Cartoonist's book hits shelves

Halifax Daily News's curmudgeonly cranky cartoonist's book hits shelves

Twenty years ago, Michael de Adder ('91) never thought he'd spend his days sketching politicans wearing dog muzzles and dangling from telephone wires.

Focused on studying painting, drawing, and sculpture at Mount A, he dreamed of being an artist

But when the campus began buzzing about free trade, de Adder decided to do some research and draw a few cartoons on the subject.

"I opened this book of cartoons by some guy named Aislin, and I thought 'Wow, this is art,'" de Adder said, referring to renowned Montreal Gazette cartoonist Terry Mosher. "I had always wanted to be an artist - that was the goal, that was my career path. But when I opened this book up, I fell in love with the whole idea of editorial cartooning."

De Adder sketched cartoons for several different publications before landing his full-time gig with The Daily News in 2000. He recently celebrated the release of his first compilation, simply entitled de Book.

"There were about 4,000 cartoons, and I boiled it down to about 300 that I liked," said de Adder, who draws tucked away in an ink-stained corner of the newsroom. "That was time-consuming, but the hardest part was picking the 140 or so that went in the book."

The finished product is 88 pages of his finest work, including a depiction of Bert and Ernie heading to Canada for a gay marriage, and Premier Rodney MacDonald living rent-free and playing video games in his parents' house - after getting a substantial raise.

Although it's not the first time de Adder's cartoons have been printed in a book - his work is always included in annual cartoon compilations - he says seeing de Book through the windows of bookstores gives him a rush.

"The goal is always to have your own book," de Adder said. "This is basically my whole career thus far in 88 pages. I'm proud of it - you can't help but be proud of it."

For more information on Michael de Adder, visit deadder.net

Halifax Daily News