DANCING TO THE HITS!

 

PAUL COKER Jr. (1929-2022)

Recently, on July 23, cartoonist Paul Coker Jr., one of my favorite artists from the original MAD Magazine Usual Gang of Idiots, passed on.  The following is the article appearing in ANIMATION Magazine on the day of his passing:

Animation artist and illustrator Paul Coker Jr., best known for his character and production designs for the classic Rankin/Bass stop-motion specials as well as his long stint illustrating for MAD Magazine, died at home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 23 at age 93, after a brief illness. Coker’s stepdaughter, Lee Smithson Burd, confirmed his passing to Deadline and shared that the artist was “lucid and had his remarkable sense of humor until the end.”

Born March 5, 1929 in Lawrence, Kansas, Coker studied drawing and painting at the University of Kansas, and began his career designing greeting cards for Hallmark in the 1950s in Kansas City, Missouri. He became the Art Director for the company’s humorous “Contemporary Card” line.

His first work for MAD appeared in 1961, and he became established as one of the publication’s so-called “Usual Gang of Idiots.” He went on to illustrate over 375 articles for the humor rag, as well as a series of paperbacks starting in 1968.

Coker was known for his “Horrifying Clichés” panels and film/TV parody spoofs. He also collaborated with MAD writer Don Edwing on the Lancelot and Horace & Buggy comic strips. Coker freelanced for other publications, including Esquire, Good Housekeeping and Playboy. 

To generations of fans, however, Coker will be remembered as the artful hand that created beloved Rankin/Bass characters like Frosty the Snowman (from the 1969 2D special); Kris Kringle, Winter Warlock and Burgermeister Meisterburger (Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, 1970); and the wonderfully vaudevillian villains Snow Miser and Heat Miser (The Year without a Santa Claus).

                                       

For Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr.’s iconic studio, Coker also provided character designs for stop-motion specials Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971), Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979) and The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor’s New Clothes (1972) as well as 2D specials and series like Festival of Family Classics and The Wacky World of Mother Goose. 

                                  

Coker lent his talents to to many of these titles as well, in addition to The First Easter Rabbit, Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, Jack Frost, The Stingiest Man in Town and Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, to name a few. Coker continued working the the studio into the early 2000s, on the 2D TV movie Santa, Baby! He also provided character models for Cartoon Network’s Whatever Happened to Robot Jones? (2002).                          Coker is survived by his wife of 33 years, Rosemary Smithson, and stepdaughters Lee Smithson Burd and Carol Smithson.

My Mission on this Earth...

               
                                    ...plus also, those who think exactly like me!

A VERY HEARTFELT THANK YOU NOTE

To all my friends and relatives who sent nice comments, congratulations, compliments and good wishes on my 50th Anniversary as a Cartoonist, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart! I tried to answer each and every one of you personally but if I missed someone, here's a big THANK YOU to cover you all! And I'm hoping to hear from you again on my next 50th!

LORD OF THE IDIOTS.

LESSONS IN LIFE # 2

DON MARTIN looks at Monsters!

I have always admired the work of cartoonist Don Martin, who worked at MAD magazine from 1956 to 1988, which, of course, were the golden years of that publication. His cartoon style was unlike anything I had seen before, and it completely blew my mind. His grotesquely designed characters and his ridiculously exaggerated sound effects always made me laugh out loud!

I was really sorry when he departed MAD over royalty disagreements with Mad's publisher, William Gaines but I loyally followed him over to Cracked magazine, where he stayed six years before branching out with his own magazine which unfortunately, didn't do well.
Don Martin kept working on other projects until his death on January 6, 2000 in Coconut Grove, Florida at age 68, from cancer.

In memory of this extraordinary artist, here we have a few monster inspired cartoons, to celebrate the impending Halloween season.

                                              

WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN?

                                                                The shadow knows!

(With a tip of the hat to Sergio Aragonés!)

MORT DRUCKER!

Mort Drucker was born March 22,1929 in Brooklyn, New York.
His work and caricatures at MAD Magazine, beginning in 1956, soon became legendary.  Mort's artwork was the first thing that attracted me to Mad Magazine back in the Sixties, and I became an ardent fan of his drawings.  Mort Drucker's on-target depictions of celebrities were my inspiration to become a full time cartoonist.
Of course I never aspired to emulate him and my drawing style differs sharply from his, but he was the reason I kept buying Mad even into the 2000s even though I believed the rest of the magazine was going rapidly downhill.  When Mort ceased to submit his work to the magazine, I stopped buying it.
Anyway, happy 90th birthday to one of my heroes...the one and only MORT DRUCKER!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mort_Drucker

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

                                                It's always nice to have a turkey for dinner!

How Cold Is It?

It's so cold I just saw a squirrel microwaving its nuts!

It Might Look Like I'm Not Paying Attention...

...BUT TRUST ME, I NOTICE EVERYTHING!

Arguments on the Internet

Nothing is as stupid as having a heated argument in the comments section of any webpage with complete strangers or even with known acquaintances! You'll always end up frustrated, angry and with a mild cardiac arrest in store! I have never engaged myself in such an activity but from what  I've seen, there are those who really thrive in doing so! Such a waste of time and energy!  And if you don't agree, tell me why in the comments section below, you moron!

NICK'S NEW YEAR STARTS WITH A BANG!

MOBSTER NICK in Syndication...NOT!

After sending a request to every known Newspaper Syndicate in hopes of getting the MOBSTER NICK comic strip syndicated, the reactions have been quite disappointing. As expected, some syndicates didn't even bother to send a reply. Those who did, sent the same, standardized automatic response: 
"Regrettably, our editorial board has decided we are unable to distribute your material at this time. Please understand that this does not reflect on your talents but rather on our needs at present. Because the cost of launching a new feature is so high, only a few of the thousands of submissions received each year by syndicates can be accepted. Nevertheless, we would encourage you to continue developing your work and feel free to submit new samples at any point in the future."
Well, that's more or less what I was expecting, so the level of disappointment is not really that high! Nonetheless, although MOBSTER NICK may have gotten the pink slip treatment, he's not out yet! I expect to try some other means of publishing the strips, come rain or come shine. And even if it still doesn't work out, nobody will take away the fun of doing this strip! Frank Sinatra said it and I repeat it: "The best is yet to come!" 

"Please be advised that Tribune Content Agency has received the material you sent through our electronic submissions process. If we are interested in discussing your inquiry, we will contact you. Thank you for your interest in Tribune Content Agency."

Sincerely,
The Editors at TCA