Tom Bunk was born in Split, Croatia. Twenty years later he studied Stage Design and Fine Arts at the Academy of Arts in Hamburg, Germany. In 1973, he moved to Berlin, where he started executing humorous oil paintings. After having three successful shows, he then decided to become a cartoonist and an underground comix artist (1976). His work was printed monthly in PARDON (a satirical magazine similar to MAD), and in other European comic magazines and anthologies. He published 3 books of his comics and moved to New York in 1983.
There, he worked for Art Spiegelman's graphix magazine RAW and the Topps Company, producing artwork for various trading cards. He has been working for MAD magazine since 1990, contributing cartoons on a regular basis. He also illustrates children's books, book covers, and high school textbooks. He also designs posters, draws cartoons, illustrations and comics for various German and American publishers, such as Byron Preiss, Ravensburger Verlag, Carlsen Verlag, Semmel Verlag and Weissmann Verlag.
