RIP Mort Drucker

Yeterday Mort Drucker, one of the greatest cartoonists of the 20th century, died at age 91. He was not only a brilliant draftsman but he also had an uncanny knack for caricature. Drucker was most famous for his work for MAD Magazine. As one of their flagship artists he illustrated hundreds of MAD movie parodies.

As a young artist I studied Drucker’s work with great awe. Many times I tried copying his drawings in my sketchbook just to see what I could learn from them. I still marvel at his ability to blend realism with goofiness.

Here’s a few select panels from his MAD parodies of the Christopher Reeve ‘Superman’ movies just to give you a taste of his genius. (They aren’t in order so reading them won’t make much sense. I chose these purely for the art.)

I love the way these animals are drawn.

In this panel somehow Drucker managed to make Christopher Reeve look handsome and dorky at the same time. Brilliant!

 I love this pose because it’s so un-heroic, the opposite of how Superman is usually drawn.

The rooftop reporters are a nice touch.

Another pose you wouldn’t normally expect to see Superman drawn in.