Alice In Comicland!

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There are easily together one of the greatest influences on modern culture of any works from the 19th Century. Published in 1865 and 1871 respectively, both novels were written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under his famous pen name of Lewis Carrol. Imagery and aspects of the two works are constantly being referenced time and again all across our culture have been for over one hundred and fifty years. Details of the works are so ingrained that people make reference to them and don't even really know they are doing so, not unlike Shakespeare. These stories have entered the genetic code of  society and are impossible excise, even if such a dreadful idea did occur to anyone. 

The two novels are highly visual and were illustrated originally by Sir John Tenniel, at the time a cartoonist for Punch magazine. With such a beginning it's no small wonder that these stories are ripe for adaptation in many a comic strip and comic book. The impact in film has been immense too, as without Alice Walt Disney might never have had the opportunity to make Mickey. There are more film and cartoon adaptations than I can muster the strength to list, but just to name a few there is Disney's later 50's cartoon version which offer versions of Carrol's character as strong in American society as Tenniel's. 

Craig Yoe's collection is pretty impressive, though it does allow a few rather lengthy adaptations to dominate the somewhat slender page count. This book could've have been half again the size and it would've been ideal. There are versions of the story here in which Alice (or a version of her) encounter the likes of the Man from Krypton and the teen from Riverdale. There are stories here by fantastic artists  such as Walt Kelly, Alex Toth, Jack Davis, Dan DeCarlo, Dave Berg, and Joe Shuster. 

Below are a few links to some of the more fascinating versions of Alice in this book such as two which showcase the character in vintage 50's horror tales and one a utterly riotous parody of the story. 

In this issue of the Ziff-Davis comic simply titled Alice (one of only two) she solves the flying saucer mystery among other things. To read it go here. 

Alex Toth does his usual outstanding artistic job on a very scary version of the Alice adventures, the story was tucked away nonchalantly in an issue of Standard's Lost Worlds. To read it go here. 

Charlton got into the act with another horror version of Alice in Wonderland which was done for the final issue of The Thing. To read it go here. 

Jack Davis knocks it out of the park with a delightful and raucous satire of the Alice doings in the pages of MAD. In this one Davis actually makes use of Tenniel's original drawings to give the story are real bizarre feeling of legitimacy. To read this masterpiece go here. 

There are many more images and stories in this tome, one purporting to tell the true story of how they came to be written and others adding whole worlds to Alice's misadventures. She even meets another 19th Century icon in the aptly named Alice in Wonderland meets Santa Claus (If you notice is the  rendition of Alice which is peeking out from behind the curtain on the cover of the Yoe collection.) Which reminds me to say have a Merry Christmas one and all. 

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The Toon Treasury Of Classic Children's Comics!

While The Toon Treasury of Classic Children's Comics is divided into five categories ranging from "Funny Animals" to "Fantasyland", the real categories in this book according to editors Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly really fall between four artists -- Sheldon Mayer, Walt Kelly, John Stanley and Carl Barks. The editors admit as much and work from these giants of comic art dominate this collection regardless of the category a story might fall into. 

Chapter One is titled "Hey, Kids!" and celebrates such titles as Sheldon Mayer's Sugar and Spike (three stories) and Scribbly (one lengthy sequence of one-pagers), as well as two stories featuring Little Lulu by John Stanley. Dennis the Menace makes two appearances in this section and talents such as Jules Feiffer and Harvey Kurtzman are represented by Clifford and Egghead Doodle respectively. We are also treated to a story of Intellectual Amos by Andre LeBlanc from the pages of The Spirit sections. 

Chapter Two is dubbed "Funny Animals" and leading the way is Walt Kelly with a few "Uncle Wiggly" pages, a skewed fairy tale titled "Hickory and Dickory  Help the Easter Bunny", as well as an early Pogo story from Animal Comics. Mayer returns with a funny Three Mousketeers story and we get three Fox and Crow stories by Jim Davis. Donald Duck by Carl Barks is on hand alongside John Stanley's "Jigger". Throw in a Nutsy Squirrel and you have quite a bevy of beasts. 

Chapter Three titled "Fantasyland" delivers the goods as might be suspected. Lots more Walt Kelly with stories (four to be exact) from Fairy Tale Parade and a new name George Carlson shows up with some offbeat fairytale variations. John Stanley returns as does Little Lulu with two offerings. We get a story by Popeye animator Dan Gordon featuring a prototype of Droopy and MAD man Dave Berg is represented with two stories adapted out of Alice in Wonderland. Add in a little Supermouse by Milt Stein and it's a festive section indeed. 

Chapter Four is called "Storytime" and seems to be a section in which some oddball stuff finds inclusion such as more Pogo, more Intellectual Amos, and even a C.C. Beck story starring "The Big Red Cheese" himself  titled "In the Land of Surrealism". The latter is a delight. But the highlights of this section are by Carl Barks who has two Duck stories, one featuring Donald battling bees and the other with Uncle Scrooge and the boys venturing to the distant paradise of Tralla La -- one of comic's great classics tales. 

Chapter Five wraps it all up with under the heading "Weird and Wacky" giving the editors free reign. Such things as three Burp the Twerp one-pagers by Jack Cole, four Hey Look! one-pagers by Harvey Kurtzman, alongside  a J. Rufus Lion story by Mayer and a Patsy Pancake yarn by Milt Gross. Dr. Seuss offers up the peculiar classic "Gerald McBoing Boing" and Dick Briefer's Frankenstein plays music. John Stanley's Melvin the Monster tries to catch a mouse and it doesn't go well. The highlight though of this section are several pages of "Foolish Faces" as well a complete Powerhouse Pepper story by Basil Wolverton. 

