Stan Mack

He was an early pioneer of documentary cartooning and is the author of numerous graphic nonfiction books addressing a wide range of social and historical topics.

[19] In the early 1970s, while still the Art Director of the New York Times Magazine, Mack started experimenting with the comic strip format.

Mack proposed that he wander the city, sketching and writing down overheard conversations, and create a one-time piece for the paper.

[19] Over the years, he addressed more complex topics—including AIDS, gentrification, racism, and homelessness—and the strips lengthened into short stories while maintaining much of the ironic bite of the early work.

The production, called Real Life Funnies, was written by Howard Ashman with songs by Alan Menken[24] and featured performances by Janie Sell, Pamela Blair and Dale Soules.

To create the strip, Mack visited commercial shoots, creative meetings, new business pitches, and strategy sessions at agencies around New York City.

[30] Mack created a monthly comic strip series called Dispatches for The New York Times Suburban Sections.

One strip in 2000 caused controversy when he chronicled the last days of the life of his partner, Janet Bode,[31] who died of breast cancer on December 30, 1999.

[32] Following Bode’s death at the age of 56, Mack wrote and drew Janet & Me: An Illustrated Story of Love and Loss as a memoir of their life as a couple, his time as her caregiver, and her experience fighting the disease.

[38] The book highlighted the lack of transparency between patients and doctors, and the torment of dealing with insurance companies.”[38] While promoting the memoir about Bode, Mack became an outspoken voice for caregiving and participated in panel discussions about coping with cancer.

[40] The couple have collaborated on two historical graphic novels for young people: The Pickpocket, the Spy, and the Lobsterbacks (original title Road to Revolution!