by Moe Zilla

Created on: April 04, 2010

Mort Drucker drew the covers for Mad magazine - but he also illustrated a children's book!  "Whitefish Will Rides Again" tells the story of a lawman in the old west, and Drucker's funny drawings steal the show. It's written by Arthur Yorinks, whose comical story about a janitor - "Hey, Al" - won a Caldecott medal for its illustrations in 1987. Seven years later - as Drucker was turning 65 - the two teamed up to create a very special western.

"Who's Whitefish Will?" asks the enormous letters on the first page, recreating the old-fashioned type on a "Wanted" poster. "Why, he's just about the best danged sheriff that ever lived," it answers warmly at the bottom of the page. "That's who." And Drucker draws the sheriff - both guns drawn - looking big and tough against a giant red sun...

"I tell you, Whitefish Will had the strength of forty mules," Yorinks writes. "Maybe fifty."  And Drucker draws the sheriff hoisting a donkey over his head. This provokes a Mad magazine-style reaction from every bad man in the town - as Will smiles smugly to himself. And Yorinks lays on the tall tale-telling, describing how Jesse James "shot back to Butte faster than a bee-stung billy goat" after just one glimpse of Will's muscles.

"Dash dang dingle darn it, Will was so good at rassling rustlers..."

Ironically, Will is so successful that he's fired - since he's captured all the bad guys already. But the writer and the illustrator make the most of this relaxing turn of events. "Will wandered. Raised roosters. Rode in the rodeo," Yorinks writes. Now it's the critters on the prairie that are running from Will's cabin - to flee the sound of his god-awful harmonica playing!

It's one of Drucker's best illustrations, with a pink snake, a bird, and a rabbit all hurrying away (with more Mad magazine-style distress!) And his drawing of the peaceful town has a soft yellow glow, like an faded old photograph, showing the prosperous citizens - with a dog and a cat playing fiddle and banjo. But the best thing about the book is the way their talents combine. Drucker's imagining of the old west is matched by Yorink's over-the-top "frontier geezer" narration. Bad Bart was "a trouble-making son-of-a-gunmaker, a pistol-packing pickpocket..."

And it's up to Whitefish Will to bring him in.

Or maybe not. The peaceful townsfolk don't really care if the bad guy swipes their horses after all. ("We'll walk.") And when he robs the local bank, its teller is equally accommodating. "Here, fellas. enjoy! If you got your health, who needs money?" Soon he's ordering everyone to hand over their clothes, figuring that will get a rise out of them. "Whoa doggie, was he wrong! The townsfolk just took to wearing barrels."

And Drucker contributes a funny picture of the naked townsfolk wear barrels.

I wondered if 65-year-old Drucker was making a statement about the perils of retirement. When Will returns to save the day, he's older - and pudgier - and bad Bart simply laughs at him. But there'll still be a showdown at sunset, with Will reaching down for his holster.

But he pulls out his harmonica instead, until bad Bart is begging for mercy!

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