Tom's Mad Blog
May 11th, 2009 | Posted in General
Last October I was privleged to be part of a group of cartoonists who traveled to Washington D.C. and then on to Landstuhl, Germany to visit with and draw for wounded U.S. soldiers. Those who went on the trip with me were¬¨‚ĆChip Bok, Jeff Keane, Rick Kirkman, Mike Peters, Bruce Higdon, Jeff Bacon and Stephan Pastis. The trip was an incredible experience. Last month another group of 8 cartoonists made the same trip.¬¨‚ĆBill Amend (Fox Trot), Jeff Bacon (cartoonist for Navy Times and Marine Corps Times), Dave Coverly (Speed Bump), Jack Davis (Mad Magazine), Bill Hinds (Tank McNamara, Cleats, Buzz Beamer),¬¨‚Ć Jef Mallett (Frazz), Michael… READ MORE
May 10th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I’m just wondering if there are any particular syndicated strips that you are a fan of (past and present), what you think of their decline with the newspaper industry, and how you feel about the growth of web comics? A: I was a huge fan of Bloom County back in the 80’s. That strip consistently made me laugh. I also liked Peanuts, B.C. and enjoyed many other strips as well. I also liked Calvin and Hobbes but that was popular right at the wrong time for me… it ran during my college years, my marriage, move to Atlanta and the births of three of… READ MORE
May 9th, 2009 | Posted in Surf's Up Dept.
Shadowhare… NO MORE! Dept. Readers may remember my posting this little piece about “real life superheroes” patrolling the streets of our cities making life… uh… safe for citizens. The news piece I linked to specified several heroes and one in particular, “ShadowHare” from Cincinatti, OH. Well, it seems Shadowhare is being targeted by a gang of supervillians and a reward is being offered by the evil mastermind ‘The Dark Side” for information about Shadowhare’s secret identity. He’s serious… he posted it on Craigslist: Hard to believe it never occurred to the Joker to advertise for Batman’s secret identity on Craigslist in “The Dark Knight”… somebody… READ MORE
May 8th, 2009 | Posted in News
I did the above doodle for Gillian Anderson‘s cause fighting neurofibromatosis some weeks ago, as part of National Doodle Day. National Doodle Day is an annual event where dozens of doodles are auctioned off to raise funds to benefit NF, Inc., an organization dedicated to providing support to individuals and families affected by neurofibromatosis (NF). Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder that affects one in every 2,500 births. NF is more common than Cystic Fibrosis, Muscular Dystrophy and Huntington’s Disease combined. Funds raised from the Doodle Day auction will go to support education, advocacy, coalitions, and research for treatments and a cure. The auction is on!… READ MORE
May 7th, 2009 | Posted in Surf's Up Dept.
Happiness is a Warm Carcass Dept. I ran across this on MAD production artist Ryan Flander‘s Facebook page. Like him I think it’s unbelievable: Tauntaun Sleeping Bag My favorite parts are the intestine print on the interior lining and the disemboweling light saber zipper pull…. and the fact that the kid in the picture is smiling pleasantly instead of screaming in terror. Nothing like snuggling your young Jedi up in the simulated stinking carcass of a dead tauntaun at bedtime. Sweet Dreams! In fact it is unbelievable. It’s a April Fools prank. Apparently they do something like this every year on ThinkGeek.com. Brilliant, though. READ MORE
May 6th, 2009 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Okay, so after last week’s dismal failure to get a likeness of Amy Adams I had to take another crack this week. These two quick studies are much more successful. Part of the elusiveness of her face is her chin and jawline. Some angles make them seem very prominent and strong, but in reality she has a bit of a week chin and slight underbite. She has very large eyes and a sharply angled nose. This time I used several different pictures at various angles to compliment the two pics I used as the basis of these sketches. I officially wash my hands of Amy… READ MORE
May 5th, 2009 | Posted in On the Drawing Board
Here’s a 1/2 page spot I did for this month’s issue of Library Journal: Click for a closer look… The story it accompanies is about magazines that are popular with teenage kids. I likely got the job because MAD happens to be one of the magazines they list in the article. They wanted a teenage boy and girl reading these magazines. Here’s the initial pencil sketch: The consensus was they wanted a high impact statement, having the kids reading the magazines but surrounded by high tech toys and other things kids are known for spending their free time with, which they are ignoring in favor… READ MORE
May 4th, 2009 | Posted in General
We interrupt this blog for a brief note today to update anybody who might be interested (that’s you, mom!) about the progress of my recovery from rotator cuff surgery. Friday I met with my surgeon for the “six weeks after surgery” exam. The good news is that I finally got to ditch the sling my left arm has been languishing in for the last month and a half. The bad news is that my left arm no longer resembles the one in the above sketch, but looks more like the arm of a 12 year old girl. It’s amazing how fast 7 years of intense… READ MORE
