John Putnam

John Francis Putnam (June 21, 1917 – November 29, 1980) was the art director and designer of Mad from 1954 to 1980. "Until John came to us, Mad was just a comic book," said publisher Bill Gaines following Putnam's death. "He joined Mad as a $75 a week temporary employee, and was [in 1980] the oldest member of the staff both in terms of age and time with the magazine." Putnam, the son of the novelist-playwright Nina Wilcox Putnam, also drew occasional cartoons for Mad. He was the co-creator of the "Mad Zeppelin," and the originator of the magazine's "Arthur the potted plant." The latter sight gag had its origins in a pot of homegrown marijuana Putnam had been quietly growing in the Mad art department until it was recognized by an editor who told him to get rid of it. In Frank Jacobs' book "The MAD World of William M. Gaines," Jacobs reported that Putnam "saw that it was disposed of in a nonwasteful manner." Putnam also created the "mascot" and logo for Paul Krassner's The Realist, where he was a longtime contributor. Prior to joining Mad, he had run his own freelance art studio. Putnam stored Mad artwork in drawers with labels like "Pornography" and "Transvestia." In 1954, he scripted the story "Dien Bien Phu!" for EC Comics' Two-Fisted Tales No. 40 (December 1954 – January 1955).