Mad for Caricatures

What is it that "was the first to tell us that the toys we were being sold were garbage, our teachers were phonies, our leaders were fools, our religious counselors were hypocrites, and even our parents were lying to us about damn near everything."

According to this quote from Wikipedia...it's Mad Magazine.

 

It goes on to say, "the message sage Mad had in general is, 'The media is lying to you, and we are part of the media.' It was basically... 'Think for yourselves, kids.'...(Publisher) William Gaines offered his own view: when asked to cite Mad's philosophy, his boisterous answer was, 'We must never stop reminding the reader what little value they get for their money!'"

I loved reading Mad as a kid, as did most of my contemporaries. But what engaged me even more than the wit and acerbic, acidic commentary were the illustrations, the cartoons...the caricatures.

 

Guys like Jack Davis, Jack Rickard and Mort Drucker back then...and Drew Friedman, Tom Richmond and Sam Sisco today...are my idols and ever-present inspiration. Beyond capturing the likeness of their subject, they are superb anatomists -- admirably well-schooled at drawing the human face and figure.

I won't, for a nanosecond, presume to share the same space as these notables.

Except here, in my own newsletter...

 

 

 

 

 



 

Whether it's at a corporate event, wedding, birthday party, family reunion...or even a marketing initiative...perhaps you and I can do some mad things with caricature art. :-)