Mallard Fillmore

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Mallard Fillmore

Title panel for Mallard Fillmore Sunday strips.
Creator(s) Bruce Tinsley
Status Running
Syndicate(s) King Features Syndicate
Genre(s) Politics
First strip May 30, 1994
For the U.S. President with a similar name, see Millard Fillmore.

Mallard Fillmore is a comic strip written and illustrated by Bruce Tinsley. The strip follows the exploits of its title character, a politically conservative anthropomorphic green-feathered duck who works as a reporter at fictional television station WFDR in Washington, D.C.. Syndicated by King Features Syndicate since May 30, 1994, Mallard Fillmore appears in approximately 400-450 newspapers across the United States.

During the 1980s, the name "Mallard Fillmore" was used by DC Comics's Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew as the name of the U.S. President of "Earth-C," also a green-feathered duck.

Contents

[edit] Characters

Mallard getting hired for being an "Amphibious American".
Enlarge
Mallard getting hired for being an "Amphibious American".
  • Mallard Fillmore is the main character in the comic strip. He is a seasoned conservative reporter for fictional television station WFDR-TV in Washington, D.C., which hired him in order to fill its quota for "Amphibious Americans."
Mallard's name is a pun on the name of the 13th president of the United States, Millard Fillmore. Although Mallard is, as his name suggests, a mallard duck, he is only occasionally shown with a mallard's colouring. Even when the daily strip is printed in color, Mallard generally appears as solid black. He does not exhibit any ducklike behaviour, and the other characters (who are all human) never comment on his being a duck.
Mallard yearns for the "good old days," and views himself as a victimized underdog in a world that is being overrun with political correctness, religious secularism, and hypocrisy. He is often in a state of outrage over the news item of the day, usually involving liberals.
Mallard's politics are very close, if not one and the same, to cartoonist Bruce Tinsley's - in fact, Tinsley told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that "Mallard really is about as close to me as you can get," in an October 2005 interview .
Although WFDR appears to be a small, local channel, Mallard is still capable of interviewing famous politicians such as Al Gore. Occasionally, he will mention a study done by the "Fillmore Foundation," a think tank which may or may not actually exist in the comic strip, which he presumably heads. Mallard seems to be conscious of the fact that he is a fictional cartoon character, and is capable of "feeling poorly drawn." Mallard is also a bachelor, though in 2002 he had a date with a human woman he met in line at the post office. The date did not go well because he did not agree with her politics. He appears to be quite fond of Ann Coulter. Mallard didn't attend journalism school, at least according to his boss, Mr. Noseworthy. In a 2006 strip, he mentions that he is a Libertarian.
  • Chet is a co-worker of Mallard's at WFDR. He is an arrogant, vain, superficial, Botox-injecting, clothes-obsessed Caucasian male. In a series of strips in late 2003, he discovered he is a "metrosexual."
  • Chantel, an African-American woman reporter, is a co-worker of Mallard's at WFDR. She is described as "smart, aggressive, and liberal." Unlike most liberals depicted in "Mallard Fillmore," she is presented as an intelligent, competent person. She is usually used whenever a scene calls for a minority or a minority perspective – although she is offended when her colleagues assume she speaks on behalf of all African-Americans. On average, she appears about once or twice a year.
  • Dave Quat, a conservative Vietnamese man, is Mallard's best friend, who generally agrees with Mallard's politics. He is the owner of his own diner, aptly named "Dave's Diner." His wife has never been seen.
  • Rush Quat is Dave's young son. He is named after conservative talk radio personality Rush Limbaugh. Rush is in the fourth grade and hopes to someday become a professional basketball player; he sometimes plays basketball with Mallard. Unlike most of the kids in his class, he does not take Ritalin.
  • Eddie is Mallard's pet fish. Unlike Mallard, he does not speak but only comments in thought balloons.
  • Congressman Pinkford Veneer is a fictional Washington, D.C. Democratic congressman. He is a spineless, hypocritical, out-of-touch politician who enjoys tax hikes and opposes school vouchers, even though he sends his own children to a private school. In April 2000, he authored a bill that would require criminals to "give their victims a 30-second waiting period to unlock their trigger-locks" on their guns.
  • "Bruce Tinsley," the cartoonist, sometimes appears in the comic strip, represented by a giant hand holding a pencil over the scene. The other characters are capable of interacting with him, and presumably are aware that they are fictional comic strip characters. "Bruce Tinsley" usually comments on how things are depicted in an editorial cartoon. For example, a series of strips from June 1999 deals with Mr. Noseworthy arguing with "Bruce Tinsley" over how the cartoonist should depict a mugger.
  • OSHA-Boy is a guardian of workplace safety and safe working conditions who is authorized to "annoy virtually anyone suspected of violating a regulation." He appears to be a flying, glasses-wearing dwarf (or other creature) with a superhero-like costume, and a clipboard in hand. He appears to be a physical manifestation of OSHA.
  • Dr. Dilton Twinkley, an education expert, often appears as a guest on WFDR to talk about education issues. He appears to be an exaggerated parody of the NEA and U.S. public school system officials.
  • Larry, a co-worker of Mallard's who gets agitated whenever Mallard does not purchase candy from his son for his school's annual fundraisers.
  • Mr. or Ms. P.C. Person, a superhero-like physical manifestation of political correctness who prides hirself on being gender-neutral.
  • Eddie Fillmore, Mallard's unseen father, a World War II veteran. According to Mallard, he spent three years in the Navy aboard the San Jacinto.

