Don Martin - The MADDest of 'em all!

It is no secret as to how much this man's work has been not only inspirational to me but a cause for continual comfort over the years. As you read the above article entitled "The Influence of DON MARTIN" from the Journal of MADness #10 or my bio to the right of this page - Don Martin for me and millions of others was the epitome of crazy, wacky, slap stick hilarity.

I am deeply saddened that I was never able to meet the man, although within a couple of months of his passing I was able to correspond with him via some letters through his wife Norma. In them I found out about what he was currently working on (the finished product is above entitled "Don Martin Brain Games for Kids") which is a book of puzzles with artwork taken from many of his prior works as well as a few new pieces. http://www.amazon.com/Don-Martin-Brain-Games-Kids/dp/1434328503/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251137739&sr=1-4

While working on material for THWAK #5 back in early 2003 I purchased some original artwork on ebay of one of my favorite CRACKED artists, Bruce Bolinger. We began corresponding and I found out that he was in fact Don Martin's inker for all Don's output at CRACKED from '87-'93. An interview with Bruce and his collaboration with the Martins can be seen in The THWAK Bonfire of Insanity collection. It was interesting to hear about the process they worked out.

About 2 years ago I resumed my correspondence with Norma Martin, and after receiving a generous gift of a number of printed shirts, sent her the above picture of my daughter and I wearing the tees while reading one of her late husbands books. Incidentally we still love reading the brand new Completely MAD Don Martin although it's a little more of a chore to do as each book is like 8lbs or something : )

While we had this communication I suggested many different possibilities regarding material that has of yet not come out such as: The Completely CRACKED Don Martin, The NUTheads strips in their entirety (some were printed in the DROLL book - which the above signed page is from), Reader for the Unexpurgated Adult (revealed during his 10 page interview with HONK magazine in 1986), collected reprints of all his paperbacks and finally The Art of Don Martin - a book to encompass all his work from his early sci fi and Jazz record albums in the '50's through his advertising work, posters, T-shirts, calendars, greeting cards and the multitude of international books and magazines that were published over the years. After all Don Martin was even more popular in Europe than here in the States!

Hopefully one day such a long delayed book will be published! Now who's gonna step up to the plate and make it happen?

MAD magazine Displays

Here are some pictures from back in '99 of me in my studio/toy room. Most of my MAD collection has long since been sold off, although I do still have a decent amount of vintage magazines and records with art by the UGOI left if anyone is interested.

I wanted to be able to rotate my wall of magazines so I ended up using wire shelf racks. The edge/lip on the ends were perfect for standing the books up. The nice thing about this was that the "scenary" could be completely changed whenever I was ready for something else. Here are a few of the many wall displays, including all Mingo covers, Rickard, Don Martin, Mort Drucker and a variety of record album covers by MAD alumni.

The room has morphed many times over the years, at one point literally every square inch from floor to ceiling (including the ceiling) was covered with a variety of toys, artwork, magazines and posters. It has since been "tamed down" a bit. More to come.

Don Martin Envelope Art

Back around late 1999 I had the opportunity to correspond briefly with (in my humble opinion) the best most wildly insane artist at MAD - Don Martin. Having been my hero since childhood it was truly a treat to be able to correspond with him via his wife Norma. At the time he was already in very poor health and unfortunately passed away in early 2000.

At the time I was contributing to the Journal of MADness magazine, a publication which the Martin's received regularly. At that time I learned of a puzzle project which just saw the light of day late Dec 2007. Check out my next post.

In 2007 I again had the opportunity to correspond with Norma Martin. Hence the wide variety of envelope art. Enjoy

Friends of THWAK - Bruce Bolinger

Great News - artist & writer BRUCE BOLINGER's latest book is now available on Amazon!

Bruce Bolinger was a regular contributor to CRACKED magazine from the late '80's until around 2000. He first started contributing as Don Martin's inker but then started contributing his own off the wall artwork that helped give CRACKED it's distinctive look during that time period. (For an in depth interview with Bruce check out "The THWAK Bonfire of Insanity Collection" available from this blog)

Prior to joining the CRACKED team Bruce's work appeared in the Ripp Off Press magazines which lead to his own exclusive 3 issue series "Stranger in a Strange Land". Since his departure from CRACKED Bruce has been hard at work with his single panel gems that have appeared in numerous publications including THWAK and JOKESTER magazine.

This brand new book called "Just South of Sane" include 105 of his best. With a forward from ex-CRACKED editor/National Lampooner Andy Simmons this collection is packed with some really off the wall madness.

Enjoy! http://www.amazon.com/Just-South-Sane-Cartoons-Bolinger/dp/1425178898/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240158391&sr=1-1

THWAK magazine #1

This is the premiere magazine size issue that came out around July of 2001 with a Winter 2001 interior date. The cover illustration was done a couple of months earlier while I was vacationing in sunny Florida. The original black and white line art was donated to be auctioned off for charity while at one of the larger Comic Conventions in Atlanta. The painting was actually done over a copy of the original and is still part of my archives. My friend Buddy added some airbrush to give a little more perspective.

Initially Anna Nicole Smith was not in the news at the time but when I came up with the cover gag she seemed the natural choice. Here Stupid Cupid has shot an arrow into the "significantly older" gentleman giving him an excuse to "fall in love at 1st sight" while Ms. Smith needed no outside stimulation. This issue continues to sell whenever it pops up on e.bay.

Upon its completion a copy was actually sent to MAD just to say "Hi" and was most probably thrown out immediately! hahah - Although over the years I know that a number of the UGOI have been given copies . As you can see there were 2 slightly different covers. The 1st cover (rare) lacked the black background in the logo (right) the second printing fixed that to help the logo pop as well as a number of interior page changes. The logo font is wide Latin - which should be recognizable to most Don Martin fans as this was the font used in all the titles to his pages in MAD. As mentioned earlier this 1st issue did mimic MAD's use of Departments on each page, with entries such as "Vegetarians Only" to a piece on Cannibals, "MeNoHava Condongo" to a piece on Uncommon Birth Control Methods and "Definitely NOT the Chicken of the Sea" to apiece on Sharks. Although an exercise in fun we discontinued that direction with the 2nd issue.

The beauty of self publishing is that you can keep learning from each and every experience. I certainly feel that way about THWAK as a magazine. We even experimented with the table of contents and the overall layout of the 1st page.

It's Finally Here!

The brand new THWAK trade paperback is finally back from the printers! With 128 pages jammed full of gags, muti page stories and other nonsense this collection has it all! Plus interviews with Carmine Infantino, Kelly Freas, Bruce Bolinger and Jay Lynch!

Only $14.95 plus s&h. Oder your copy today by e.mailing

Madjallads@bellsouth.net