Gilbert Joseph "Bus" Griffiths (1913 – September 25, 2006) was a

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

lumberjack Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unite ...

, and

fisherman A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

. He was best known for his

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

''Now You're Logging'', published 1978 by

Harbour Publishing Harbour Publishing is a Canadian independent book publisher. The company was founded in 1974 by Howard and Mary White, and is based in Pender Harbour, a small town on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast. Harbour mainly publishes books on British ...

. ''Now You're Logging'' presented, in cartoon form, a complete look at the techniques, tools, and personalities of

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

on the West Coast in the 1930s. He began drawing cartoons while working as a logger, doing work for

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Maple Leaf Publishing Maple Leaf Publishing was a World War II-era Canada, Canadian comic book publisher active during the Golden Age of Comic Books. They were one of four publishers—along with Anglo-American Publishing, Hillborough Studios, and Bell Features—whi ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and comic strips about logging for ''BC Lumberman'' magazine. He retired from logging in 1961 and began work as a commercial fisherman. In 1972 he began work on ''Now You're Logging'' to document logging in the era before modern technology. A complete picture is presented of the techniques and lives of the typical logger of the 1930s, with tree felling and

log bucking image:Log Buckers with the Madera Sugar Pine Company, 1914.jpg, A crew of log buckers with crosscut saws in 1914. image:Bucker1.jpg, Bucker limbing dead branch stubs with a chainsaw, also known as knot bumping image:Bucker2.jpg, Bucker making a bu ...

, high climbers, chasers, choker setters, a hooktender, an accident and

rescue Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ho ...

in the woods, the use of the

crosscut saw A crosscut saw (thwart saw) is any saw designed for cutting wood perpendicular to (across) the wood grain. Crosscut saws may be small or large, with small teeth close together for fine work like woodworking or large for coarse work like log b ...

rigging Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support a sailing ship or sail boat's masts—''standing rigging'', including shrouds and stays—and which adjust the position of the vessel's sails and spars to which they are ...

, a

spar (tree) A spar tree is the tree used as the highest anchor point in a high lead cable logging setup. The spar tree is selected based on height, location and especially strength and lack of rot in order to withstand the weight and pressure required. Once ...

, log transport on both

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

and water, and operation of the

steam donkey A steam donkey or donkey engine is a steam engine, steam-powered winch once widely used in logging, mining, Shipping industry, maritime, and other industrial applications. Steam powered donkeys were commonly found on large metal-hulled multi-m ...

all shown and explained. This depiction of logging is interwoven with a love story involving one of the loggers and the daughter of a fishing family near their logging camp. ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...

'' said about the book in 1996: "a true anomaly: written and drawn by a man with decades of experience in the woods, it's a book with no clear antecedent, more intent on documenting a way of life than telling a story", adding "it might just change your perception of what comics are, what they can do, and why we need them." Shawn Conner, quoted from ''Comics Journal'' at http://sequential.spiltink.org/?p=1423 retrieved 24 Jan 2008 He also illustrated the children's book ''Patrick and the Backhoe'' by Howard White (Nightwood Editions) and ''Bush Poems'' by Peter Trower (

References

Obituary from ''Sequential: Comics News and Culture From Canada''

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070811062725/http://www.camptocommunity.ca/english/bus/index.html Excerpts from ''Now You're Logging'' from the B.C. Forest Discovery Centre website

Bibliography

* 1978: ''Now You're Logging'' (Harbour Publishing) * 1978: ''Bush Poems'' (Harbour Publishing) * 1991: ''Patrick and the Backhoe'' (Nightwood Editions) {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Bus 1913 births 2006 deaths Canadian editorial cartoonists Canadian comic strip cartoonists Canadian graphic novelists People from Moose Jaw Artists from Saskatchewan