The Art and Humor of John Trever of the Albuquerque: A Book Review
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Review by Pete Warzel
John Trever was the political cartoonist for the Albuquerque Journal for some fifty years, as well as having his work syndicated by more than 350 daily newspapers nationwide. He retired from the Journal in 2010. This collection of his work over the years contains 426 drawings, and is rather a combination portfolio and observation, as Trever writes introductory chapters, and provides commentary on each of the cartoons included. The commentary is what ups the game in the collection.
“Cartooning is a non-credentialed profession. There is no established career path to becoming an editorial cartoonist…You don’t need a state cartoon license to practice cartooning” And, Mr. Trever most likely would not have received a license given his biting take on the New Mexico around him. In Trever’s introductory chapters he speaks of his love for cartoons and comics, and early on inspiration from the newspaper strip Pogo. At the age of thirteen he entered a contest, submitting a drawing of Pogo, and an essay about “What Newspaper Comics Mean to Me”, and won the state contest (Illinois) and then the national, flown to New York and liveried at the Waldorf-Astoria. Heady stuff for a teenager.
In spite of Trever’s comment above about being “non-credentialed”, he attended grad school at the University of Chicago with a fellowship in political science – a fitting background for his future on the editorial staff of the Albuquerque Journal. National syndication followed and this book presents the national and some of the local/New Mexico subjects, which as Trever comments provided “…no lack of cartoon opportunities to keep me engaged.”
The cartoons, and Trever’s running commentary, are a sometimes surprising look at the history of our country through 2010, the year of his retirement. The timeframe is so near…and so far away. Your memory will be jogged and jolted to recall the fear of the Y2K bug, Gore-Bush Supreme Court case, the formation of Homeland Security (there is a great cartoon showing the org chart of all the departments/agencies that were thrown in), the implementation of drug testing for high school activities, Catholic priest sex abuses (remember, these cartoons stop in 2010 – and still here haunting us), a redesign of US currency, MLB steroid use, the planet Pluto demoted, immigration reform (2006)(what?), Russian invasion of the republic of Georgia, TARP, Citizens United, the succession of Kim Jong Un. The greatest hits go on and on, and Trever captures the tone perfectly.
He does add some work from post-retirement, much closer to our memory span, as well as a beautiful section on the “Joy of New Mexico”, and one titled “Bill, Susana, and Michelle,” again with some post retirement work. There is a great cartoon in this section where tourists, driving into New Mexico, are talking in the car and one says “The guidebook says New Mexicans are healthier than average”, and a sign on the road states “Next physician 197 miles.”
Trever ends the book, again with cartoon samples illustrating several closing essay sections that address humor in political cartoons, his own drawing regime, and finally, the future of political cartooning. And so, we will end with a pertinent wish by a veteran of the current economic and political war zone of reporting. “ Maybe someday, long after I’m gone, someone, somewhere will devise a technology, a platform, and a business plan that will attract a customer base that rewards reliable information and commentary. I hope cartooning will be a part of it.”
The Art and Humor of John Trever: Fifty Years of Political Cartooning
By John Trever
University of New Mexico Press
Softbound, 208 pages, 426 drawings
Purchase below.
