Mort Drucker: 1929-2020
This is a tough one.
One of the greatest cartoonists and caricaturists artists who ever touched pen to paper passed away last night.. the incomparable Mort Drucker.
It would be difficult to adequately describe the influence Mort had on multiple generations of cartoonists, not to mention caricaturists. Virtually any professional comic book artist will light up at the mention of his name and praise his work, regardless if the work that they do has any obvious influence from Mort’s work. Mort was a true master of the craft of visual storytelling, and his work transcended the boundaries of the different applications of the comic medium. He could do it all, from realistic comic book work to the silliest of cartoons to everything in between. That said, It was a lucky day for planet Earth when he walked into the office of Bill Gaines at MAD in October of 1956 to show his portfolio looking for some freelance work. Legend has it Gaines and some of the staff were listening to a Brooklyn Dodgers game at the time, and Gaines told Mort “If the Dodgers win, we’ll give you an assignment”. They won. However Bill later admitted Mort was going to get an assignment anyway. The first of many.
That meeting led to one of the most celebrated careers in the history of cartooning and comics. Mort’s flair for caricature, cinematic storytelling, and humor was the perfect ingredient for MAD Magazine’s pop culture satire recipe. With Mort’s addition to “The Usual Gang of Idiots”, the MAD movie/TV satire was shortly thereafter born. Well, technically MAD had done several film and TV show spoofs before Mort’s arrival, but it was really Mort’s unique set of skills that turned them into a trademark part of the magazine. Mort went on to do over 300 movie and TV parodies for MAD, defining a genre that is cited by some of the greatest directors, actors, filmmakers and writers in cinema and television as both a source of inspiration and a badge of honor when being drawn by Mort in the pages of MAD Magazine. This was serendipity at its finest. The perfect artist meets the perfect outlet for his unique talents, and creates something that was as unique as it was brilliant, and wowed millions of people and generations of fans and artists.
On a personal level Mort meant a lot to me. Back in the early stages of my career my wife somehow got Mort to draw this amazing caricature of me as a gift for our 10th wedding anniversary.
I’ve posted links to this story many times before, but here it is again.
The gift didn’t stop there. Anna had sent Mort some of my work and he wanted me to call him after the gift was given. He offered to sponsor me for membership in the National Cartoonists Society, and I have saved this letter for 22 years and counting:
We stayed in touch and he encouraged me to send my work to MAD. I was supposed to meet him in person for the first time at the NCS Reuben Awards Weekend in San Antonio in 1999. It was to be my first Reubens, and we had plans for him to introduce me to a lot of people and friends there. Shortly before the event Mort called me to say his mother had fell seriously ill (she in fact passed away a few weeks later) and we and his wife Barbara were going to have to cancel their trip to the Reubens. He gave me a list of names to introduce myself to when there, and drop his name as the person who said to do so.
We met many people that weekend, but one meeting completely defines to me how beloved and respected Mort was among the world of cartooning.
The president of the Society at the time was George Breisacher. During a rare quiet moment for him I went up and introduced myself, telling him Mort sponsored me for membership and said I should make sure to introduce myself.
“Mort is a hero of mine,” I said to George.
He laughed, clapped me on the back and said “Mort is everyone’s hero.”
That is literally the same reaction I would get from everyone who I met that weekend, and that has continued over the 20 plus years I have met mutual friends and peers. There are few cartoonists who have been more universally respected, admired, and loved among his peers than Mort Drucker.
About a year later I got my first assignment from MAD. I sent a letter of thanks along with a drawing I did of him to Mort. He responded with this:
It’s no exaggeration (pun intended) that between his influence on my work as an artist, his encouragement, support and friendship, that I owe much of my career to Mort Drucker. But it’s really the friendship I valued the most. He was one of the most humble and genuine people I’ve ever met. We haven’t been able to stay in touch the last few years as much as I would have liked, but I will miss him dearly…. and so will the rest of the world.
What a legacy he left. We should all be so fortunate. Rest in Peace, Mort.
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A great tribute to a great artist. Thanks, Tom
Precious memories to cherish.
Rip Mort.
Amazing,heartfelt eulogy, Tom. What an incredible giant of a man and artist he was, and we’re all the better for his existence in the world.
Tom,
I share your loss at the passing of Mort Drucker. To anyone who loves MAD he will always be “everyone’s hero”. I envy your opportunity to meet him. Thank you for sharing this tribute.
All the best
Beautiful, Tom. Count me among the millions who have been gobsmacked by Mr. Drucker’s work. Seeing his line the first time, you are either inspired or you put the crow quill down for good. Here’s to all he inspired!
Another treasure from MAD has passed on.
I grew up with his work, as I’m sure many other boomers did. It wasn’t just his talent, but the way he captured the emotion in his characters, that made him unique. The best of the best in my humble opinion.
It’s sad that we’re losing the golden era of the usual gang of idiots. Mort was incomparable in his work and a true influence on more people than he could possibly have known
Mort,you were the greatest.
Heartfelt condolences 🙏🙏🙏 from Nepal. May Mort rest in peace and prayers to his family and friends in his passing away.
Tom, your posting is the first I’ve heard of Mort’s passing, and while it seemed an eventuality given his age, I’m really stung by this. Mort, myself, our wives and a few other cartoonist couples paled around a lot in the late 80’s and early 90’s, at NCS meetings and national Book and Stationary shows.
Yes I immediately thought of you and Linda… I should have called you.
I loved his work and was greatly influenced by it!
Rest In Peace Mort Drucker
Mort continuará sendo um dos meus cartunistas preferidos,e seu legado é eterno!!!!!
Thank you
RIP Mort…
Mr. Richmond, my condolences to you over the passing of your friend and former colleague Mr. Drucker. He had an awesome talent, to say the least.
This is a great tribute Tom. Mort was my hero growing up too. This, is everything.
He was a cultural icon, a national treasure. I copied his drawings when I was younger. I’m so glad that you knew him and that you found him to be a wonderful person.
Sorry to hear of your loss–but you can carry the torch for years! Mort Drucker is one of the 5 main artists I follow and love since I was young, so it’s making me a bit sad too!
Tom: Great tribute. Terrific caricature of Mort. I met him when he visited Disney Animation a number of years ago, and I was meeting one of my cartoonist/caricaturist heroes. He was a wonderful man. I have some Drucker original stories from Mad that I cherish. God rest the soul of this genius, Mort Drucker.
Great tribute .Legends never die. Do you know the meaning of his name in french ? Condolences to all.
Thanks for your wonderful tribute, He set the standard. Condolences
When looking at Mort’s MAD satires, I would always examine every single line and brushstroke to see how I could make my own “caricatures” less creepy looking and more funny and humorous. (I’ve always had trouble with the eyes.) Mort Drucker truly set the highest bar for caricature artists to achieve. None of us ever came close. Rest in peace, Mort. You will be missed.