Jack Davis is a Southerner with a unique sense of style. It’s hard to mistake a Jack Davis illustration for somebody else. When I was growing up in the 1950s & 60s, Jack Davis art was omnipresent. He was unbelievably prolific. We knew him from MAD but we also saw him on TV GUIDE covers, on the cover of TIME Magazine, on movie posters and record albums and trading cards. A good overview of this amazing lifetime of creative energy can be viewed in the books JACK DAVIS: DRAWING AMERICAN POP CULTURE & THE ART OF JACK DAVIS. This is an attempt to list all of the paperback covers of Jack Davis. Books are listed alphabetically by publisher instead of chronologically.

THE MAD READER Ballantine 93, 1954 Interior illustrations in the five Ballantine MAD books by Jack Davis, Will Elder and Wallace Wood. Davis interior illustrations appear in the Ace CRACKED READERs and an Avon Western called YUCCA CITY OUTLAW (Avon 723).  I think his first cover is fittingly on this first MAD paperback. VG $10.

MAD STRIKES BACK! Ballantine 106, 1955. The second MAD anthology. Cover by Jack Davis. I memorized these books as a kid. Only later did I recognize their only flaw: they are in black and white. The comic stories are even better in color. Loose pages $5.
INSIDE MAD Ballantine 124, 1955. The third MAD collection, with MAD covers joined by a Jack Davis mad man. VG+ $10.

UTTERLY MAD Ballantine 178, 1956. The fourth MAD paperback features Jack Davis cover art. Different editions have different tinted covers. Sold. THE BROTHERS MAD - VG+ $10.

THE HUMBUG DIGEST Ballantine 242, 1957. When Harvey Kurtzman left MAD in 1956, and then TRUMP failed, his friends Elder and Davis went with him to create a new humor magazine called HUMBUG. (Jack Davis would later return to work for MAD’s new editor.) When Ballantine gathered some HUMBUG stories into THE HUMBUG DIGEST, this Jack Davis cover was chosen. The magazine was short-lived, and this was the only HUMBUG paperback.

HARVEY KURTZMAN’S JUNGLE BOOK – Kurtzman. Ballantine 338K, 1959. All-Kurtzman interiors, Davis cover. In THE ART OF HARVEY KURTZMAN they call this the first paperback original “comprised entirely of all-new art”. But I think that honor goes to MANSION OF EVIL by Joseph Millard, Gold Medal 129 from 1950.

	FAST BREAK – Ross. Ballantine 28128, 1978. Movie tie-in.
	SON OF THE GREAT SOCIETY – Buchwald. Crest R1055, 1967.

HAVE I EVER LIED TO YOU? – Buchwald, Crest T1254, 1969. Reprinted as M1802.
THE ESTABLISHMENT IS ALIVE & WELL IN WASHINGTON – Buchwald, Crest M1469, 1970.

	GETTING HIGH IN GOVERNMENT CIRCLES – Buchwald, Crest M1739, 1972.
	I AM NOT A CROOK - Buchwald, Crest P2409, 1975.

ONCE UPON A TIME: The Early Years of the New York Mets – Shecter, Dial Press 1969.
THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES BOOK OF COUNTRY HUMOR – edited by Benton, Dell 0553, 1964. TV tie-in. 1st UK edition: Mayflower-Dell 0553, 1965.

	THE FISHING HALL OF SHAME – Nash & Zullo, Dell 50318-3, 1991.
	THE BASEBALL HALL OF SHAME: THE BEST OF BLOOPERSTOWN – Nash & Zullo, Globe Pequot Press, 2012. Nash & Zullo wrote a book titled THE BASEBALL HALL OF SHAME for Pocket Books in 1985. It has a Jack Davis cover. This is not the same book and not the same cover.

SOUTHERN FRIED – Fox, Gold Medal k1232, 1962. Cover and interior illustrations. Second printing is D1723, 1966. Second printing Fine $30.
A THRILL A MINUTE WITH JACK ALBANY – John Godey, Gold Medal D1956, 1968. Pen name of Morton Freedgood. Spine slant good $5. This was filmed as NEVER A DULL MOMENT with Dick Van Dyke as Jack Albany.
	RUDE JOKES – Smith, Gold Medal T2347, 1970.
	THE BELLE FROM CATSCRATCH – Richard Meade & Jay Rutledge, Gold Medal M2605, 1972. Pen name of Ben Haas & Jim Henderson.

