ARTIST DRAWS INTEGRATED STRIP FROM EXPERIENCE.

Byline: Nancy Fong The Oakland Tribune

Cartoonist Morrie Turner says he creates characters when something needs to be said.

When he invented ``Wee Pals'' in the early 1960s, he wanted to show the world ``rainbow power.''

``That's the power of all colors working together or just being together,'' he said.

Turner was treading unchartered waters at that time because African-American cartoon characters were unheard of in the comic pages of metropolitan newspapers.

When his comic strip was syndicated in 1965, he became one of the first cartoonists to integrate the nation's comic pages with his racially diverse cast of kids.

On Thursday, Turner, a Berkeley resident, was given a special achievement award from the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Arts and Culture Committee for his contribution to the arts of Oakland.

Turner, 73, said ``his kids,'' as he affectionately calls them, were drawn from the neighborhood he grew up in.

``I lived there during the Depression, and West Oakland was totally integrated. My cartoon was not a figment of my imagination,'' Turner noted.

Turner said many of his characters were based on the kids he met in school. The character of Trinh, however, was created after his trip to Vietnam in 1969. And Charlotte, who sits in a wheelchair, was created from Turner's visits to a cerebral palsy center.

``I was looking at these kids at the cerebral palsy center as different and they're not. So I added a cartoon character to mainstream them, and make them a part of everything else.''

The character of Nipper was based on himself, while Sybil was based on his late wife, Letha.

When ``Wee Pals'' first came out, many people expressed surprise that there was someone who looked like them in the comics. Others thought Turner was making fun of African-Americans.

Turner said his comic strip today draws less reaction than it did back in the 1960s.

`` `Wee Pals' has been around long enough. It isn't all that unique anymore. A lot of cartoons now use black characters. And I'm glad,'' says Turner.

Nowadays, Turner continues to meet his daily deadlines for ``Wee Pals,'' and finds time to visit schools, draws for kids, and talk to them about his career.

Looking back, Turner said, ``I didn't set out to be a pioneer. I just didn't know any better.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) Morrie Turner of Berkeley sketches a daily do se of his ``Wee Pals'' comic.

(2) ``Wee Pals'' was one of the first nationally syndicated cartoon strips to feature multicultural characters.

Associated Press