Bugs Bunny may not be popping up anytime soon but Ironton will soon become immortalized as a vibrant and colorful cartoon land.

Readers will get a unique look at the seat of government for Lawrence County when The Tribune’s special edition cartoon map inserts into the newspaper next Sunday, June 15.

A project that hasn’t been done in this community for more than 20 years, this map showcases the city and nearby surrounding areas in a new light — and lots of vivid colors.

We wanted to do something that would help capture the spirit of the community and provide a historic snapshot of where Ironton is in 2008. We think this does it a way unlike any other!

More than 50 local businesses and civic organizations joined in to make sure they were represented in this colorful showcase of the city.

Once the ink goes to paper, we think more will want to participate if we decide to do this again next year.

Printed on a heavier stock of paper and inserted in the newspaper six times over the next year, the cartoon map also features a variety of local landmarks and things for which the region is known.

An iron furnace? Check. The historic Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Day Parade? Got it. The Lawrence County Courthouse? Affirmative. Tanks Memorial Stadium? Yep, it is on there too.

It was impossible to capture every landmark and the map certainly isn’t an attempt to accurately recreate the scale and layout of the city. Everything isn’t perfectly accurate but we don’t think it was meant to be taken too seriously.

In the cartoons, no one ever questions why Jerry is always able to outsmart Tom or why Wily E. Coyote always survives his ACME mishaps. The laws of physics don’t exactly apply. We also were not able encapsulate the entire county.

But this is the first effort in many years and, if readers enjoy it, we hope the first of many over upcoming years. Who knows, maybe all of Lawrence County can join this cartoon world.

If you don’t see the map in the paper next week and cannot get a copy anywhere else, don’t worry; it will be in key editions throughout the rest of the year including Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Answer Book, Primetime and Profile 2009.

Plus, The Ironton Tribune will sell full color prints suitable for framing. The whole point was to have fun and showcase the community in a different way. We think we have done that.

Cartoons are meant to be fun and exciting. Looking at Ironton in a new way certainly fits that bill.

Michael Caldwell is publisher of The Ironton Tribune. To reach him, call (740) 532-1445 ext. 24 or by e-mail at mike.caldwell@irontontribune.com.