Tom's Mad Blog
May 19th, 2008 | Posted in News
Pizac/AP Photo I haven’t gotten a chance to write a review about “Iron Man“, which I stole away and managed to see last week. No time this week, as I am busy meeting deadlines prior to leaving to attend the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Awards in New Orleans this weekend (look for daily reports here on The MAD Blog). Suffice it to say it’s my new favorite superhero movie… ever. Think the idea of a mechanical superhero suit is science fiction? It’s not as far fetched as you might think. I ran across this article this weekend about robotic’s engineer Rex Jameson and his work… READ MORE
May 18th, 2008 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: With everything that you’re doing – the job, the family trips here and there, the professional trips, keeping up the Blog – who’s taking care of such mundane chores as mowing your grass, fixing the plumbing, taking the car in for service, waxing the turtle, etc? Is The Lovely Anna responsible for all that? Are there multiple copies of you running around behind the scenes? Do you hire out a lot? A: Well I have to admit that I don’t do much around the house. The Lovely Anna is in charge of the household stuff, and while she will ask me to do some… READ MORE
May 17th, 2008 | Posted in General
It’s been some time since I’ve written about working out. Actually weightlifting and bodybuilding have been a big part of my life for over 5 years now, every since I saw how fat and out of shape I was at age 36 and decided to do something about it. My trainer, Ryan Branson, left Lifetime Fitness a little less than two years ago and after a year or so of being part of an independent co-op sort of gym just opened his own studio in Eagan, MN. It’s a smallish space right now but there are plans to expand when another tenant next to him… READ MORE
May 16th, 2008 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Artwork ??á©E.C. Publications and MAD Magazine Will Elder, one of the defining artists of the early MAD comic and long time collaborator of Harvey Kurtzman, passed away Thursday morning of unspecified causes at the age of 86. Elder had been ill for some time battling Parkinson’s disease and had difficulty signing his name let alone drawing, according to a communication I had recently with a friend of Will’s. It goes without saying that a true pioneer of cartooning left us yesterday. All cartoonists get asked about who their major influences are, and among the usual suspects it sometimes surprises people when I name Will Elder… READ MORE
May 15th, 2008 | Posted in Freelancing
Going through some old files the other day I came across these illustrations from an old job I did for Topps candy company: They are a good example of how odd product and advertising jobs can be, and how you can go all the way to final and yet never see the results get printed. Plus there are two funny stories related to my trying to get reference for the job that I thought would be worth sharing. These are three of a set of seven or eight (can’t remember and could not find any of the others) that were meant to be part of… READ MORE
May 14th, 2008 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
This week’s sketch is of Harrison Ford, the aging star of the new Indiana Jones movie, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull“. Am I the only person in the world who has zero interest in this film? I’m old enough to be able to say I sat in a real theater as a fifteen year old kid and watched with my jaw hung open as “Raiders of the Lost Ark” exploded on the screen in 1981. The other two movies were also enjoyable (although they had their problems as well) and worth making and watching, but nothing will ever be able to… READ MORE
May 13th, 2008 | Posted in On the Drawing Board
Lots of big projects all coming to a head at once right now… MAD Movie parody- Working hard on that right now. Pencil rough stages. Super Capers- Titling images nearing the final stages, movie scene image next and then wrapping up the “turnarounds”. This job is much more involved than I originally expected it to be. Website Gaming Images- Still in the concept stages on this one, but progressing. Workplace Poster job- My usual assignment. I also did a couple of very quick and simple illustrations in the last week or two for other clients that I can probably now share here, as they are… READ MORE
May 12th, 2008 | Posted in General
Caricaturist Jan Ibelings, a fellow member of the National Caricaturists Network, posted a few pictures on the NCN forum of some live caricaturists he saw working on Piazza Navona on a recent visit to Rome. He snapped the following pictures to show how several of the street artists had samples on their display boards that were copies or rip offs of many NCN members or well known caricaturists (click the pics for a closer look): In the photo above there are two Sebastian Kr?¬?ger‘s that I recognize. The others are of varying styles as well. Kr?¬?ger’s Stallone, as well as Joe Bluhm‘s Tom Cruise. On… READ MORE
