The design, inspired by 1940s horror comic books and the Creepy Carnival theme, shows Doonesbury character Michael James “Mike” Doonesbury cowering in fear with skis askew as he’s accosted by a giant green monster in an icy pond.

Trudeau has designed every Winter Carnival button since 1981, when staff at the chamber of commerce thought it would be nice to have a hometown celebrity design a button for Winter Carnival. They asked his father Dr. Frank Trudeau to ask him. Garry agreed — he once told the Enterprise that only later did he realize he had made a long-term commitment.

As Trudeau considers which characters to feature in his button designs, he said he develops the idea first, then casts the design with whichever character seems most apt.

“Mike has a history of haplessness, so he came to mind first,” Trudeau said. “I use Zonker a lot, because he’s so adaptable and recognizable. Like Snoopy, he lives in his own head and has unfettered access to a life of fantasy. He never seems out of place.”

Winter Carnival Committee Chairman Rob Russell holds the design for the 2024 Winter Carnival poster. (Photo provided)

This year’s Winter Carnival theme presented a unique challenge.

“At first I was confounded,” Trudeau said. “The theme was described to me as ‘Halloween-based,’ and I wasn’t sure how welcome Halloween imagery (witches, goblins, etc.) would be a mere three months after the real deal. Americans overdo all their holidays, and there’s a reason we only stage them once a year. So I decided to focus on the ‘creepy’ component — being terrified isn’t seasonal.”

Trudeau said as he designed the button, he took inspiration from horror comics with names like “Tales from the Crypt” and “The Vault of Horror.”

“They were so graphically violent, they provoked widespread moral panic, prompting public burnings, bans, even a series of Senate hearings,” Trudeau said. “A Comics Code Authority was set up, and by mid-’50s, most of the goriest titles were gone. While all of this pre-dated me, I always found the covers campy and fun, so settled on the horror comic book aesthetic as a place to start.

“The genre also lends itself to storytelling — the cover is always a tantalizing slice of the story within — which makes for a richer image,” Trudeau added. “Most years, I’m just illustrating the theme. Here there’s a bit of narrative — Mike, cross-country skiing in the moonlight, breaks through the ice of a frozen bog, awakening a menacing creature. And then there are the cameos of supporting characters — for a moment, you might wonder how they fit into the story. Spoiler alert: they don’t.”

Trudeau says he isn’t very much into horror or creepy things himself — the last scary movie he went to was “Wait Until Dark,” which was released in 1967.

“But if I had to recommend anything, pick up a copy of ‘Misery’ (or any other Steven King novel). Come for the gore, stay for the craftsmanship,” he said.

Trudeau, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning comic strip launched 53 years ago and is now syndicated to 1,000 newspapers nationwide, has deep ties to Saranac Lake. His father Dr. Frank Trudeau and grandfather Dr. Francis Trudeau were prominent Saranac Lake physicians. His great-grandfather Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau was a world-renowned pioneer in the field of public health, who essentially founded this village as a tuberculosis cure center in the late 1800s. Garry attended the former Lake Colby School in Saranac Lake through sixth grade before being sent away to boarding school. He attended Yale University and majored in art. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree and started Doonesbury initially as a continuation of Bull Tales, which appeared in the Yale University student newspaper, the Yale Daily News.

Over the years, Garry’s button designs have become a beloved Winter Carnival tradition and, for many residents and visitors, collector’s items and treasured mementos.

The button sales also serve as a fundraiser for the following year’s Winter Carnival.

Buttons cost $5 and will be available starting Jan. 2. Buttons can be purchased at the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Adirondack Wine and Liquor, Adirondack Bank (Main and Church Street locations) Ampersound, Bear Essentials Apparel, Blue Moon Cafe, Coakley Home and Hardware, Carcuzzi, Community Bank (Broadway), Fusion Market, Hyde Mobil (Lake Flower Avenue and Broadway), Kinney Drugs, NBT Bank, Hotel Saranac-Academy and Main gift shop, Rice Furniture, the Rusty Nail, Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, Saranac Lake Wine and Liquor, Saranac Lake Waterfront Hotel, Romano’s Saranac Lanes, The Village Mercantile, the Waterhole and Will Rogers.

Buttons will also be sold during Winter Carnival at the gift shop and history hut located on River Street at the Lake Flower boat launch. They are also available through mail order by sending a check payable to: Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Committee, Attention: Barb Martin, P.O. Box 566, Saranac Lake, New York 12983. There is an additional cost for shipping based on quantity of buttons ordered: One to four, $5.50; five to eight, $6; nine or more, $8. Prices are subject to change.

Past Winter Carnival buttons are also available for $5. Those interested in purchasing them can contact Barb Martin at 518-891-2382.

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Posters

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Garry Trudeau has also designed Winter Carnival posters since 2012.

The 2024 Carnival posters feature an expanded version of the button design. Beneath text that reads “from the chamber of chills … Creepy Carnival” are Mike, the green monster and more Doonesbury characters that avid fans will recognize, above labels: “The Duke, The Ex and The Freak.”

The posters, much like the buttons, raise money for the following year’s Winter Carnival.

Trudeau has signed 100 posters this year, which will cost $75 each, including tax. There is an additional cost for shipping if local pick-up is not possible.

Signed posters are available to purchase by contacting Cheryl Joyce via email at wcpostersales@gmail.com or by phone or text at 518-524-2731. Those who have purchased signed posters last year should contact Joyce to continue the numbered series. Unclaimed numbered posters will be made available to the public on a first come/first served basis. Those interested in joining the waiting list can contact Joyce.

A raffle will be held for signed poster number one. Sales are limited to 100 raffle tickets at a cost of $5 each. Tickets are available from Joyce now through the end of Carnival on Feb. 11, at which point the winning ticket will be drawn and the winner notified.

Unsigned posters are for sale at Ampersound, Academy and Main gift shop, the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and Rice Furniture. Payment is by cash only. Unsigned posters can also be purchased during carnival at the Winter Carnival History Hut located near the Ice Palace.

The cost for an unsigned poster is $20 including tax. In addition to current year posters, some prior year unsigned posters are still available for $10. Posters for years 2012 and 2017 are completely sold out. To purchase a poster by mail, contact Joyce. There is an additional cost for shipping.

Winter Carnival will return Feb. 2-11, 2024. This 10-day community-wide event traces its roots to a one-day Winter Carnival held in 1897 by the Pontiac Club.