KELLY’S HEROES– Hirschfeld, Lancer 73-888, 1970. Movie tie-in. This cover art is taken from a one-sheet poster for the movie.
THE OTHER RACQUET SPORTS – Squires, McGraw Hill, 1980. Re-uses cover art from the 1979 hardcover.

	WATCHING TV – Castleman & Podrazik, McGraw Hill, 1982. Re-uses hardcover art. TV68 – Horowitz, Media, 1967. Not seen and not shown here.
	LUCID INTERVALS – Steed, Mercer University Press, 1984. Re-uses the hardback cover art. Cover and interiors by Jack Davis. Davis also did hardcover art for other books by this author.

DOOLIE’S PRIVATE GODDESS – Winfield, Paperback Library 52-307, 1964. Edge wear VG- $15.
BANK SHOT – Donald E. Westlake, Pocket Book 77643, 5th printing, 1974. Movie tie-in. The original cover for the second Dortmunder caper was rather uninteresting. The movie tie-in adds a new Jack Davis cover. The art is from his one-sheet movie poster for BANK SHOT.

	THE BASEBALL HALL OF SHAME – Nash & Zullo, Pocket Book Wallaby Edition 52485-2, 1985. Same cover art was used on reprint edition Pocket Book 68766-2 in 1989.
	THE BASEBALL HALL OF SHAME 2 – Nash & Zullo, Pocket Book 61113-2, 1986.

THE FOOTBALL HALL OF SHAME – Nash & Zullo, Pocket Book 61114-3, 1986.
THE BASEBALL HALL OF SHAME 3 – Nash & Zullo, Pocket Book 63386-4, 1987.

	THE SPORTS HALL OF SHAME – Nash & Zullo, Pocket Book 63387-2, 1987.
	THE GOLF HALL OF SHAME – Nash & Zullo, Pocket Book 68488-4, 1989.

THE BASEBALL HALL OF SHAME 4 – Nash & Zullo, Pocket Book 69172-4, 1990.
THE FOOTBALL HALL OF SHAME 2 – Nash & Zullo, Pocket Book 69413-8, 1990.

	THE BASKETBALL HALL OF SHAME – Nash & Zullo, Pocket Book 69414-2, 1991.
	LOVE LETTERS TO THE MONKEES – edited by Bill Adler, Popular Library 60-8049, 1967.

THE GREAT NFL FUN BOOK II – Brondfield, Scholastic 0590316281, 1981. The first NFL FUN BOOK had a print cover with no art.
13 ELEGANT WAYS TO COMMIT SUICIDE – Harold Meyers, Shepsel Books, 1959. Profusely illustrated throughout by Jack Davis. Pitch-black humor. Later an excerpt from this book was printed by Harber Card Company as DIE NOW PAY LATER.

IT’S A WORLD, WORLD, WORLD, WORLD MAD – edited by Albert B. Feldstein, Signet D2764, 1965.  Jack Davis went back to work for MAD in 1965. The most incredible thing about this cover is it is a satire of a well-known movie poster BY THE SAME ARTIST. Thanks to bookscans.com – and Brian Maginnity – for the wraparound scan. First printing, PRICE INKED vg $5. A MAD LOOK AT OLD MOVIES – Dick DeBartolo, illustrated by Jack Davis & Mort Drucker, edited by Nick Meglin. Signet D2955, 1966. Four movie parodies, three by Jack Davis.

THE RETURN OF A MAD LOOK AT OLD MOVIES - Dick DeBartolo, illustrated by Jack Davis, edited by Nick Meglin. Signet P4200, 1970.  Eight old-movie sendups, all illustrated by Jack Davis. Good $5.
SUPERFAN – Nick Meglin and Jack Davis, Signet T5136, 1972.

	SUPERFAN… AGAIN! – Meglin, Signet 451-Q6038, 1974.  Cover and interiors by Jack Davis.
	VOICES OF BASEBALL – Chieger, Signet 451-AE2821, 1984.

THE HIPTIONARY – Elliot Horne, Simon & Schuster, 1963. Cover and interiors.
CAN YOU TOP THIS? – Tempo 5365, 1971. TV tie-in.

