Tagged: Mad Magazine

‘Young Justice’, ‘Mad’, ‘Looney Tunes’ coming to Cartoon Network

News
April 21, 2010

The Hollywood Reporter has the skinny on the Cartoon Network upfronts, and there are many familiar faces for comics fans this year.

Young
Justice: Being a teenager means proving yourself over and
over—to
peers, parents, teachers, mentors and, ultimately, to yourself. But

what if you’re not just a
normal teenager? What if
you’re a teenage super hero? Are
you ready to join the ranks of the great heroes and prove you’re worthy
of
the Justice League? That’s
exactly what the members of Young Justice—Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash,
Superboy,
Miss Martian and Artemis (the renamed version of Arrowette)—will find out, whether they have what it
takes
to be a proven hero. This
all-new series is based on the series by Peter David and Todd Nauck, and is produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Sam
Register (Teen Titans, Ben 10, Batman: The Brave
and the
Bold) is the executive producer. Brandon Vietti (Batman:

Under the Red Hood, Superman
Doomsday, The Batman) and Greg Weisman (Gargoyles,
The
Spectacular Spider-Man, W.I.T.C.H.) are the producers.

MAD:
Produced by Warner Bros.
Animation and using the iconic MAD magazine,
published by DC Comics, as inspiration, MAD is an animated
sketch-comedy series utilizing a chaotic
mix of animation styles and twisted humor to pull back the curtain and
expose the truth behind movies, TV shows, games, pop culture and, of
course, curtains! Classic MAD magazine
characters and features such as Alfred E. Neuman and Spy vs. Spy pop
up,
and no subject matter or individual will be safe from MAD’s
barrage of parodies and sketches. In the end, viewers
won’t get even,
they’ll just get MAD! Sam Register (Teen
Titans, Ben 10,
Batman: The Brave and the Bold)
is the executive producer. Kevin
Shinick (Robot Chicken) and Mark
Marek (KaBlam! The Andy Milonakis Show) are the
producers.

The Looney Toons Show will star Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, along with
Yosemite Sam,
Tweety, Sylvester
— the whole gang. The network is having each episode as a
half-hour story along with “cartoons within a cartoon.” It will also having classic characters singing original
songs in two-minute music videos called Merrie Melodies and the Road
Runner and Coyote in CG shorts.

Interview Series With Al Jaffee, Jules Feiffer, Harvey Pekar In New York Begins January 21

News
January 17, 2009

The YIVO Institute presents one-on-one interviews with Al Jaffee, Jules Feiffer, and Harvey Pekar. YIVO’s “Comics and the American Jewish Dream” series kicks off Wednesday, January 21 at 7:00 pm with:

"The Mad, Mad, Mad (Jewish) World Of Al Jaffee"

A graduate of New York’s High School of Art and Design, Jaffee worked as an editor, writer and artist for Stan Lee at Timely (later Marvel) Comics during the 1940s. In 1955, Jaffee joined “the Usual Gang of Idiots” at Mad Magazine, where he’s been a mainstay ever since, entertaining generations with his Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions and Mad Fold-Ins. Join us as Jaffee provides snappy answers to provocative questions about his art and life, including his new book, Tall Tales, published by Abrams.

Series curator and moderator Danny Fingeroth, a longtime writer and editor at Marvel Comics, has spoken about comics at the Smithsonian Institution and The New School. He’s the author of Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero (Continuum) and The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels (Penguin).

Wednesday, January 21, 7:00
The YIVO Institute For Jewish Research
15 West 16th Street / New York, NY 10011

The series will continue with:
Jules Feiffer: Tuesday, February 3, 7:00 P.M.
Harvey Pekar: Tuesday, February 17, 7:00 P.M.

Admission to programs: $25 / YIVO members: $18 / students: $12
For tickets: call 212-868-4444 or visit www.smarttix.com
For more info visit www.yivo.org

ComicMix Politics: Obama’s Mad, Caroline Kennedy, and Editorial Cartoons with closing papers

News
January 11, 2009

A quick wrapup of the mix of comics and politics:

* Obama meets Spidey. Yeah, yeah, everybody’s covered it by now. But most people haven’t seen Mad Magazine asking what Barack Obama will do during his first 100 minutes in office. Indecision 2008 has the sneak peek. Hint: lots and lots of cigarettes in the Rose Garden.

* And while we’re on the subject of Obama, one of his biggest boosters was Caroline Kennedy, who’s currently under consideration for Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat. And Caroline Kennedy’s been in comics a lot longer than most.

* Editorial cartoons are getting endangered, with newspapers beginning to fold up shop. Tom Spurgeon has a very informative write-up (boy, that’s redundant) on the problems at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and what that means for comics.

