Early Life
Jack Davis was born in Atlanta, Georgia on December, 2 1924. He began drawing at an early age and was published in Tip Top Comics in 1936 when he just twelve years old.
Davis drew for the school paper throughout high school and enlisted in the United States Navy upon graduation in 1942. He served for three years, all of which were during the height of World War II. During his military service he frequently contributed artwork to the Navy News, the daily newspaper of the Royal British Navy.
College and Early Professional Years
After his stint with the Navy, Davis attended the University of Georgia where he provided illustrations for the college paper. He then worked for the Atlanta Journal as an intern. In 1949, once his internship was complete, Davis took a job providing the illustrations for a Coca-Cola training manual. He used the money from this job to move to New York City to break into comics.
Comic Book Career
Upon his arrival in New York City, Davis initially got work by inking The Saint newspaper strip for the Herald Tribune Syndicate, as well as producing his own short lived strip Beauregard for the McClure Syndicate.
In 1950, Davis began working for publisher William Gaines’ EC Comics, which was a turning point in his career. Davis worked on the entire line of titles, including the legendary Tales From the Crypt, where his interpretation of the Crypt Keeper would become legendary.
“I was about ready to give up, go home to Georgia and be either a forest ranger or a farmer. But I went down to Canal Street and Lafayette, up in an old rickety elevator and through a glass door to Entertaining Comics where Al Feldstein and Bill Gaines were putting out horror [comic] books. They looked at my work and it was horrible and they gave me a job right away! Every time you went in to see Bill Gaines, he would write you a check when you brought in a story. You didn’t have to put in a bill or anything. I was very, very hungry and I was thinking about getting married. So I kept the road pretty hot between home and Canal Street. I would go in for that almighty check, go home and do the work, bring it in and get another check and pick up another story.”
– Jack Davis
In 1952, Davis began drawing the newly launched Gaines publication Mad. He would work off and on for this monthly periodical for the next 40 years.
TV Guide, Movie Posters and Other Work
In the late 50s and early 60s Davis would produce several trading card series for Topps Chewing Gum Company, including Wacky Packs, Funny Monsters, and Funny Valentines. He would return to work on the Topps Bazooka Wanted Posters series in 1980.
In 1963, Davis would begin his foray into producing the artwork for movie posters with It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Davis would create many movie posters, including The Party (1968) and The Bad News Bears (1976).
In 1965, Davis would begin to produce artwork for TV Guide. His cover would feature caricatures of many television personalities over the years. All told he would create over 2 dozen covers for the magazine, from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. Davis also illustrated album covers for artists including Johnny Cash and The Guess Who.
Later Years and Legacy
Davis semi-retired in the 1990s and relocated with his wife Dena back to Georgia. He received the National Cartoonists Society’s Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996, and was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2003.
Davis suffered a stroke and died from complications from it on July 27, 2016. He was 91 years old.
