Calling Dr. Jones

Hot off the press, it’s MIZZOU magazine’s Fall 2022 issue! I had the opportunity to work with master illustrator Jason Seiler for this riff on Indiana Jones. Jason’s work has appeared everywhere — TIME, Rolling Stone, Disney and the current issue of MAD magazine, to name a few. It’s always a thrill to work with an artist of his caliber.

Our subject, Kent Jones, grew up idolizing New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael, leading to his own successful career as a television show writer in New York. His thoroughly entertaining first-person essay is packed with humor and an existential question on what it means to be a critic in media today. Raiders of the Lost Ark is referenced repeatedly throughout, hence the direction of the cover art. I did my best to continue the Hollywood theme for the opening spread with an illustration depicting Kent as Thor. “Opinions are a hammer. The world is a nail.” Watch the cover process below and read the full story.