Tom's Mad Blog
September 28th, 2022 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
I was a bit young to have watched “Columbo” in its first run, but it was a favorite of my parents so I remember it through osmosis. Peter Falk created one of the most memorable TV detectives of all time in Frank Columbo. His trademark rumpled overcoat and suit, half smoked cigar, unkept appearance and mild mannered, unassuming demeanor have become the stuff of television legend along with his trademark remark “just one more thing…” before springing a crucial question on a suspect that leads to closing his case. This is the first in a new series of “famous TV sleuths” I’m going to be doing for the… READ MORE
September 26th, 2022 | Posted in Mailbag
Don’t go getting your quarks all in a bunch… I know it’s Monday and that means it’s time to get our hadrons on and examine more of the decaying matter that was my work for MAD Magazine. This week we pick up where we left off last Monday, and look at the other piece I had in MAD #503, May 2010. That was a very short parody of the TV sitcom “The Big Bang Theory”, written by my CLAPTRAP cohort Desmond Devlin. The part about this job I remember most was trying to figure out the best way to handle the “chalkboard” caricatures that were… READ MORE
September 21st, 2022 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
The entire world mourned the passing of the Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Say what you will about the monarchy, she was a model of dignity and decorum. I’ve seen a lot of caricatures of her in the last week, most of her as the diminutive, elderly queen she was in the last years of her life. I wanted to draw a young Elizabeth. READ MORE
September 20th, 2022 | Posted in MAD Magazine
MAD just announced the details of their 70th anniversary issue, due to drop on October 4th. MAD #28 is being designated the official 70th anniversary issue of MAD, and according to the MAD/DC press release it will contain a considerable amount of new material AND will be available in Barnes and Noble stores as well as comic book shops and via subscription. Here’s the DC press release: More Original Content, Including Contributions from ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic and Jordan Peele, a Unique MAD ‘Fold-In,’ and More from ‘The Usual Gang of Idiots’ Available at Participating Comic Book Stores, Barnes & Noble Bookstores,and to Subscribers on October… READ MORE
September 19th, 2022 | Posted in MAD Magazine
I’m not making this up… it really is Monday! Time for another high-flying episode of the seemingly endless flight that is our trek through my work at MAD Magazine. This week we reach new heights of mendacity both in the subjects of the work I did and my being credited for new work in issue #503 at all! I had two pieces in MAD #503, May 2010, although neither were technically new. One was part of a one pager that included three spoof DVD covers originally done for MAD‘s website. Yes, MAD used to do original content for their website. In fact, MAD pioneered that… READ MORE
September 15th, 2022 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Here’s another peek at a portion of the splash page from the new feature my CLAPTRAP co-hort Desmond Devlin and I did for the next issue of MAD, which is officially the 70th Anniversary issue of the magazine. Yes, it’s a movie parody… have you figured out which film yet? If not, you’ll get another peek next week! READ MORE
September 14th, 2022 | Posted in General
Don’t Get Me Wrong, our sketch subject has been the Talk of the Town for over 40 years as one of the original female stars of the punk rock scene. Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders also managed to bridge the gap between the club based pure punk world, new wave, and the commercial success of radio, with several big hits in the late 70’s and 80’s. She turned 71 last week! READ MORE
September 12th, 2022 | Posted in MAD Magazine
It’s time to roll the dice and move the around the board with this week’s look back at my work for MAD Magazine. Here’s a second piece I did for MAD #502, Jan 2010, written by Jacob Lambert. This two pager was a response to the rash of movies based on board games. This was the first time I used my “colored line” technique on a MAD job. I had just figured out how to do it and had done a couple of freelance illustration jobs using it, but I had never had the occasion to use it for MAD. The technique starts with the… READ MORE
