The New York Times has a loving profile of Mad magazine idiot gang member, Al Jaffee, who at age 87, recently completed his 400th Mad Fold-in!
— Read the rest
"When he brings in fold-ins now, a lot of times, it's, 'Geez, this guy's painting better than ever,' " said John Ficarra, Mad's editor.
While we're on the subject of borrowing and stealing ideas, let's look at prior art for the award-winning dog crap plastinization idea we mentioned yesterday.
A blogger who goes by the handle "Sciatica" found this Al Jaffee comic from a 1975 issue of Mad that is almost exactly the same idea as WeiWei He, Chuan Shi and Wen Ying Lu's "Dog Poo Spray." — Read the rest
I visited the fantastic exhibit about Mad Magazine at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Its collection of Mad original art and artifacts is absolutely amazing.
First, I love the Norman Rockwell Museum — I've been visiting for decades, and recommend it for everyone. — Read the rest
Famed cartoonist Ramona Fradon is retiring at the age of 97, according to a January 3 announcement from her comic art dealer Catskill Comics.
— Read the restAfter an extremely long run in the comic industry, at 97, Ramona has decided it's time for her to retire.
It's sad that a few years ago MAD magazine folded (and I don't mean Al Jaffee's insanely clever last page). There are no more new issues with fresh material as MAD has been putting out collections of reprinted bits, usually themed around one topic or another. — Read the rest
The Comics Journal took the occasion of the completion of the latest mini-run of the comic book series Groo to run a tribute to the series' author (with co-writer Mark Evanier), master cartoonist Sergio Aragonés.
And what a career. Like his friend and fellow Mad alumnus Al Jaffee, who passed away last month, Sergio has been prodigiously, relentlessly productive. — Read the rest
Could there be a more coveted dream job for a cartoonist than working at MAD Magazine? And could there be bigger shoes to fill than Al Jaffee's? Jaffee, who turns 100 years old this weekend, has been responsible for every MAD Magazine back cover fold-in spanning from the 1960s up until just last year when he retired at the age of 99. — Read the rest
This is an anti-fascist puzzle made in occupied Netherlands circa 1940. Can you find the 5th pig? (Hint: Al Jaffee would have no problem finding it.)
[via r/interestingasfuck]
Harvey Kurtzman is a hero of satire, the guy who convinced Bill Gaines's mother to bankroll a comic book called MAD, then doubled down by turning MAD into a magazine — only to jump ship five issues later after a bizarre fight with the Gaineses, finding refuge with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner who gave him an unlimited budget to start an all-star, high-quality satire magazine called TRUMP, which lasted for two legendary, prized issues, now collected in a gorgeous hardcover from Dark Horse.
Nick Sousanis is the comics creator who broke ground in 2015 by being the first doctoral candidate to submit a dissertation in comics form and ever since, he's been doing wonderful nonfiction work in the form, on subjects ranging from entropy to climate change to elections.
The great illustrator Drew Friedman will be exhibiting the portraits he painted for Heroes of the Comics and More Heroes of the Comics at the Museum of Illustration in NYC May 2 to June 3, 2017. (Read my reviews here and here). — Read the rest
I raved about Heroes of the Comics when it came out in 2014. Now I'm going to rave about More Heroes of the Comics, the new companion volume. This large book has 100 meticulous color paintings of people who were involved in the early days of comic books, painted by Drew Friedman, the great portraitist of our time. — Read the rest
Neil Gaiman's 2013 young adult novel Fortunately, the Milk was a fabulous tribute to dads and their ability to troll their kids with bald-faced, outlandish lies. It's narrated by a boy whose mother is away on a business trip, and whose father had to go out to the corner store for a pint of milk for the cereal and his tea.
Neil Gaiman's illustrated children's novel Fortunately the Milk is a magnificent tribute to the fatherly art of trolling kids with straightfaced, outlandish tales. It's narrated by a boy whose mother is away on a business trip, and whose father had to go out to the corner store for a pint of milk for the cereal and his tea. — Read the rest
If you liked Al Jaffee's Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions from MAD Magazine (and if you didn't, boy are you in the wrong place!), I think you'll enjoy this Reddit thread: "What was your best "comeback line" that left the other person totally speechless?" — Read the rest
Damen Corrado from Imperium Pictures let me know about this nice video tribute to MAD creator Harvey Kurtzman. He says "it features a lot of his work from the current exhibition at the Society of Illustrators in NYC, and interviews with Al Jaffee and Bob Grossman, with a jazz soundtrack by Nik Turner of Hawkwind." — Read the rest
The Society of Illustrators in New York is holding a panel discussion on 3/19/2013 about MAD creator Harvey Kurtzman, with Drew Friedman, Robert Grossman, Al Jaffee, and Arnold Roth. It will be moderated by Peter Kuper. Wow – what a line-up! — Read the rest
Kurtzman's ground-breaking color rough for the cover of MAD #1 along
with the printed cover (1952).
— Read the rest“I think Harvey’s MAD was more important than pot and LSD in shaping the generation that protested the Vietnam War. . . . Kurtzman was the single most significant influence on a couple of generations of comics artists.”
The trailer for this MAD magazine documentary looks good! The filmmaker has interviewed a lot of the surviving gang of idiots. There are 3 days left to go and it's very close to being fully funded.
Previously:
The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics
Robert Crumb writes a short, sad story about the career of MAD creator Harvey Kurtzman
