The Ink Stained Wretch #160: 11/20/24
Free Subscriber Edition! This week: a quid pro quo sketch, a MAD documentary, and a scary commission.
Here we go with yet another of the doltish, dreary, just plain dumb diatribes that are these newsletters! In this issue we draw our Sketch o'the Week with some fava beans and a nice chianti, review the long awaiting documentary "When We Went MAD!", and share a peek at a King sized commission ...on with the 'Wretch!
Sketch o'the Week: Anthony Hopkins!
It's another "Famous Movie Moment" caricature! If the lambs weren't screaming before they are now after this sketch of Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in his "A census taker tried to test me once..." scene from "The Silence of the Lambs".
I think this "Famous Movie Moments" series has morphed into "Famous Movie Characters". I'm finding it increasingly difficult to find a "movie moment" that does not involve multiple people or necessary environment/background or both. Realistically these need to be single subjects or maybe two people, otherwise the sketch becomes more of a mini-illustration, and that a bit too time consuming especially for the videos.
Speaking of videos, one of the benefits of being a “Premium” subscriber is you get access to a weekly video of me doing these sketch from beginning to end, and talking about the process. You also get the newsletter a day early, a now 20% discount in my Studio Store, and access to the full archives of the Ink Stained Wretch and all previous videos. Upgrade today if you are so inclined:
When We Went Mad!
Last week I travelled to the Motor City to see a screening of the documentary "When We Went Mad!".
This movie was a long time coming... 16 years in fact. Director Alan Bernstein filmed his first footage, an interview with former MAD editor Al Feldstein when Al was in Detroit for an event, back in 2008! Alan's day job is as a freelance editor for sports broadcasting, where he (among other things) does instant replay edits for local Detroit pro sports broadcasts. He's only a fan of MAD the rest of the time (and since age 6), and this was a passion project for him.
Initially he did this all with his own money, going around the county interviewing members of the Usual Gang of Idiots, and working on the film around his day job. Needing funding to continue the project, Alan launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2013 that raised over $58,000 and kept the lights on. He used some of that dough to finance a two day interview shoot at the MAD offices in New York in July of 2013, where he got a lot of interviews with MAD staffers and a number of writers and artists, myself included.
It would be another 11 years before the film would be complete. Along the way Alan got interviews with Gilbert Gottfried and "Weird Al" Yankovic, but it was his gaining the support of production company Chassy Media and its owner, Adam Corolla, that opened the doors to other celebrity interviews like Quentin Tarantino, Bryan Cranston, Howie Mandel, Judd Apatow and a few other notable Hollywood directors and creators who were influenced by MAD.
Working nights and on his days off on the film, it was long road for Alan and the documentary, not just in getting the film together but navigating the pitfalls of copyright clearance, securing footage from other sources, and other challenges in creating a full length movie. It didn't help matters that along the way MAD went from 12 issues a year to 4 in 2010, then to 6 issues a year, then moved to Burbank leaving the entire staff save one production artist back in NYC necessitating a whole new creative team, then stopped newsstand distribution, then went to only partial new content, then to basically full reprint content. They also lost the support of the E.C. folks when another MAD documentary came into play and the Gaines estate and DC/MAD itself moved to support that project. When the title says it's "The Unauthorized Story of MAD Magazine" they mean it.
At long last the film is complete, and had its first screening in New York in August. The screening I attained last week was at the historic Redford Theater in Detroit. Also in attendance was Detroit native and both longtime artist for and art director of MAD, Sam Viviano.
I can honestly say the film was worth the wait. It does a great job of telling the story of the history of MAD through a deft combination of original interview segments with MAD staff and artists/writers, well known celebrity fans of the magazine, the use of footage from other sources (many of which have not been seen at all or in many years), and some original clever scripted scenes that are MAD-worthy in their humor. I especially enjoyed seeing footage from a Canadian MAD feature news story with Bill Gaines I didn't even know existed, and personal video from some of the MAD trips by Jack Davis and others.
Clocking in at about 90 minutes, it's thorough without going too long. It stops just as the magazine moves to Burbank so there are no interviews with the then new staff like VP of Editorial Bill Morrison or art director Suzy Hutchinson, but I guess you had to stop somewhere.
Once thing that was nice to see at the screening was that the theater was PACKED. There were well over 800 people in attendance. After the screening Alan dragged Sam and I up to the stage to answer some questions. Approximately 795 people left quickly. The remaining people also left, but more slowly.
The good news is Alan has a distribution deal through Gravitas Ventures and streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple Movies should happened sometime soon. If you are a fan of MAD (and who isn't?) it's worth a watch, even if you have to pay a few $$ to rent it. Alan should be proud of his achievement here. Highly recommended.
Another Horrific Commission
I'm still chipping away at the commission list I have left from last month's NYCC. Here's one I did that I thought was a clever request... a two-headed Stephen King!
I went to the Mad exhibit at the Norman Rockwell museum in Stockbridge Ma. a few weeks ago ..It was amazing .. lots of original art as well a Druckers original self portrait
I hope Stephen sees that!