Spec cartoonist Graham MacKay’s new book
Graeme MacKay’s debut collection of cartoons highlights city’s quirks
Graeme MacKay’s cartoons have been both loved and loathed by Hamilton Spectator readers. Graeme MacKay has spent two decades drawing local politicians, celebrities, electoral candidates, prime ministers, presidents, and just about anyone lucky enough — or unlucky enough — to grace the headlines.
Now, MacKay is turning his keen eye and wry wit to his hometown.
The born-and-raised Hamiltonian and Hamilton Spectator editorial cartoonist has just released a book called “You Might Be From Hamilton If…”, a collection of cartoons that poke fun at the weird and wonderful minutiae of our city.
The book includes cartoons that will make Hamiltonians from Flamborough to Stoney Creek chuckle with recognition. There’s a jab at the city’s propensity for brutalist architecture, a nod to the now-demolished Stoney Creek dairy, and a depiction of the love/hate relationship Hamiltonians have with the Toronto expatriates flocking to the Hammer.
MacKay, who grew up in Dundas, says he wanted the book to go beyond the usual Hamilton stereotypes.
“Some of the tired old jokes about doughnuts and the lunch bucket town that we are — that sort of stuff can be left to the 1970s and ’80s,” he said. “I wanted to give a sort of fresher look at Hamilton, and some of the new renaissance that’s happening.”
The idea for the book came while MacKay was in Cuba at a cartoonist convention. Michael de Adder, a Canadian editorial cartoonist who worked for the Halifax Daily News until it folded in 2008, is the author of a series of books, including “You might be from Nova Scotia if…”, “You might be from New Brunswick if,” and “You might be from Canada if…”.
“It wasn’t really my idea. (De Adder) put the bug in my cap to think about doing something for Hamilton,” MacKay said.
Most of the cartoons in the book are previously unpublished, save for a few “golden oldies” that have run in the Spec, MacKay said. Roughly half of the drawings use MacKay’s traditional technique — an India-ink line drawing that is scanned and coloured in Photoshop — but many of the drawings are done with graphite.
“It looks amazing on the glossy pages, and you get a lot more depth and shading,” MacKay says.
MacKay — who is one of the only editorial cartoonists in Canada to have a full-time, permanent job at a daily newspaper — has always had a love of art and current events. As a Grade 6 student, he remembers drawing pictures of his classmates and teachers, as well as prominent figures such as the Ayatollah Khomeini and Jimmy Carter.
“I guess I always had an inclination for art and news,” he said. “I was just a nerdy guy who liked to watch the news.”
MacKay’s first cartoons were published in the student newspaper at the University of Ottawa while he was an undergraduate student studying political science and history. After graduation, MacKay freelanced his cartoons to newspapers across North America (including the Toronto Star, the Ottawa Citizen, and the Chicago Tribune) before landing his job at the Spec in 1997.
Over the past 20 years, some of his cartoons have been beloved, while others have provoked more vitriolic reactions.
“I don’t want to be predictable in my work. I don’t always want to go with the gang or the pack,” he said. “It definitely provokes emotions — and that’s what a cartoon is supposed to do.”