'Spy vs. Spy'.
Bob Clarke was an American illustrator and cartoonist, and a longtime contributor to Mad Magazine. Born Robert J. Clarke in Mamaronceck, New York, he began his career at the age of 17 as a ghost artist on 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not'. He joined the army two years later, and became an artist with the European editions of Stars and Stripes magazine. Among Clarke's main graphic influences were Edmond Dulac, Norman Rockwell and Rico Tomaso.
Back in civilian life, Clarke became a commercial artist with the ad firm Geyer, Newell and Ganger, where he did designs for the Cutty Sark label and the Candyland board game. At age 17, Clarke drew for 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not', by Robert L. Ripley.
He became part of the "Usual Gang of Idiots" at Mad Magazine after the departure of editor Harvey Kurtzman. An avid prankster himself, Clarke drew over 600 features for MAD, including the Ripley parody 'Believe It or NUTS!' (showing his gift for self-mockery) and several years of 'Spy vs. Spy' stories.
From: Mad #156 (January 1973).
The cover of Mad Magazine's issue #60 (January 1961) featured presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, both congratulating them with their victory. In November 1980, an episode of 'John Darling' by Tom Batiuk and Tom Armstrong congratulated presidential candidates Ronald Reagan on the left side and upside down on the right side Jimmy Carter with their election. Whether homage or plagiarism, Mad Magazine only noticed the similarity four years later, in issue #246 (April 1984). The cover of Mad issue #233 (September 1982), also illustrated by Clarke, featured the video game character Pac-Man on its cover, parodying Time Magazine's 'annual Man of the Year' election. Four months later, Ray Osrin drew a cartoon about Pacman with the exact same joke. In Mad issue#264 (July 1986), the editors pointed out this resemblance in an article titled 'Mad Rip-Offs'.
In issue #210 (October 1979), John Ficarra wrote 'Mad's Table of Little Known Very Useless Weights, Measures & Distances', illustrated by Clarke. One of their statements poked fun at TV comedian Carol Burnett's running gag to pull on her left ear at the end of each broadcast, claiming her earlobe was now "2.1. centimeters long, after pulling it for over 11 seasons." Burnett and her daughter Jody Hamilton actually visited Mad's office afterwards, claiming it was even longer. After Mad's editors gave them some gifts, Hamilton wrote a letter, printed in issue #212, claiming: "The laugh is on you, because we still intend to sue!".
Interviewed in Mad XL #28 (July 2004), Clarke named 'A Mad Look at the Joys of Scuba Diving' (scripted by Dick DeBartolo, issue #106, October 1966) his favorite article that he ever drew. The most challenging task was designing a replica model of the Mad Zeppelin for a Mad special.
Bob Clarke passed away from complications of pneumonia in his hometown Seaford at age 87 on 31 March 2013.
'What's the story...?', Mad Magazine.