John Burton Davis Jr. (December 2, 1924 – July 27, 2016) was an American cartoonist and illustrator, known for his advertising art, magazine covers, film posters, record album art, and numerous comic book stories. He was one of the founding cartoonists for Mad in 1952. His cartoon characters are characterized by extremely exaggerated anatomy, including big heads, skinny legs, and large feet.

Early life

Davis was born December 2, 1924, in Atlanta, Georgia. As a child, he enjoyed listening to Bob Hope on the radio and tried to draw him, despite not knowing what Hope looked like.

Comic strips and comic books

thumb|Davis's flair for caricature made him a natural choice for satire magazines such as [[Mad (magazine)|Mad, Cracked, Trump, Humbug and Help!]]

In 1949, Davis illustrated a Coca-Cola training manual, a job that gave him enough money to buy a car and drive to New York. Attending the Art Students League of New York, he found work with the Herald Tribune Syndicate as an inker on Leslie Charteris's The Saint comic strip, drawn by Mike Roy in 1949–1950. His own humor strip, Beauregard, with gags in a Civil War setting, was carried briefly by the McClure Syndicate. After rejections from several comic book publishers, he began freelancing for William Gaines's EC Comics in 1950, contributing to Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror, The Haunt of Fear, Frontline Combat, Two-Fisted Tales, Piracy, Incredible Science Fiction, Crime Suspenstories, Shock Suspenstories and Terror Illustrated.

In 2011, Davis told The Wall Street Journal about his early career and his breakthrough with EC:

Davis was particularly noted for his depiction of the Crypt-Keeper in the horror comics, revamping the character's appearance from the more simplistic Al Feldstein version to a tougher, craggier, mangier man with hairy warts, salivating mouth and oversized hands and feet, who usually did not wear shoes. Among the classic horror tales he illustrated were "Foul Play", which was cited in Dr. Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent for its depiction of "a comic book baseball game". Others, like "Tain't the Meat, It's the Humanity", "Death of Some Salesman", "Fare Tonight Followed by Increasing Clottiness", "Tight Grip" and "Lower Berth", were Crypt-Keeper classics. He did the covers for every issue of Crypt from issue No. 29 to No. 46. In his work for Harvey Kurtzman's war comics, he tackled a variety of subjects and had a particular affinity for depicting American Civil War stories. He also did many covers for Frontline Combat, Two-Fisted Tales and Incredible Science Fiction as well. The editors, William M. Gaines, Albert B. Feldstein and Harvey Kurtzman, have said he was the fastest artist they had in those days, completely penciling and inking three or more pages a day at times. His use of the brush to create depth and mood was unique and memorable. His wrinkled clothing, scratchy lines, and multi-layered layouts were so popular in the 1950s that other artists at rival companies began copying the style—notably, Howard Nostrand in Harvey's horror comics. In the late 1950s, Davis drew Western stories for Atlas Comics. His 1963 work on the Rawhide Kid (#33–35) was his last for non-humor comic books.

His style of wild, free-flowing brushwork and wacky characters made him a perfect choice when Harvey Kurtzman launched Mad as a zany, satirical EC comic book in 1952. He appeared in most of the first 30 issues of Mad, all 12 issues of Panic and even some work in Cracked. Davis contributed to other Kurtzman magazines—Trump, Humbug and Help!—eventually expanding into illustrations for record jackets, movie posters, books and magazines, including Time and TV Guide. In 1959, he completed an 88-card set of humorous cartoons for Topps Chewing Gum Co. called Wacky Plaks, also a 66-card monster-themed set called "You'll Die Laughing", and a 66-card set of Funny Valentine cards. In 1960, Davis illustrated another 66-card set of Funny Valentine cards and in 1961, a set of Giant Funny Valentine cards. In 1964, he illustrated a set of Nutty Awards postcards, also released by Topps Chewing Gum Co., and in 1980 he helped illustrate a set of Topps Bazooka Wanted Posters. Davis illustrated two children's picture books, Bobby and the Magic Pen and The Misadventures of Don Quixote (both still available online). He also has a first-published book of his sketches on Amazon, "The Jack Davis Sketchbook of Untold Spooky Ghost Stories". Davis enjoyed his sketches more than his final artwork because he felt it represented his creative talents.

