15 Years of Frazz Comics
by GoComicsApril 2 marks the 15th anniversary of Jef Mallett's Frazz! Editor Kendra Phipps shares reflects on this milestone:
Please join me in saying HAPPY 15 YEARS TO FRAZZ!!
Is 15 years the "golden" anniversary? No? Well, it should be. Frazz is the golden-haired, gold-record-writing janitor with a heart of you-know-what. The strip was created by the equally golden-hearted (though less golden-haired) Jef Mallett, and I have been lucky enough to be Jef's editor for three years now.
I can't improve on Jef's words (he's blogged for us here before: http://blogs.gocomics.com/2013/07/meet-your-creator-jef-mallett-frazz.html), so I'll let him share some thoughts on the strip.
On why he writes such intellectual dialogue in a comic strip:
"Before the funny pages, I worked other newspaper jobs, and it drove me crazy that some people in the business still seemed to think we should write down to some kind of lowest common denominator. "... By the time I created Frazz, I was a little older and a little secure and a whole lot of stubborn, and I decided I was going to draw with the assumption that my readers were a little more ambitious. "... I do have the smartest readers in the comics. And they keep me on my toes, pointing out the errors I inevitably make. I'm not nearly as smart as my characters, or my readers. But I'm every bit as curious, so I keep getting smarter. The hard way."
Related: Why your favorite word is about to be "Callipygian" :
"One of the happiest days of my career was when I drew a strip where Caulfield was filling out a form and didn't know what to put for his race; like most Americans, he's a bit of his own personal melting pot. Frazz suggests he write that he's Callipygian. But the thing is, I deliberately didn't explain what it meant. Other than the few readers who knew, people were going to have to look it up, and when they did, it was going to make their day. And they did, and it did. Best word ever. What? No, I'm not going to say what it is here. Look it up."
On how he comes up with enough jokes and stories to fill 365 comics per year:
"You simply can't just make up that much material. You have to steal it from life. And if you're going to do that, you'd better do everything you can to have the most interesting life possible. That's its own Faustian bargain, but it's one that suits me."
On what keeps him going:
"It's exhausting; drawing the strip takes so much time and energy, and the way I make my life interesting involves a lot of exercise. It's a tricky, even desperate, balance. But as with most balancing acts, slowing down only makes it harder, and if you stop, you're toast. Most of what keeps me going is pure joy. I love this life."
It shows, Jef"... Thank you for giving your readers so much to love on the comics page!
If you don't already follow Frazz on GoComics, get your callipygian self over there and fix that. It's SO great. Here are a few of my Frazz Faves:
An early Easter strip, blending redemption and Peeps (as one does).
Toilet humor! It's not ALL intellectual, thank goodness.
The "Mrs. Olsen saves the day" arc! It starts here, and continues off and on into the fall. Read the whole storyline to see how the town rallies to reward Mrs. Olsen for her good deed.
From that arc: Mrs. Olsen in Spandex. Comedy gold.
And one more random favorite, because cats.
Once again, a very happy 15th to the golden boy!
-Kendra
