Meet the Working-Class Cartoonist: Bob Vojtko

“You wouldn’t believe all the stuff people had to know before computers!”

Did your dad draw on the walls? Bob Vojtko’s (pronounced Voit-ko) did—and it inspired his son’s career as a cartoonist. “It all started when I was about 5 years old watching my Dad holding a comic book and painting cartoons on the basement wall,” says Bob. “I thought it looked like fun so I went and got some paper and a pencil and sat on the basement floor and started drawing.”

“You’d think my parents would praise me for making them one of the top 10 downloads on You Tube.”

In this cartoon, don’t you wonder just what mom and dad were doing to become such a sensation? Bob got a job for the local newspaper in high school “doing editorial cartoons and a comic strip called Tombstone—about a vampire. I also published my own ‘mini’ comics that I sold for a quarter or 50 cents each. Some of them are getting a few good bucks more now on Ebay.”

“For more pictures, you can visit my Web site: www.ednasgrandchildren.com.”

Good ol’ granny. After he graduated from high school, Bob’s dad got him a job at the meat department at the grocery store where he worked. “That lasted a week. There were too many meat cutters missing fingers.” He transferred to the grocery department and has been there 37 years. He draws on his breaks and lunch time—hence, “working class cartoonist.”

“Well, you’re still alive, but I’m not so sure it’s a good idea.”

Love this doctor’s bedside manner… Besides The Post, Bob has sold cartoons to Good Housekeeping, Woman’s World, Reader’s Digest and American Greetings, among others.

“The problem is finding something simple enough that his father can play with it, too.”

Bob and his wife, Sue, live in Strongsville, Ohio, with their Boston Terrier, Massie. And whatever happened to Dad’s basement wall, you ask? We happen to have a photo…

The wall is still there—but probably not for long. Bob’s father passed away in 1981 and his 85-year-old mother is in a nursing home. They had to sell his parent’s house last year. “You can see the cracks in the basement wall,” Bob says. “I’m sure the new owners will have that basement replaced… along with the cartoons that started it all.” On a happier note, Bob’s cartoons will be around for a long time.