PHOENIX -- Gov. Evan Mecham says he finds nothing funny about a series of 'Doonesbury' cartoon strips lampooning him for his remarks about blacks and homosexuals and he is considering a lawsuit.
Three Arizona newspapers on Tuesday ran the six 'Doonesbury' cartoon strips that poke fun at Mecham, a Republican who is the subject of a recall attempt.
Mecham lambasted the comics as being inaccurate.
'I don't see any mirth in it,' Mecham told reporters before a speech to Kiwanis Club members. 'They're not based on any fact. They aren't funny.'
The governor said he would have his attorneys review the cartoons for a possible libel suit.
The Tempe Daily News, the Mesa Tribune and the Chandler Arizonan Tribune, all owned by Cox Arizona Publications Inc., said editors argued about running the cartoons with Mesa Tribune Executive Editor Max Jennings making the decision to run all six strips at once.
The cartoons, by Garry Trudeau, are scheduled to be run next week in about 900 newspapers nationwide.
In one strip, Trudeau pictured Mecham as patting a black child on the head, saying, 'My! What a cute little pickaninny!' Mecham has defended the use of the word 'pickaninny' in a book written by W. Cleon Skousen, a conservative constitutionalist considered by Mecham to be his mentor. The book used the word in quoting an essay written in the 1930s.
Mecham, who defended its use in the book, said he does not use the term.
However, when asked if he thought pickaninny was a term of endearment, Mecham said, 'I always thought it was.'
The governor said he has received numerous letters from blacks and whites across the country who used the word as a term of affection.
'Don't try to change history,' Mecham said. 'You know some time ago, first it was call them colored, then they wanted to be called Negroes, now they want to be called blacks. I'll call them whatever they want to be called.'
Another strip portrays a television reporter interviewing Mecham about alleged racial insensitivity because he rescinded a state holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
'It's ludicrous! I'm a Mormon! Tolerance is a basic tenet of my faith,' the strip shows Mecham as saying. The next panel has Mecham proclaiming the charges are 'lies spread by queers and pickaninnies.'
Mecham has said the King holiday was illegally proclaimed by former Gov. Bruce Babbitt, now a Democratic presidential hopeful.
During his speech, the governor tried to dismiss the cartoon's impact, saying, 'They (critics) can't help what they do and frankly I don't care.'
Ron Bellus, Mecham's press aide, said any suit would include newspapers publishing the cartoons, as well as Trudeau.
The Phoenix Gazette Tuesday quoted Trudeau as saying the Mecham recall movement has a national interest because of numerous news stories about him.
'It's a fascinating story,' Trudeau said. 'I have been following it since January.'
The recall movement, founded by businessman Ed Buck, an avowed homosexual and a Republican, must collect the signatures of 216,746 registered voters by Nov. 3. In their last public report, recall officials said they had collected slightly more than 103,000 signatures.
