Jack Rickard (March 8, 1922 – July 22, 1983) was an American illustrator for numerous advertising campaigns and multiple comic strips but was best known as a key contributor to '' Mad'' for more than two decades. Rickard's artwork appeared in more than 175 ''Mad'' issues, including 35 covers; he also illustrated sixteen ''Mad'' paperback covers. After attending the

Rochester Institute of Technology The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in Henrietta, New York, a suburb of Rochester, New York, Rochester. It was founded in 1829. It is one of only two institute of technology, institut ...

on an art scholarship, Rickard did

commercial art Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...

for Chaite Studios in the 1950s. He illustrated covers for "men's magazines" such as "

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

" and "

True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American Anthology series, anthology Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Nic Pizzolatto for the premium cable network HBO. The series premiered on January 12, 2014, and ...

", contributed to

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic-book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T. W. O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line (comics), line was a divi ...

and worked as an assistant on the ''

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' was a satirical American comic strip that appeared in multiple newspapers in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies living in the impoverished fictional mountain village of Dogpatch, ...

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

. Soon after, he became a mainstay in the advertising field, where his work attracted the attention of ''Mads editors. He began illustrating for the humor magazine in 1961 and remained a regular until his death from cancer 22 years later.

Comic strip

In 1966–1967, he collaborated with

Mell Lazarus Melvin Lazarus (May 3, 1927 – May 24, 2016) was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of two comic strips, '' Miss Peach'' (1957–2002) and '' Momma'' (1970–2016). Additionally, he wrote two novels. For his comic strip ''Pauline ...

on a newspaper

, ''Pauline McPeril'' (a.k.a. ''The Adventures of Pauline McPeril'') for

Publishers-Hall Syndicate Publishers-Hall Syndicate was a newspaper syndicate founded by Robert M. Hall in 1944. Hall served as the company's president and general manager. Over the course of its operations, the company was known as, sequentially, the Hall Syndicate (1944� ...

. Lazarus used the pseudonym "Fulton" on this strip, which followed the misadventures of blonde secret agent McPeril.

''Mad''

''Mad'' editor

Nick Meglin Nick Meglin (July 30, 1935 – June 2, 2018) was an American writer, humorist, and artist. He was known for his work as a contributor, comics writer, illustrator and editor for the satirical magazine '' Mad''. He also scripted ''Superfan'', a 1 ...

commented, "I think of all the artists we've had, we miss Jack the most. Jack had so many styles, such a total command of all techniques. He was especially useful when we wanted something to have a real rounded, 3-D look to it." After

Norman Mingo Norman Theodore Mingo (January 25, 1896May 8, 1980) was an American commercial artist and illustrator. He is most famous for being commissioned to formalize the image of Alfred E. Neuman for '' Mad.''Lambiek Comiclopedia, https://www.lambiek.net ...

semi-retired in 1976, Rickard became ''Mads main cover artist until his death seven years later. He also illustrated for the original ''Mad'' paperbacks, including

Frank Jacobs Franklin Jacobs (May 30, 1929 – April 5, 2021) was an American author of satires, known primarily for his work in '' Mad'', to which he contributed from 1957 to 2014. Jacobs wrote a wide variety of lampoons and spoof, but was best known as a ve ...

' ''Mad About Sports'' (1972). Some of his ''Mad'' work was reprinted in

Richard Linklater Richard Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was included on the annual ''Time'' 100 li ...

's ''Dazed and Confused: Teenage Nostalgia. Instant and Cool 70's Memorabilia'' (MCA, 1993), a tie-in with Linklater's 1993 film, '' Dazed and Confused''.

Film posters

Rickard's style was in demand for film promotional artwork and posters. Among his numerous assignments, he created the poster art for two

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Among his ot ...

films, '' Uptown Saturday Night'' and '' Let's Do It Again'', and for two

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

films, the 1963 film ''

The Pink Panther ''The Pink Panther'' is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Clouseau, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the fil ...

'' and the 1974 '' Soft Beds, Hard Battles'' (a.k.a. ''Party for Hitler'' and ''Undercovers Hero''). Rickard illustrated both the original film poster for ''

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Paul Mazursky, written by Mazursky and Larry Tucker (screenwriter), Larry Tucker, who also produced the film, and starring Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliott Gould, ...

'' and its parody on the cover of ''Mad'' #137.

References

External links

Complete list of Jack Rickard's ''Mad'' contributions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rickard, Jack 1922 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American illustrators American comics artists American poster artists American advertising artists and illustrators American humorists American comic strip cartoonists Mad (magazine) cartoonists Film poster artists Rochester Institute of Technology alumni