Before his cartoons were published in the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post and Detroit Free Press,

Jef Mallett remembers the first time he felt he had arrived.

He was just a kid when he sat down to discuss cartooning with Dik Brown, the creator of one of his favorite childhood comics, “Hagar the Horrible.”

“Our family was visiting our aunt in Connecticut at the time, and as it happened, many of the cartoonists of that time lived in Connecticut,” he said. “I looked for his number in the area phone book, and sure enough, he was in there. I called him up and told him how much I liked his work, and he invited me to his house to take a look at his studio.”

It was at Brown’s house that Mallett got his first look at what the life of a cartoonist was like.

“I brought some of the stuff I had been working on over there for him to look at, and he had some nice things to say about (the cartoons),” he said. “I demonstrated some of my drawing for him and he did the same. It was a neat experience.”

Now Mallett, formerly a Big Rapids resident, is the one receiving phone calls and e-mails from adoring fans for his syndicated cartoon, “Frazz,” which focuses on a young, wise-beyond-his-years school janitor.

“Frazz” which is syndicated in 125 newspapers worldwide.

United Feature Syndicate Public Relations Director Mary Ann Grimes says “Frazz” is one of the company’s comics that receives positive input all the time.

“It’s one of the best comic strips around because it’s very smart but still fun,” she said. “People enjoy its very positive tone, and well-developed characters.”

Growing up

Like most comic artists, Mallett’s interest in drawing began at an early age, but he didn’t consider it a viable career option until he was about 40 years old.

“All kids draw cartoons, the difference is I never quit drawing them,” he said. “I tried to find something people would consider more constructive, and I tried that at all ages, but I always bounced back to art.”

Mallett received much of the encouragement to pursue drawing as a career from his parents, who said he had been drawing since he was a young child.

 “Right after learning about dinosaurs, he became interested in drawing them,” said Mallett’s father, Gordon. “But I think he was always interested in drawing cartoons. That always seemed to be his first love.”

Mallett’s mother, Janet, said she isn’t surprised that he has been able to make a career out of creating cartoons.

“He was drawing pictures on the walls as a kid,” she said. “From the time he hatched he was drawing pictures … that’s how he got through school. A lot of times he would sit in classes drawing pictures, and teachers would put them on the boards because they were impressed.”

Mallett took his first shot at making cartoons as a senior at Big Rapids High School, when his English teacher, Cathy Johnson, suggested he submit one of his ideas, “Birchbark,” to the Pioneer.

“Even in high school you could tell he had something special,” Johnson said. “I just told him to try and get ‘Birchbark’ published. The worst thing they could tell you is no.”

But the Pioneer didn’t say no, and Mallett had his first cartoon gig as a senior in high school.

“I think Jef was a sponge,” Johnson added. “He was always soaking a lot of stuff up and observing things that were going on around him.”

Mallett belives producing “Birchbark” was a good experience, but he always thought if he wanted to be a cartoonist, he needed to have a backup plan.

“That was enough to teach me that I loved the business (of drawing comics),” Mallett said. “But by being in that business, even on a local level, I got the feeling that it was show business, and I needed to have a backup plan.”

Some of those plans included attending nursing school at Ferris State University and entering an emergency medical training program.

Mallett continued to freelance while in nursing school, but was pulled away when some of his freelance cartooning led to him getting a full-time position at the Grand Rapids Press and eventually into national syndication. But Mallett believes starting “Frazz” later in life was for the better of the comic.

Frazz comes to life

Mallet’s vision for “Frazz” came at an unlikely time, when he was speaking at a school in support of his children’s book, “Dangerous Dan.” He was amazed at the amount of respect students had, not for the teachers or principal of the school, but for the janitor.

“The students wouldn’t settle down for teachers or principals ... the authority figures,” he said. “But when the janitor came out, I was amazed at how quiet the students got ... it was like they didn’t want to let him down.

“He was closer to their level ... and he couldn’t assign homework,” Mallett joked. “I began thinking to myself, ‘Why isn’t anybody doing this?’”

As the strip started making its way into newspapers across the country, Mallett says the character Frazz began to take on some of the characteristics of himself.

“Every author is autobiographer, it just depends on how much you want to disguise it,” he said. “It turned out to be a good strategy for me, because instead of trying to make a character up, I was forcing myself to have an interesting life. The (cartoon and my life) play off each other.”

Some of the similarities include Frazz being a triathlete and cyclist, both of which Mallett has been competitive in over the years. Mallett insists, however, that the character’s rock star persona is not autobiographical.

Mallett said he also gets inspiration from reading comics. Growing up, some of his favorites included “Beetle Bailey” and “Hagar the Horrible” and more recently, “Calvin and Hobbes,” “The Far Side” and “Bloom County.”

“I’m a dedicated comics reader to this day,” he said. “When I was young, I learned to read by reading comics.”

It’s that love of cartoons that has kept Mallett inspired to keep “Frazz” going for six years.