Always controversial, Jasper’s cartoonist is getting his first arts show.

One hundred Deke cartoons are currently on display at the Jasper Yellowhead Museum and Archives.

Deke began drawing cartoons for the Jasper Booster in 1994 before switching over the Fitzhugh. The retired parks employee has found himself in hot water occasionally over the years, but is still going strong. Town employees, parks and residents lacking a sense of humour are his most frequent targets.

“I like cartoons about people who get mad,” Deke said. “The ones that get a reaction are the ones I enjoy the most.”

While he receives several suggestions for cartoons, he enjoys following his own acidic sense of humour.

Picking which cartoons would exhibit in the show was different than the process most artists use for gallery openings.

“I spread 800 cartoons on my bed and picked 100 I liked the look of,” Deke said. “There was no particular method to the choosing.”

But the opportunity gave Deke a chance to contemplate the evolution of his work throughout the years.

“I’m learning how to draw. Before, I couldn’t draw at all, but now I’m learning,” he said.

Included in the show are three cartoons deemed unfit to print in local newspapers, offering viewers a glimpse at some of his more controversial work. A fierce advocate of freedom of speech, Deke said there are a series of censored cartoons which played a part in his defection from The Booster to The Fitzhugh.

“My favourite is the ‘I’m not sorry, so bite me,’ cartoon,” Deke said.