Tom's Mad Blog
November 16th, 2008 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Do you have any advice for becoming a professional cartoonist? A: Ordinarily I would write on and on about a subject like this one, but I’m just going to provide a link to answer this question today because I am lazy unable to come up with a better answer than Chris Browne’s “How to Be a Cartoonist” That link comes courtesy of the National Cartoonists Society’s website. Chris is of course the writer and artist of “Hagar the Horrible”, and an all around swell guy. He’s got his own blog as well. Thanks to Grant Jonen for the question. If you have a question… READ MORE
November 15th, 2008 | Posted in General
Holy Frivolous Lawsuits, Batman! Dept. My pal Zack Wallenfang recently sent me this link from Variety online. I thought it must be a prank… looks like something from “The Onion”: From Variety Online: Mayor of Batman sues WB, Nolan Southeastern city in Turkey fights for name By ALI JAAFAR Batman has a new adversary: Batman. The mayor of an oil-producing city in southeastern Turkey, which has the same name as the Caped Crusader, is suing helmer Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. for royalties from mega-grosser “The Dark Knight.” Huseyin Kalkan, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party mayor of Batman, has accused “The Dark Knight” producers of… READ MORE
November 14th, 2008 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Click image for a closer look… In October I got a rare opportunity to do some cover art for MAD… not “THE” MAD Magazine but their little brother publication MAD KIDS. I did the cover of MAD KIDS #7 a year or so ago, and was given the opportunity to do the cover for MAD KIDS #13 this fall… they must have had limited options! Since the issue has been released, I can now share the artwork here. This job was unique in that I was being asked to somewhat ape the look and feel of the art style of the “Star Wars: The Clone… READ MORE
November 13th, 2008 | Posted in News
Well, tomorrow’s the day. Commencing at 1:00 PM CST, the Heritage House live auction begins on 36 rare and historic pieces of original MAD artwork including the “Soul of MAD”, a series of cover paintings that Bill Gaines and Co. considered most representational of the MAD zeitgeist. The lot includes the original painting seen above by Norman Mingo, which was the definitive Alfred E. Neuman image from MAD #30 circa 1956. Internet bidders have until 10:00 PM CST tonight to place bids online at Heritage House’s website. After that the live auction will decide the new owners of these classic and giant icons of pop… READ MORE
November 12th, 2008 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Speaking of the National Caricaturist Network Convention, the only workshop I was able to attend was Steve Silver‘s “Figure Drawing”. Steve is a phenomenal artist and his workshop was terrific. He stressed the value of quick figure studies over doing long, drawn out poses as the best way to develop your figure drawings skills. He had a model come in and the packed room drew according to his direction. We did three different exercises in his workshop. First, we started out with twenty quick 30 second studies of the model in various poses. 30 second poses Next we did what animators call a “turnaround”, drawing… READ MORE
November 11th, 2008 | Posted in General
There are two turning points in my professional life that I credit with pointing me (and kicking me) down the right path towards my eventual career, such as it is. The first was getting a job drawing caricatures at a theme park near Chicago in 1985 while a freshman in college at the University of Minnesota. Prior to that job, being from a very small town in Minnesota, I had not been exposed to the kind of talents and abilities I would need to be on par with if I ever wanted to make a living as a commercial artist. Thus I had never really… READ MORE
November 10th, 2008 | Posted in General
Not really a deadline per se today, but after hoping to write a long post about the National Caricaturist Network Convention and how joining the organization changed my career, I am now coming to the realization that is not going to happen today. Too much to catch up on and not enough time. So, the Demon makes an appearance today, with the promise of that NCN post tomorrow. On the plus side, I deadlifted 385 lbs for six reps this morning and didn’t throw up. Much. READ MORE
November 9th, 2008 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Could you address ‘Parody/Satire’ and how it relates to copyright issues or even “right of publicity”? For instance when MAD does movies parodies they always change the names of the movie and the characters. What about merchandising of parodies? Could MAD produce ‘Dork Knight’ action figures? A: Satire and parody are very well protected free speech rights under the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The first amendment guarantees a person’s rights to voice their views or opinions about anything and everything. Those views include the right to criticize something or someone, and that includes making fun of them. Copyrights and the “right of… READ MORE
