Frazz by Jef Mallett for April 21, 2012

The longer I read this comic, the more this kid comes off as an idiot-savant. It’s like he’s autistic with a literature interest.

Read it a while longer and you’ll learn “the kid” is named Caulfield — An eight-year-old named by his parents after J. D. Salinger’s Holden Caulfield,9 Caulfield tried to convince Mrs. Olsen that he was from a disadvantaged background, but his father is finishing his PhD in pharmacology, and his mother is a civil engineer.10 Mallett regards Caulfield as “the hero of the strip… He won’t give up that joy of learning for the sake of a test score, for quiet approval, for the easy A”.1 Caulfield is a handful. He is a genius, but hates school because it fails to challenge him.11 He spends a lot of time in detention for speaking out in class, but whiles away the hours discussing books or logic with Frazz. His fresh perspective on the world brings interesting, often startling revelations to the comic. Caulfield chooses a literature-themed costume every Halloween, often stumping most of the teachers, but which Frazz invariably gets. Mrs. Olsen decides one year to glean all of the books Caulfield has checked out over the year from the library. She says it’s a good plan until Frazz mentions that it “narrows it down to triple digits.” She refines the statement, saying it’s a good plan, not a foolproof one.

Guess I should add: “Thank you, Wikipedia”

Caufield, Frazz, Mrs. Olsen – Jef is absolutely brillant to create this entire cast. Frazz and Mutts are my daily break into a nearly perfect world.

Edward Gory is great – check it out some time, especially if you love the macabre

Wait, I thought that Caulfield’s dad was a historian. I seem to recall something about him specializing in the Spanish-American War, with his thesis being on the explosion of the [i]Maine[/i].And Caulfield isn’t an idiot savant. There have been a few times in the strip where he’s done some pretty advanced (for a third grader) algebra, too. He just doesn’t like doing it when he’s required to (which, for that matter, also applies to his love of literature).

I’m a huge Gorey fan, so today’s strip is a favorite!

I actually have a Gashleycrumb Tinies lunchbox, which I carry my lunch in to work. It makes my co-workers with children (well, all my co-workers, really) look at me funny, but I’m ok with that.

LOL! This panel was great! Mallett covers it all! :D

@ Manhunter808: If he’s not feeling challenged, why isn’t he at a gifted school? (I know I haven’t read the strip for as long as most, and I likely should do my research. Is the school in the strip for gifted students?)

Manhunter808: “If he’s not feeling challenged, why isn’t he at a gifted school?”Cofyjunky: “I know I haven’t read the strip for as long as most, and I likely should do my research. Is the school in the strip for gifted students?”

To answer the second question first, there’s no indication that it’s a school for the gifted. Certainly not if any of the other students are an indication.

As to why Caulfield isn’t sent to a school for the gifted, I can suggest a number of reasons:1) There isn’t one nearby;2) There are economic factors (many schools for the gifted are private and expensive);3) Caulfield’s parents want him to have as “normal” a school experience as possible, and since he’s fully capable of educating himself, “mainstreaming” will do him no harm;4) Caulfield deliberately sandbagged his entrance tests so he could remain near Frazz.It could be any of these, singularly or in combination, or it could be none of them. However, regardless of whether Caulfield finds the school sufficiently challenging or not, he seems to be enjoyying his time there.

It totally lost me.