Tom's Mad Blog
July 8th, 2006 | Posted in General
This review contains spoilers! I finally found the time to see Superman Returns while visiting the St. Louis area. It’s always interesting seeing a film that I have already drawn a parody of for MAD, which as I mentioned earlier I had done. I also mentioned I would rather wait and see the film before drawing the parody. No exceptions here. Overall I liked the movie. I’ve heard mixed reviews of the film from various sources, many complaining that it drags in many places and is boring. It’s not bang-bang action from moment one, but I hardly thought it dragged or was boring. I don’t… READ MORE
July 6th, 2006 | Posted in General
This is a bit I have borrowed (okay, stolen) from Mark Evanier’s News from Me. Whenever Mark is too busy with work to??ᬨ‚Ćwrite in his blog, he posts a picture of a Campbell’s Soup can. This apparently is the universal symbol for “can’t talk now, too busy”. The bane of this blog will be freelance job deadlines, which leap seemingly out of nowhere and wreak havoc until I have chased them down and beaten them into submission. I’m on a trip starting today for my park in St. Louis, so technically this isn’t a deadline but a lack of internet access and time preventing a… READ MORE
July 6th, 2006 | Posted in General
After nearly 20 years of drawing caricatures at theme parks and running the show daily out there every summer full time, I went into theme park ‘semi-retirement’ a few years ago. Between my increasing frequency of doing MAD jobs and my other clients and freelance projects, it was becoming impossible to devote the kind of time and attention needed to run one of these operations properly. The last 5 seasons or so I have had a manager out at my park in Minnesota, and my role has been regulated to just the business end of things, teaching the new artists the techniques we use and… READ MORE
July 5th, 2006 | Posted in General
I was contacted a few years ago by an energetic young naval officer by the name of Daniel Kinske, who wanted to commission me to do an illustration for a book he was working on. The story behind this book, and the unique and terrific end result is a worth a look. “Memories of a Munchkin” is an autobiography of a gentleman named Mienhardt Raabe, assisted by Lt. Dan (can’t resisit calling him that!). Mr. Raabe is one of the last surviving cast members of the Wizard of Oz, specifically of the Munchkins. He played the munchkin coroner. Lt. Dan met Mr. Raabe and decided… READ MORE
July 4th, 2006 | Posted in General
Freelance illustration is an interesting career. You never know where the next job might come from. In the last year I have done lots of the usual (magazine feature illustrations, posters), the unusual (caricatures used to make coffee mugs of sports celebrities for stadium giveaways) and the downright bizarre (cartoon designs for a series of toys featuring various characters in trench coats that open them up to “flash” you, showing various gag elements as opposed to their privates). Right now I am in the middle of a very unique job for The American Museum of Tort Law in Kansas City, MO. The museum has exhibits… READ MORE
July 3rd, 2006 | Posted in General
It’s been a month or so since the event, but I thought I’d give a belated report on this year’s Rueben Awards. I am fortunate to be a member of the National Cartoonist Society, a 60 year old, terrific organization of professional cartoonists. Each year they have a weekend event called the Reuben Awards, named after first president Rube Goldberg, which is described as the “Oscars” of cartooning. The Reubens are usually well attended and always a great deal of fun. It’s been held on Memorial Day weekend for the last several years, in different locals from NYC to Cancun, San Francisco to Boca Raton… READ MORE
July 2nd, 2006 | Posted in General
I’ve received a few e-mails already asking why I don’t have comments active on the blog on most posts. My reasoning was??ᬨ‚Ćthat I didn’t think I’d have the time to log in and moderate comments and respond to them, which I know I will feel obligated to do. I would much prefer that, if readers have questions or want to make a comment, they e-mail me and I can respond when I can. However it seems that people??ᬨ‚Ćsometimes just want to be made a part of the party, so to speak, and add their thoughts. So, I have turned on comments for the “Stuporman Sneak… READ MORE
July 2nd, 2006 | Posted in Mailbag
Welcome to the first installment of the “Mailbag” feature. Every Sunday I’ll try to answer some questions or respond to comments e-mailed to me. This is assuming of course I actually GET e-mails with questions or comments, and that a response would be of interest to more than the individual e-mailer. Some of the questions and answers may end up in the FAQ page linked in the upper left corner of the blog page. This one most definitely will, as I get it all the time: Q: I want to learn to draw caricatures. What should I do? A: Seek professional psychiatric help. If you… READ MORE
