Randy Jones
(1949 - 2025)
Randy Jones was that rarest of combinations, the most talented artist in the room and the nicest guy. His cartoons were always funny, smart and well-crafted –– the envy of anyone who plied the trade –– and he was unfailingly thoughtful and kind –– his politeness startling, even for a Canadian. Natural warmth and good humor suffused his work, but a sense of the absurd along with extraordianary technique delivered it from feeling safe. He told me his favorite film was Dr. Strangelove and he could deliver sharp satire, but there was at all times a humanity to it and a sense of fun.
Randy came of age artistically in 1970s Toronto and I always felt a certain SCTV sensibility reflected in his comic strips, a self-effacing Anglo-Canadian bent. He and his collaborators had obviously absorbed some of the Monty Python aesthetic as well, and applied finely-honed wit to entertain readers of numerous publications including Maclean’s, Twilight Zone, Playboy, and Penthouse.
Every humorist in his generation and since has been influenced by the sophisticatedly sophomoric Mad. He contributed to one or more of its competitors like Cracked along the way and left a real mark in the snarkily collegiate National Lampoon in its Animal House hay day. He also graduated to the arguably higher-brow halls of The New York Times producing more mainstream illustration and some of his finest work.
In the pre-digital news-biz, drawings were delivered by hand or done on site. The 9th-floor art department housed a warren of spare desks, the so-called Bullpen, where freelancers created illustrations on the spot. Randy became a master of the quick-draw form and a gregarious fixture on the scene, amusing the troops and welcoming newcomers. It's where I met him in the early 1980.
Along with several others of those opinionated artists who felt constrained by the propriety of the Grey Lady, Randy help found the syndication service Inx which offered a platform for their unvarnished takes on the news. And the opportunity for camaraderie amongst toilers in a solitary profession. The social aspect of the alliance was nearly as rewarding as the creative one, and no one supplied greater warmth and friendship than Mr. Jones. Here's more on the service which from its start provided a showcase for Randy's great pen work and his brilliant caricatures. Ronald Reagan proved a perfect foil.
Randy and his wife Susann, who formed that mythical more perfect union, were always available and encouraging, great party goers and throwers. Anyone who might've attended surely remembers the rollicking St. Patty’s Day parties at their pad on East 10th Street across from Tompkins Square Park.
At his peak, Randy was the busiest illustrator I knew with newspapers, magazines, book publishers, ad agencies, and galleries among his clients. One of his longest-lasting and most fruitful gigs was The Inner Circle show each year in NYC. Here’s more about the annual event –– I can’t imagine how they’ll get on without his riotous programs and projected sets.
He mastered a variety of media and much of his later stuff was watercolor and ink wash after his seminal pen and ink phase. He also developed a love for sculpture and the process of having his quirky models cast seemed to give him a unique satisfaction.
In recent years Randy returned to his hometown of Exeter in Canada to be near his aging parents. He found some new clients locally and continued to contribute work to the fast-dwindling newspaper industry in the lower 48. 40+-years-on he was still doing Inx and every time I received a new drawing from him it was like Christmas in July. Collaborating with an artist who you deeply respect allows for a special kinship.
When he first fell ill in 2024 it seemed unlikely that he’d be able to work again. By mid-2025 he was home and able to share some more drawings.
To go out with your boots on, your pen poised, after fulfilling your childhood dreams and crafting a robust career doing the thing you love? And to leave joyful memories with those you’ve left behind? That’s my definition of a life well-lived.
–– Martin Kozlowski
Here are remembrances and personal art from some friends and colleagues:
I began searching for Randy in my old sketchbooks but did not find what I was looking for - but this, something I had forgotten, turned up - signed and dated. Fart humor and spelling indicate possibility there was some inebriation involved but still there it is - his beautiful fluid and clean line.
–– Tom Hachtman
Here are a few of the many treasured drawings
Our dear friend Randy sent over the years. We can conjure him up through them-
look at them and smile through our sadness of losing him.
–– Frances Jetter
Still, there was far more to Randy than his remarkable output. He was kind, encouraging, and generous with his support—someone you could just as easily share a beer with as a good conversation. His art was honest and consistent, and so was he. Knowing Randy as a friend matched the integrity of knowing his work. That is why I will miss him so deeply, as so many others will.
To know Randy was also to know his wife, Susann. For her, I grieve most acutely. Forty-three years together gives her loss a scale no one else can fully comprehend. She has my deepest and most heartfelt condolences.
–– Thomas Kerr
The first time I met Randy, probably at an INX function, he walked up to me and started talking as if we’d known each other for years. No introduction. Aside from wondering whom he’d mistaken me for, it was a fine and fun conversation. We were friends from then on.
In one of the (too few) projects Randy and I worked on together, he sketched as I described some of what I was after. It was a thrill to see these ideas brought to life and enhanced by Randy’s humor and style. Many of those sketches wound up in the final book. They’re among my favorites and still crack me up 20-plus years later.
My wife and I met at a Jones’ Christmas party (Deb had worked with Susann). While it wasn’t a set-up by them, we came to realize we’d been missing each other by inches at Jones events for years (two ships passing on different nights) and have always been happy to give them credit. Randy and Susann were witnesses at our "City Hall" wedding, held in what used to be the Manhattan DMV, and where they still make you take an eye test and prove you can parallel park before granting a marriage license.
–– LK Peterson
Books Randy illustrated that are available on Amazon:
Places in Time
Monsters of the Ivy League
Trumpitude
Interview with Randy about Monsters of the Ivy League.
Now What books with plenty of Randy art:
Inx Battle Lines: Four Decades of Political Illustration
Political Animals: Now What Anthology No. 2
Flick & Flack: More Poison Capsule Reviews
The DaVinci Cold
And an obituary in The Daily Cartoonist.
All images copyright Randy Jones and Now What Media.
01/03/26
