Tom's Mad Blog
March 29th, 2023 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Strictly speaking “Batman” was never shown in an after school time slot, but it was a show from that same time period of the late 60’s that didn’t just entertain me, but had a major impact on my entire life. That is no exaggeration! I credit the “Batman” TV show for sending me down the path that ended up with my having a career as a cartoonist. Our sketch this week is of Adam West and Burt Ward in their titular roles as the Dynamic Duo. I was drawn to the “Batman” tv show as a very young kid… I’m talking two years old. When I heard the opening… READ MORE
March 27th, 2023 | Posted in MAD Magazine
It’s Monday, and we have a license to be ill looking back at another piece of my work from MAD magazine. This week we spy out mini-parodies of not one, not two, but THREE James Bond films starring Daniel Craig in “Casebook: SPYFAIL- The Battle of the Bonds” from MAD #521, June 2013, written by my CLAPTRAP collaborator Desmond Devlin. These penciled pages are true “roughs” as I just drew blank heads (and made notes as to who is supposed to be who.. although some might say I should do that even with my finished caricatures) and everything is very sketchy, meaning I must have worked out… READ MORE
March 23rd, 2023 | Posted in News
I’ll be at Wondercon in Anaheim this weekend, but not at my own booth. You’ll find me at the National Cartoonists Society booth #2000. Yes I will be doing caricatures and MAD cover commissions, plus I’ll have a few prints and books, but not my usual boatload of garbage. Stop by and say hi if you are there! READ MORE
March 22nd, 2023 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Time for another episode of our “TV shows Tom watched as a kid after school” sketch series. This one is kind of odd because it really doesn’t fit with the type of shows I normally watched after school. I was more into the goofy sitcoms with wacky premises like a witch housewife, an astronaut with a genie, a family of monsters, and, of course, World War II prisoners of war. There was just something about this show that kept me from changing the channel… maybe it was the mesmerizing spinning jewel effect opening credits. Anyway our sketch this week id the cast of “Family Affair”… READ MORE
March 20th, 2023 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Grab your tiara and Go Go Juice! It’s time for another installment of the train wreck that is our look back at my work for MAD Magazine! This week enter the year 2013 with this piece from MAD #520, “Honey Boo Boo’s Family Circus”, written by Frank Santopadre. I was initially thrilled to get this assignment for a two reasons. First, it wasn’t a movie or TV parody, and while I love doing those for MAD they are a ridiculous amount of work and it’s nice to have a change and do something different now and then. The second, and more relevant for me, was… READ MORE
March 15th, 2023 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Are you getting tired of our “TV shows Tom watched as a kid after school” sketch series yet? Well, I am running out of shows I actually watched! This week’s sketch features one of the shows I absolutely loved watching after raiding the fridge after school. “The Munsters” only ran for two seasons in 64-66, but was endlessly syndicated by the mid-70’s and often ran in the afternoons on one of my local stations. Since it was produced by Universal Studios they had the rights to the copyrighted Universal Monsters makeup, including the original iconic version of Frankenstein’s Monster made famous by Boris Karloff in “Frankenstein” in… READ MORE
March 13th, 2023 | Posted in MAD Magazine
For this week’s Monday MADness we are eschewing the usual blather in favor of some MAD birthday wishes! Today happens to be the birthday of not one but two of the best known members of MAD‘s “Usual Gang of Idiots”, artist and former art director Sam Viviano and a guy who needs no introduction, the great Al Jaffee. Sam turns 70, while Al is an unbelievable 102. Both of these gentlemen have been enormous influences on my work and career. Happy birthday, guys! READ MORE
March 8th, 2023 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
In a rare break from the usual, this original sketch is still available in the Studio Store! It’s another sketch from our quickly getting old series “TV shows Tom watched as a kid after school”. This week features Bill Bixby and Ray Walston from the 1963-66 sitcom “My Favorite Martian”. There was a period of time where this show was on every day at the exit time I got home from school, and I saw a lot of episodes… although I don’t remember any of the later full color ones. I sort of categorized this show with “I Dream of Jeannie” and “Bewitched”, since there… READ MORE