	CAP’N FATSO – Gallery, Warner Books 88-920, 1970.
	STAND BY-Y-Y TO START ENGINES Gallery, Warner 88-921, 1970.

THE SHIP WITH THE FLAT TIRE – Hunt, Warner 75-383, 1973. Reprints Paperback Library 53-531 with new cover. Paperback Library became Warner Paperback Library and then Warner Books.
A MAD LOOK AT OLD MOVIES – De Bartolo, Davis & Drucker, Warner 74-384, 1973. Reprints Signet D2955 with new cover.

	CLEAR THE DECKS – Gallery, Warner 88-312, 1976. I don’t know anything about Admiral Gallery, but the critics always use the word “salty” to describe his books.
	THE RETURN OF A MAD LOOK AT OLD MOVIES – De Bartolo & Davis, Warner 86-301, 1977.  Reprints Signet P4200 with new cover art.

GRAFFITI IN THE BIG TEN – Haan & Hammerstrom, Warner 37-001, 1981. This set of four books, larger than mass-market paperback size, is 8” x 5-1/4”. Sticker on back, good $5.
GRAFFITI IN THE PAC TEN - Haan & Hammerstrom, Warner 37-002, 1981.

	GRAFFITI IN THE IVY LEAGUE - Haan & Hammerstrom, Warner 37-003, 1981.
	GRAFFITI IN THE SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE - Haan & Hammerstrom, Warner 37-004, 1981.

SIDETRACKED HOME EXECUTIVES – Young & Jones, Warner 97-884, 1981.
THE BOOK OF WORRIES – Miller, Warner 91-248, 1981.

	THE MAD JOCK BOOK – Davis & Jacobs, Warner 30-079, 1983.
	A MAD GUIDE TO PARENTS, TEACHERS AND OTHER ENEMIES – Hart & Davis, Warner 30-608, 1985.

KATHY SUE LOUDERMILK, I LOVE YOU – Grizzard, Warner 34-299, 1984.
WON’T YOU COME HOME, BILLY BOB BAILEY? – Grizzard, Warner 32-606, 1985.

	DON’T SIT UNDER THE GRITS TREE WITH ANYONE ELSE BUT ME – Grizzard, Warner 32-763, 1985.
	THE BASEBALL HALL OF SHAME’S WARPED RECORD BOOK – Nash & Zullo, Wiley & Sons, 1991.

THE ART OF JACK DAVIS – Hank Harrison, Stabur Press, 1987. This is a wonderful collection chock full of info about Jack’s career. The only flaw is it’s all in black & white.

JACK DAVIS: DRAWING AMERICAN POP CULTURE – Fantagraphics, 2011. Edited by Gary Groth, Jason T. Miles, and Alex Murawaski. Hardcover. Illustrated boards.  Huge coffee-table sized book and a key retrospective of Jack’s lifetime of art. Lots of color reproductions. Over 200 pages of illustration, men’s magazine cartoons, comic books, posters, ads and magazine covers. Only four pages are devoted to his paperback covers. As you can see from the checklist here, that’s ignoring a lot of great work.

MISCELLANY

Hardcovers, albums, movie posters for sale

 

1966 NBC ad

Jack Davis also did a dozen or so hardback book covers. My favorite has always been TWO ROOFS AND A SNAKE OVER THE DOOR by Elliott Chaze. There are 30 full-page Davis illustrations inside. Good copy with torn jacket, $10. (Not shown)

 

 

In addition to the Jack Davis paperback collection, I also have some Jack Davis album covers and one-sheet posters for sale:

 

 

The United Artists movie soundtrack IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD used the fabulous Jack Davis poster art. In 1964, Jonathan Winters had Jack parody his own art for the Verve album JONATHAN WINTERS MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD.  Albums are $10. each.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Paperback Covers by Other MAD Artists

 

THE FICKLE FINGER OF FATE – John A. Keel, Gold Medal D1719, 1966. Cover by Al Jaffee.
THE BACHELOR’S GUIDE TO WOMEN – du Milieu, Hillman 195, 1961. Cover and 35 full-page interior illustrations by Mort Drucker.

THE BACHELOR'S GUIDE TO WOMEN - VG $8.