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"Frazz" by Jef Mallett follows the adventures of an unexpected role model: an elementary school janitor who's also a Renaissance man. While he's sweeping the hall, he's whistling Beethoven. Or Lyle Lovett. He paints the woodwork in the classrooms; he paints a Da Vinci on the cafeteria wall. He's a trusted authority figure who is every kid's buddy. He took the janitor's job while he was a struggling songwriter, and when he finally sold a hit song, he decided to stay on at school.
"Frazz" appears in 200 newspapers worldwide, including the Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Chicago Tribune, and Detroit News.
"A few years back, I wrote and illustrated a children's book," Mallett said. "When I was traveling around reading it at school assemblies, I noticed that often, the most respected, best-liked grown-up in the building was the janitor. And I thought, 'Hmm, there's a comic strip in that.'"
Often praised for its intelligent wit, gentle spirit, and effortless diversity, "Frazz" won a Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council in 2003 and 2005 for excellence in communicating values and ethics.
Jef Mallett is the creator of the famed "Frazz" comic strip. "Frazz" follows the adventures of an unexpected role model: Edwin "Frazz" Frazier, an elementary school janitor who's also a Renaissance man. “Frazz is the anti-lowest-common-denominator comic strip,” Mallett said. “Not that it’s hard to understand; I just assume my readers are willing to think for their jokes and sweat for their fun.”
Originally from Michigan, Mallett found his passion for cartooning in high school, when he authored a daily comic strip for the Big Rapids Pioneer. He went on to become the art director and editorial cartoonist for Booth Newspaper’s capital bureau. He also wrote and illustrated the children’s book “Dangerous Dan” and triathlon guide “Trizophrenia: Inside the Minds of a Triathlete” and illustrated the bike-racing book “Roadie.” His comic strip "Frazz" is a two-time winner of the Wilbur Award for Excellence in Religion in the Secular Media and was a 2004 finalist for the Reuben Award in the comic strip division. He lives in the Detroit metropolitan area and plans to continue racing and authoring "Frazz."
Born maybe 30 years ago and christened Edwin Frazier, Frazz is the school janitor and Renaissance man—a friend, role model, teacher, buddy, kid, grown-up and the only real authority figure in the school. Frazz took the job when things weren’t working out for him as a songwriter. He kept it when he hit it big.
Named after J.D. Salinger’s protagonist, 8-year-old Caulfield is a genius who hates school (it bores him) and loves Frazz (Frazz challenges him). Caulfield understands Marx’s theories of class division but can’t sit still for a class of long division. He spends a lot of time in detention discussing great books with Frazz.
Born just this side of the Pleistocene era, Mrs. Olsen burned out on teaching during the Jurassic era. Now she’s marking time until the Retirement era. She hates her job, her students, and Frazz. She exposes kids to life under a capricious, malevolent authority figure while they still have the resilience to overcome it.
Mr. Burke is the school’s best teacher and Frazz’s best friend. He doesn’t understand why Frazz still pushes a broom, but he can’t picture the school without him. His one-on-one basketball games with Frazz are masterpieces of dismal skills and stellar thinking. They’ll save the world one conversation and one kid at a time.
Bryson Elementary’s principal has all of the credentials, most of the skills, and nary a clue. He runs a smooth operation for a diverse and demanding student body, but he can’t seem to garner the respect he craves. Mr. Spaetzle wants to be looked up to. He wants to be liked. He wants to be Frazz.
The first-grade teacher is also a first-rate babe. She’s cute, smart, and sweet. She’s the only person who can fluster the unflappable Frazz, and the last person who’d want to. They’d be the perfect couple if they could just get past the preliminaries.