TOM RICHMOND
by David O'Leary
5 Minutes With... is back for its twenty-ninth edition as today I am joined by one of comics most prominent cartoonists. Tom Richmond has been working at MAD Magazine for over ten years and in that time has risen to prominence for his unique style of cartooning. I will be touching on Tom's past at NOW Comics and Marvel Comics where he was working on licensed properties while trying to get his foot in the door at MAD. Also, Tom will tell us about his appearance in Stephen Pastis' popular strip Pearls Before Swine in 2006. I even get a rare opportunity to rip him about baseball! Enough build up, read on for one of the more fun interviews that I have had down the years.
David O'Leary: Hi Tom, many thanks for taking the time to speak with us here on CR.
Tom Richmond: My pleasure.
DO'L: Firstly, I want to ask you about how you developed your wonderful style. Who were the influences in your work, did you look to the likes of Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, Will Elder et al?
TR: Not early on. I loved MAD as a kid but didn't really "get" the fact that the art was so amazing. I was more into traditional comic books then. It wasn't until I got into doing caricatures when as a college student I got a summer job drawing at a theme park that I discovered the art in MAD was genius. Then I couldn't get enough of Wally Wood, Drucker, Elder, Davis and Don Martin, among others. Later I came to appreciate the art of illustrators like Norman Rockwell, Andrew Loomis, C.F. Payne and Al Hirschfeld. I also loved more contemporary humorous comic art from the likes of Ty Templeton, Hilary Barta, Don Simpson and Jeff Smith. Mostly, though, my style was developed drawing about 100,000 live caricatures over 20 years in theme parks, parties and events.
DO'L: Growing up, what books were you reading, were into humour early or more Big Two books?
TR: I didn't read a lot of humor comics as a kid. Mainly just MAD and the Carl Barks Disney books. I also read some Archie comics. I was mainly a DC guy... my favorites were the Batman books with Carmine Infantino and eventually Neal Adams and Dick Giordano, the Curt Swan Superman, CC Beck's Captain Marvel and others. The only Marvel books I liked were Star Wars and the occasional Hulk book.
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"I knew 4 times a year was better than no times a year, but still... I blame Sergio."
On MAD going quarterly
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DO'L: When you were working at NOW Comics on Married...With Children, were you aware of the rough times financially the company was in and did it affect you in any way like other creators who were burned by the company at the time?
TR: I knew about the problems they were having but at the time I was in a unique position in life that I could weather those issues. I had my own caricature operations going at a theme park and a tourist center, and I was making enough money to support my family through those businesses. I could afford to be patient with NOW's payment problems. Doing so I did about 500 pages of comic book work for them, and I only got stiffed for 6 pages that never saw print.
DO'L: Your first work at Marvel was on another licensed property in The Coneheads. At a tine where you were still honing your work, how do you look back on those early efforts at Marvel and NOW?
TR: The NOW stuff is embarrassing. The only reason I got a job doing that was because it was 1990 and almost anyone with a pulse could get a job in comics if they didn't care about getting paid more than peanuts, and that NOW had such a bad reputation. It was a great learning experience for me, especially since I had gotten no education on comics or storytelling in college, but it sure was a rough ride. The Marvel stuff was better, but a lot of that was because of the great inking of Marie Severin, who corrected a lot of my bad drawing.
DO'L: I've read how you showed your portfolio several times to MAD editors before getting any actual work off them. Each time they gave you feedback how determined were you to go back in front of them again for advice?
TR: Very determined. I was focused on getting into MAD, and I was going to keep trying until they went out of business, I was dead or the world ended. My money was on my being dead first, followed by the world ending.
DO'L: At this time you were working on MAD clone, Cracked, was that in any way helpful in what you brought to MAD eventually?
TR: No doubt it was. It allowed me to demonstrate to MAD that I could do what they were looking for, and it forced me to do fresh work frequently. Plus, Cracked had a color section that I did a color parody in, and (unknown to anyone at the time) MAD was planning a switch to color in the near future. Good timing on my part... not only was MAD looking for someone who did color parodies they were apparently also about to lower their standards considerably, which is why I got in.
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"The NOW stuff is embarrassing"
On his early work
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DO'L: You started at MAD at the same time as I started reading it actually, issue 399, and I have followed your work since. Was it an ambition of yours to work for MAD as it seems like your style and their styles are a perfect fit each other?
TR: Not until about two years or so earlier in 1998. I met Sergio Aragones at a caricaturists convention, and corresponded with Mort Drucker... both encoruaged me to submit work to MAD, which I hadn't really read since I was in 5th grade. That got me started on that path, which I am sure all involved now regret. Sergio can't get rid of me at parties.
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"It almost made me feel like I was part of the classic 60's MAD"
On his Mad Men spoof
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DO'L: You worked a lot early on at MAD with writer Des Devlin. How was that working relationship in terms of having stability and getting guidance?
TR: The working process at MAD is very compartmentalized. I work directly with MAD art director Sam Viviano and he will go to the writer with any questions I may have about the script or intent. I have very little direct communication with any of the writers. In fact, Des is the only one who answers my emails... if you call "stop emailing me, you putz!" an answer.
DO'L: Now a staple of MAD for over ten years, what favourite strips have you worked on?
TR: My favorite is usually the last one I did. Recently I really loved doing the parody of the TV show "Mad Men"—drawing all the 60's clothes, environments and stuff it almost made me feel like I was part of the classic 60's MAD. I also loved doing the recent Batman movies.
DO'L: When MAD went quarterly, at the time was that a bit of a morale downer for you?
TR: I'll say. The publication industry is having real problems and I knew 4 times a year was better than no times a year, but still... I blame Sergio.
DO'L: What were the circumstances leading to you appearing in Stephan Pastis' popular Pearls Before Swine strip in 2006?
TR: I knew Stephen thorough the National Cartoonists Society, where we both had just won divisional awards the year before. My family and I were visiting the Santa Rosa area where he lived as my niece was getting married near there, and he invited us over to see his studio. When there he sprung this idea for a Sunday strip on me, where I did a caricature of Barbara Striesand for him and he had Rat draw one in the strip as a compeition. He had everything ready for me including photo references, and I drew it right on the original strip. My kids thought my being in Pearls Before Swine was way cooler than working for MAD. I may have to agree... but don't tell Pastis I said that.
DO'L: You are a big fan of Batman. Have you any desire to do something with the character outside of the Batman spoof a few years ago in MAD?
TR: There was a time I wanted to do realistic Batman comics, but I quickly learned that I was much better at humor, and enjoyed it more. If the right project came around I'd be thrilled, but I don't see that happening.
Tom Richmond
DO'L: Finally, Tom, as a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays, I must pass along my glee at the Blue Jays scoring 13 runs against Minnesotsa on opening day this year. Hope it wasn't too hurtful!
TR: Your team beat the crap out of the Minneosta Twins? Join the club this year... it's getting crowded.
DO'L: That's true, Tom. Thanks once more for your time. Take care.
TR: Stay out of my yard.
DO'L: Will do!
That was very cool. My sincerest thanks to Tom for speaking with us today. I hope you enjoyed it too. Please join me again soon here on 5 Minutes with... and thanks for reading.
Interviewer Bio
Name: David O' Leary
Email: idwfan@yahoo.co.uk
Bio: David has been with CR since June 2008 and started out as a reviewer and has expanded to do a couple of columns for the site also; starting with 28 Words Later with artist Declan Shalvey and later 5 Minutes With... where he talks with the industries best and brightest from Kubert to Moore.
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