Comic strip for Mad.
Sam Viviano is an American (comic) artist, best known for his wide-jawed caricatures and crowd scenes. Born in 1953 in Detroit, Michigan, Viviano attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, in 1974 obtaining a degree in Fine Arts. He began his career as a textile designer in New York in 1975. Eventually, he got caricature and illustration assignments, among other for titles published by Scholastic Magazines (a.o. Dynamite! and Bananas).
By 1984, he received regular assignments from Mad Magazine, doing features like the movie parodies and fun advertisements. He also pioneered in digital illustration for the magazine, and was assigned art director in January 1999. He remained part of Mad's staff until 2019, when they moved their offices from New York City to Burbank, California.
Based on an idea of Desmond Devlin, Viviano illustrated the cover of Mad issue #325 (February 1994), which featured U.S. President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore as Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-head. The Hyatteville, Maryland, newsletter reported that that same month, on 9 February, Clinton and Gore visited the Prince George's County Correctional Center. One staff member of the center's library deliberately left this very Mad issue behind in the hope that the political duo would notice it. The next day Clinton and Gore had autographed the cover, which they considered "really funny". On the cover of Mad issue #495 (November 2008), Viviano featured Mad's mascot Alfred E. Neuman on the cover in a parody of U.S. President Barack Obama's promotion posters, as designed by Shepard Fairey. Fairey himself said on his personal website that he considered this Mad spoof "something I consider a high point in my career for pop culture recognition." In issue #497 (January 2009), Mad published his quote and their reply: "That gives US hope!"
Viviano has additionally contributed to Rolling Stone, Family Weekly, Reader's Digest and Consumer Reports. Between 1981 and 1992, Viviano taught a caricature class at Manhattan's School of Visual Arts.
Caricature of Sam Viviano (left) in Mad.