Friday, April 10, 2020

R.I.P. Mort Drucker

In an age of sad news, here's a bit more, Groove-ophiles: Mad Magazine's master caricaturist Mort Drucker passed away Wednesday, April 8, at age 91.  While Drucker drew comics for many years before his association began with Mad, it was his movie and TV parodies in that world-famous mag that made him a super-star. Drucker's parodies appeared in an amazing 228 of Mad's 550 issues! Drucker's caricature  art also appeared on famous magazine covers, including a 1970 issue of Time Magazine that is now enshrined in the National Portrait Gallery. 


He also famously created the poster art for George Lucas' breakout film American Graffiti


To those of us growing up in the Groovy Age, Mr. Drucker was as much a part of our pop culture as any of the politicians, sports, rock, TV, or movie stars he so deftly lampooned with his amazing art. I chose to share the following movie parody, "The Poopsideown Adventure" (from Mad #161, cover-dated September 1973, written by Dick De Bartolo) for a couple reasons: one, because it lampoons one of my favorite 70s flicks and two, because it showcases Drucker's abilities by letting him draw a huge all-star cast of celebrities (plus all the extras he tosses in for the fun of it). We'll never forget the talent of Mort Drucker!











Hey, Kids! Comics from 50 Years Ago!
April 7 & 9, 1970
















9 comments:

  1. Saddened to hear... we have this Poseidon Adventure issue

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mort Drucker was terrific! A number of his pre-Mad comics stories from the '50s were reprinted in the late '60s as backup fillers (and good ones, too!) in Strange Adventures (where Neal Adams' Deadman was the main feature) and in the House of Mystery 100 pagers in 1974.

    It is interesting that you chose that Poseidon Adventure satire to run here. It appeared in Mad #161 in 1973, and that issue sold 2.5 million copies that month, the absolute pinnacle of sales for Mad.

    Regards,

    Chris A.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Another part of my childhood gone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Drucker had a 50 year run at Mad (1958-2008) though his last work there was published in early 2009 in no. 500. Pretty amazing.

      Gene Poole

      Delete
  4. Thanks for mentioning Mort Drucker. Along with the loss of John Prine this week, it has been a somber time. We do have the work which will live forever! I remember loving Drucker's Mad work, along with Severin's Cracked stuff. Best, John

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You couldn't top Severin's Cracked work. I seek out back issues just to look at Severin's art.

      Delete
    2. I was very impressed by his mid '60s Warren work, such as this story:

      http://bronzeageofblogs.blogspot.com/2019/09/archie-goodwin-john-severins-enemy.html?m=1

      Delete
    3. His Warren work was superb. Especially since he got to work in a variety of media.

      Delete
  5. To be honest, I didn't even know Mort Drucker was still around. I wasn't much into Mad, but whenever I found a dog eared copy I would read it and always enjoyed Drucker's intricate artwork, with it's spot on caricatures. I think I also picked up the book devoted to him several years back. Mad had a rep for paying well in its heydey, so I hope Mr. Drucker made a good living from his craft.
    As for the other comics posted here Captain America # 127 will stand as the one-time (so far as I know) teaming of Gene Colan with Wally Wood. Wish that had continued for awhile. The Thor issue was close to winding up Jack Kirby's amazing run on the title. And the Golden Comic Digest is something I would have passed on the newsstand but would pay serious eBay coin to own now. I like your new weekly approach now, but the multitude of titles presented makes comment from me more scattershot and less focused than your old format. But oh, the memories they stir up. I'm suddenly a teenager again collecting comics in South Carolina before our move to Kansas City, purchasing comics from our only outlets: 7 Eleven and the Red and White grocery store on the Isle of Palms (I still recall the excitement I felt when Fantastic Four # 100 appeared on the spinner rack one day).

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin
Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!


Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.


All other commentary and insanity copyright GroovyAge, Ltd.

As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!