Tomorrow brings another sneak peek splash page from Desmond Devlin and my upcoming book of movie parodies, CLAPTRAP! Here’s a teaser image from the splash! What movie could it be? Major comics/pop culture news website Bleeding Cool will have an exclusive first look at this sneak peek tomorrow! Look for more teaser images through the day today! READ MORE
My next assignment (number 11) for MAD was the art for a parody of the TV show “America’s Most Wanted”, a sort of reality show that featured re-enactments of crimes by known fugitives (played by actors on the show) and interviews with actual law enforcement involved in the investigations, all with narration by the show host John Walsh. There was a hotline number to call if you have seen or have any information helping to capture the fugitive being featured. The show claimed to have led to the capture of over 1000 fugitives in the 25 years it ran on Fox. This spoof was written… READ MORE
Q: Whose work in MAD did you admire the most? A: That’s almost impossible to answer, there were so many cartoonists and creators that were among the best ever who contributed to MAD, and I admire every single one of them. Mort Drucker was the master of caricature and literally defined the movie/TV parody. Jack Davis was the greatest action/movement/physical cartoonist maybe ever. Wally Wood was a virtuoso of ink, light, and shadow, and could draw virtually anything from realism to humor better than anyone else. Will Elder‘s work was just plain hilarious to look at, and he was the “King of Chicken Fat” gags.… READ MORE
My fourth job for Cracked was a parody of the movie “Gladiator”, also written by Barry Dutter, which appeared in issue #347, Sept 2000. Sadly this is the job where I had finally had enough of Cracked and how things were run there, and this became my last job for them. This time we did the parody AFTER the movie had come out (unlike what we did for “Xmen” in the previous job I did), which for me is the only way to do a parody. You have to actually SEE the film before you can make fun of it properly. To be fair there… READ MORE
After writing my own parodies for my first two appearances in Cracked Magazine, in the early spring of 2000 I was assigned the art duties working on someone else’s script for the first time. The movie being spoofed was the first X-Men film, and the writer was Barry Dutter. Barry had already been doing work for Cracked before the AMI buyout, so he was one freelancer who did continue into the Dick Kulpa era. He had writing credits at Marvel (including their “What The?!?” humor comic), Bongo Comics (The Simpsons), Ren & Stimpy Comics, and other work. He wrote a lot of stuff for Cracked… READ MORE
Following my turning in the final of my “Godzilla” parody to Cracked in late 1999, publisher Dick Kulpa gave me carte blanche to do another of basically anything I wanted. The HBO series “The Sopranos” had been a huge hit the year before, and season two had just gotten started when I decided to do a spoof of it. I hadn’t seen much of the show so I tracked down a few VCR taped episodes from some friends, including fellow caricaturist Jim Batts from St. Louis. I “binged” them long before “binging” was a thing. Like the “Godzilla” parody, I needed to write this piece… READ MORE
The late, great home run king, Henry “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron. As always, the original is available in my Studio Store. READ MORE
Since I am sharing my work with MAD chronologically every Monday, I think it’s only fair I also go back and take a look at my short time with Cracked Magazine. I’ve been thinking about that lately since the publisher of Cracked during the time I was there, Dick Kulpa, recently passed away. Anyway here’s the first part of the story of how I started working with Cracked. The year was 1999, and I had started setting my sights on breaking into MAD. At the time I was president of the National Caricaturists Network (now the International Society of Caricature Artists), and we were planning… READ MORE
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