Tom's Mad Blog
March 19th, 2009 | Posted in General
By the time this blog entry gets posted, I should be sitting in the pre-op area waiting to get surgery to repair one of my left rotator cuff tendons. The decision to get the surgery did not come lightly. I actually already have a decent tear in the same tendon in my right shoulder. That injury happened about 22 years ago. I was weightlifting in the basement of our apartment complex with a couple of roommates in Minneapolis. during the slow downward movement of a barbell behind-the-neck press, I felt a searing pain in my right shoulder and I dropped the weights as my shoulder… READ MORE
March 18th, 2009 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
I came across a recent picture of one of my favorite musicians from back in high school in an entertainment magazine the other day. The guy doesn’t look much different than he did in the 80’s, but I would have said he looked 25 years older than he was twenty five years ago… so maybe he just caught up to his features. I couldn’t resist drawing Geddy Lee, bassist and lead singer of Rush. I forgot to mention that Rush is still one of my favorite bands. Moving Pictures is one of the greatest rock albums of all time, and I have seen them in… READ MORE
March 17th, 2009 | Posted in News
Art by Sean Parks The 63rd Annual National Cartoonist Society’s Reuben Awards weekend is shaping up for this spring. The event will be held in Los Angeles on May 22nd-24th at the Renaissaince Hollywood Hotel. Guest speakers include “In The Bleachers” cartoonist Steve Moore, animator Eric Goldberg, movie poster illustrator Drew Struzan and Pulitzer prize winning editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez. The Reuben Awards Master of Ceremonies will be another Pulitzer prize winning editorial cartoonist named Mike… Mike Luchovich. As mentioned before, the finalists for “Cartonnist of the Year” are¬¨‚Ć Dave Coverly (“Speedbump”), Stephan Pastis (“Pearls Before Swine”) and Dan Piraro (“Bizarro”). The NCS just released… READ MORE
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
