The Golden Age of Comic Strip Reprints 0

[BOOT]

Sorry to stretch your screen but in response to Honky's request elsewhere - I don't what's that's going to achieve but these are the shelves of probably most interest. There is unfortunately not enough light for the shots to come out clean.

Are those Winsor McCay reprints from Checker?

 

Some of the best comics ever. Used copies of some volumes are real deals at Amazon:

 

Winsor McCay reprints

[Scrooge]

No, I don't have them. I only have a collection of Nemo (though the printing is frustratingly blurry) and the bio by Wannamaker (?).

[BB-Gun]

[BB-Gun]

Nemo

[G.A.tor]

cool stuff

 

[generic user]

 

Just finished reading Volume 1 of the IDW collection of X-9, Secret Agent Corrigan's Williamson / Goodwin run. Very entertaining but irritating somewhat. First, it takes a little bit of time for Williamson to get into the strip artistically. I don't think he gets his own voice until about the third sequence in the book. Second, I find that the continuities (daily only, no Sundays) are too short and do not allow for the story to develop properly though either Goodwin got better or the sequences lengthen toward the end of the collection but the stories are allowed more "space" to play out. Third, IDW should have found a better way to slice the collection as this volume ends with Stanley Pitt ghosted an entire sequence (June through August 1969) and it ends the volume on a downbeat (even the lettering is different and annoying).

 

 

What else have you picked up in the last few months that's worth reading?

 

I have the Hermes Press Phantom books on my want list. Anybody seen 'em?

 

 

[Scrooge]

I've seen them ... but I don't like them. The book reprints 2 dailies per page which means that there's more white on any given page than there is content. It's ugly and useless and the project is now stalled IIRC. I had my doubts when I heard Hermes was doing this and unfortunately it seems they were warranted. It's too bad, I thought they were coming out on a schedule with the Buck Rogers (which I didn't buy). I don't want to cast a stone here, the repro quality seems adequate, Amazon does show volume 3 coming out in August, but it could be a better product in my opinion.

 

Most recent pick-ups of note were the Volume 1 of the collected Mickey Mouse strip which I am slowly reading currently (child and work taking my reading away this summer)

 

 

and the collected Miss Fury which I was happily surprised to discover is an all-color book. I guess I should read the solicit more in details

 

 

Most excited about upcoming project is IDW's yet-another Flash Gordon collection but this one will be oversized AND include the Jungle Jim topper so that, even though I have the complete Checkers volumes, I am buying it, yet again

[generic user]

I've seen them ... but I don't like them. The book reprints 2 dailies per page which means that there's more white on any given page than there is content. It's ugly and useless and the project is now stalled IIRC. I had my doubts when I heard Hermes was doing this and unfortunately it seems they were warranted. It's too bad, I thought they were coming out on a schedule with the Buck Rogers (which I didn't buy). I don't want to cast a stone here, the repro quality seems adequate, Amazon does show volume 3 coming out in August, but it could be a better product in my opinion.

 

Most recent pick-ups of note were the Volume 1 of the collected Mickey Mouse strip which I am slowly reading currently (child and work taking my reading away this summer)

 

 

Thanks, I'll continue avoiding the Phantom unless I see it cheap (which I don't). I've had my eye on the mouse strips, but was going to wait for the v1/v2 boxed set.

[RedFury]

I've seen them ... but I don't like them. The book reprints 2 dailies per page which means that there's more white on any given page than there is content. It's ugly and useless and the project is now stalled IIRC. I had my doubts when I heard Hermes was doing this and unfortunately it seems they were warranted. It's too bad, I thought they were coming out on a schedule with the Buck Rogers (which I didn't buy). I don't want to cast a stone here, the repro quality seems adequate, Amazon does show volume 3 coming out in August, but it could be a better product in my opinion.

 

Most recent pick-ups of note were the Volume 1 of the collected Mickey Mouse strip which I am slowly reading currently (child and work taking my reading away this summer)

 

 

Thanks, I'll continue avoiding the Phantom unless I see it cheap (which I don't). I've had my eye on the mouse strips, but was going to wait for the v1/v2 boxed set.

 

The Phantom book does suffer from poor design, but I read Volume 1 last year and the stories were fantastic. I really enjoyed them. I also have Vol 2 but it's still in the 'to-be-read' pile.

[Scrooge]

Most recent pick-ups of note were the Volume 1 of the collected Mickey Mouse strip which I am slowly reading currently (child and work taking my reading away this summer)

 

 

I finished this today. I found the strip uneven and many times found myself struggling to carry on with reading the volume. It's pretty obvious when I continually checked how many more pages I had to go before being done.

 

I believe there are two reasons for this struggle.

 

First, as David Gernstein hints in his introduction to the material, we are looking at the first two years of the strip when Gottfredson was still finding his voice not only as a scripter but also an artist. I read Gernstein's commentary after finishing the volume and it is insightful and helped me better understand the context of the strip and look forward to later volumes when Gottfredson becomes more at ease with the strip and masters the mix of comedy and mystery in the stories.

 

Second, some storylines can't help but be dated. Unfortunately some rely heavily on little continuity and more as a series of running gags which detracts the reader from getting engaged in the dated material. One would assume that reading Gasoline Alley would lead to the same feeling of distance or enstrangement but Gasoline Alley does not fail us in that regard since it is so much more grounded in personal relationships that we "get it" and bridge that time gap easily.

