Not so much mad as jealous.
So pal Brook (whom I should make a category for on this site, he comes up often enough) (and so I have) made another original art acquisition…this time, an original page from a Mad paperback by Angelo Torres:
This is, believe it or not, Brook’s fifth page from the same book. I told him to keep going and get all the art from it…surely that wouldn’t be too hard.
I believe the book in question is History Gone Mad from 1977, drawn by Torres and written by Tom Koch. Brook only told me the name of the book multiple times and my aged brain didn’t retain the info. But, that seems to be the likely suspect.
And the piece is great…I love seeing the paste-up work and the handwritten page number on the original art at the top. And the linework is so clean, as is the toning. This is a beautifully and expertly executed piece of illustration.
The hand “acting” is wonderful, with the fella digging into his pocket for change, and the messenger waiting for the tip to be placed in his hand:
And oh, that messenger’s face — perfection:
And yes, that is a little “a. torres” signature newly added to the piece at the bottom there, between those wonderful pairs of shoes. What a great art piece this is. Thanks to Brook for letting me get my dirty hands and even dirtier blog all over it.
A very nice score!
But why not say that Alfred’s face is perfection–he’s the messenger, no?!
Maybe messenger Alfred’s motto should be: “What, me scurry?”
Wow! Very nice. Thanks for the close ups. The controlled looseness of Torres, Drucker and especially Davis gives their art such a vibrant quality.
I do a lot of sketching and painting of foliage and I’m in awe how he can make that mess of squiggles perfectly read as “shrubbery.”
David Apatoff’s Illustration Art blog has many entries on Mad artists, Drucker get’s the spotlight most often, but others are represented. Like your entry, he shows a lot of closeups of hands and the other “simple” gestures that are crucial to the charm of the drawing, but easy to miss.
It never occurred to me that Dave Sim was influenced by that Mad style, but it totally clicked for me when I saw the telegram recipient’s face. It makes so much sense given Sim’s sense of humor.
Nice!!