Tom's Mad Blog
June 7th, 2021 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Hold onto your butts! It’s another edge-of-your-seat episode of our chronological wandering through my work for MAD Magazine! This week’s stop is a two pager poking fun at “American Idol”, written by Greg Leitman and appearing in MAD #440, April 2004. This piece features a couple of inside jokes and cameos. First, the names on the blackboard Pete Rose is putting the betting odds on are the names of my four kids as well as Max Korn and Brady, the daughter of a couple of good friends of ours, Keelan and Barbie Parham: Speaking of Keelan and Barbie, they make a cameo here as well:… READ MORE
June 6th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I’ve read many of your posts in the past about accepting payments as a freelancer. From what I understand you only accept a “check in the mail”? I think you mentioned on your blog that it’s the “safest” way to get paid. But don’t you fall in the trap of receiving a bounced check? How does your “payment to making/ finishing artwork” process go? Is it – You agree to a price, they send a check, you start the work, only continue working on the project until you receive the check and if the check doesn’t turn out to be a rubber check, you… READ MORE
June 4th, 2021 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Wednesday, June 2nd marked the third anniversary of the passing of Nick Meglin, longtime contributor/editor/backbone of MAD magazine. Nick died suddenly of a heart attack at 82 years old. I vividly remember the phone call I got telling me Nick was gone. I was in Toronto teaching a caricature workshop, and I was in total shocked disbelief. Only a few weeks earlier I had seen Nick and got to spend some time with him at the National Cartoonists Society Reuben awards in Philadelphia. It’s impossible to overstate how important Nick was to MAD. Publisher Bill Gaines called him the “heart” of the magazine, but he… READ MORE
June 3rd, 2021 | Posted in Stuff from my Studio
I’m usually all about the Bat-stuff when it comes to the studio but some things are just too %$@#& cool. The Lovely Anna asked me in exasperated fashion a few days before my birthday last month what I wanted as a present, and I said “Mjölnir, the Hammer of Thor!” (said it just like that, in bold italics). This just arrived the other day. It’s a full scale, full metal build, extract prop replica. Weighs about 10 lbs. However I’m thinking about returning it for a refund because I think it’s defective. For starters, I can pick it up quite easily, and I KNOW I… READ MORE
June 2nd, 2021 | Posted in General
It’s another “Schmendrick” sketch! This week’s subject is the late, great Richard Harris as “English Bob” from “Unforgiven”. You can get a sketch like this of Mr. Harris or 22 other possible character from one of the parodies in CLAPTRAP by backing us as a Schmendrick. READ MORE
June 1st, 2021 | Posted in MAD Magazine
It’s yet another stop on our long and winding road of jobs I did for MAD Magazine. Today is a look at MAD’s spoof of the movie “School of Rock”, written by Dick DeBartolo and appearing in MAD #438, Feb 2004. I am sometimes asked if doing parodies of comedies is a bit trickier than doing them of dramas or “serious” movies. It is but really only from the writing sense. Making fun of a plot that is in and of itself a satire or meant to be silly is a tougher nut to crack for the writer. Dick did a great job on this… READ MORE
May 31st, 2021 | Posted in General
No “Monday MADness” today. Here in the U.S.A. today is a day to remember all those who have given their lives in the service of our country, both in the military and (in my book at least) as first responders. For several years I was lucky enough to be part of a number of National Cartoonists Society/USO tours where groups of cartoonists travelled to military hospitals both here and abroad to draw wounded warriors and their families, and into active war zones to draw for our troops serving overseas. I drew caricatures for our service people in places like Germany, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar,… READ MORE
May 30th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I am enjoying the “mock” MAD Cover commissions you are posting on your blog and was curious what specific markers you use? You mention brush pens and Copic Markers on your blog but do you mind sharing what “specific” model of markers you use. A: I use Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens for the linework. They come in two packs with a hard tip and a soft tip, or you can get them separately. The harder tip has a blue colored barrel and the softer a green one. I get them either through JetPens (hard and soft) or on Amazon. I like these pens because… READ MORE
