 After attending the Rochester Institute of Technology on an art scholarship, Rickard did commercial art for Chaite Studios in the 1950s.He illustrated covers for "men's magazines" such as "Adventure" and "True Detective", contributed to Charlton Comics and worked as an assistant on the "Li'l Abner" comic strip.Soon after, he became a mainstay in the advertising field, where his work attracted the attention of "Mad"'s editors.