John Caldwell
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 described him as having had "one of the most prolific and successful [cartooning] careers of the late 20th Century."
John Caldwell
- Name
- John Caldwell
- Born
- 23 March 1946
- Died
- 21 February 2016
- Nationality
- American
- Occupation
- cartoonist
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Documentary connections
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q15505817
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
The documentary record
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Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — John Caldwell • Born — 23 March 1946 • Died — 21 February 2016 • Nationality — American • Cartoonist — y • Publish — Running a Muck, Fax This Book, The Book of Ultimates • Website — http: www.caldwellcartoons.com
Documentary record
John Caldwell (born 23 March 1946) is documented in the authority records of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. John Caldwell was born on 23 March 1946.
Education
Education
Caldwell never received any actual training as a cartoonist, but he attended the Parsons School of Design, 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.
Career
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 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 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 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
Death
Aged 69, Caldwell died February 21, 2016, from cancer. He was survived by his wife Diane, 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)
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article John Caldwell (cartoonist), revision 1345458982 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1."'Mueca' to 'Mulick'," Reading Room Index to the Comic Art Collection, Michigan State University Libraries Special Collections Division. Retrieved August 21, 2008.
- 2.Spurgeon, Tom. "John Caldwell, 1946-2016," Comics Reporter (February 21, 2016).
- 3.Caldwell, John. Biography from official website. Retrieved August 21, 2008.
- 4.The MAD 9-11 Cover — The Untold Story Mad Magazine.
- 5.Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site - Mad #411.
- 6."John Caldwell, MAD Writer and Artist, RIP". Mad. February 22, 2016.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Glasbergen, Randy. How to Be a Successful Cartoonist. North Light Books, 1996.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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