Tom's Mad Blog
February 4th, 2007 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I was wondering if you ever try out new things? Perhaps a different medium or art form entirely, not just for commercial work but for personal interest? A: Yes, I do lots of things that are different from my typical style or approach. I think the artist side demands some experimentation or things get boring. I used to regularly attend a figure drawing co-op in north Minneapolis, where I did realistic figure drawing with charcoal, graphite or pastels. That proved to be too far away to keep up, but I enjoyed it. I also have taken some painting workshop classes here in Burnsville at… READ MORE
February 3rd, 2007 | Posted in General
Time to pack up and return home from the sun and sands of Maui to the snow and cold reality of Minnesota. We didn’t have the best of luck with the weather in Hawai’i this year… four days of our week were very windy and overcast with showers on and off all day. This cut severely in to the time we could spend on the beach or by the pool, but honestly that was no big deal. We have a very comfortable room with a great ocean view and spent a lot of time lounging around in it. Our lanai (deck) was sheltered from the… READ MORE
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
