Tom's Mad Blog
July 15th, 2007 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Which of your MAD spreads you think of as your personal favorite, and why? A: That’s a tough question to answer because everything I do has good and bad points. I have a ritual after each MAD project, in which I clean and organize my studio and print out the final art on my color printer at print size, then sit down and digest it. I always see things I didn’t see before, that I wish I could do over. I’m not talking about overt mistakes like the wrong person saying a line or a missspelling or something… just something that is awkward or… READ MORE
July 14th, 2007 | Posted in General
Another panel from the MAD parody… I hate hearing people bash J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potter books. Yes, it’s always fashionable for those people who think they have better taste than everybody else to dismiss popular fiction (or anything else that’s popular) as drivel for the Great Unwashed, but these books don’t deserve it. I’d agree that the magical fantasy adventures that Rowling has written about the boy wizard might not win any literary awards, and she probably won’t be confused with Hemmingway, Fitzgerald or Capote, but they are playful, imaginative and just plain page turning fun. It’s a rare thing that a book… READ MORE
July 13th, 2007 | Posted in MAD Magazine
As promised, here is a smattering of some of the art for the “Harry Plodder and the Torture of the Fanbase” movie parody in this month’s MAD. Two page splash, text and header courtesy of MAD Click on image for a closer look Lot’s more where that came from… this was a 7 pager. Not something you see too often with MAD anymore. Most parodies seem to weigh in at 5 pages maximum. Of course the last time I did a Harry Potter movie for MAD, it was 9 pages! Whew. As I mentioned, The Lovely Anna and our two youngest kids went to see… READ MORE
July 12th, 2007 | Posted in MAD Magazine
In comic book shops today and on newsstands on Tuesday, July 17th: MAD # 480 (August 2007) Cover (James Bennett) The Fundalini Pages (Scott Bricher, John Caldwell, Paul Coker, John Crowther, Dick DeBartolo, Jeff Kruse, Jacob Lambert, Leonardo Rodriguez, Steve Rosso, Irving Schild, Kiernan P. Schmitt, Eric Scott, Bob Staake, Jack Syracuse, Rick Tulka) Harry Plodder and the Torture of the Fanbase (Desmond Devlin, Tom Richmond) Things to Consider Before Accepting a Summer Job (Teresa Burns Parkhurst) Monroe and… Gone Internet Phishin’ (Tony Barbieri/Tom Fowler) If Chickens Could Time Travel (John Caldwell) Mad Has a Gay Old Time with Outtakes from I Now Pronounce you… READ MORE
July 11th, 2007 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
I’ve been so busy I didn’t have time to work up a real “Sketch O’The Week”, so here’s something a little different. This is a very rough sketch for a park sample of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson from the new Harry Potter movie. I stole the gag from an SNL skit. I didn’t finish it because compositionally it’s too out of whack. The drawing is too left-side heavy. I tried to compensate with the window behind them, but that won’t do the job. It’ll need to be reworked if I want to finish it. I was also thinking about having sparks shooting… READ MORE
July 10th, 2007 | Posted in General
Funny News!- One of my frequent daily stops on the internet is CNN.com, where I get my daily news ( I still read the newspapers, that is a ritual). Anyone who frequents CNN.com will see they recently revamped their site. It’s now drab and boring… nice work, CNN. They did add an interesting new feature, though. Under their “More News” links at the bottom of the main page they have a new category among the “Health”, “Tech”, Politics” and such. It’s called “Funny News“. In it are links to strange and bizarre stories that are too weird for the main news. Today the “Funny News”… READ MORE
July 9th, 2007 | Posted in General
It’s no secret I am a big Stephen King fan. I could never quite figure out why he was so often panned by critics. Sure, his stories were sensational and based on horror and paranormal subjects… but he brought his characters to life in such a way that the books often left me saddened that these were not real people that were going to continue to lead their lives (those that lived, anyway) once the back of the dust jacket showed me it’s inevitable ugly face. His dialog never seemed contrived and I could count on several places in each book that would surprise me… READ MORE
July 8th, 2007 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What is the best way to get your work registered or how does one get a copyright? I’m sure a lot of work can be misused by someone when your cartoons are on the web. And what is the best method to put a water mark on your cartoons? A: I’ve posted some news about the Orphan Works legislation that some politicians are trying to push through that would seriously undermine the 30 year old copyright laws that the creators of artistic works currently enjoy, so visit a few of those posts for more info on that. Registering your work may become mandatory if… READ MORE
