Sam Viviano

Sam Viviano was born on March 13, 1953, in Detroit, Michigan. He is best known as a caricature artist and art director, with a distinctive style marked by wide, exaggerated jaws—a look he developed by blending side and front views of the face into his distortions. His work also earned a reputation for intricate crowd scenes; for *Institutional Investor* magazine, he produced twice-yearly covers, once noting his limit was sixty caricatures in nine days.

Viviano entered comics in 1978 and remained active through 2023. He is most heavily associated with *Mad* magazine, where he served as an artist and inker, and also contributed to *Crazy Magazine* and international editions like *Svenska Mad*. His collaborations were primarily with the *Mad* stable of writers and editors. Among his notable co-creations are the many single-panel caricatures and satirical illustrations that defined the magazine’s visual identity during his tenure.

Later in his career, Viviano continued to work as an art director and caricaturist. He has not been widely recognized with major industry awards, but his influence persists in the field of caricature for his technical skill and distinctive approach to facial distortion.