Jef Mallett (born 1962) is an American cartoonist best known as the creator and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

of the nationally syndicated

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

'' Frazz''.

Early and personal life

Mallett attended

nursing school Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

as well as EMT training before leaving to pursue his artistic interests. He has a longtime interest in

bicycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of bicycle pedal, pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the ...

and

hanggliding Hang gliding is an air sports, air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium al ...

and is an avid triathlete, having completed his first

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

in 1981 (coming in 9th). He has twice completed the

Ironman Triathlon An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consid ...

. He is married to Patty and lives in

Huntington Woods, Michigan Huntington Woods is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Huntington Woods is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit. As ...

, United States.

Career

While in high school, Mallett published his first comic strip for his local newspaper, the Big Rapids Pioneer. His first comic series was entitled "Birchbark", featuring a French-Canadian trapper. After becoming a

graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...

, he worked in that capacity for regional newspapers, the

Grand Rapids Press ''The Grand Rapids Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is the largest of the print publications of MLive Media Group. It is sold for $1.50 daily and $7.99 on Sunday. AccuWeather provides weather content to the '' ...

and the

Flint Journal ''The Flint Journal'' is a quad-weekly newspaper based in Flint, Michigan, owned by Booth Newspapers, a subsidiary of Advance Publications. Published Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, it serves Genesee County, Michigan, Genesee, Lapeer ...

. Afterwards, Mallett left the commercial world to concentrate on Frazz full-time.

Accomplishments

Books

*''Dangerous Dan'' (children's book). Willowisp Press (1996) *''Live at Bryson Elementary''. Andrews McMeel Publishing (2005) 128 pages. Includes foreword by

Gene Weingarten Gene Norman Weingarten is an American journalist, and former syndicated humor columnist for ''The Washington Post.'' He is the only two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. Weingarten is known for both his serious and humor ...

and introduction by Jef Mallett. *''99% Perspiration''. Andrews McMeel Publishing (2006) 128 pages. *''Frazz 3.1416''. Andrews McMeel Publishing (20089) 128 pages. . Includes an introduction by Charles Solomon *''Trizophrenia: Inside the Minds of a Triathlete'' VeloPress (2009)

Illustrations

*''Live Albom II'' by

Mitch Albom Mitchell David Albom (born May 23, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and musician. As of 2021, he has sold 40 million books worldwide. Having achieved national recognition for sports writing in his early career, he turned to writing inspi ...

, Detroit Free Press, Inc. (1990) *Mallett donated cover artwork for the Bob and Tom Show CD: Operation Radio which was distributed for free to US Servicemen, serving overseas, as part of the

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

's Operation Care Package. *Created the artwork for the Bob and Tom Show CD: Man Boobs (2006). *''Roadie: The Misunderstood World of a Bike Racer'' by Jamie Smith, published Spring 2008 by VeloPress.

Other

*He was 2005 commencement speaker at

University of Michigan–Flint The University of Michigan–Flint (UM-Flint) is a public university in Flint, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1956 as the Flint Senior College, it was initially established as a remote branch of the University of Michigan, offering upper-d ...

. *Participated in Nevada Passage, which featured two-person teams competing in

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

, and other outdoor events during a 2006

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

program; his partner was

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

Stefani Jackenthal, another all-American triathlete.

Awards

*2003 annual Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council for "Excellence in Communicating Values and Ethics", for Frazz.

References

External links

Frazz on comics.com

''Roadie: The Misunderstood World of a Bike Racer'' by Jamie Smith, illustrated by Jef Mallett.

Jef Mallett participates in Cartoonist roundtable.

Personal blog (2009-2011).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallett, Jef Living people 1962 births American comics artists Artists from Lansing, Michigan American male triathletes Sportspeople from Lansing, Michigan People from Huntington Woods, Michigan 20th-century American sportsmen