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Mike Smith Editorial Cartoons Collection (MS-01047)

Abstract

The Mike Smith Editorial Cartoons Collection (1980-2021) contains editorial cartoons created by Las Vegas, Nevada based cartoonist Mike Smith for the Las Vegas Sun newspaper. Materials include Smith's editorial cartoons on NASCAR and a copy of his 2003 book StockcarToons. The collection also includes Smith's personal sketchbooks and letters from fans.

Finding Aid PDF
Date
1980 to 2021
Extent
52.16 Cubic Feet (2 boxes and 80 oversized boxes)
106.49 Linear Feet
25,724 digital_files (15.300 GB) BMP, CSF, DOC, GIF, JPG, PDF, PSD, TIF, TIFF
Resource Type
Collection
Related People/Corporations
Creator: Smith, Mike, 1960-
Contributor: Las Vegas Sun
Access Note

Collection is open for research. Arrangements must be made in advance to access digital files; please contact UNLV Special Collections and Archives for additional information.

Publication Rights

This material is protected by copyright. Personal, including educational and academic, use of this material is without restriction but acknowledgement of Mike Smith, the Las Vegas Sun, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University Libraries is requested. Commercial use of any portion of this material is prohibited. Contact the copyright owner, the Las Vegas Sun, for more information.

Collection Type
Manuscript collections
Scope and Contents Note

The Mike Smith Editorial Cartoons Collection (1980-2021) contains editorial cartoons created by Las Vegas, Nevada based cartoonist Mike Smith for the Las Vegas Sun newspaper. The cartoons depict major current events and politics at the local and national level. Smith's cartoons include depictions of politicians in Nevada including Richard Bryan, Harry Reid, and Oscar Goodman. The cartoons also depict Presidents of the United States starting from Ronald Reagan in 1980 to Joe Biden in 2021. His cartoons depict local issues and topics of interest such as the gaming and casino industry, the Nevada legislature, and environmental issues like the Yucca Mountain designation as a nuclear waste repository. Materials also include Smith's editorial cartoons on NASCAR and a copy of his 2003 book StockcarToons. The collection also includes Smith's personal sketchbooks and letters from fans.

Biographical / Historical Note

Las Vegas Sun editorial cartoonist Michael B. Smith was born in San Francisco, California on May 20, 1960 and grew up in Santa Clara, California. Smith started creating editorial cartoons while he attended Loyola Marymount Universityin Los Angeles, California where he created cartoons for the school newspaper, the Los Angeles Loyolan. In 1982, he graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a bachelor's degree in humanities. He began sending his cartoons to the Las Vegas Sun during his senior year of college and was eventually hired as an editorial cartoonist for the paper in 1983. That same year, Smith won first place in the Chicago Tribune Syndicate's cartoon contest.

Smith's work has appeared in publications around the United States and abroad including the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee, the London Free Press, and USA Today.

A fan of stock car racing since childhood, Smith started to draw NASCAR cartoons for Vegas.com and eventually for NASCAR Scene magazine and Sporting News magazine. Smith has published three books of NASCAR cartoons: StockcarToons (2003), StockcarToons 2 (2003), and Nuts for Racing (2008). As of 2021, Smith continues to create editorial cartoons for the Las Vegas Sun and King Features Syndicate. He also creates a weekly cartoon on NASCAR featuring the character Gearhead Gertie for Comics Kingdom.

Sources:

Boyd, Jason O. "Q&A with Mike Smith of StockCartoons: From rental cars to Sprint Cup cars," SportingNews.com, April 28, 2015. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nascar/news/mike-smith-stockcartoons-nascar-sprint-cup-illustrations-las-vegas-jeff-gordon-kurt-busch-kyle-busch-sporting-news/1bxh4g958g3us1fgusps7nm7lj.

Brewer, Ray. "One for the archives: Sun editorial cartoonist's life's work gifted to UNLV," Las Vegas Sun, February 14, 2021. https://lasvegassun.com/news/2021/feb/15/one-for-the-archives-editorial-cartoonists-lifes-w/.

City of Las Vegas Charleston Heights Arts Center presents Mike Smith Smithereens City of Las Vegas, 1990.

“About,” Gearhead Gertie, ComicsKingdom.com, Accessed April 16, 2021. https://www.comicskingdom.com/Gearhead_Gertie/about.

Arrangement

Materials are arranged by topic then chronologically.

Related Collections

The following resource may provide additional information related to the materials in this collection:

Smith, Mike. Interview, 2018 August 17. OH-03460. Oral History Research Center, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.

Preferred Citation

Mike Smith Editorial Cartoons Collection, 1980-2021. MS-01047. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.

Permalink
http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/f1hn09
EAD ID
US::NVLN::MS01047
Acquisition Note

Materials were donated by Mike Smith and Brian Greenspun (Las Vegas Sun, Inc.) in 2021; accession number 2021-012.

Processing Note

In 2021, Tammi Kim and Jose Andre Guevara accessioned the collection and created the finding aid in ArchivesSpace. Tammi Kim minimally processed the born-digital materials and updated the finding aid. No access copies were created for any files at this time.

Additions

Further additions to this collection are expected.

English
Subjects
Editorial cartoons
Politics and government
Current events