Although Mahlon Blaine spent his entire life as a practicing artist and illustrator, he is little collected, studied, or even acknowledged in the literature of illustrators. His output over the five decades of work is prodigious and eclectic. With published appearances in over 150 books and magazines, still, most of his illustrations have disappeared in the dust of time. Some of the original paintings and drawings of a more traditionally "artistic" nature still survive, but also to a limited extent.

But what most weighs against his general popular acceptance is, I'm sure, due to the relatively erotic nature of some of his creations.

Although the rule-of-thumb Blaine used was often humor, many people cannot get past the exceedingly strong sensuality presented. Or they might focus only on a menacing or disturbing attribute of a character or creature within a particular picture. Well, Blaine was a complex individual, and his creations reflect that.