Bob Clarke

Bob Clarke is an illustrator whose elegant line appeared in innumerable advertisements as well as "MAD Magazine". The label of the Cutty Sark bottle is his creation. Clarke was born in Mamaroneck, NY, USA in 1926. He now resides in Seaford, Delaware.

One of Clarke's early job was as an uncredited assistant on the "Ripley's Believe It or Not" comic strip. Years later, he would illustrate MAD's occasional "Believe It or Nuts!" parody. In the army, he worked for Stars and Stripes.

Clarke was one of the artists who took up the slack after original editor Harvey Kurtzman left "Mad", taking two of its three primary artists (Will Elder and Jack Davis) with him. Clarke was a mainstay of the magazine during its best years, being one of four general-purpose artists who took "Mad" through the late 50's and early 60's, the others being Wallace Wood, George Woodbridge and Joe Orlando. (Don Martin, Mort Drucker or Dave Berg produced more specialized topics or features.)

Of the Wood-Orlando-Woodbridge-Clarke quartet, Bob Clarke had the most cartoon-like style. This was exploited by the two circus panoramas that ran in "Mad" #41; the first depicted an old-time circus done by Wallace Wood which was a breathtakingly elaborate vision of impossible spectacle. The circus drawn by Clarke was simple and uncluttered, showing small routine acts. The point of the article was the decline of the circus, and the artistic contrast sold the premise.

Clarke's style in "Mad" was distinctive, showing a mastery of line and an eye for the humorous side of things. MAD editor Al Feldstein called Clarke "a singular valuable asset to MAD... his arrival upon the scene was a godsend."