You can now go back to watching Meet The Press.

‘Mad About the Movies Directors’ Cut’ Coming Tomorrow

News
October 27, 2008

Mad Artist Tom Richmond wrote on his blog about a new Mad book, due out tomorrow.

He wrote, “Back in 1998 Mad published MAD About the Movies, a collection of movie spoofs from over the years. It was in part to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Warner Bros. (WB owns DC Comics which in turn owns MAD) and all the movies in the book were Warner Bros. films.

“10 years later Mad is coming out with a new version of the book featuring parodies of films from other studios as well as some from WB. MAD About the Movies: Director’s Cut weighs in at a whopping 400 pages and contains not only 60 movie parodies from films of the last 60 plus years, but other goodies as well. Here’s a short list of some of the included parodies:

•    Gone with the Wind
•    Bonnie and Clyde
•    A Clockwork Orange
•    Brokeback Mountain
•    Spider-Man
•    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
•    The Lord of the Rings (all three films!)

“Obviously there are both black and white and color pages in the book. I was told I have several parodies in it myself, although I don’t have a full list. I’m pretty excited about being in the book, as it will be the first book I really have a presence in. My parody of “Traffic” was in Mad About the Oscars, but I believe that is my only contribution to a Mad book.

“The book is part of an exclusive agreement with Barnes and Noble, so that is the only place you’ll be able to get a copy. It’s dirt cheap at only $9.98 for an online price.
“I have not as yet seen a copy, so I have no idea what kind of stock it’s printed on. It’s listed as a “hardcover” but at less than $10.00 I think that might be a mistake. Still this would make a great stocking stuffer. It’s supposed to be released tomorrow, according to the Barnes and Noble website.”

Cartoonists Cheer Soldiers

News
October 4, 2008

Eight cartoonists have been visiting with American troops recovering from action-related injuries at both Washington’s Walter Reed Hospital and at German’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

According to a report from Stars and Stripes, Chip Bok (editorial cartoonist at Akron Beacon-Journal), Jeff Keane (Family Circus), Rick Kirkman (Baby Blues), Mike Peters (Mother Goose & Grimm), Mike Luchovich (editorial cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), Walt Handlesman (editorial cartoonist for Newsday), Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), and Tom Richmond (Mad Magazine) have been traveling together along with military artists and others.

The National Cartoonist Society members broke in to groups and scoured the wards, sitting beside soldiers and sketching away, often doing caricatures as they chatted and presenting them as tokens of appreciation.

"You guys are awesome," Jesse Stephenson said upon receiving a drawing. "You guys are awesome."

"You’re awesome," Peters told him in return.

Interview: Harry N. Abrams’ Charles Kochman

News
September 7, 2008

Charles Kochman was recently named Executive Editor of Abrams ComicArts, a new imprint at Harry N. Abrams. The publisher rewarded Kochman with the promotion and imprint in recognition of his successful efforts to celebrate comic books and graphic storytelling with best-selling books. Kochman, a former book editor at DC Comics, joined Abrams several years back and has published a wide variety works that have garnered reviews and award nominations starting with Mom’s Cancer. His Diary of a Wimpy Kid has earned a place atop The New York Times best seller list and merited national acclaim.

Recently, Kochman sat dfown with ComicMix to review his career and where things are headed next.

CMix: How did you first get involved with publishing?

Charles Kochman: After an internship at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, my first paid job in publishing was at PlayValue Books, the licensing division of the Putnam Publishing Group. I started there right after graduation from Brooklyn College, in July 1985, working with my mentor and now friend Michael Teitelbaum. Everything I know about editing, and being an editor, I learned working at his side. Besides being a great guy, Mike and I shared a lot of common interests in music and movies and comics. Together we created a modest publishing program for our parent company, MCA Universal.

The first book I edited with Mike was a Back to the Future movie storybook, adapted by Bob Fleming. In addition, we published books on licenses like Photon, The Bionic Six, and An American Tale. I also got to write many coloring and activity books, including ones on dinosaurs, unicorns, and the Universal monsters. It was good training. The dinosaurs coloring book actually hit the B. Dalton bestseller list for some reason, which shocked all of us, including our president. I still have the note he sent me where he wrote “Holy shit! Bravo!” on a copy of the list.

After PlayValue I worked at Bantam Doubleday Dell [from 1987–93], where I edited the Choose Your Own Adventure series. There I also edited books with LucasFilm on Star Wars and Young Indiana Jones, Encyclopedia Brown, and a great karate series called Dojo Rats. Given the complexity of the Choose Your Own Adventure books, which I edited on a monthly schedule for five years, I got to sharpen my editorial skills in a way that I otherwise couldn’t have had I been working on other less “interactive” titles. The books were also successful, so it raised my profile in the industry, attracting the attention of some executives at DC Comics.

