MADness #62: Punitive Damages!

All rise! The kangaroo court is in session! It’s a new year I am still schelpping out the old crap as we continue our long and boring cross examination of the crimes against cartooning that was my work for MAD magazine. This week we look back at a video game spoof called “Punitive Damages: A Game of Supreme Justice”, written by my CLAPTRAP cohort Desmond Devlin and first appearing in MAD #512, December 2011.

This piece will live in infamy with me because, all self-deprecating comments aside, I consider it the worst thing I ever did for the magazine. It had nothing to do with the writing. Des’s concept of parodying the increasingly ultra-violent nature of video games and making fun of the Supreme Court’s then recent ruling to allow such violent games to be sold to kids for the sake of free expression by putting the Justices themselves in the game, was terrific as usual. It was just my art that fell flat.

It wasn’t really the drawing, either. I had a lot of fun with the zombies and the monster “bill”, which is an homage to the old animated “School of Rock” short “I’m just a Bill”, as well as the caricatures of the various judges. Everything went off the rails when I tried to digitally paint everything. The only art direction I got for the piece was to try and make it look “more like a real video game as opposed to the usual art in MAD“, so my typical “line and color” style was not going to work. I tried what for me was an experimental technique and failed to get the look I wanted. The colors and lighting are fine, but it’s all too soft and without enough contrast. I tried applying some texture effects that made it look grainy, out of focus, and without the unnatural sharpness video games of that era had. I ran out of time, and was on the road to boot so I was unable to scrap the whole thing and start over and this is what I ended up turning in.

The art department at MAD said they were happy with it but I was not. Not a highlight for me in my MAD run, that’s for sure.

I still cashed the check.

Court is adjourned on another mistrial of a Monday MADness. Toon in next week for a little redemption for me in the digital painting department when we make fun of the low-hanging fruit that was Charlie Sheen!