Happy Thanksgiving for all those who celebrate it! It’s time for my annual posting of this turkey of a sketch, although I happened to find the original drawing in an old sketchbook recently so this is a fresh, higher-res scan. May your day be filled with friends, family, fun, laughs, and turkey… but not this guy. READ MORE
Author Mickey Spillane‘s private eye character “Mike Hammer” debuted in the late 1940’s and became, along with Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, the epitome of the literary tough guy detective. The character brought fame and fortune to Spillane, selling over 200 million books and being featured in several radio programs and many films and TV shows. A lot of actors have portrayed Hammer over the years (including Spillane himself), but the most famous depiction might be that of Stacy Keach. Keach played Hammer in three different TV series and several TV movies in the 1980’s and 90’s. His version of Hammer was set in the 1980’s, although… READ MORE
Break out the bourbon and light up your smokes, it’s time for another look back at the work I did for MAD magazine! This week we revisit one of my all time favorite parodies I ever did for the magazine, a spoof of the TV series “Mad Men”, written by Arnie Kogen and first appearing in MAD #508, April 2011. Why is this one of my favorites? First off, I loved the show so it was not a chore watching episodes and getting to know the characters, which helps a lot of both the caricatures and coming up with insider gags. Second, the show was… READ MORE
Happy Veterans Day to all those who serve or have served our country in the military. Thank you for your service. I never served but have several family members who have, including my grandfather who was a World War II army veteran who was stationed in the south pacific during the war. I also had the privilege of meeting and getting to know many service men and women on all those cartoonists USO trips I went on. Today is the official day to recognize and thank them all, but really that should be every day. READ MORE
No series of depictions of classic TV detectives would be complete without the most famous mustache in private investigation… Tom Selleck as Magnum P.I.! I remember this show and watched it regularly in the 1980’s. Selleck was perfectly cast as the charming, laid back, but tough as nails P.I. living the good life as a kind of “resident security chief” on the luxury property of a rich but absent author in Hawaii. The exotic location, the awesome Ferrari he got to drive, and the main character made for a very fun and entertaining show. Selleck very famously was cast as Indiana Jones in “Raiders of the Lost… READ MORE
It’s the return of my in-person caricature workshops! I’m going to do a handful of them next year (locations TBD) and I have been reworking some of my teaching methods and approach, so I thought I’d try sneaking a “getting back into it” workshop in on short notice. This one will take place in Las Vegas the weekend of Dec 10-11th. As with the ones I did for a few years pre-pandemic, the class size is limited to twelve students, so there is lots of time for personal instruction. I’ll be trying a few new things I’ve been thinking about with this workshop, but much… READ MORE
Talk about killing two werewolves with one silver bullet! Our “Sketch o’the Week” both continues our series of classic TV detectives (or investigative reporters) AND fits a halloween theme! Darren McGavin‘s “Kolchak” chased down all manner of supernatural creatures in his short lived but much beloved TV movies/series “The Night Stalker”. “X-Files” creator Chris Carter cited Kolchak as a “tremendous influence” on his show. “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” has become a cult classic in syndication. READ MORE
Since witches and wizards are out tonight, it’s perfect timing to share this parody of the last of the Harry Potter movie spoofs to appear in MAD. This parody of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” appeared in MAD #507, February 2011, and was written by Desmond Devlin. MAD did parodies of all eight Harry Potter films, including the final “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”. All were written by Desmond. Mort Drucker did the art on the first spoof “Harry Plodder and the Sorry-Ass Story” in black and white back in MAD #412, Dec. 2001. I did the art for… READ MORE
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