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''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 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. No legal action by DC against Tinsley over this possible copyright infringement has been reported.


CHARACTERS

  • 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 he 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," viewing himself as a Victim ized 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 Liberal s.

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 .

  • Mr. Noseworthy is Mallard's boss at WFDR. He is a parody of political correctness in America, afraid of offending anyone or anything. He is also a parody of the Mainstream Media , which is portrayed in the strip as having a Liberal Bias . Noseworthy's Catchphrase is, "If you'd gone to ''journalism school'', you'd ''know'' this stuff."


  • 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 (and is, it seems, the only character whom Tinsley even attempts to draw as reasonably attractive). 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. 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. Veneer is a Democrat . 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 Gun s.


  • "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 . A series of strips from June 1999 , for example, 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. Spent three years in the Navy aboard the ''San Jacinto''.



Parody 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:
  • ''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 Fillmore'' strip " by using the comic's name and a fictitious date. [http://jewishworldreview.com/strips/mallard/2000/mallard070505.asp]


Mallard vs. college admissions departments

In a series of strips during July 2003, Mallard encouraged High School seniors to denote their race as Black , Hispanic , or Native American on their SAT and college applications, in order to protest racial discrimination by "mak those labels meaningless to bigoted admissions [departments ."


The war in Iraq

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

: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 at the end of 2000, more times than it has mocked President George W. Bush .


Jewish stereotypes

On 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, at this link .


Abortion and the Death Penalty

A strip in the Sunday papers during the summer of 2005 featured a male stating that America was becoming closer to a "civilized society" after the Death Penalty was outlawed for "everyone under 18", while a "thought balloon" from the fetus of a pregnant woman made the comment "well ... not ''exactly'' everybody" (a reference to Abortion ).


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.



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