# MAD artists outside the magazine. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327 "2007-12-17T13:45:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/21 "2007-12-17T19:02:06Z")
Here’s that [Bears](http://morris2k.cti.depaul.edu/dots/bears1.jpg) album cover. Adrian Belew on the left. Here are some [weird, menacing birds](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-images/B000000Y0C/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all/102-3787209-2332941#gallery) with giveaway Don Martin-style feet. Jack Davis does the [Guess Who](http://mockingmusic.blogspot.com/2005/05/guess-how-many.html). Not a Mad artist: [Rick Griffin](http://tralfaz-archives.com/coverart/M/man_slow.html) salutes Kelly Freas. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/22 "2007-12-17T19:02:12Z")
> [@](#): > > When I think of MAD Magazine, the two artists whose work come to mind first - even before Kurtzman, Argones, or Prohias - are Don Martin and Wally Wood. You’re of a different generation than I if “the work of Wally Wood” is among the first that fcomes to mind when you think of Mad. His stuff was back in its pre-magazine days. I’m familiar with his stuff, of course, but he’s definitely not what I think of when I thing “Mad Magazine artisty” In fact, I think that a lot of comic book artists worked on Mad in its comic-book days. IIRC, the Severins did. But I was thinking more of Mad artists from about 1960 on, and regular contributors. Frank Frazetta did one Tarzan gag for Mad, and we all know that he did plenty of work for Warren magazines, paperback covers, posters, and the like. But I was asking about the core Usual Gang of Idiots, and my question was prompted by how little of the work of this group of highly talented individuals I saw outside the magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/23 "2007-12-17T19:03:51Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] You’re of a different generation than I if “the work of Wally Wood” is among the first that fcomes to mind when you think of Mad. His stuff was back in its pre-magazine days. [/QUOTE] No, he did plenty of Mad work in the '60s. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/24 "2007-12-17T19:07:02Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] IIRC, the Severins did. But I was thinking more of Mad artists from about 1960 on, and regular contributors. Frank Frazetta did one Tarzan gag for Mad, [/QUOTE] And Frank Severin did the exact same Tarzan gag for Cracked at about the same time; in fact I think the Cracked version appeared first. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/25 "2007-12-17T19:07:53Z")
> [@](#): > > No, he did plenty of Mad work in the '60s. I’d dispute the “plenty”, but I’ll have to check the archives. Wood was NOT one of the major contributors of my youth. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/26 "2007-12-17T19:57:44Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I’d dispute the “plenty”, but I’ll have to check the archives. Wood was NOT one of the major contributors of my youth. [/QUOTE] He was definitely one of the major contributors in the early '60s. I don’t remember when his work stopped appearing (he did have one piece in Mad as late as 1970 or '71, but by then he hadn’t been a regular part of the Usual Gang of Idiots for years). Some memorable ones from the era I’m thinking of: Parents explaining their jobs to their children (“Ma! Dad’s gonna shrink my head!”); reporter “Dorothy Killfifth” touring the gigantic department store (Kuttprice Kounty?); the school fire alarm (“Break Glass”); and lots of comic strip parodies. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/27 "2007-12-17T20:01:03Z")
I looked up Wally Wood’s stuff. It almost all seems from the late 1950s and early 1960s. I’d seen some of it as a kid, but only in reprints or the book collections. I don’t recall a piece from as late as 1970. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/28 "2007-12-17T20:04:27Z")
Side note: Back in the mid-nineties when I was more interested in drawing comic books, I went to the Mid-Ohio Comic Con in Columbus several years running. One year Sergio Aragones was there and of the pros that I talked to, his critique was the most in-depth and truly helpful of all. The man knows his craft _very_ well. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/29 "2007-12-17T20:13:24Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Sergio Aragones? Acting? Do tell. [/QUOTE] Sergio’s [IMDB](http://imdb.com/name/nm0032775/) entry. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/30 "2007-12-17T20:18:48Z")
Bob Clarke did the art (such as it was) for the gloriously demented newspaper comic strip, [Larry Gore’s Thing](http://www.larrygoresthing.com/page2/page2.html). Gore was the only Mad Magazine writer who was kicked off the magazine for being too Mad. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/31 "2007-12-17T20:29:27Z")
When I was a kid, I had access to a collection of SF magazines and I remember a few of them from **RealityChuck** ’s link. In fact, if I saw Don Martin’s illustration, I made it a point to read that story. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/32 "2007-12-17T21:29:24Z")
