On cartoons and the South

The Levine Museum of the New South, a great resource for newcomers and oldtimers alike, is handing out flyers for its big new exhibit opening next month. On them is a cartoon of a large Southern man, with denim overalls, red-and-white checked shirt, a ballcap with the brim pulled low, a stalk of wheat clenched in his mouth. A stereotypical Southern "Bubba," holding up a mirror to himself.

The name of the exhibit: "Comic Stripped: A Revealing Look at Southern Stereotypes in Cartoons." (Click here to see more).

The illustration is special not just because it shows the upcoming exhibit’s themes perfectly. It was drawn especially for the museum by Doug Marlette, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist who was killed in a car crash yesterday.

Marlette, who once worked for the Observer, has been integrally involved in the development of the exhibit and contributed artwork to it. Tom Hanchett, the museum historian, was too shocked to talk much about it when I saw him yesterday.

I didn’t overlap with Marlette at the Observer, though I was growing up in Charlotte when he worked here and I vividly remember his attention-getting cartoons about the scandal involving the former PTL empire headed by Jim and Tammy Bakker. I have seen him speak several times. And I have been well aware over the years of the strong respect my colleagues who worked with him still hold for him.

If you aren’t familiar with the man and his work, you might enjoy reading about him and seeing his cartoons (click here and here for links).

And I hope you’ll mark your calendars for the museum exhibit, which runs Aug. 31 through April 6, 2008. I’m sure I’ll find a lot to write about it because it will evoke the themes of what makes us Southern and how our identity is changing as newcomers transform this area. Sept. 8 is a community day, with free admission, food, music, crafts and more from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. I hope to see you there.