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 on an art scholarship, Rickard did commercial art for Chaite Studios in the 1950s. He illustrated covers for "men's magazines" such as " Adventure" and " True Detective", contributed to Charlton Comics and worked as an assistant on the '' Li'l Abner''

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

. 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 on a newspaper

, ''Pauline McPeril'' (a.k.a. ''The Adventures of Pauline McPeril'') for Publishers-Hall Syndicate. Lazarus used the pseudonym "Fulton" on this strip, which followed the misadventures of blonde secret agent McPeril.

''Mad''

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

Richard Linklater Richard Stuart Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for films that revolve mainly around suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies '' ...

'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''.

Movie Posters

Rickard's style was in demand for movie 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 an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

movies, '' Uptown Saturday Night'' and '' Let's Do It Again'', and for two Peter Sellers films, the 1963 film '' The Pink Panther'' and the 1974 '' Soft Beds, Hard Battles'' (a.k.a. ''Party for Hitler'' and ''Undercovers Hero''). Rickard illustrated both the original movie poster for '' Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' 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 American illustrators American comics artists Mad (magazine) cartoonists Film poster artists Rochester Institute of Technology alumni