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Parody in America (The Book)

Parody of Mallard Fillmore in America (The Book).
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Parody of Mallard Fillmore in America (The Book).

In the 2004 book America (The Book), written by the staff of The Daily Show, a parody of Mallard Fillmore appears in a section about political cartoons (which also included parodies of Peanuts and Doonesbury strips):

  • Panel 1 - Mallard: Liberals want to tie the hands of industry with more environmental legislation.
  • Panel 2 - Mallard: Why must we punish our most productive citizens with an income tax?
  • Panel 3 - Mallard: Ooops! I forgot to tell a joke!

In the strip's July 5-8, 2005, editions, Tinsley responded to the America (The Book) parody, claiming that Jon Stewart "tried to deceive people into thinking it was a real [Mallard Fillmore strip]" by using the comic's name and a fictitious date. He then included several caricatures of Stewart attempting to explain, while implying that Stewart engaged in questionable behavior with underage males.[1]

[edit] The war in Iraq

From a January 2003 article in Editor & Publisher about columnists and cartoonists commenting about the situation in Iraq:

   
Mallard Fillmore
 Bruce Tinsley has used his "Mallard Fillmore" comic to tweak the media for covering Bush in a negative way. "They portray any military position taken by a Republican president as warmongering," said Tinsley. "But I'm not personally sold on this war. I'm disappointed that the administration hasn't been more forthcoming on the reasons for a war."

Tinsley, however, has not expressed his doubts in "Mallard" -- with one reason being that he feels those doubts are already finding expression in many editorial cartoons and other media commentary (despite the "mainstream media"'s copious other faults in his eyes). In fact, an examination of the strips indicates that "Mallard" has, from 2001 to the present, actually mocked President Bill Clinton, who left office in January of 2001, more times than it has mocked President George W. Bush.[2]
   
Mallard Fillmore

[edit] Jewish stereotypes

On January 4, 2005 a Mallard Fillmore strip was published featuring a television executive who appeared to be a Jewish caricature, which seemed to promote the anti-Semitic stereotype that "Hollywood is run by Jews." The strip did not run in some of its normal venues, such as the Boston Globe. The strip was published in the Jewish World Review, an online magazine "of interest to people of faith and those interested in learning more about contemporary Judaism from Jews who take their religion seriously," which features a daily update of "Mallard Fillmore," as well as an archive of strips that dates back to 1999. The strip in question was later taken down from the main "Mallard" page. It is still on Jewish World Review's web site.[3]

There have also been complaints that his caricature of Jon Stewart might have have seen Anti-Semetic.

[edit] Endorsement of Tom Coburn

A series of strips from March 2006 featured an outright political endorsement of Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), certainly a rarity for a nationally syndicated comic strip.[4] Addressing the audience directly, Mallard urged fellow conservatives to "take a long look at freshman senator Tom Coburn for the Republican presidential nomination," citing his anti-pork barrel stance.

Coburn has caused controversy over his views on homosexuality (he is quoted as saying "The gay community has infiltrated the very centers of power in every area across this country, and they wield extreme power... That agenda is the greatest threat to our freedom that we face today") and abortion (he favors "the death penalty for abortionists and other people who take life").[5]

[edit] Alcohol related arrests

Mallard Fillmore creator Edward Bruce Tinsley was arrested for DUI on December 4, 2006 in Columbus, Indiana, with a blood-alcohol level of 0.14, almost twice the legal limit in Indiana, according to the Columbus Sheriff's Department. He posted $755 bond. In the accompanying news item, it was revealed that Tinsley had also been arrested on August 26, 2006, on a charge of public intoxication. [6] As with the Rush Limbaugh substance abuse controversy, the irony of a public advocate of conservative values whose private life contradicted his public stance was pointed out by liberal commentators [7]; it was also noted that Tinsley had previously published a strip where a drunken driver attempted to avoid arrest by claiming to be related to the Kennedy family [8].

[edit] Recurring themes of Mallard Fillmore

  • The Liberal Lexicon — Satiric definitions of liberal “buzzwords” or phrases.
  • Liberals, the Early Years — Liberal stereotypes during the Stone Age.
  • Mallard's Gift Ideas
  • Malentines
  • A Mallard Issue Brief
  • Mallard's New Year's Predictions
  • Mallard's Back-to-School Predictions/Facts
  • Dear Mallard — Mallard responds to supposed reader mail.

[edit] Frequent targets

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://jewishworldreview.com/strips/mallard/2000/mallard070505.asp
  2. ^ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1806786
  3. ^ http://jewishworldreview.com/strips/mallard/2000/MFT50104.jpg
  4. ^ http://jewishworldreview.com/strips/mallard/2000/mallard032006.asp
  5. ^ http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/09/13/coburn/index.html
  6. ^ Mallard Fillmore creator charged with DUI, IndyStar.com, Dec. 12, 2006
  7. ^ The Fix, Salon.com (December 13, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
  8. ^ Metapost: Pickled duck (December 13, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-13.

[edit] External links

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