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The world's poorer without Jack Davis, one of Mad magazine's iconic founders

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DailyBiteJul 29, 2016 | 21:18

The world's poorer without Jack Davis, one of Mad magazine's iconic founders

Illustrator Jack Davis attends an event honoring him by the Savannah College of Art and Design and the National Cartoonists Society. Photo: Reuters

Jack Davis, an illustrator who helped found the amazingly brilliant Mad magazine and who produced an incredible collection of political satire over the decades, died on Wednesday in Georgia. He was 91.

His son, Jack Davis III, said that the cause was complications of a stroke.

Davis was a prolific artist, drawing everything from movie posters to record albums, while appearing on the covers of Time magazine and TV Guide in his free time.

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One of Jack Davis' most famous covers.

His most famous covers include, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", "Raiders of The Lost Arc" and "The Long Goodbye".

His biggest contribution though, was in helping set up Mad magazine in the 1950s. He was one of the humorists known as the "Usual Gang of Idiots".

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Mad Magazine's cover on Donald Trump.

"There wasn't anything Jack couldn't do," Mad's editor, John Ficarra, said in a statement on the magazine's website. "Front covers, caricatures, sports scenes, monsters - his comedic range was just incredible."

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 A cover by Jack Davis.

"Jack's final cover for MAD, depicting Howard Stern being plunged into a toilet bowl by Alfred E Neuman, is beloved by Stern and remains a MAD classic," the statement added.

Jack was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2005 and conferred with a lifetime achievement award in 1996 by the National Cartoonists Society.

The funeral was held on July 29 at St Simons Island.

At a time when humour is coming under attack from all quarters, as evident in the deathly assault on Charlie Hebdo last year, it's only apt that the demise of a noted humourist would be condoled by the media and liberals worldwide. Jack Davis was a brilliant star on the firmament of American comedy - irreverent and unbending with his pen and catchy phrases.

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It's a less funny world without Jack. Keep chalking, wherever you are.

Last updated: July 29, 2016 | 21:18
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