Don "Duck" Edwing, R.I.P.

Just in case you haven't had quite enough obits this year, longtime MAD contributor Don Edwing (aka "Duck" Edwing) died yesterday at the age of 82. A native of Brooklyn, Don began drawing at an early age and entered the ranks of professional cartoonists at the old (for a new cartoonist) age of 26. He sold his first work to MAD two years later and his first work for them appeared in MAD #70, which oddly enough was the first issue I purchased.

He didn't do much for them the last decade or so but did make a cameo appearance in MAD #515 which came out in 2010. So that's a span of 48 years. Not bad.

There were a few decades there where his work appeared in almost every issue, some of it without credit. In addition to the material that had his name on it — some of which he wrote, some of which he drew — he also contributed cover ideas, wrote for Don Martin's cartoons and for "Spy Vs. Spy," and did "punch-up" improving others' contributions. Also, he wrote and/or drew by my count, thirteen MAD paperbacks.

He was a genial, funny man much loved by his peers. MAD artist Tom Richmond has more about the guy and I don't know why he was called "Duck" but he was and that's all there may be to that.