Tom's Mad Blog
February 2nd, 2007 | Posted in General
A few sites and links I’ve been visiting lately: Mark Anderson’s excellent blog has a nice article about how gag cartoonists are considered the red-headed stepchildren of cartooning compared to the syndicated kind. I have a great deal of respect for gag cartoonists, but I understand where he’s coming from. Last year’s National Cartoonist Society’s winner of the Reuben for “Cartoonist of the Year” was Pulitzer prize winning editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich, one of the most talented cartoonists working today. Mike has his first new book out in over a decade, and you can read a brief interview with him from the cartoon and art… READ MORE
February 1st, 2007 | Posted in News
Stephen King‘s The Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born #1 is going to be released this coming Wednesday. Here’s the press release from King’s website: __________________ To celebrate the launch of the ground-breaking new comic book series adapted from Stephen King’s magnum opus, The Dark Tower, Marvel Comics will offer a first-ever midnight release of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born #1 the night of Tuesday, February 6, 2007. Nearly 150 retailers across the United States will open at midnight on Tuesday (effectively 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, February 7, 2007) so Stephen King fans can get their hands on the debut issue of this historic comic. Want to… READ MORE
January 31st, 2007 | Posted in News
Banner courtesy of Mark Evanier Almost forgot. Apparently not many local Maui residents own gorilla suits. Hard to believe, I know. Still I did what I could. Here I am at the resort: I can tell you that gorilla suits and high humidity are a recipe for disaster. I nearly passed out several times. Several old ladies screamed as I ran around the pool, although one tried to buy me a drink. A number of Japanese tourists insisted on getting their pictures taken with me… one at a time. That took about 40 minutes and I almost passed out again. Everything was going fine until… READ MORE
January 31st, 2007 | Posted in General
If there is one universal truth in the world of pop culture and media, it’s that when something becomes wildly popular with the masses it will automatically be shunned and ridiculed by “sophisticated” critics and consumers. It’s a mass mentality thing that seems to say if the great unwashed embrace something it can’t be good. Arguably the most popular prepared food on the planet, in terms of sheer consumption, is the McDonald’s hamburger. Is that good food? Uh…. no. That one deserves the disdain of the food snobs. Still, why is it that when something catches on and becomes incredibly popular it also becomes fashionable… READ MORE
January 30th, 2007 | Posted in MAD Magazine
I’ve relisted the artwork for the entire Batman Begins parody on eBay. Previously I had listed it but canceled the auction after being advised by someone I greatly respect that this particular parody has a great deal of value because of the subject matter alone, and I should not sell it for so cheap. After I ended the auction I received further advice from an individual who sells MAD originals for a living that I would be lucky to get that much or it, an that only??ᬨ‚Ć Jack Davis, Wally Wood and Mort Drucker art from MAD sells at $300.00 a page. Well, I’ve giving… READ MORE
January 30th, 2007 | Posted in General
I’m a baseball fan. Really. I have season tickets to the little team that could, the Minnesota Twins, and take my kids to ball games all summer long. I know the names of players as deep as our single A minor league teams that are on the fast track to the??ᬨ‚Ć majors. I even keep score and prefer to listen to games on the radio as opposed to watching on TV (the sign of a real fan). So, I was incredibly embarrassed when my art director told me I made an error on this image from last week: Do you see it? Well, if two… READ MORE
January 29th, 2007 | Posted in News
Over on his excellent blog, Mark Evanier is busy shaming other cartoonist bloggers to get on board and help promote National Gorilla Suit Day, which as everybody knows takes place on January 31st each year. I am ashamed to say I have not done my part. The banner above links to this article (links removed as Mark took down those pages) by Mark about the mysterious origins of National Gorilla Suit Day. It began, as almost all nonsensical and idiotic things do, with Don Martin. A series of cartoons in the 1964 book Don Martin Bounces Back! concerns the misadventures of Fester Bestertester and his… READ MORE
January 28th, 2007 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What’s the deal with “Mad Kids“? I’m curious what the target market is for Mad vs. Mad Kids or why they started Mad Kids. A: MAD Kids is a recent addition to the MAD family. It’s a quarterly publication from the folks that bring you MAD that is geared towards a younger audience. Why, you say? Isn’t MAD already geared towards kids? No, not really. The regular magazine contains some kid humor, mostly in the form of gross out jokes, but when you really get down to it, MAD contains pretty adult humor. There is no outright swearing in MAD, nor is there any… READ MORE
