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Contact the Artist
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) of Jef Mallett |
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 Q. How long have you been drawing cartoons? Describe the moment when you knew you wanted to be cartoonist.
A. I've been drawing my whole life. But that's just about every cartoonist's answer, and it's not very exciting, so I'll elaborate. I always wanted to be a cartoonist, but there were a couple of key moments when I decided to do something about it. The first was when I was about 10 years old. That's when I realized that a professional cartoonist has to write as well as draw. Whatever sparked that revelation, I decided then and there that if I was going to draw a picture, then by God, that picture was going to tell a funny story. Things moved along the usual path from there, with my work popping up in school and church bulletins, newsletters and the odd newspaper article. In high school, I drew a daily comic strip for my hometown newspaper. I ended up stringing for a larger newspaper, moved into a staff illustrator job, then a graphics editor job, and the next thing I knew, 20 years had slipped by and I wasn't drawing the kind of pictures I insisted on when I was 10. Then came the second key moment. I was working for a chain of Michigan newspapers, and I decided I'd ignored cartoons long enough. My boss and I worked out a deal to add editorial cartooning to my job, which was great. Then I wanted to do more cartooning and less of the other stuff. Taking a shot at a comic strip seemed to be worth a try. It was, and here I am.
Q. What were your influences? Were any of the characters in Frazz inspired by other comic strips you read in the past?
A. I've got all sorts of influences, and only a few are cartoonists. Don't get me wrong - there are some great cartoonists out there who are worth emulating. But if I just learn from cartoonists, I'm not sure I have the talent to build on their work. So I take my lessons from other sources.
Painters, for example. Edward Hopper uses light and color wonderfully - very useful when setting up Sunday panels. Caravaggio painted action so brilliantly that he made other painters' subjects look like they were stuck in cement. Bernini did the same thing with sculpture.
Good writers should be treasured for their dialogue and character development - Richard Russo comes straight to mind, as does John Steinbeck. Calvin Trillin is brilliant. Tim Cahill doesn't just tell his readers what he's doing, he drops them in the middle of it. Bill Bryson (trivia: Frazz's school is Bryson Elementary) is one of the most subversive educators anywhere. You finish a chapter from any of his books, and you're laughing so hard you don't even realize you've just learned something.
I love good newspaper columnists - they say a lot in a small space - and I wish papers would quit cutting back on them. Mike Royko was a legend, and he deserved to be. Mitch Albom from the Detroit Free Press has more talent in his left eyebrow than I have in my whole body. And I mean that about the eyebrow. If he's interviewing you and you give him an incomplete answer, that eyebrow will go up, and the next thing you know, you're spilling your guts. Ever since I noticed that, I've been trying to learn to do that. No luck. (I can wiggle one ear at a time, but it doesn't have the same effect.) Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post is easily the funniest man in print. He's almost demoralizing, he's so good. But I read him religiously in the hopes that genius is a sort of virus I might catch if I'm exposed long enough.
And then there's the movie directors (Martin Scorsese's camera angles, the Coen Brothers' pacing) and songwriters (Lyle Lovett: The Man. Ben Folds, John Hiatt and Paul Thorn: right up there). And yeah, even cartoonists. When you follow cartoons all your life, you can't help but be influenced even when you're trying to avoid it. I shouldn't mention any of my biggest influences by name (BillWattersonJimBorgmanGeorgeBoothClayBennett), because I'm sure to leave someone out and embarrass myself. But yeah, their influence is definitely there.
Q. Frazz (the character) is a part-time songwriter. Is there anything in your own past that can relate to this? To what extent do you base your characters or plots on personal experience?
A. I grew up in a family of musicians. My dad taught music. My mom still plays violin and piano for orchestras and stage productions all over Michigan. My brother has a doctorate in music. Me, I'm awful. I never had the discipline to learn an instrument. I've always been kind of hyperactive, and drawing and writing monopolize all my sitting-down time. But I love music. I love the pacing and discipline of a well-written song. My parents taught me to recognize good music so I can recognize it where I might have ignored it otherwise. I wish I were a good musician and songwriter, but I can't have everything. So I assign those duties to Frazz.
Q. How would you explain Frazz's desire to keep his janitorial job despite his Top Ten successes?
A. Wouldn't you keep a job like that if you could? Frazz took the janitor job while he was struggling as a songwriter. After he scored some hits, he stayed on because he could. He enjoyed the kids, he enjoyed the other teachers, he enjoyed the energy and he enjoyed making a difference. Be honest - you'd be reluctant to leave that, too, wouldn't you?
