Richmond Illustration Inc.

Tom's Mad Blog

Stan Lee: 1922-2018

November 12th, 2018 | Posted in General

Thanks for all the years of Excelsior, Stan! READ MORE

Monday MADness- MAD About Meglin!

November 12th, 2018 | Posted in Monday MADness

I’m in LA right now having come in to teach a workshop over last weekend and to attend a memorial celebrating the life of the one-of-a-kind MADman Nick Meglin. I brought along the above sketch cover of Nick I did for MAD/EC historian, art collector and longtime good friend of Nick’s, Grant Geissman, who commissioned it from me at San Diego Comic Con back in July. I took my time. It was a wonderful tribute to Nick, full of laughs, a few tears, and some great memories of a man who might be one of the most unsung contributors to the world of humor ever.… READ MORE

Sunday Mailbag: You Forgot Gerard Butler…

November 11th, 2018 | Posted in Mailbag

Q: I love your “Dracula” print, but you forgot to include Gerard Butler, who played him in “Dracula 2000”, and what is Grandpa Munster doing in there? A: I get this or similar questions especially at comic cons, usually from some smug know-it-all that thinks they are being clever and catching me screwing up somehow. I didn’t forget to include Gerard Butler (although I wish I could forget I ever saw “Dracula 2000”), I left him out on purpose. I also left out Udo Kier, and John Carradine, and Lorne Green and most of the other 77 actors who have played Dracula in films or… READ MORE

Los Angeles Workshop Starts Today!

November 9th, 2018 | Posted in General

My LA Workshop starts today through Sunday, class illustration above. I currently have one spot available in my upcoming Phoenix, Orlando and Las Vegas workshops, and two spots in Atlanta. Grab them while they are still available! READ MORE

NCSFest Artist Alley Applications Open!

November 8th, 2018 | Posted in News

Cartoonists! Comic book artists! Animators! Graphic Novelists! Etc! It’s time to get an Artists Alley table at the NCSFest International Comic Arts Festival taking place May 17-19th in beautiful Huntington Beach, California! What’s this all about, you say? Not another comic con?!? Nope, not another comic con. This festival is going to be a very different animal than the same old comic cons. This is a festival patterned after European events like Angouleme and Lyon in France, The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival in the UK, and Lucca in Italy. These festivals are not tradeshows held in cavernous convention centers. They are celebrations of the… READ MORE

Sketch o’the Week- Bill Skarsgård!

November 7th, 2018 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

This week’s sketch is of Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård, star of both of the recent Stephen King based movie “IT” and TV show “Castle Rock”. I just got done watching the first season of Castle Rock, and time willing I will write a review and my thoughts on the show tomorrow from the view of a big fan of King’s work. As always, the original of this sketch is available in the Studio Store. READ MORE

Whence Alfred?

November 6th, 2018 | Posted in MAD Magazine

Where did MAD‘s idiot boy mascot, the ageless Alfred E. Neuman, originate? That’s a question I get a lot, and one that has no certain answer, but a lot of interesting history. The image seen above is from the earliest known (so far) appearance of a character that contains all the most recognizable characteristics of Alfred: the frontal portrait angle, the wide and squat head shape, the pointy chin, the grin with missing teeth and round cheeks, the big ears, the freckles and tossled mop of hair. This is from a promotional poster for the 1894 play “The New Boy”, starring James T. Powers. It… READ MORE

Monday MADness- Tedium!

November 5th, 2018 | Posted in Monday MADness

This week’s Monday MADness is a look at the pencil roughs and final art for MAD‘s parody of the TV show ‘Medium” from MAD #454, June 2005, written by Dick DeBartolo. The show starred Patricia Arquette, Jake Webber and Miguel Sandoval. I had some fun with Patricia Arquette’s character’s penchant for wearing blouses about two sizes too small that made it look as if her very ample bosom was a few straining button-threads away from bursting forth… so there are popping buttons galore. The murderer in this parody is actually a fellow caricaturist I know, Dan Minamide aka “Dan the Cartoon Man”. Here’s a look… READ MORE