Episode 65: Art in the Blood

After a slight delay (thanks to a crashed hard drive and a lost interview), we're back with a super-sized episode that we hope will make up for our absence.

We're pleased to welcome Tom Richmond, one of the "Usual Gang of Idiots" at MAD Magazine. Tom's career has been a most interesting one, and we explore how he managed to take an adolescent aspiration and turn it into an award-winning career at the bible of comedic publications.

During this show, you'll find out how inspiration comes to a creative type who works in his basement of his Minnesota home; the role of Batman and Superman in Tom's career development; how Tom first came to meet Sherlock Holmes (hint: we've had his muse on the show previously). A good deal of the program will be related to art, comic art, caricature and the visual aspect of Sherlock Holmes, which should interest a Sherlockian art collector like Jerry Margolin, who was on IHOSE #16.

Speaking of collecting, you may have noticed the image at the top of this show's entry. That lovely piece of work - "The Game is Afoot!" - is available as a limited edition print. Tom talks about his previous experience with Dr. Who and James Bond prints and how he came to select the eight actors to represent Sherlock Holmes on this print. If you'd like to purchase one, Tom's site has a limited run of 450 for just $25 (cheap).

Your chance to win big!

In addition to giving you the opportunity to purchase one of Tom's prints, we have a listener contest in which you could win one of these highly coveted prints (plus one other special item we mention in the show). How can you make yourself eligible to win? Well, you'll just have to listen to the episode and discover where we lay out the rules. [But it does involve the hashtag #IHOSE65.] The contest is open until August 30, 2014.

A few listener comments - including one that appeared as a message in a bottle (see below) - graced our inboxes this time around.

We selected an original Gas-Lamp to perfectly complement the show: "Art in the Blood," from Vol. 8, No. 2 (April 1958) of the Baker Street Journal.

Links:

• Tom's blog
• Limited edition Sherlock Holmes print "The Game's Afoot!"
• Tom's illustration of Sherlock Holmes for David Ian Davies' audiobooks and a special version of Holmes at home with his violin and boxing gloves.
• Sherlock Holmes pen inspired by Tom's work, as well as early molds.
• Sherlock inspiration in an early MAD: Will Elder at work.
• Tom's cameo in Pearls Before Swine.
• Mad Art: A Visual Celebration of Mad Magazine and the Idiots Who Created It (Amazon.com)
• An eyewitness account and the audio recording of the Klinger vs. Conan Doyle Estate appeal.
• The Attaboy Clarence podcast features a full-length, documentary devoted to the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes films and radio plays.
• Our Father's Day tribute included some Sherlock Holmes inspirations in the Beau Ties Ltd. catalog and our Father's Day episode from a couple of years back (IHOSE #43).

Please subscribe to us on iTunes and be kind enough to leave a rating or review for the show. And please tell a friend about us, in any fashion you feel comfortable.

Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email, call us at (774) 221-READ (7323) or use the Speakpipe app right here on the site. Connect with us and other interested Sherlockians on The Sherlock Holmes Community on Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. And of course, our web- and app-based Flipboard magazine is a nice collection of links, articles and images.

And above all, please let our sponsors know that you heard us rant and rave about their excellence during the programme: Wessex Press, The Baker Street Journal - and one additional surprise sponsor this time around that we think you'll enjoy.

Bonus Material

If you happen to subscribe to our program via our IHOSE Android app, our IHOSE iOS app, or our IHOSE Windows app, we occasionally throw in bonus content to justify the $1.99 or so that the app stores charge for it. In this case, we've given you a PDF with each one of Tom's Sherlock Holmes characterizations on its own page.

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