Frazz is a syndicated comic strip by Jef Mallett about school custodian Edwin "Frazz" Frazier and the school and students where he works. The strip debuted on 2 April 2001, and , appears in over 250 newspapers and is read by tens of thousands online each day. Premise and themes In the comic, Edwin "Frazz" Frazier works as a school janitor at Bryson Elementary School. Frazz mentors the students of the school, particularly Caulfield, a genius who hates school because it fails to challenge him. Mallett has explained that the strip is about discovery, and not merely learning. Frazz's job is just the surface. He reads everything from Milton to Hiaasen to bike racing magazines, he writes, he races, he’s an athlete, and he’s a songwriter, discovering the value of a day job. When songwriting started going well, he kept his custodian job because it was the perfect environment for discovery through the energy and interest of the students. Many of the characters are based on his childhood experiences at school, and at home as the child of an educator. Frazz is, at least attitudinally, based on Mallett himself. During a 1996 book tour of schools to promote a children's book he wrote and illustrated, Mallett noticed that the kids wouldn't quiet down for their teachers or principals, but would for the school janitor; he or she was "the man", existing on a separate plane between the students and adults. Mallett says he is influenced by Bill Watterson, George Booth, Jim Borgman, and Garry Trudeau. In a 2011 interview, Mallet said that his wife, Patty, does the lettering. Recurring characters Frazz – The eponymous character, Edwin Frazier, is a thirty-year-old songwriter and janitor of Bryson Elementary. A Renaissance man with endless curiosity, Frazz is always ready to teach children and adults more about the world around them. Because he doesn't look down on them, the students look up to him, and he also has the respect of the adults, with the possible exception of Mrs. Olsen, who remembers what "a handful" he was when he was in the third grade. Drawing inspiration from his daily school life, his songs soon become extremely popular. Frazz no longer needs to work thanks to his hit songs, but keeps working at the school because he loves the kids there. Frazz loves triathlons, bicycling, jogging, swimming, basketball, songwriting, and talking with the students. Among