A Tale of Two Toonists
MidWeek is the rare U.S. newspaper with its own editorial cartoonist, and we have two in the award-winning Dick Adair (left) and Roy Chang, who wield mighty pens to take on politicians and tough issues
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But while modern cartoon-ists have computerized the process, Adair still does his work the old-fashioned way. He uses pen and ink on drawing paper, with a splash of watercolor.
Some of his favorite subjects have been the controversial Bishop Estate trustees of the late 1990s (“I loved drawing them.”), former Mayor Frank Fasi (“He hated my guts.”) and various City Council officials (“I don’t know where they got that bunch from.”).
National and world affairs do not evade Adair’s drawing pad either. For his efforts, he has framed letters from U.S. presidents, boxes full of professional awards, and even a Hawaii State Senate Proclamation.
All but one legislator attended the Senate presentation to Adair. Could be that the senator-estate trustee was disgusted with Adair’s pointed criticism.
“It goes with the territory,” the political cartoonist says. “The test of a written or drawn commentary is whether it gets at an essential truth.”
Or under your skin.
Relentless Roy Chang Chang, 42, is an art teacher, editorial cartoonist and a freelance illustrator. The Moanalua High School grad has a bachelor of fine arts degree in illustration from the Academy of Art College in San Francisco and a master’s in education from the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
His cartoons have appeared in UH’s Ka Leo O Hawaii, Star-Bulletin, Honolulu Weekly and MidWeek.
Chapman hired Chang in 2002 on a part-time basis, but it soon became apparent that he was up to being a weekly contributor.
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“I liked his local style,” Chapman says. “This is a guy with talent and a desire to work hard and make a dream come true.”
The fine arts teacher at Aiea Intermediate School is an adviser for the Cartooning Club and the Korean Drama Fan Club “where we eat kimchi and rice while watching K-drama scenes.”
But the role he most relishes is being “a citizen watch-dog with ink pens.”
Back in 1993, Chang answered a call from the Star-Bulletin to submit editorial cartoons while staff cartoonist Corky Trinidad took a year off.
“My first cartoon was about the mayor and his support of rail transit,” Chang says. “Some things never change.”
“I take my role more as journalist, humorist and sarcastic SOB than cartoonist,” he says. “My goal is to say something about an issue or, better yet, get the viewer to have a response. Elected officials tell me that they like what I say even if it’s critical because it makes them accountable and gets the public involved.”
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As for inspiration, Chang reacts, “You can’t make up this stuff! Politicians create all the material I need.”
Editorial cartoonists can often bring an issue to light that the public is ignoring. An example would be Chang’s cartoon “Sitting on the Dock of a Bay” that depicted the tons of bundled trash waiting for months to be shipped out from Oahu.
Soon the local news media was hounding city officials.
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As for art style, Chang keeps an old tradition in editorial cartooning by using “dingbat” characters that appear in the corner of his drawings.
“I use a panda and a monkey as characters to give closing comments,” he explains.
As for his peers, Chang admires “the late Corky’s wit, Dick Adair’s contour lines and John Pritchett’s cross-hatching to create values.”
Besides his toon duties for MidWeek, Chang is generous with his volunteer time for student art exhibits, community art classes and doing posters for arts and cultural events. He has a manga novel about to the published called Cacy and Kiara and the Lava Flows of the Fire Goddess.
But his true claim to fame could be his annual trips to San Francisco to get sourdough omiyage for colleagues and friends.
As for the fate of editorial cartoonists, we wonder if they will continue to be a force to influence public opinion and raise social consciousness.
Draw your own conclusions.
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