 

With that said, there were some sequences that held my interest strongly such as the very first Gottfredson scripted himself where another suitor is trying to woo Minnie while at the same time trying to bankrupt Minnie's family. Another good sequence saw Minnie kidnapped by gypsies. Though the story was played rather straight, the way Gottfredson tackled the art elevated that sequence.

 

This collection provides some of the most additional information I've seen, right after the Sickles book. If this additional material continues to appear in each and every volume, these books are worth it even if it didn't reprint the strip themselves

[adamstrange]

Thanks for the review. I do like the Gottfriedson's work but had been reluctant to buy this book as I suspected the he was still learning his craft.

 

The interiors are b&w?

[AJD]

I posted these in the Show us your ducks thread, but thought they could get a plug here too.

 

This one reprints WDC&S 1 and 2 in their entirety - so contains a bunch of daily MM and DD strips.

 

 

And this one reprints Four Color #4 - Taliaferro strips. (I don't have this book in hand yet).

 

 

The WDC&S volume is really nicely done and the color printing has a nicely subdued period feel to it.

[Scrooge]

The interiors are b&w?

 

Yes, all the reprinted strips are in b&w but the documents and other extras are in color.

[cshepard81]

I posted these in the Show us your ducks thread, but thought they could get a plug here too.

 

This one reprints WDC&S 1 and 2 in their entirety - so contains a bunch of daily MM and DD strips.

 

 

And this one reprints Four Color #4 - Taliaferro strips. (I don't have this book in hand yet).

 

 

The WDC&S volume is really nicely done and the color printing has a nicely subdued period feel to it.

I bought the WDC&S as well as the Walt Disney Treasury: Donald Duck vol. 1+2. I passed on the Taliaferro. I've also bought or pre-ordered the two Walt Disney Mickey Mouse books and the "Lost in the Andes" Barks book, so I've got a lot of Disney reading to look forward to when I have them all in hand. I'm mainly buying them for my son in hopes to hook him on comics when he starts reading, but until then I figure I'll get acquainted with the stories myself.

[Scrooge]

With power out most of the day, I got time to finish reading this -

 

 

While I like Flash Gordon for the art and not the stories, I liked this first volume of Rip Kirby for the exact opposite reasons: loved the stories, so so on the art and this for a Raymond strip. Reading a couple of reviews on Amazon, the repro quality in this volume was called into question and that might be why it didn't click as much with me. Don't get me wrong, it's still Raymond, it's still elegant and stylish but it's not as finely drawn as Flash Gordon.

 

The stories more than made up for this. The love-triangle between Rip, Honey and Pagan is handled well with Rip never faltering in his affection for Honey so it's not over played for melodrama. The subject matters are interesting (biological weapon, juvenile deliquency, black market baby ring!, and your run of the mill forger, ...) but what I like most is how the sequences are extended, there is always a secondary plot that pushes the stories further and makes them more interesting. The cases are not chopped up à la Modesty Blaise, they are quite seamlessly written.

 

IDW just published the 4th and last volume. They are all staring at me right now but next on the TBR pile:

 

Captain Easy Vol. 2 by FB which just came out and will be an easy and quick read then onto ...

 

the monstrous-sized Polly and her Pals from IDW.

[Ken Aldred]

I have all of the IDW Terry and the Pirates volumes, and I'm looking forward to getting the Steve Canyon series in the same format, starting early next year. I didn't like the Checker version because of the miniscule panel size. Caniff's art isn't cropped in the new reprints, which is another incentive to buy.

[Scrooge]

I had the earlier Terry reprint and sold those (for a song ) when the new IDW series came out but, for the Canyon, I won't switch. I am happy with the Steve Canyon Magazine reprint format from Kitchen Sink which is also why I didn't get the Checkers version.

[Yellow Kid]

Today I received my copy of IDW's Volume 7 of Little Orphan Annie. It is outstanding, both physically and in terms of content. This volume introduces both The Asp and The Great Am, two of Gray's most interesting creations, and I recommend it without reservation. I have been collecting Gray's work for many years and it is a joy to see the great work IDW is doing in reproducing the strips. Of course that comes as no surprise as the entire line of IDW reprint volumes serves as an example of publishing excellence.

Richard

[Yellow Kid]

Today I received my copy of IDW's Volume 7 of Little Orphan Annie. It is outstanding, both physically and in terms of content. This volume introduces both The Asp and The Great Am, two of Gray's most interesting creations, and I recommend it without reservation. I have been collecting Gray's work for many years and it is a joy to see the great work IDW is doing in reproducing the strips. Of course that comes as no surprise as the entire line of IDW reprint volumes serves as an example of publishing excellence.

Richard

[Yellow Kid]

Today I received my copy of IDW's Volume 7 of Little Orphan Annie. It is outstanding, both physically and in terms of content. This volume introduces both The Asp and The Great Am, two of Gray's most interesting creations, and I recommend it without reservation. I have been collecting Gray's work for many years and it is a joy to see the great work IDW is doing in reproducing the strips. Of course that comes as no surprise as the entire line of IDW reprint volumes serves as an example of publishing excellence.

Richard