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Paul Coker, Cartoonist at Mad for Almost Six Decades, Dies at 93

Paul CokerThe cartoonist best known for using monsters to parody Mad magazine clichés for decades and creating the appearance of animated TV characters like Frosty the Snowman , died at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 23. He was 93 years old.

His stepdaughter, Lee Smithson Byrd, was confirmed dead.

Mr. Coker was part of Mad’s elite group of artists, including Mort Drucker, Al Jaffee, and Jack Davis. They brought their silly and satirical views on politics, war, film, television and pop culture to the magazine’s vibrant and diverse look.

“Paul was capable of whimsical yet beautiful artwork, and there was always a bit of subversion.” John Fikara“He did phenomenal pen and ink work, and as he got older he learned to simplify his work without losing its brilliance and charm.”

Mr. Coker worked with the writer Phil Hahnand later with others produced the recurring feature “Horrible Clichés” for over 50 years.

The painting “Cutting Out Voracious Appetite” showed a man in a black coat walking with a huge monster on a leash to do the necessary work. “Escape from the Doldrums” depicts a frightened man fleeing a family of monsters, presumably called the Doldlands, standing in the doorway of a castle. In “Claim a Complaint”, an innkeeper showed a dungeon-like room to a docile monster holding a suitcase covered in stickers indicating a previous journey.

“What a wonderful way to make a living!” writes Coker in the foreword to “The Mad Monster Book of Horrifying Clichés” (2002). Explaining how he came up with the illustration for “Drop a Hint,” he said that he “would go from a castle tower window or a rickety old bridge, or a very high wall to a snake-filled moat.” .) And he added that the hint “could be any kind of imaginary creature with a look of terror.”

Adding distant mountains, clouds and some birds and trees, he writes:

Mr. Coker’s illustrations, created in collaboration with various authors, appeared in 372 issues. His work includes features such as “You Know You’re Getting Old When…” and “Honest Greeting Cards”, as well as “Star Trek” (“Star Blecch VI: The Uninspired Continuation”) and his TV series ” Frasier” parody. (“flaky”). He contributed to Mad until his 2018, which was his 1952, a year before it ceased publication and 67 years after its first issue.

Sam Viviano, the former art director of Mad, said one of his treasures was the subscription ad drawn by Mr. Coker, where the postman climbed a ladder to put a copy of the magazine under a canopy above the blanket. He said it was a picture of him delivering it to a seated enthusiastic rajah. -Draped Elephant

“The blanket’s filigree is just spectacular,” said Viviano.

Paul Allan Coker Jr. was born on March 5, 1929 in Lawrence, Kansas to Paul and Bernice (Rutherford) Coker. His first publication was at the age of 12 as a cartoon for The Open Road for Boys, a magazine about his outdoor life. He studied painting and drawing at the University of Kansas, where he contributed artwork to the student newspaper. He graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 1951.

After serving in the Navy, Mr. Coker worked for Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1961 he moved to New York City, where he visited Mudd’s office.

In 1978, he was walking the streets of New York with a portfolio in the Kansas City Star.

He soon began working for the magazine as a freelancer, with his first two articles appearing in the January and March 1961 issues.

While continuing to work for Hallmark and Mud, Mr. Coker Rankin/Bass Productionswas famous for children’s cartoons such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1964) and “The Little Drummer Boy” (1968).

After being hired by A.Sir Rankin Jr.half of the company’s production partnership, he read the script for “Frosty the Snowman” and sketched Frosty’s on-screen appearance.

“So I came up with the funny snowman concept and put a hatband over a top hat with little flowers, corn pipes and coal eyes,” Coker told the North American Precis Syndicate in 2001. A scarf and a broom to give him human-like features.

Mr. Rankin and his partner, Jules Bass, approved the drawings, developed the storyboards, and sent them to Japan to be animated. His completed cartoon was first published in 1969 and has become a holiday staple.

as acting and character designer Many subsequent Rankin/Bass cartoons, almost all of which used stop-motion animation. Mr. Coker spent about ten years designing characters such as Frosty, Chris Kringle, Winter Warlock and Burgermeistermeisterburger (from “Santa Claus Is Coming”). ), Snow and Heat Misers (from “The Year Without Santa Claus”).

He has also contributed to magazines such as Esquire and Good Housekeeping. The 1965 Playboy cartoon Parody of “Peanuts”: Lucy approaches Charlie Brown with the news that her photo has been published in a “famous national magazine.” Charlie Brown cries out as she opens it to a centerfold (invisible to the reader).

In 2015, Mr. Coker received the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cartoonists Association.

In addition to his stepdaughter Lee, he is survived by his wife Rosemary Smithson. Another stepdaughter, Carol Smithson. and two grandchildren.

Dick DeBartoloA longtime mad writer who frequently collaborated with Mr. Coker, he said in interviews that “horrible clichés” helped him visualize certain ideas.

“‘Nurse resentmentNothing came to mind, but you said it a million times,” he said, referring to one of Mr. Coker’s cartoons (actually called “Buying Grudges”). . Grave. “But Paul drew it so cleverly that you say, ‘Oh, that looks like a grudge.'”

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