Illustration Throwback Thursday #63- The Stupranos!

Back in early 2000 I started doing work for MAD Magazine clone Cracked. That all started when I showed the new editor of Cracked a parody of “Godzilla” I had written and drawn to show then newly minted MAD Art Director Sam Viviano in an effort to get in at MAD. Sam expressed polite interest and encouragement to keep working at my art, but no job offers. Cracked, which had just been bought by American Media and was looking for new contributors willing to work for a truly insulting page rate, bought that “Godzilla” parody (a three year old film at the time) and asked if I could do something for the next issue. I wrote and drew this parody of “The Sopranos” with some writing help from my pal Jim Batts. The plot is essentially a rip off of the classic “Batboy and Rubin” parody from MAD #8, which made it fit perfectly in Cracked!