Sunday Mailbag: 3/4 View Alfred?
Q: Has anyone ever drawn Alfred E Neuman from an angle that was NOT “straight on”? I know he has been drawn from the back of his head (but that angle is also sort of “straight on”). Just wondering if you know of any instance of an artist have tried him at an angle?
A: Yes, Alfred has on occasion been drawn in a 3/4 view or even in profile, but VERY seldom, and not much after 1960 or so. When I first started with MAD, I was told that any depictions I might do of Alfred should be based solidly on the Mingo original. Artists are not allowed to do 3/4’s or profiles of Alfred… we can only draw the front or back of his head directly. I was told not to try and ‘caricature’ Alfred or place my own stamp on his features. Very few artists have earned the right to do their own versions of Alfred… Al Jaffee, Sergio Aragoné, Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, Paul Coker Jr., Sam Viviano, and John Caldwell are the only ones that come immediately to mind to me, although I am sure there are a few others. Of those, really only Al, Sergio, Paul, and maybe John’s versions were truly “their own”, meaning transformed quite a bit to match their own unique style. Jack, Mort, Sam, and artists like myself would still stick closely to the Mingo proportions and look… we’d just use our lines and technique to draw it.
It wasn’t always that restrictive, though. I’m told that earlier in Alfred’s “life’ they were more relaxed with his use. Here’s an early image of Alfred and his gal showing them in profile from a feature in MAD #39, May 1958, art by Bob Clarke:
I’m sure there are many other examples, especially from early on. By the time I came on board with MAD (a mere 42 years later) things were a lot more strict. I don’t think anyone would have ever been allowed to do something like that, unless it served a very specific purpose.
Of course there have been Alfred toys and statues made that obviously required a fully realized version of him to be created, so “official” versions of him exist that are completely three dimensional. Here’s an Alfred statue I have in my studio that I believe was based off Sam Viviano sketches:
MAD’s careful guarding of Alfred’s character goes past just his visual look. Alfred is also never to have a word balloon or have words coming from his mouth, unless the editorial staff writes or approves it as they did many times in the magazine’s table of contents, where they had an Alfred “quote” feature for a long time. His expression can be changed in certain circumstances, but that is rare and also needs editorial approval. What Alfred is doing and how he’s doing it is also very thoroughly discussed and directed. The folks at MAD are very protective of Alfred and want to make sure he doesn’t do anything out of character. Because of their careful protection of the character, Alfred remains Alfred today.
Thanks to Tom C. for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here!
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I always remember the #70 Super Special “Sports 2” with a cover by Greg Theakston. A spinning Alfred head that shows his profile from both sides!
The cover to the Mad paperback book “The Endangered Mad” has Alfred’s head depicted on a slight three-quarter angle. It was painted by Mad cover artist Bob Jones.