and Mort Drucker's take-off Dullus, the cover of #223 depicted actor Larry Hagman in his role of J. R. Ewing from the television series Dallas being shot through the ear with an Alfred E. Neuman-emblazoned flag. Viviano has stated that he was so nervous about his first job for Mad that he made the illustration (with six-fingered hand) twice. The issue sold so poorly (eventually becoming the worst-selling issue of Mad up to that point in time) that Feldstein did not allow Viviano to contribute any further to Mad until his retirement four years later, at which point Viviano began regular contributions, including the movie parodies and mock advertisements that magazine is known for. He has since done work for corporations and for the advertising industry. He has contributed to Rolling Stone, Family Weekly, Reader's Digest and Consumer Reports. Viviano taught a caricature class at Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts from 1981 to 1992, where he expressed the viewpoint that the goal of caricature is to use exaggeration to express an inner truth about an individual. Among the students of his who went on to enjoy prominent careers as illustrators specializing in caricature is Hanoch Piven. Viviano produced the first digital illustration for Mad Magazine. The illustration, a series of nine satirical road signs parodying aspects of rock concerts, accompanied an article written by Desmond Devlin titled "Mad’s International Signs for the Rock World”", which appeared in Mad #328 (June 1994). In 1994, Mad editors Nick Meglin and John Ficarra invited Viviano to come on staff at the magazine, but he declined in order to focus on his freelance career. In late 1999, they again extended the invitation, this time for the position of the magazine’s Art director, and Viviano, now the father of a four-year-old girl, accepted. He currently oversees a staff of three that designs, layouts, and produces the art that appears in Mad. Viviano is listed in the most recent edition of The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons by Maurice Horn. Personal life Viviano is married to a New York physician, and is known to include his wife and daughter, as well as various other members of his family, in the backgrounds of scenes he illustrates. He is a cousin to New Testament scholar and author Benedict Viviano. Notes References A & D News interview with Sam Viviano National Cartoonists Society’s Biography of Sam Viviano The Grand Comics