News
January 12th, 2009 | Posted in News
Poster art by Drew Struzan! I just got the word that the movie I worked on this summer, Super Capers, got picked up for limited distribution in select cities and theaters. Here’s the press release: Super Caper Release The movie will open March 20th 2009 in the following cities… St. Louis, Indianapolis, Nashville, Milwaukee, San Antonio, Columbus, Kansas City, Las Vegas, New York, Los Angeles. Super Capers just got picked up for distribution for only select theaters in these cities but should it do well, there could be a pickup to take it world wide. Please tell a friend and help spread the word and… READ MORE
January 9th, 2009 | Posted in News
Artwork by Michael Ramirez, Pulitzer prize winning editorial cartoonist The National Cartoonists Society Foundation is once again administering the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship for college students who are studying and/or pursuing work as cartoonists. Last year’s winner, Juanita Medina, received not only a scholarship but a free trip to attend and be honored at the NCS Reuben Awards. This year’s winner will get the same treatment! Entry into the competition is pretty straightforward. Here is the official info from the NCSF: THE JAY KENNEDY MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP Applicants must be college students in the United States, Canada or Mexico that will be in their Junior or… READ MORE
January 8th, 2009 | Posted in News
It’s hard to believe but this marks the 1,000th post here on The MAD Blog. I’m celebrating by going to Disney World! Well, actually I’m in Orlando at Disney World with The Lovely Anna and Elizabeth because today is Elizabeth’s 19th birthday (!!!), and Disney World is one of the few places on Earth she can go and really like being there. Of course this means Anna and I will be riding “Peter Pan”, “It’s a Small World” and “Winnie the Pooh” at least a dozen times each today, but every time is like the first time when it makes Elizabeth smile. Thanks to the… READ MORE
December 30th, 2008 | Posted in News
I’ve seen my artwork stolen off the internet and used as samples for dozens of live caricaturists all around the world. I’ve seen it put on postage stamps from South American and former U.S.S.R. countries and sold in sets on eBay. I’ve seen it being used on many websites and being sold as prints online. I’ve even seen a caricature I did of Jesse Ventura tattooed on somebody’s shoulder. This one might top them all: Yep… looks familiar. The above shoe throwing extravaganzas took place near the University of Tehran and the U.S. Embassy in Iran on the 26th of December and featured as targets… READ MORE
December 26th, 2008 | Posted in News
A screen capture from “The Watchmen” motion comic I’ve written in the past about the exciting work that my friends Michael Jantze and Kelly McNutt are doing in exploring the transformation of static comic strips into a format for the 21st century. The challenge is to figure out a way to translate the traditional strip comic into a multimedia format that keeps the original feel and function of the strip and is both visually arresting and relatively quick and inexpensive to produce. The idea is to bring strips into the age of the internet by making them deliverable by e-mail, web or cell phone in… READ MORE
December 2nd, 2008 | Posted in News
One last post on the Orphan Works / Illustrator’s Partnership front, then no more for a while, I promise. It’s hard to believe, but the Graphic Artist’s Guild, that venerable organization that is supposed to be looking out for the needs and rights of artists everywhere, is actually suing the Illustrator’s Partnership of America and five specific defendants for damages of a million dollars for what they call “defamatory public comments about GAG’s activities and use of industry reprographic royalties”. I have tried to read up on the issue, which involved funds the GAG has apparently been collecting for years for “reprographic royalties”, which are… READ MORE
December 2nd, 2008 | Posted in News
Used with permission Regular readers of my blog know I have been very vocal in opposing the Orphan Works Act in it’s various forms. It’s my opinion that only someone with another agenda to serve would believe this law is a good thing for anyone but those seeking to use intellectual property without paying the creator for the right to use it, or those who want to profit by forcing those creators to pay to register all their work in private databases. The poor excuse of being able to legally copy great grandma’s wedding pictures and to archive deteriorating creative works is not enough to… READ MORE
November 28th, 2008 | Posted in MAD Magazine
It was inevitable when drawing caricatures at the theme parks every summer that should I do a drawing of a kid with a round head and large ears I would hear behind me “you look that that kid from MAD Magazine in the picture!”. Har har. However in the late 90’s that exchange changed somewhat. I more often heard (at least from the under 20 crowd) “you look that that kid from “MAD TV” in the picture!”. Me: “Actually that’s Alfred E. Neuman you are talking about, from MAD Magazine.” Them: “You mean “MAD TV” has a MAGAZINE?!? COOL!” Me: Groan. Since I started working… READ MORE
