the students, he has a spot in his heart for Caulfield especially, as he is always spurring him to mischief (often unintentionally), and makes excuses for Caulfield's "bored genius" behavior. Mallett describes Frazz as being "me but a lot cooler", saying he is "the voice of reason, the voice of experience and, frequently, the voice of temptation." Caulfield – An eight-year-old named by his parents after J. D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield. Caulfield is a genius, but hates school because it fails to challenge him. He spends a lot of time in detention for speaking out in class, but whiles away the hours talking with Frazz. Caulfield chooses a literature-themed costume every Halloween, such as Dorian Gray or Gregor Samsa from The Metamorphosis, often stumping most of the teachers but being quickly recognized by Frazz. 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". Caulfield is African-American, and Mallett says it was a "conscious decision ... to have a Black hero in my strip." Miss Jane Plainwell – The first-grade teacher at Bryson Elementary, and Frazz's romantic interest. Like Frazz, Miss Plainwell is also an athlete. She inspired Mr. Burke to exercise more often, and trained and ran with him in the Detroit 5K. She majored in journalism, and worked at the sports department of a newspaper, before she decided to teach at Bryson Elementary, wanting to work with a "more mature audience". She has a pet greyhound named "Mario", which she adopted after he retired from racing. Miss Plainwell is modeled on Mallett's wife. Mr. Burke – Mr. Burke is the fourth-grade teacher at Bryson Elementary, described as one "we all would have loved to see at the front of our classroom". He frequently plays basketball with Frazz, and these games are used in the strip to allow two adults to talk about "relatively adult things" with very little scoring. Burke started out obese, but has slimmed down due to a Frazz-inspired exercise program. Mrs. Olsen – Mrs. Olsen is the third grade teacher at Bryson Elementary, and the teacher from hell. She is frequently the object of tricks and practical jokes by Frazz and Caulfield, and Caulfield's questions/comments in class often drive her to distraction. She had enough of Frazz when he was her student years