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
November 8th, 2008 | Posted in General
Coming back from the big National Caricaturist Network convention in Raleigh today. A beautiful town and a very fun time. As usual the artwork produced by the competing caricaturists was amazing and the “competition room” was brimming over with incredible caricatures that ran the gamut from the near portrait in charcoal to hyper exaggerated illustrations in acrylic. There was even some wood cut work! It’ll be a long trip home with a layover in Atlanta (again). I will blog about the convention more next week. The picture above is the artwork of my friend Jeremy Townsend. Below are just a few of the “walls” of… READ MORE
November 7th, 2008 | Posted in News
I’m in Raleigh, North Carolina right now speaking at and attending the National Caricaturist Network’s 17th annual Convention and Competition. As usual it’s a mind-blowing talent extravaganza. Here are some pictures of the main competition room. More details to follow: rent a car bulgaria READ MORE
November 6th, 2008 | Posted in MAD Magazine
In comic book shops this week and on news stands Nov. 11th: MAD # 496 (December 2008) Cover (Mark Frederickson) The Fundalini Pages (Charles Akins, Greg Benson, Dick DeBartolo, Desmond Devlin, J.C. Duffy, Darren Johnson, Jeff Kruse, Jacob Lambert, Kevin Pope, Tom Richmond, Ward Sutton, Rick Tulka) The Rise and Fall of a Rap Star (Desmond Devlin, Hermann Mejia) What the Deal or No Deal Models are Thinking (Ross Garmil and Matthew A. Cohen) The Horse That Knew The Way (Leonardo Rodriguez, Brian McConnachie) A MAD Look at Road Trips (Sergio Aragon?¬©s) 7 Periods Closer to Death (Ted Rall) Monroe and… The Natural Disaster (Anthony… READ MORE
November 5th, 2008 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
I’m on my way to North Carolina to catch the last few days of the National Caricaturist Network’s annual convention, so here’s a quick study of country music singer Taylor Swift. READ MORE
November 4th, 2008 | Posted in MAD Magazine
After what only seems like a forever filled with the usual partisan ugliness associated with a U.S. presidential election, today has finally arrived and by tomorrow morning we will know who will lead the United States for the next four years… …or will we? The photo above is of the famous gaffe in the November 3rd, 1948 issue of the Chicago Tribune, where they jumped the gun and declared Thomas E. Dewey the winner of the election over Harry S. Truman. It’s always been a dilemma for printed periodicals to decide at what point they should “call” an election and therefore get the story to… READ MORE
November 3rd, 2008 | Posted in General
The last few year’s running The Lovely Anna and I have dressed up for Halloween and met friends out on the town for a little fun and costume gazing. This year because we have older kids and they have activities, parties, etc., we were unable to leave the house until about 10:30 pm. Fortunately the friends we were going to hang out with were eschewing the craziness of downtown Minneapolis for a club in the ‘burbs close by. Therefore we planned to go out late and got our costumes together. Anna went as “bad Chinese food”, making a takeout box and fortune cookies with chopsticks.… READ MORE
November 2nd, 2008 | Posted in General
Q: Yesterday in your blog you mentioned wondering what it would have been like to have worked at MAD during the black and white era. When did MAD “officially” switch to a color format? Did you do any work for them before the switch to color, or any black and white work at all? A: MAD‘s switch to color and slick paper stock didn’t actually happen all at once. “Officially” the first issue that announced a full time switch was #403. However the previous few issues were either special issues, had special color features in them combining the old and new paper stock or were… READ MORE
