Filling big shoes; Mason Mastroianni takes over on B.C.
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Photos courtesy of John Hart Studios
Perhaps no other cartoonist, with so little cartooning experience, has ever taken on such a iconic and highly syndicated feature as Mason Mastroianni has with the famous comic strip B.C.. Under normal circumstances, an aspiring cartoonist and his comic feature would be given a developmental period to work with an editor and hone the skills of producing a quality comic strip, but after the death of his grandfather, Johnny Hart, Mason found himself at the helm of one of the most highly syndicated features – read by millions of people everyday.
Six months prior to Johnny’s death, he was diagnosed with cancer. In the following months, Johnny under went chemotherapy and was successful in fighting the cancer, but the cure had taken its toll and left the iconic cartoonist weaker. In April of this year, he passed away at his drawing board due to a stroke. It was during those months battling cancer that the topic of B.C.’s future of was discussed. Johnny, a very private person, didn’t speak of it openly. He had mentioned in passing to his friend and Creators Syndicate President Rick Newcombe that he hoped that his grandson Mason would continue the feature, but Johnny kept that wish from Mason out of fear of pressuring him to take on the strip if he didn’t want to. Mason was then employed in Minnesota doing computer animation and was building his own career in illustration.
After Johnny’s sudden passing, the family sat together to discuss options for the feature. Options on the table included retiring it, carrying it on themselves or selling it. Mason’s grandmother, Bobby, his mother Patti Pomeroy and aunt Perri Hart, rejected the latter option. Together they decided that they didn’t want it to retire if they had the ability to carry it on. Perri had worked for years on the feature hand lettering each strip. If the feature was to continue, everyone knew that it would be up to Mason to which he reportedly responded, “I’m ready to take it on if that’s what you want me to do.”
In the weeks that followed, Creators ran six weeks of classic B.C. strips selected by the family. It was a tribute to Johnny, but also gave the family needed lead time to begin producing the strip. Creators tried to assure newspapers that the new B.C. would not be vastly different from the old because the family was going to use Photoshop® to copy and paste earlier artwork, but Mason says that the family always intended to carry on the tradition of hand drawing and inking the originals. Mason, who had only “messed around” in drawing the B.C. characters prior to his grandfather’s death now had to take a crash coarse to learn Johnny’s drawing style fluently. He spent those first weeks practicing “every wakeful hour.” By the end of those six weeks, Mason reports that he was fairly comfortable drawing the characters and with that, the family began producing B.C. in earnest. Mason and his brother Mick, and aunt Perri are the primary writers now, with Mason doing all the artwork. Perri also does lettering, coloring and the final edits. Patti runs the office and business side of the studio.
It should also be noted that during that time that many in the cartooning community reached out to give the Mason some much needed advice. Many of those cartoonists had their own experiences of taking over iconic strips. Guy Gilchrist, who now draws Nancy offered Mason advice that Mason says was timely then and now. Others included Jeff Parker, who took over his father’s Wizard of Id a decade ago, Dean Young, son of Blondie creator Chic Young and Chris Cassett, who took over the writing of Jeff MacNelly’s Shoe all had helpful advice.
The pressure to do well has been overwhelming and without a doubt Mason reports that this is the biggest challenge he’s ever had. Such a challenge comes with mixed emotions. He recognizes that he has, “fallen into something really amazing,” but he’s also harbored doubts of whether he’s up to it. His grandfather has cast a large shadow over the profession. The strip runs in over a thousand newspapers – one of only a dozen or so to be so widely syndicated. While most papers have retained the feature, a few have dropped it because it is no longer drawn by it’s original creator. Mason says he doesn’t take it those drops personally as he understands there will be a transition time, but he is determined to prove to those that keep him that they won’t regret giving him a shot.
He is trying to keep the drawing style based on drawing style of B.C. strips from the late 80’s and 90’s. Johnny’s drawing style changed over the decades and Mason would like to evolve the style back to that of the 70’s which the family regards as their favorite period of their father’s work. As to those religious themed strips that Johnny was famous for running on Christian holidays, Mason expect those to continue. “We’d probably like keep doing those because it’s such apart of B.C.“
He also reports that readers should expect the strip to be a bit sillier – much like it was in the 70’s. He enjoys writing gags using the ants as they lend themselves to more physical comedy. Readers may notice that he’s updated some of the technology the characters use to allow for more timely gags and he’s also drawing the characters up closer and increasing the size of the lettering in response to early feedback from readers.
So far, the response to his work has largely been positive. Mort Walker has said, “I’ve been watching the strip every day and marveling at how well Mason is doing. It’s amazing how close he comes to Johnny’s talent and quality.” Bill Janocha, an assistant to Mort, mentions that, “Mason’s handling of B.C. is exceptional.”
As far as launching his own feature someday, he says it’s something that he’d like to do. Right now he is helping his brother Mick with his feature, The Dogs of Kennel C which is under development with Creators. For now, he’s enjoying his work and the experience he’s gaining. He hopes of attending future cartoonist gatherings to learn more about the art and business that he’s carrying on for his grandfather.
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