Mort Drucker was a legendary artist. As Michael J. Fox once said, if you’re mocked in MAD by him, you’ve arrived. He was the TV/Film equivalent of Weird Al even though Mort was around first.
He had an incredible style combining realism/accuracy with the exaggerated physical humor of what the writer was conveying. He’d also throw in little references along the way. One I remembered well was Star Blech II: The Wrath of Korn. While Spook and Jerk are talking, you see a bowling ball in the background asking if Illeer can come put to play! Just too many to reference but he was a highlight I always looked forward to seeing alongside Al Jaffe’s fold-in, Sergio’s little squiggles, Don Martin’s weird stuff and Dave Berg’s The Lighter Side of… section.
It was also a thrill to find Mort’s work in contemporary culture. I have an Anthrax shirt he illustrated of the band from the Eighties. I didn’t go to the show, my roommate got it for me because they opened for Ozzy.
Mort did album covers, movie posters and magazines so whenever you saw these, you knew it was him before you found his signature.
Thanks for everything Mort. You filled my childhood and early adulthood with laughter.