In 1961, Davis wrote, drew and edited his own comic book, Yak Yak, for Dell Comics. In 1965, he illustrated Meet The North American Indians by Elizabeth Payne, published by Random House as part of their children's Step Up Books line. ().

Davis' art appeared in 29 of the first 31 issues of Mad, totaling 66 articles, covers and house ads. But when editor Harvey Kurtzman quit the magazine following a dispute with publisher Bill Gaines, Davis chose to leave with him. He returned as a regular contributor to Mad magazine in 1965, starting with the cover for the paperback It's a World, World, World, World MAD, in which he parodied his own poster art for the comedy film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Davis would remain with Mad for more than 30 years until his retirement. His work appeared in 211 of the next 255 issues. He also drew 14 covers for the magazine.

Davis had a regular comic strip feature, Superfan, in Pro Quarterback magazine in the early 1970s. It was written by his Mad cohort, Nick Meglin.

Two years later, he parodied his own Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World image for the cover of the Mad paperback It's a World, World, World, World Mad, his first work for the magazine following an almost seven-year hiatus. Having returned, Davis would remain a regular freelancer for more than thirty years. When the Criterion Collection released the film on DVD and Blu-ray in 2014, Davis provided new illustrations for the accompanying booklet.

Davis's artwork for the comedy Western Viva Max! (1969) formed the centerpiece of that film's promotional campaign, and he did the same for the film Kelly's Heroes in 1970. His poster for Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973) presented the film in a comic light.

In 1963, Davis produced a work of cover art for the Richard Wolfe album, Many Happy Returns of the Day! released by MGM Records, and designed the Homer and Jethro album, Homer and Jethro Go West (RCA Victor).

In 1964, Davis created the cover art for The New Christy Minstrels album for Columbia Records which featured songs from the light-hearted Western comedy Advance to the Rear.

In 1966, Davis created the cover art for the Johnny Cash album Everybody Loves a Nut. Davis also created album artwork for such musicians as The Guess Who, Tito Puente, Sailcat and The Cowsills, as well as for such comedians as Bob and Ray, Archie Campbell, Don Imus and Myron Cohen. He also provided the artwork for several of Sheb Wooley's comic albums as his character Ben Colder. In 1974, Davis provided artwork for Atco Records' printed advertisements of the Genesis album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

During his tenure with Mad, Davis's specialty was drawing sports-themed articles. This led to his work for Paramount Pictures, painting the poster for The Bad News Bears (1976).

Mascot

While Davis resided on St. Simons Island, Georgia, he sketched various characters and mascots for the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick, Georgia. His drawing of the Mariner, Captain Jack, was ultimately selected by the college students and staff as the official school mascot.

Personal life and death

Davis grew up and went to college in Georgia. Following his professional career in New York, Davis and his wife Dena moved to St. Simons Island, Georgia, in the 1990s. They raised two children: daughter Katie Davis Lloyd and son Jack Davis III, who gave the cause of his father's death on July 27, 2016, at age 91 as complications from a stroke.

Awards and exhibitions

Davis was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2003.

In June 2002, Davis had a retrospective exhibition of his work at the Society of Illustrators in New York. He was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2005.

In 1989, Davis was commissioned by the United States Postal Service to design the 25-cent Letter Carriers stamp. There was some concern that the cartoon would offend some letter carriers as being too informal and not respectful of their position. However, the president of the Letter Carriers Union gave his blessing, and the stamp was well received. Although postal policy does not allow artists to portray living persons on stamps, one of the carriers in the stamp is an unmistakable self-portrait of Davis.

See also

  • List of TV Guide covers
  • Richard Amsel
  • Frank McCarthy
  • Bob Peak
  • Drew Struzan
  • Howard Terpning

References

  • Jack Davis at American Art Archives
  • Spotlight on Jack Davis at RankinBass.com
  • Jack Davis's Mad contributions at MadCoverSite.com