(more…)

William ‘Willie’ Elder, R.I.P.

News
May 15, 2008

William "Willie" Elder, one of the illustrators instrumental in launching MAD Magazine, passed away today at age 86, according to various reports.

Elder was one of several creators hired by MAD founder Harvey Kurtzman when the popular parody magazine first launched in 1952.

No details have been released regarding Elder’s cause of death. His funeral will be held Sunday in New Jersey.

From the official statement on behalf of DC, the current publisher of MAD Magazine:

“Willie Elder was one of the funniest artists to ever work for MAD. He created visual feasts with dozens of background gags layered into every MAD story he illustrated,” says John Ficarra, Editor of MAD Magazine, “He called these gags “chicken fat.” Willie’s “anything goes” art style set the tone for the entire magazine and created a look that endures to this day.”

“Willie’s passing saddens all of us here at MAD,” says Sam Viviano, MAD Magazine Art Director, “Everyone who has attempted to draw a funny picture over the course of the last fifty or sixty years owes an enormous debt to Willie, who taught us all how to do it — and no one has ever done it better than he did.”

MAD Magazine to Publish Pulitzer Prize Cartoonists

News
February 5, 2008

Readers of MAD Magazine who pick up the March issue (hitting shelves Feb. 19), might want to take special note of a certain two-page spread they’ll find inside. The special feature will showcase the work of 10 Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonists.

Ths spread, titled "Why George W. Bush is in Favor of Global Warming," will feature contributions from Clay Bennett (Chattanooga Times Free Press), Steve Breen (San Diego Union-Tribune), Matt Davies (Journal News), Jack Higgins (Chicago Sun-Times), Dick Locher (Chicago Tribune), Jim Morin (Miami Herald), Mike Peters (Dayton Daily News), Joel Pett (Lexington Herald-Leader), Michael Ramirez (Investor’s Business Daily) and Ben Sargent (Austin American-Statesman).

The New York Times has samples of the MAD Magazine Pulitzer winners’ art.

According to MAD editor John Ficarra, “the whole thing is a thinly veiled ploy on our part to win a Pulitzer. Next month, we’re going to get a number of Nobel Prize winners in.”

President Bush Finishes Second

News
December 7, 2007

President George W. Bush comes in No. 2 on Mad Magazine’s annual list of the 20 Dumbest People, Events and Things of the Year. Mad‘s January issue cites Bush for breaking the presidential record for most vacation time. The president is no stranger to this dubious honor: It’s the eighth year in a row he’s made the list.

Other political figures who made Mad‘s cut: No. 12, former vice presidential aide Scooter Libby ("man for all treasons"); No. 17, Alberto Gonzales ("He promised he wouldn’t resign, but … it was the one lie he told that we could all be happy about"); No. 18, Sen. Larry Craig ("another … Republican just came out of the water closet").

And No. 1? Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, "the world’s worst dog owner."

The evolution of outrage, by Mike Gold

News
November 5, 2007

Running Press Book Publishers released a 1,200 page, 15 pound tome called The Completely MAD Don Martin, reprinting all the work Don Martin did for Mad Magazine, back when in the days Mad was a force to be reckoned with.

That means it upset our parents.

That function must necessarily pass from one venue to another. Mad pretty much owned that turf from its inception in 1954 until the mid-60s. It passed on to its own children: the underground cartoonists. They, in turn, begat Matt Groening. Remember when The Simpsons was going to bring down civilization as we knew it – you know, 18 seasons ago? Then Mike Judge and Beavis and Butthead were going to burn your house down. South Park was too obscene for late-night cable teevee. As Kurt Vonnegut (another candidate for this list) famously said: So it goes.

I first encountered Don Martin when I was eight years old: my sister had discovered Mad and I had discovered my sister’s comics stash. Whereas his artistic style was in the spirit of the time, sort of Virgil Partch crossed with Basil Wolverton, his intrinsic bizarreness leapt off the page and attached itself to my obdula oblongata. It shaped my worldview… which probably explains a lot.

The feature was called “The Paper-Pickers” and it was about two sanitation workers picking up scrap in the park. One is a virtuoso of his craft who can spear paper with aplomb. The other is jealous. Why, I don’t know. The virtuoso is doing all the work; the other guy is just taking a walk on a nice summer day. But the competitive spirit prevails, and the also-ran flips out, spears the virtuoso to death and stuffs him in his refuse bag with a smile of evil satisfaction that would frighten Hannibal Lecter after a nice meal.