Tom's Mad Blog
March 16th, 2009 | Posted in General
I actually live two lives (and NO, one does not involve my batsuit). In one I am a mild mannered freelance illustrator and cartoonist, working out of a studio in my home. In the other I am an entrepreneur that owns and runs caricature, airbrush T-shirt and airbrush tattoos retail/theme park operations in 3 different states with over 60 people working for me at the height of the summer season… a season that is right around the corner from opening. Most of last week and this weekend I spent opening my latest location, a combo caricature/airbrush tattoo cart inside the Mall of America’s “Nickelodeon Universe”… READ MORE
March 15th, 2009 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Q: MAD #500 is about to come out. I would guess that is going to be a big deal! Is there anything you can tell us about what to expect? A: Unfortunately I can’t tell you much about MAD #500, mainly because I don’t know much. I will have at least one piece of art in that issue, but I might have a second article in there as well. I’m just finishing a two pager that might run in #500, or might be in #501. The article I will definitely be in is a small piece from me, but a very cool feature. It’s a… READ MORE
March 14th, 2009 | Posted in General
A few web only features and parodies are beginning to appear on MAD‘s website, including this little gem: Click image to see a larger version on the MAD website And this one: Click image to see a larger version on the MAD website There are a several more parody ads and magazine posters on the website as well, including the Phelps “High Times” cover and the Madoff movie poster “Scumbag Billionaire” I showed on the site before. A sign of the future? Maybe. I don’t know exactly what the plans are for the website, but with 3 months between issues there is a lot of… READ MORE
March 13th, 2009 | Posted in News
“Who Wants to be a Millionaire” is over and my pal Jim Batts took them for a cool quarter of a million bucks! Congratulations Jim! READ MORE
March 13th, 2009 | Posted in Wall of Shame
I’m very busy right now opening up a new aibrush tattoo/caricature location at Mall of Amrica’s “Nick Universe” theme park. However I got this in the mail yesterday which was a fun surprise: Some time back I was contacted by one of the producers of the TV show “Samantha Who?” about buying some of the original art from MAD‘s parody of the show. He bought the original splash page from me. Usually when that happens I get an oversized print of the splash and have some of the people I drew sign it to put on my “Wall of Shame“. Unfortunately that wasn’t possible this… READ MORE
March 12th, 2009 | Posted in News
Tune in and see! Way back in October last year I sat dutifully by the telephone waiting to get a call from Meredith Vieira just in case my longtime friend and fellow caricaturist/cartoonist Jim Batts needed me as a phone a friend when he was on “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?“. Jim appeared on the movie trivia themed week of the show. Asking me to answer a movie trivia question that stumps Jim is a little like asking a 5th grader to solve a physics problem that Stephen Hawking couldn’t handle. Basically I was Jim’s “Harry Potter” ringer, since he knew my family and… READ MORE
March 11th, 2009 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
This week’s sketch is of former Tonight Show host Jay Leno. I figured since I did Letterman last week I’d do Leno this week, then maybe I’ll keep to the theme with other late night talk show hosts. Or not… READ MORE
March 10th, 2009 | Posted in News
Al Feldstein served as the editor of MAD Magazine for almost 30 years, having taken over after Harvey Kurtzman left due to differences with Bill Gaines. Kurtzman took most of MAD‘s artists with him to do a humor magazine called “Trump!” for Hugh Hefner, leaving Feldstein with the unenviable task of rebuilding MAD almost from scratch. The rest, as they say, is history. Feldstein retired from MAD in 1984. Recently Al’s health has taken a wrong turn. On February 24th he was hospitalized for some tests after blacking out while at home on his ranch. Turns out he has heart problems that require bypass open… READ MORE
