CSotD: Sunday profile: Jef Mallett on “Frazz”
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(I wrote this profile of Frazz cartoonist Jef Mallett in 2003 for the Post-Star of Glens Falls, NY)
"Frazz is who I would be, if I were about 100 times cooler," Jef Mallett admits.
The parallel is purely intentional. Like the cartoon janitor of his school-based comic strip, Mallett is a lifelong learner who has always preferred to find knowledge on his own.
"I never cared for school very much as a student," he says, "but I always loved to learn. I still do."He has found, he says, a challenging way to keep improving his intellect. "I just surround myself with people who are a whole lot smarter than me, and then try to keep up. It works pretty well."
Perhaps the fact that his parents were teachers kept him focused on schoolwork throughout high school. "I had a 3.5," he says. "I guess I could have had a 3.9 if I had applied myself to that,but I never enjoyed it. I really think any kid could get a 3.9 if he would apply himself to it. I just applied myself to other things."
One of those things was producing a daily comic strip for the local paper in his hometown of Big Rapids, Mich., an ambitious undertaking for a high school student. Going through his archives today produces what Mallett describes as "a combination of cringing and saying, 'You know, this is not bad for a little kid.'"
Mallett started nursing school, but the drawing board beckoned, and he gave up school for a job drawing editorial cartoons for the Michigan-based Booth chain of newspapers. He has since written and illustrated a children's book, "Dangerous Dan," and has illustrated other books as well, including one by best-selling author Mitch Alborn.
Mallett began drawing "Frazz" two years ago with the intention of creating a strip for curious people like himself. That the strip makes frequent allusions to classical music, fine art and literature is a conscious decision.
"I really wanted to appeal to some of the smarter readers, the more curious people who like to learn."
His insistence that curiosity is a positive attribute is reflected in the character of Caulfield, a bright young boy who is well-read without being a nerd, who is smart without being a wiseguy and who is a good student but delights in tweaking the rules.
And Mallett's loyalty to good teaching can be seen in the faculty of Bryson Elementary School, where most of the teachers and administrators are energetic, dedicated educators who love kids and do their best. The only buffoon is Mrs. Olsen, the grumpy, burned-out teacher who is counting the days until she retires, as is everyone else in the building.
"The feedback I get from teachers is good," Mallett says. "I get a lot of notes that say 'You really nailed it,' and the others at least say I'm showing school as it ought to be instead of as it is."
Another recent piece of feedback, however, proved even more satisfying. Mallett is a competitive cyclist and triathlete, and dressed Frazz in a "Lance Armstrong Foundation" Tshirt during a recent storyline.
"I got a note from a guy who said his mom had died of cancer the day before that strip ran," he recalls.
"He said, 'I saw your strip and it picked me up, it made me laugh, and then I saw the T-shirt he was wearing, so I sat down and made a donation.' Well, it happened that this was a gag that was spread over a couple of days, so Frazz still had the T-shirt on in the next day's strip, and I got a second note from the guy who said, 'I saw the T-shirt again, so I sent in a check again."
Frazz is in 100 newspapers, still a small strip by syndication standards, but that reader gave Mallett a boost.
"The strip may not have broad reach yet," he says, "but it's got depth!"
(Last fall, I went to Lansing, Michigan to visit my son and his family and took the opportunity to drop in on Jef for this video interview. I would note that Frazz is in considerably more papers these days than it was in 2003.)
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