Richmond reveals character design for Achmed, the Dead Terrorist’s son

MAD Magazine cartoonist Tom Richmond has written about his experience working with ventriloquist comedian Jeff Dunham to create a new character for his comedy routine. The new character is AJ, the son of Achmed the Dead Terrorist.

Early in the summer of 2010 I received a call from some gentlemen out in LA who represented world-famous comedian/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham to inquire about my doing some work for him. I was told Jeff was a big fan of MAD Magazine and my work, and wanted to explore the possibility of using some of my artwork for various projects. In the ensuing year and a half, I’ve done quite a bit of work for him, including detailed illustrations of his various characters, some more simplified line-art type work of same, a few things for merchandising/products and some conceptual work on some possible new characters. It has been a lot of fun working with Jeff and his group.

Here’s a primer on Achmed the Dead Terrorist (foul language alert):

And here’s AJ, Achmed Jr.