MAD Mumblings

[canucklehead]

Guess what, gang?

MAD Mumblings has declared the month of June to be...

RAY ALMA MONTH!

That's right - we're paying tribute to this beloved MAD artist with several special features over the next few weeks, including an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW conducted by yours-truly earlier this spring!

But first, to whet your appetite and get your thinking caps buzzing, here's a little something I like to call...

RAY ALMA TRIVIA-O-RAMA!

Let's see how much you REALLY know about the boy from Brooklyn who grew up to be a kook from Queens!

First of all, an easy one:

Which article marked Ray's MAD debut?

(Bonus points if you know the writer, the issue number and the newsstand date!)

[art4mad]

I can't believe nobody has gotten this one!!

Ray's first piece in MAD was "MAD Visits This Year's Blahblahpaloser", a parody of the "Lalapalooza" music festivals. Written by Desmond Devlin in Issue number 347, July 1996. Ray's been in MAD for almost 10 years!!!


I remember seeing this and thinking "whoa, a NEW artist in MAD doing caricatures in a parody-style article!" That hadn't happened very often before. I also remembered thinking it was clever and funny to have Dennis Rodman, who is the narrator of the piece, drawn too tall of some of the panels so his head is off edge.

I looked this one up again in a back issue and, while I can see the signature Ray style it's obviously early work for him and he has grown immensley as an artist and illustrator since then.

[canucklehead]

Bravo Tom!

I still have fond memories of the "Blahblahpaloser" article, and I also appreciated the way Dennis Rodman (or "Oddman") was too tall for some of the panels.

But since Ray was featured in MAD Art, we've all learned that this piece was plagued with production problems, so the "too-tall Dennis" may not have been a deliberate move on Ray's part.

More details coming in the interview...but first, here's the next Ray Alma Trivia Question:

After "Blahblahpaloser," it took three years for Ray to return to MAD, but it was worth the wait to see him team up once again with writer Des Devlin for a delightful blend of politics and (ahem) "sports."

Name Ray's second MAD article!

(And, once again, you'll get bonus points for the issue number and newsstand date!)

[Uncle Dave LS]

[canucklehead]

Well done, Uncle Dave!

"The Jesse Venturification of U.S. Politics" was a welcome return for Ray after a three-year absence from MAD. The delightful three-pager showed his versatility in the caricature game while proving he indeed had the chops to handle various types of layout and perspective.

To give you a little breather in this game, I'll make the next question a multiple-choice brain-teaser:

Which two comics legends were among Ray's first instructors at NYC's School of Visual Art?

(a) Will Elder and Harvey Kurtzman
(b) Harvey Kurtzman and Jack Davis
(c) Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman
(d) Will Eisner and Stan Lee

[Guest]

(c) Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman

[canucklehead]

Well, I don't know who our "Guest" is - but I do know that the "Guest" chose the correct answer!

And the upcoming Ray Alma Interview will delve a little more into what it was like to learn from such icons of the comic-book industry!

Next question:

Name Ray's very first MAD movie satire!

(Once again - bonus points for the writer, issue number and newsstand date!)

[Guest]

I dont know iam guessing Planet of the Apes

#411 written by Dick Debartolo Nov 2001

[Guest]

Its probuly wrong though.

[canucklehead]

Sorry, but that was Ray's third MAD movie satire (and he actually illustrated only one more after "Planet Of The Re-Makes" was published).

But feel free to try again...

[art4mad]

Oo! OO! I think I know that one.

'Detroit Rock City'


Sorry, don't remember the issue number.

[canucklehead]

The Talented Mr. Richmond strikes again!

Yes indeed, Ray's first MAD movie spoof dinged the KISS vanity flick Detroit Rock City in MAD #385, Sept. '99. "Detroit Rock Sissies," written by Des Devlin, mercilessly lampooned the movie's many cliches and idiosyncracies.

The upcoming Ray Alma Interview will have some juicy details about that project - including some surprising revelations about how the movie's producer, Gene Simmons, reacted to his appearance in MAD...

...but first, here's another question about Ray's movie parodies:

We've already established that Ray Alma illustrated "Detroit Rock Sissies" and "Planet Of The Re-Makes."

Can anybody name one or both of Ray's OTHER two film spoofs for MAD?

(Hint: One of these satires was bundled in with two others by different artists!)

[Uncle Dave LS]

Ray's second movie spoof after Detroit Rock Sissies was I'm Enterin' Pie, a dopey title to an otherwise well-done Summer 1999 three movie-slam special by Desmond Devlin. Others included Grey Blackwell, doing Mouth Park (and Foley and Walsh go to the movies segments), while Angelo Torres kicked it off with Adam Sandler's Big Bladder. It was the last to-date multi-movie fest. And Ray Alma's last movie satire to date was also with Dick DeBartolo, and it was Panic Ruined, a very forgettable Jodie Foster movie spoofed in July 2002.

[canucklehead]

Yes indeedy dicey!

Nice work to recall "I'm Enterin' Pie" (at least it beats the Cracked spoof title, "American Lie") and "Panic Ruined" (the movie may have been forgettable, but I thought the spoof was terrific - and we've got a juicy tidbit about a certain section of that satire, coming up in the very first installment of the Ray Alma interview!).

For now, onto the next Ray Alma Trivia Question:

What was Ray's first MAD television spoof?

(This should be an easy one, since I know it's a favourite of a good chunk of you Mumblers out there!)

[Uncle Dave LS]

Its not only my Ray Alma favorite, but one of my favorites from Josh Gordon as well, who did the terrific Dudson's Geeks in April 2000, reprinted in the November 2003 (Sam Viviano's) XL.