Camco

Here’s a review I wrote in the Spectator about by a fellow cartoonist, Hamiltonian, and beer drinking partner, Roy Carless. I recommend his book. You can by it through Amazon.ca.

The Carless Cartoon Collection
By Roy Carless and Kerry J. Schooley
Seraphim Editions, $24.95

If there was ever a time in Canadian history when there existed a golden age of editorial cartooning, it was during the era that spanned the 45-year career of the great Duncan Macpherson.

Born out of this period between 1948 and 1993 was a whole generation of cartoonists who were so captivated by the style and philosophy of the late Toronto Star wise one that even today you’ll see his influence in 21st century editorial cartoons.

One particular Hamiltonian cartoonist who followed alongside Macpherson as both a student and friend is Roy Carless.

Carless shows an edginess that pushes the envelope with the naughtiness of a kid at the back of a classroom.

Having drawn for mostly labour and trade publications, Carless has enjoyed greater freedom to skewer politicians and express ideas than many of his mainstream contemporaries. So while many editorial cartoons from the ’60s and ’80s ranged from the whimsical to the cornball, Carless was sticking it to those who were sticking it to the everyman.

Macpherson often employed the everyman character in his cartoons, and so did Roy Carless. Yet Carless actually lived the life of an everyman.

He has spent a life on the assembly lines of Westinghouse and Camco and has been active in countless trade union organizations. He has faced family tragedies and suffered severe health problems.

Well into his 80s, Carless continues to passionately produce cartoons. And his stories and cartoons through four decades are wonderfully told and illustrated in The Carless Cartoon Collection.