John F. Caldwell (March 23, 1946 – February 21, 2016) was a nationally
syndicated American
gag cartoonist primarily known for his work in ''
National Lampoon'' and ''
Mad'', where he was a member of "The Usual Gang of Idiots."
Following his death,
The Comics Reporter
Thomas Martin Spurgeon (December 16, 1968 – November 13, 2019) was an American writer, historian, critic, and editor in the field of comics, notable for his five-year run as editor of ''The Comics Journal'' and his blog ''The Comics Reporter''. ...
described him as having had "one of the most prolific and successful
artooningcareers of the late 20th Century."
Education
Caldwell never received any actual training as a cartoonist, but he attended the
Parsons School of Design
Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...
, where his general art education helped him prepare for a cartooning career. He spent 1969–70 working for the State of New York as a
cartographer
Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an ...
.
Career
Caldwell's drawings appeared in numerous publications, including ''Writer's Digest'', ''Playboy'', ''Barron's'', the ''New Yorker'', the ''Wall Street Journal'', ''Reader's Digest'' and ''Harvard Business Review''. He designed
greeting cards
A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthdays ...
for Recycled Paper Greetings and Nobleworks.
In an oddity, one of Caldwell's better-known cartoons was never officially published. He wrote and drew a gag front cover depicting the mascot
Alfred E. Neuman having taken a wrong turn away from the
New York Marathon
The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...
route, jogging into a murder scene, and cluelessly breaking through yellow
crime scene tape in triumph. The issue, #411, was already at the printer when the
9/11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...
happened. The joke which depicted downtown Manhattan and a dead body was no longer appropriate in light of the real world events. A replacement cover was swiftly produced, showing a closely cropped head shot of Neuman, his trademark tooth gap filled in by a small American flag.
Death
Aged 69, Caldwell died February 21, 2016, from cancer. He was survived by his wife Diane,
"John Caldwell, MAD Writer and Artist, RIP"
'' Mad''. February 22, 2016. as well as a daughter and grandson.
Books
* ''Running A Muck: A Bunch of Zany Cartoons'' (Writer's Digest Books, 1978)
* ''Mug Shots: A Splendid Collection of Cartoons'' ( Fantaco, 1980)
* ''The Book of Ultimates'' (McGraw-Hill, 1983)
* ''Caldwell'' (Fawcett Columbine, 1988)
* ''Fax This Book: Over 100 Sit-Up-and-Take-Notice Cover Sheets for Better Business'' (Workman, 1990)
* ''Faxable Greeting Cards'' (Workman, 1991)
References
Sources
* Glasbergen, Randy. ''How to Be a Successful Cartoonist''. North Light Books, 1996.
External links
*
Complete list of Caldwell's work for ''Mad''
1946 births
2016 deaths
American cartoonists
Mad (magazine) cartoonists
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
{{US-cartoonist-stub