Drawn to her own backyard

Fans of cartoonist Carol Lay, who skewers everything from the media to the Bush administration in her weekly political cartoon strip “Way Lay,” have noticed a decisive shift in the tone and content of her work. Lay has eschewed politics of late with an illustrated homage to the landmarks of her Franklin Hills neighborhood.

“I felt like exploring my neighborhood and the things I love, a la Ripley’s Believe It or Not,” says Lay, who was considering moving from the area and sought to preserve her memories through the cartoon. Her latest work -- which appears regularly in LA Weekly and Salon.com -- doesn’t fuel the same angry diatribes generated by her political art. “I’ve gotten lots of requests for prints. I’ve heard from people who live in different parts of the country that know this neighborhood and miss it.”

When “Way Lay” featured a Franklin Hills house with a fence decorated with wrought iron monkeys, the owner saw the structure in a new light and decided against removing the fence. Lay is happy with the outcome.

“I’ve done my bit for keeping kitsch in the neighborhood,” she says.

Although the “new” strip has been liberating, she plans to jump into the political fray soon and is not moving out of the neighborhood after all. “I don’t have to do political, but the Bush administration keeps handing out topics. I can’t be the Huell Howser of L.A. cartoonists.”