Q. Did you have a particularly friendly school janitor when you were a kid?
A. Um, no. I don't think I did. How embarrassing. I got the idea for "Frazz" a few years ago when I was touring schools with a book I wrote and illustrated. You know how assemblies are - they're practically recess, at least at first. Eventually, though, somebody had to calm the kids down so I could get them riled up again. Teachers would fail. Principals would fail. But in a lot of cases, the janitor would step in and the kids would quiet right down. The janitor just operated on a different level, a little closer to the kids but still an adult. Everybody loved the janitor. By the time I decided that would make a good premise for a comic strip, I couldn't believe someone hadn't beaten me to it.
Q. Frazz is also a recreational cyclist and mountain biker. Do you bring your own interest in this sport to his character?
A. Oh, definitely. I love bicycling. I love speed, but I think motors are for sissies. That leaves bicycles. (And perhaps malfunctioning parachutes, but I don't care for the side effects.) Plus, it just feels good to be fit. You can buy just about anything in this modern world, but you still have to earn the ability to feel really good, to knock down speed and miles under your own power. I'll admit it, I'm a little smug that way. I'll also admit that all the riding keeps me sane - and I need a lot of help keeping sane.
Q. Your strip is a nice blend of the modern and the traditional: for instance, on the one hand, it reflects reality in its racial diversity and references like kids wearing Tommy Hilfiger; on the other hand, you have characters like Mrs. Olsen, who would not be out of place in old-fashioned strips. Do you think a good strip in today's world should combine both sensibilities?
A. You're giving me more credit than I deserve. The whole world is a mix of modern and traditional. I just draw what I see. On the other hand, taking off the blinders is incredibly hard. Ask any art instructor: The first, and most important, breakthrough is to convince the student to look at what's in front of him instead of drawing on preconceived notions. This is why so many people "can't get the eyes right." They think eyes are these almond-shaped flat things pasted on either side of the nose, instead of spheres embedded inside holes in the skull with lids stretched over them. So you get heads drawn on an angle with eyes drawn straight on. Well, what applies to art applies to everything else. Certainly to comic strips. The world is multicultural. Kids do wear designer clothes. And there will always be a Mrs. Olsen or two in your school career.
Q. You sometimes have Frazz and Caulfield discuss larger social topics -- the role of advertising, education, etc. Do you think it's important for a comic strip to have a point of view on issues -- or at least raise them?
A. This is the editorial cartoonist in me, perhaps. Of course you should have a point of view, and of course you should express it. That is, if you aspire to contribute to the world instead of just amusing it. Now, I get as impatient with overly opinionated cartoonists, and columnists, and radio hosts, and dinner guests, as I do with unambitious ones. I don't want to be told what to think, and I don't want to tell people what their point of view should be. Especially since, let's face it, a lot of my opinions turn out to be dumb ones. But I want to poke them and prod them so that they come up with their own opinions. I want to be thought provoking. I get relatively little joy from changing someone's mind. I get great joy from hearing I tricked someone into thinking for himself.
Q. Adults appreciate references like Warren Zevon. But what about kids? Are you writing for them too?
A. There's an assumption that kids are somehow inferior to adults, and that's just plain wrong. Okay, eight-year-olds might make inferior professional football players or surgeons. They haven't acquired the bulk and the experience necessary. But they leave adults in the dust when it comes to figuring things out. Remember, they're rookies. Everything is new to them, so they're quite adept at solving little mysteries. Kids might not know who Warren Zevon is. So what? They've never heard of half the other stuff we tell them about, either, but they figure it out. I layer my cartoons with that in mind.
Q. You've said you became a cartoonist after poring over comics as a kid, so are you hoping Frazz has a similar influence on some kid out there today?
A. More to the point, I became a reader after poring over comics as a kid, and reading opens just about every other door available. That's what I want to do: open doors. And not just for kids. Kids open doors on their own. If I can help them open doors a little sooner, that's great. Nothing could make me more proud. Except, perhaps, doing the same thing for adults. We grown-ups aren't nearly so good at exploring new things, so we require a stronger nudge. If I can pull that off, then I'll be a proud cartoonist indeed. |
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