I have always held cartoonists in high regard. I’m a fan, plain and simple. As a child I had wanted to become a cartoonist in the worst way. I also wanted to be an astronaut. And a pilot. And an astronomer. A paleontologist. Come to think of it, I had also considered future careers in inventing, comedy, exploration, swashbuckling and zoo keeping. Still, I’m sure being a cartoonist was in the mix there somewhere.
And who wouldn’t want to be a cartoonist? The world is your demented oyster. Imagine the lens through which a cartoonist views the world. Cat. Tonic. Catatonic. Normal people can’t think this stuff up. Evolution wouldn’t allow for it. But if someone has to organize a pun involving Greek mathematicians and rabbits, then let it be the cartoonist. This way, the rest of us are free to go about our business keeping the gears of progress rolling.
Thank God for the cartoonist.
And now we come to Timothy Lockley–cartoonist.When his envelope crossed my desk and I opened it, I first saw the sample drawings before the cover letter. I recognized the work immediately. So will you. Tim’s work has graced the pages of Funny Times, the Biloxi Sun Herald, The Mole, Comic Relief (the California satire magazine), and has appeared in various nonfiction works. Every now and then you also run across less-than-scrupulous small town publications that lift his cartoons off the web. So, yes… you’ve seen his work before.
And why not? Lockley’s drawing style is simple, but expressive. This humor spans a wide range of tolerances. He finds humor in turning expectations upside down. We have all heard about the last of the Mohicans. What about the first? (Apparently he owned a wristwatch.) And no cartoonist has a more deft hand with wordplay. Choosing cartoons for this first collection has been a real hoot. I’m not being figurative. When going through the stacks, those comics that made me hoot with laughter (I also sometimes barked) went into the publish pile. I showed the collection to some test readers who were nearly unanimous in their approval. In fact, the only hold-out was my cat who took offense to a few of the cartoons. The dog was a much better sport–although I needed to explain the Euclid joke to her more than once.
But I ramble…
Among these pages you will experience the mind of Timothy Lockley. The twisted puns. The ubiquitous Feldspar family. Dog humor. Cat humor. Wordplay. Religious humor. Science humor. Modern life humor. Technology humor. Coming-of-age humor. Family humor. Business humor. The works.
Belt in. It’s going to be a fun ride. Case in point, I direct you to the closing introductory cartoon.
Don’t say you weren’t warned.Enjoy!
– John Teehan, Publisher