thomas went to varied World of Warcraft/Halo/Gaming panels I signed copies of MAD and did sketches at the DC Comics booth with fellow MAD man John Kovaleski and did caricatures and pimped some MAD originals at the NCS booth. Here are some pictures from Comic Con: I think that guy is a little too curious about Bumblebee’s plumbing… Here’s my signing schedule for the rest of the weekend: Friday: 10-1- National Cartoonist’s Society Booth (1307) 2-4- The ToonSeum Booth (Mezzanine 8 ) Saturday: 2-4- The ToonSeum Booth (Mezzanine 8 ) 4:30-6:30- National Cartoonist’s Society Booth (1307) Sunday: 11:30-12:30- DC Comics Booth… READ MORE
July 23rd, 2009 | Posted in General
Hey, I am only the 100,000th blogger to be blogging “live” from San Diego during Comic-Con! Woot! For anyone who might be interested, I will be drawing caricatures and have original pages of MAD art for sale at the National Cartoonist’s Society booth (pictured above, space 1307) for a few hours every day, and be doing the same at the ToonSeum booth on the mezzanine level, space 8. No set schedule for either place. Otherwise I will be hobbling around desperately looking for a place to sit down the rest of the weekend. READ MORE
July 22nd, 2009 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
As promised, here is my sketch of the great Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes and Edward Hardwicke as Dr. Watson from the Granada TV series. I have been enjoying the show on DVD. Brett creates one of the greatest and most convincing portrayals of the Great Detective ever, and he deserves all the accolades he has garnered for his work. READ MORE
July 21st, 2009 | Posted in General
I dimly recalling linking to this video once before, but here is a YouTube gem from 1970 featuring MAD publisher Bill Gaines on the gameshow To Tell the Truth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSoxQNJjkFs The show worked like this- three contestants came out claiming to be the same person who was described by the host. The panel of celebrities (sort of) would question them and then guess who was really the person they claimed to be. The impostors told lies while the actual person described had to tell the truth. The contestants won if they were able to fool the panel, so the impostors won money for wrong votes.… READ MORE
July 20th, 2009 | Posted in General
Back in the days before the internet, on-line selling, blogs and cheap foreign book printing the world of publication was a lot simpler. The creators (writer, artist, musician, cartoonist, etc.) submitted their work to a publisher. The publisher decided if it was worthy of publication, then did the editing, promotion, printing, distribution and collection of the money. The creator got their royalties (often after an advance on the royalties first) and the publisher kept the rest. The publisher was the middleman with a hammer… they wielded the power to decide what got published, how it was edited and how it was promoted. “Vanity Press”, or… READ MORE
July 19th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Would you know or could you give the history of the pencil, airbrush caricature like you do in the parks? Was it the Fasen’s that put it together and brought it to the amusement parks? A: Great question, one I happen to know the definitive answer to as I was there when the live airbrush caricature was “invented” and know the whole sorted story. Live airbrush caricatures are seen in theme parks, fairs, festivals, malls, tourist centers and many other places where crowds of people gather to spend money. The technique has been adopted by many artists as it is quick, efficient and very… READ MORE
July 18th, 2009 | Posted in News
Once again it’s almost time for the annual Walt Disney Hometown Toonfest in charming Marceline, MO. As always, this small but wonderful celebration of the art of cartooning in the boyhood hometown of Walt Disney has a stellar lineup of guest speakers. Here’s the official press release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Marceline, MO- As the summer heats up, families are anxiously looking forward to the 2009 Walt Disney Hometown Toonfest, Saturday, September 19th in beautiful Marceline, MO. This will be the eleventh year for this celebration of the life and work of Walt Disney. Director of the Toonfest, Richard Switzer and his crew of reulars are… READ MORE
