MAD Magazine caricaturist dies at 91

You either bought them from the newsstands before or these days come across them in selected Book Sale branches. But if you wanted a parody, MAD Magazine will give it to you.

While the magazine has stopped printing since it’s last run in April 2018, it has always been known to poke fun at celebrities, movies and pop culture by way of its articles and especially the many caricatures that it has drawn and printed over the years.

But all good things must come to an end as they say. And most recently one man directly connected with the magazine has passed away.

He is Mort Drucker, whose caricatures have graced the pages of the magazine for five decades.

His death, however, was not the result of the Corona virus, although he had trouble breathing.

In fact, according to his friend cartoonist, John Reiner, Drucker has been in quarantine for two weeks and with no outside contact. The caricaturist told Reiner that he feels very lucky and that he has lived a wonderful life.

In 2015, Drucker was the first winner of the National Cartoonists Society Medal of Honor award. He was also the cartoonist of the year in 1987.

In his early years, Drucker was with DC comics for three years. He left the comic book world in the 1950’s to work freelance up until six years after in 1956 when he pitched his work to Mad Magazine publisher, Bill Gaines and got hired.
During his tenure, he did more than 300 sketches which later prompted the magazine to do more movie and tv satires.

For many years, Mad Magazine has been the benchmark for satirical publication in America and was most widely read during its time.