Alex Ross has been a busy man. His images have graced the cover of Marvel's "Heroes" and will also be seen on their upcoming "Moment of Silence." He's also providing the cover to DC's volume of the "September 11" tribute book. In addition Alex's work was recently featured on the covers of "TV Guide" with four different covers inspired by the WB television show "Smallville." Ross is also providing the artwork for the official Oscar ceremonies lithograph for The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science.

So, with all this high-profile work under his belt, the obvious next step for Ross is...Mad Magazine?

In stores March, 2002, is a new collection of Mad super-hero parody's called "Mad about Super-Heroes." When it came time to come up with a cover for this book the editors of Mad approached Ross and he was happy to take up the challenge.

"Mad came calling to some of Alex's editors to see if he was interested, and of course he was. It's a great honor to do a Mad cover," Sal Abinanti, a representative for Alex Ross told CBR News. "It started with an open end to create a cool cover and bounce some ideas back and forth with the Mad editors. Alex thought of the one with Alfred in the Wonder Woman outfit."

You can see to your right that Ross worked up a variety of sketches for the Mad editors. While his choice may have been the one featuring the hallmark Mad Magazine character Alfred E. Newman in drag, err, a Wonder Woman outfit, ultimately the decision was left up to the editors of Mad Magazine and they chose a more traditional view of super-heroes, featuring Newman standing proudly by Superman and Batman in the traditional Ross style. This is the first time Ross has contributed to Mad Magazine.

For fans of Ross' work there's more coming your way soon. Ross is working closely with Dynamic Forces overseeing the "Earth X" mini-bust line and will also be providing the promotional artwork and covers for the upcoming "Battle of the Planets" series coming from Top Cow in 2002.