Don Martin "The All Nonsense Pad"

Here's a fun item from the early '90's.

Dave Berg caricature by Don Martin

This great caricature was done back in the '70's of Dave Berg and given to his son Mitch to adorn the walls of a Disco he had just opened. I believe that this may have been sold after Dave Berg's passing.

Don Martin Advertising

I am personally not that familiar with a lot of company's that Don Martin did any advertising illustration for. Unlike fellow MADmen Jack Davis and Mort Drucker Don's output in this area seems rather sparse. Other than a bubble gum ad (in an earlier post) and a pamphlet for Wild Irish Whisky the above examples are the only others I've seen. I would assume because of his massive popularity in Finland, Germany, Sweden and Norway that there may be many more examples that have not yet surfaced. If anyone has any other examples please share.

Don Martin's "The Bug"

There's no hiding it, Don Martin was and always will be my absolute favorite cartoonist. I, like many others imitated his style as a child and his wacky characters are really what inspired me to draw and create some of my own weirdness.

Over the years I have collected as much Don Martin imagery as I can get my hands on and still continue to find things I never knew existed. There are a couple of great fan sites out there as well as the Don Martin website that announces up upcoming "Completely CRACKED Don Martin". Hopefully this will become a reality for all us fans.

I have decided to start a series on this little blog, dedicated to Don Martin's art. The decision as to what piece to kick it all off with was easy. Just look at the title of my studio and the sound effect in this unpublished piece, most probably from the late '60's or early '70's - my favorite era of Don's style. Enjoy!

Humor Magazines - TRUMP

The story behind the origins of this classic humor magazine is that of legend at this point and really does not need to be rehashed. Needless to say when Harvey Kurtzman left MAD, in my opinion rather than the world losing out on a great creative editor and what had been achieved thus far with MAD we all gained so much more with TRUMP, HUMBUG, HELP and Little Annie Fanny, not to mention MAD exploding under the editorship of Al Feldstein.

TRUMP was a sophisticated Kurtzman's MAD with full color spreads and all! With super talents like Jack Davis, Will Elder, Arnold Roth and Al Jaffee how could you go wrong? Nothing wrong with the magazine, just too high a cost to produce and ultimately it was laid to rest after only 2 issues. Still without a doubt it has remained one of the best examples of a "beautifully crafted humor magazine"

There has been talk that these 2 issues will be reprinted although the release date has been delayed multiple times so it may not happen. It really is too bad that there is not more demand for reprints of classic humor magazines. Maybe someday......

JOElanta 2010 wrap up?!

Some "Wild and Crazy Guys" at JOElanta 2010! I wonder what'll happen in 2011?

Hangin' out in the Toy Room

Ahhhh... Nothing like relaxing while surrounded by a lot of vintage plastic, much of it accumulated at various JOElanta's over the years. See you at next year's show!

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JOElanta 2011 THE 1/6 Scale Show!

As we get closer to this next year's show the excitement is already starting to build among the troops here at JOElanta headquarters. Great dealers, great variety, great fun and camaraderie!

Everything our loyal friends and guests have come to love about JOElanta - THE 1/6 Scale show!

Check out all the updates www.joelanta.com

Ice Cream Anyone?

Here's a quick poster/flier I did recently for Martha Brown UMC in East Atlanta where my wife has recently been appointed Pastor.