Америкалық суретші және карикатурашы Джон Дэвис

American cartoonist

John Burton Davis Jr. (December 2, 1924 – July 27, 2016) was an American cartoonist and illustrator, known for his advertising art, magazine covers, film posters, record album art, and numerous comic book stories. He was one of the founding cartoonists for Mad in 1952. His cartoon characters are characterized by extremely distorted anatomy, including big heads, skinny legs, and large feet.

Davis was born December 2, 1924, in Atlanta, Georgia. As a child, he adored listening to Bob Hope on the radio and tried to draw him, despite not knowing what Hope looked like.

While Davis resided on St. Simons Island, Georgia, he sketched various characters and mascots for the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick, Georgia. His drawing of the Mariner, Capt. Jack, was ultimately selected by the college students and staff as the official school mascot.

Davis grew up and went to college in Georgia. Following his professional career in New York, Davis and his wife Dena moved to St. Simons Island, Georgia, in the 1990s. They raised two children: daughter Katie Davis Lloyd and son Jack Davis III, who gave the cause of his father's death on July 27, 2016, at age 91 as complications from a stroke.

Davis was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2003. In June 2002, Davis had a retrospective exhibition of his work at the Society of Illustrators in New York. He was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2005. In 1989, Davis was commissioned by the United States Postal Service to design the 25 cent Letter Carriers stamp. There was some concern that the cartoon would offend some letter carriers as being too informal and not respectful of their position. However, the president of the Letter Carriers Union gave his blessing, and the stamp was well received. Although postal policy does not allow artists to portray living persons on stamps, one of the carriers in the stamp is an unmistakable self portrait of Davis.