SEE Magazine
Copyright © 1999. All Rights Reserved

Cover Story Preview BY GILBERT A. BOUCHARD Toon Town Beaver House (10160-103 St.) At the Works Visual Arts Festival June 25 to July 7 Malcolm Mayes wants to explode people’s perception of cartoon art. To that end, the 37-year-old editorial cartoonist for the Edmonton Journal and the Works Visual Arts Festival have curated a ground-breaking, first-ever show of Canadian cartoon artwork called Toon Town, running during the upcoming Works Festival from June 25 to July 7 at Beaver House (10160-103 St.). "I wanted to smash that narrow view of cartoon art that most people have," said Mayes, who relied on his extensive personal connections to bring together this impressive show of contemporary Canadian cartoon art. "Most people aren’t exposed to that much cartoon art, see it dispersed all over the place and are used to seeing the work after it has gone through all these filters. What we’re doing here is bringing all these works in one place and let the viewer get a sense of what’s going on in the cartoon world." Initially, Mayes set out to put together a show of editorial cartoons to coincide with the Association of Canadian Editorial Cartoonists being held in Edmonton June 24-26, but decided early on in the planning process to expand the scope of the show to include fellow cartoonists working on comic strips and comic books. Mayes has been hard at work since last fall putting the show together and has found the process fairly straightforward, with the exception of contacting the "superhero boys." "The superhero boys were hard to get a hold of," Mayes said with a smile. "They have all these layers between the public and themselves. It makes sense, though, if only to keep from getting sidetracked by well-meaning fans. It must be some hard to grind out all that work under tight deadline." The roster of artists in Toon Town is impressive and includes the likes of Todd McFarlane (part owner of the Oilers and author of Spawn), Lynn Johnson (For Better or Worse), Dave Sim (Cerebus), Aislin, Roy Peterson and Donato, Delainey & Rasmussen (Bub Slug and Betty) and Seth (Palooka-Ville), as well as many others. "It’s important to give the public a sense of what the artists are really creating," said Mayes, who underlines that, often, much is lost in the printing and publishing process. Size and detail, for example. Most comic strip and comic book artists produce work that is much larger than what is eventually printed, creating an unfortunate loss in detail as the work is shrunk to fit. "Some work in the show is as big as 20 by 30 inches." Toon Town will also feature some naughty bits: cartoon works that have been deemed unfit for publication. "That part of the show is called ‘the unpublishables,’ so viewers can see what gets killed." Mayes hopes the show can play a small role in rehabilitating the position of cartoonists in the art world. "When I first applied to art school, I submitted all cartoons for my portfolio and was rejected. The next year, I followed the advice of a friend and submitted a body of work that matched what the school wanted to see (more traditional line art) and was accepted. But when I looked at the work of the students who’d been selected the year before – students accepted the year I was rejected – I realized that I was a much stronger artist than 99 per cent of them." Ironically, despite its poor reputation in the larger art world, cartooning/drawing is the foundation of all fine art, says Mayes. He adds cartooning is probably one of the most marketable art skills and one of the easiest ways to earn a living straight out of art school. "There’s a huge gap between when a fine artist leaves school and when they build a reputation for themselves." As for the enduring popularity of cartoon art, Mayes says the cartoon is, at its heart, an artform created by everyday people about everyday life. "Most cartoonists are working class people creating art that reflects the way the public see itself. It’s art that resonates with most people – an informal, approachable artform, yet an artform that has a lot happening in it, an artform rich in layers. "Take Calvin and Hobbes, for example. On one level it’s a strip a kid can read for the funny faces and adventures of Calvin, and yet there was a real deep social commentary and metaphorical level to the strip. "I want people to see this show and realize that, maybe they’ve been dismissing the artform too quickly," he added. "I guarantee you that much of the work you’ll see will simply blow your mind. Even I was just blown away as I unpacked some pieces." As for the future, Mayes says he may very well remount and even expand the scope of Toon Town (including the work of Canadian animators) if this incarnation proves to be the crowd-pleaser he expects. "I want to see how this show does before I make any more plans," he concluded. "The response from the cartoonists has been great."

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