Sergio Aragones, in addition to his credited acting work, was (as a teenager) Irish McCalla’s stunt double for a couple episodes of **Sheena, Queen of the Jungle**. This is unwelcome news to Baby Boomer men of a certain age who abused themselves raw to that show… Jack Davis and Mort Drucker have done a fair amount of movie poster work. Don Martin, in addition to what else has been discussed, did some creator-owned work for **Cracked** towards the end of his career, and something called **The Droll Book.** He also did an album jacket cover for an early Miles Davis LP. Kelly Freas, while probably most famous for his MAD work, has been quite prolific as a Science Fiction illustrator/paperback cover painter, and the LP jacket of Queen’s News of the World. Frank Frazetta did some work for MAD back in the 60s… I’d have to conclude that having MAD somewhere on your resume is almost as good as working there full-time! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/33 "2007-12-17T21:37:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Sergio Aragones, in addition to his credited acting work, was (as a teenager) Irish McCalla’s stunt double for a couple episodes of Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. This is unwelcome news to Baby Boomer men of a certain age who abused themselves raw to that show… > > Jack Davis and Mort Drucker have done a fair amount of movie poster work. > > Don Martin, in addition to what else has been discussed, did some creator-owned work for Cracked towards the end of his career, and something called The Droll Book. He also did an album jacket cover for an early Miles Davis LP. > > Kelly Freas, while probably most famous for his MAD work, has been quite prolific as a Science Fiction illustrator/paperback cover painter, and the LP jacket of Queen’s News of the World. > > Frank Frazetta did some work for MAD back in the 60s… > > I’d have to conclude that having MAD somewhere on your resume is almost as good as working there full-time! **Krok** , I’ve already mentioned much of this. But there are some surprises in your list. 1.) I’m familiar with Freas’ Mad work, but I’d put it the other way around – I think o him being much more famous for his SF work than his Mad work 2.) Sergio Aragones as Irish McCalla’s stunt double floors me. I’m not of that age, myself, and have never seen Sheena, but I’ve heard and read of it. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/34 "2007-12-17T21:41:49Z")
[QUOTE=Biffy the Elephant Shrew] reporter “Dorothy Killfifth” touring the gigantic department store (Kuttprice Kounty?) [/QUOTE] I remember that. Kuttprice was so big that it crossed a time zone boundary. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/35 "2007-12-17T21:45:14Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Mort Drucker – their star caricaturist, who does the best movie parodies. The only other place I’ve seen his stuff is the movie poster for American Grafitti, and in one of the theatrical trailers for the film (he did fake yearbook pictures). [/QUOTE] [This](http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1970/1101701026_400.jpg) comes up on a Google search. If it’s accurate, it’s a pretty high profile gig. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/36 "2007-12-17T21:54:42Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I know that Antonio Prohias’ “Spy Vs. Spy” stuff appeared outside Mad, but I think mainly posthumously, and any nrew stuff was NOT by him. It’s hard enough to find non- Spy vs. Spy stuff even in Mad, but in the 1960s he did try a few other series, like “The Ambassador” and “What’sd the Connection” (or whatever it was called) and a few one-off strips. [/QUOTE] He was an anti-Communist political cartoonist in his native Cuba pre-Castro. He quickly left when Castro took over to save his own skin. I saw some of his political cartoons years ago and they were brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/37 "2007-12-17T22:00:35Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] **Krok** , I’ve already mentioned much of this. But there are some surprises in your list. 1.) I’m familiar with Freas’ Mad work, but I’d put it the other way around – I think o him being much more famous for his SF work than his Mad work [/QUOTE] That’s true within the SF community (and probably this message board), but I think it’s less true of the larger US pop culture. > [@](#): > > 2.) Sergio Aragones as Irish McCalla’s stunt double floors me. I’m not of that age, myself, and have never seen Sheena, but I’ve heard and read of it. Mark Evanier dropped that little tidbit in one of his many comics-related interviews. It’s mentioned in, among other places, Sergio’s [Unofficial Sergiography](http://groo.org/sergiogr.html#TV) : > [@](#): > > Sheena, Queen of The Jungle (1955 - 1956, Syndicated) > Starring Irish McCalla and Christian Drake. Sergio was a last-minute > stunt double for McCalla in one of 26 episodes of this 30 minute TV > show produced by Nassour Studios with Sergio’s father. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/38 "2007-12-17T22:20:27Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] You can probably name half a dozen Mad artists, but I’ll bet you can’t name a half a dozen non-artist Mad writers) [/QUOTE] This is as good a time as any to mention that I am a personal friend of MAD writer Desmond Devlin. If you have any questions for him, I can forward them along. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/39 "2007-12-18T04:43:45Z")
Paul Coker drew the comic strip [_Lancelot_](http://www.comicstripfan.com/newspaper/l/lancelot.htm) (which I remember), as well as [_Horace & Buggy_](http://www.jhalpe.com/collection/item_detail.php?photo_number=2540&item_id=33776&medium_id=9) (which I hadn’t heard of until composing this post). ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327/40 "2007-12-18T14:13:21Z")
[QUOTE=It’s Not Rocket Surgery!] This is as good a time as any to mention that I am a personal friend of MAD writer Desmond Devlin. If you have any questions for him, I can forward them along. [/QUOTE] Does he have any moxie? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mad-artists-outside-the-magazine/430327.md?page=3)