Three upcoming book covers

Three upcoming books featuring my cover art:

 my upcoming book "All The Presidents", coming out Sept 2019 from Fantagraphics books. Cover design by Keely McCarthey

"RONDO HATTON, Beauty Within the Brute" by Scott gallinhouse, upcoming from BearManor Media
cover design by Kerry Gammill

"GHETTO KLOWN", the paperback edition of John Leguizamo's graphic memoir, cover
design byPamela Notarantonio
coming in April 2020 from AbramsComicArts books

New Robert Crumb Print

This new drawing of R. Crumb strumming his mandolin amongst his vast record collection in his home in Sauve, France is now available as a large, high quality, signed, titled and numbered limited edition print (only 20 are being offered), and can be ordered here:

https://drewfriedman.net/prints/crumb-at-75.html

Portrait of Al Kooper

My new portrait of my old friend, musician Al Kooper, in celebration of his 75th birthday this year. This is now available as a large, high quality, limited edition (20), signed print.

https://drewfriedman.net/prints/al-kooper.html

Al Kooper, a songwriter ("This Diamond Ring", "I Can't Quit Her", etc), record producer and musician, known for organizing The Blues Project and Blood, Sweat & Tears, providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric (including playing the memorable organ on "Like A Rolling Stone"), and bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to record the Super Session album. In the 1970's he became a successful recording artist, manager and producer, notably recording Lynyrd Skynyrd's first three albums. He's also had a successful solo career, touring and performing live concerts and writing music for film soundtracks and TV shows.

The Book of WEIRDO Celebration at the Society of Illustrators

The Society of Illustrators, 128 E. 63rd St in New York hosts a visual panel and book signing for The Book of WEIRDO, a history and celebration of R. Crumb's legendary humor/graphics/comics magazine, published by Last Gasp of San Francisco on Thursday, June 6th beginning at 6:30 PM. Hosting will be the author Jon B. Cooke, and appearing will be cover artist and WEIRDO contributor Drew friedman, along with Weirdo contributors Mark Newgarden, Glenn Head, John Holmstrom, Kim Deitch and Art Spiegelman. A large (18x24 inch) FREE book cover Poster for everyone who purchases a ticket and attends, as well as buttons, postcards, flyers, etc.

https://www.societyillustrators.org/events/book-weirdo

The Book of WEIRDO is an exhaustive retrospective -- called a "great book... the defineitive work on the subject" by Robert Crumb -- on WEIRDO magazine, Crumb's irreverent 1980s humor comics anthology, and featuring a comprehensive history, interviews with Crumb and the other two Weirdo editors, Peter Bagge, and Aline Kominsky-Crumb, as well as publisher Ron Turner. Also included are over 130 testimonials by Weirdo contributors and sidebars on all sorts of Weirdo-related aspects of that era, as much a history of the alternative comics of that time as it is the tale of a single magazine. Crumb added that The Book of WEIRDO was "a monumental statement on American culture and life in that dismal decade of Reagan, AIDS, widespread cocaine abuse, and the rise of the Yuppies, the 1980s."

The Book of WEIRDO, 288 pages, hard cover, published by Last Gasp of San Francisco, $39.95. Cover art and foreword by Drew Friedman.

The Book of WEIRDO Launch at the East Coast COMiCON

I'll be a guest at the East Coast COMiCON on Sat, May 18th. I'll be doing two panels, SCHTICK FIGURES at 1:30 PM modorated by comics historian Danny Fingeroth, and at 5:00 PM, a panel celebrating the official launch of THE BOOK OF WEIRDO, hosted by the author Jon B. Cooke and featuring special guests Peter Bagge, Kaz, Carol Tyler, Kim Deitch, Mark Newgarden and Paul Karasik. Books will be available for inscription, as well as large 18 x 24 cover posters (free to anyone who buys the book), postcards, buttons, etc.

https://www.eastcoastcomicon.com/discussion-panels/?fbclid=IwAR0cVCtOUOphsRsK6VHQtZkFp_127c5ZE1cNeA-60klMv_A3-s7R2sE0GxM

click to enlarge

New interview for the "SUBTERRANEAN Dispatch" Podcast

I'm the third guest on Jon B. Cooke's fabulous new Comics/Comix podcast SUBTERRANEAN DISPATCH, following the one and only R. Crumb and comics historian Paul Buhle.  Listen in as we discuss many topics, including my unlikely friendship with talk show host Joe Franklin, Jared Kushner's opening line upon our first meeting, my 40 year friendships with cartoonists KAZ and Mark Newgarden, and the process of creating the cover art for Jon's magnificent new Last Gasp book "The Book Of WEIRDO":

https://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/b/6/8/b68a02933aaf1b49/Podcast03_DrewFriedman.mp3?c_id=40033178&cs_id=40033178&expiration=1555617008&hwt=2ca6de7b33f12d9d6226b03231835f1b

me,  R. Crumb and Jon B. Cooke, 3/19

My tribute to SON OF MAD

A SON OF MAD

For the latest issue of MAD (vol 2, #7), I drew this tribute to the 1959 signet paperback cover for SON OF MAD painted by famed science fiction illustrator and MAD's then main magazine and paperback cover artist Frank "Kelly" Freas.

This singular piece of art was and remains my favorite image ever drawn for MAD by any artist, as I explain in my text below.

"The Weisenheim Museum" is a new section in MAD where various artists are hired to create a full page image, or images,  and discuss MAD's immeasurable influence on their work.  I chose to pay tribute to this particular Kelly Freas paperback cover.

Art director, Suzy Hutchinson.

(click to enlarge)