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Happy birthday, Mr. Beat
An exhibition of comic book art by Chris Yambar runs through May 9.
Mr. Beat is turning 15, and an exhibition at a downtown art gallery will mark the occasion.
Chris Yambar, the pop artist and cartoonist who created the comic-book character, is displaying new paintings of the famous beatnik. The exhibition, which is now on display, runs through May 9 at the SMARTS gallery. It also includes art of Itsi Kitsi — Happy Adventure Cat, another Yambar creation.
A reception for the nationally known and Youngstown-based Yambar will begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, featuring specially-made items to commemorate the two characters.
A creative coloring and drawing contest will be held for young children during the exhibition, featuring Itsi Kitsi. Contest winners will have their images included on a limited-edition print, which will be revealed when the show closes on May 9. The winners will be invited to publicly sign copies of the print with Yambar, who will give a lecture about his career and sign his comic books for fans on that day.
To enter the contest, contact SMARTS at (330) 941-2787 or rlkeck@ysu.edu, or stop in during gallery hours. Deadline to enter is April 9. Mahoning Valley elementary school art teachers also have entry forms, said SMARTS Director Rebecca Keck.
Yambar is a native of Youngstown and maintains a studio downtown.
In an interview with The Vindicator, he ruminated on what Mr. Beat has meant to his career.
“He’s my Mickey Mouse,” said Yambar.
“He’s been so good to me over the years, it’s unbelievable. If not for Mr. Beat, I’d not be working for ‘The Simpsons.’ He was the character [that caught their eye].”
Mr. Beat was Yambar’s first attempt at straight-out humor, and the comic works on two levels.
“It’s high brow and low brow at the same time,” he said. “It’s a little more sophisticated. If you get 80 percent of it, you are way too hip.”
Yambar said the character is all about art, music, social commentary and good coffee.
“He’s the center of the vortex,” said Yambar. “He is too cool.”
Over the years, he has created about 500 pages worth of Mr. Beat comics.
Regarding Itsi Kitsi, Yambar said the character is designed to make a child say “I could draw that.” He said the cartoon cat is fast, fun and highly manic.
“She’s an H-bomb on a sugar rush,” he said.
Yambar’s other comic book credits include titles such as “Bart Simpson Comics,” “I Dream of Jeannie,” “Mr. Magoo,” and “Radioactive Man.”
He has received numerous honors, including the Big Amoeba Award for Best Independent Comic Writer and Publisher in 1999 and Cinescape magazine’s Best Science Fiction Comic Writer in 2003. In 1999, Mr. Beat took top honors among comic convention fans for Best Independent Comic Character.
In 2004, Itsi Kitsi and her comic, Meow Wow!, was featured in Time and The Sun tabloid, along with child cartoonist Layne Toth, who began her career working with Yambar. That same year Yambar co-wrote with rock stars Alice Cooper and Gene Simmons of KISS the landmark “Treehouse of Horror” title for Simpsons’ publisher Bongo Comics.
As a pop artist, Yambar has created more than 2,100 painted images, and his work is in more than 100 celebrity collections in eight countries.
Yambar travels throughout the United States teaching and lecturing in public and technical trade schools, on college campuses, and at theological and art institutes.
SMARTS (Students Motivated by the Arts) is an arts education program at Youngstown State University’s College of Fine and Performing Arts.
XTo purchase Yambar’s comic books, go to yambar.com and click on comics.