The main significant  difference between this 2009 collection and the exceedingly similar Yoe Book collection from 2011 I examined last weekend, is that the latter was more interested in a diverse range of examples from the public domain to showcase what had existed in kids comics. This collection was more about the pure quality of the stories and sacrificing some variety. There's not much to criticize about either collection though if you have any fancy at all for light-hearted comic book tales. 

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Klassic Krazy Kool Kids Komics!

This Yoe Book The Golden Collection of Klassic Krazy Kool Kids Komics is a feast of light-hearted fun and funny comics designed for kids. And there must be a little bit of kid in me because I enjoyed most all of them. The immediate drawing card for me was the staggering list of talent represented in this hefty tome. Names often associated with kids comics are evident such as Carl Barks, John Stanley, Walt Kelly and George Carlson. Less likely folks are Jack Kirby,  Steve Ditko, Frank Frazetta and Wally Wood. Add in typically sardonic cartoonists such as Syd Hoff, Harvey Kurtzman and Jules Feiffer and you have a heady brew here. There's even a complete (or attempt) vintage tale by the great Dr. Seuss. 

After a short introduction, Craig Yoe, the editor of this opus divides the stories up into some pretty entertaining categories beginning with "Old Skool" which is comprised of just one entry from the 1850's entitled The Adventures of Tom Plump. 

Following that is 'Fairy Tales & Fantasy" which offers up stories by the likes of Walt Kelly, Dave Berg (twice) and George Carlson. These are breezy samplings with fanciful critters, talking buildings and two takes on Alice in Wonderland. There's a retelling of the King Midas story featuring art from Wonder Woman great H.G. Peter. 

Next is a section called "Kid's Stuff" and we get a John Stanley piece about a kid named Peterkin Pottle alongside a lengthy story by Syd Hoff with a character named Tuffy. Jules Feiffer is represented with a few Clifford pages and even the Yellow Kid by R.F. Outcault shows up. 

"Funny Animals" is one of my favorite sections and kicks off with Harvey Kurtzamn story Pigtales about two enterprising porkers trying to sell door to door. Then there's a longish Felx the Cat story followed by a charming story about The Calico Pup. There are stories about dogs, cats, birds, and even bears. The last is Barney the Bear by Carl Barks. One of the doggie stories by by John Stanley again. Surprisingly Jack "King" Kirby checks  in not once but twice with a story about a rich rabbit and a big-mouthed crocodile named Lockjaw. In the Kirby's stories the animal is among people and in some of these the animals are ubiquitous in human roles. Frank Frazetta shows up with a Hucky Duck story as well. 

That lengthy section is followed by "People Are Funny" and that kicks off with two Jack Cole one-pagers about a blowhard named Windy Breeze. There's a bit by Mort Walker about a madcap reporter and Intellectual Amos by Andre Le Blanc is lovely to look at. There are some nifty stories by Jack Bradbury and Al Stahle as well. The highlight for me was the most recent story in the collection by decades, a story from 1997 drawn by Steve Ditko for Yoe when he was in charge of the freebie Big Boy comics.

"Super Duper Heroes" is next and we get Super Rabbit, Supermouse, and SuperKatt. These were drawn by Milt Stien, Al Hubbard, and Al Gordon respectively. There's another human one-pager by Gordon as well called Mussle-Man. One thing about superhero funny animals is that it's sometimes difficult to detect their powers since funny animals are not subject to normal physical laws anyway. 

The section titled "Nonsense" features all fourteen pages of Heji by Dr. Seuss. This abruptly stopped comic entry is even given a potential ending just for this collection by writer Clizia Gussoni and artist Luke McDonnell. A second highlight of this section is a Basil Wolverton story titled "Flap Flipflop and the Flying Fish". There are a few vintage fanciful tales but it's left to Wally Wood to close this section with his "Goody Bumpkin" story from Wham-O Giant Comics. ( It is of course reformatted.)

Following that is a section called "Total Nonsense" which defies description a bit and a wind up with the final part titled "Now It's Your Turn" with a two-page how-to-draw-comics bit. 

This is totally a book intended for kids to get kids excited by comics both old and older. It should work well in the capacity, but for this geezer it was a delight to read. 

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I Go Pogo!

We await election results. These United States of America and the world at large have suffered a profound indignity over the last four years or so. We have dealt with the insults and ravings of a man undeniably unfit to hold the office. He has defamed the office and the country on a nearly daily basis, in an administration which lies to its constituents hourly and denies even a responsibility to tell the truth. He's not acted alone in his degradation of the country and the principles which have supposed to have guided it for generations, he's had more than enough help from a degenerate Republican Party all to eager too keep a grasp on power by diminishing the citizens' ability to make decisions for themselves. He has been assisted by a media which even when it challenges the affronts, errs by making them all too personal and sensational, and failing to properly inform and educate. This didn't happen overnight, it didn't just happen in the last four years. It's been decades of slow and steady decline as important matters have been trivialized for the sake of ratings or votes. The removal of this man from office will not solve the problems, even months from now when some of the more egregious changes have been corrected, the country will not be whole. The hatred unleashed will take strength and effort to fend off. It will take a generation or possibly two before the country can again aspire to be what it stood on the precipice of becoming only a decade ago, a nation which was willing to move beyond the crimes of its past. We are now aware those crimes are of our present as well. Let's hope for the better at least if not the best. 

I cast my vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris by mail weeks and weeks ago and gotten confirmation of its receipt. So this all important election day I will spend my time with a handsome little Dover reprint tome of some vintage Walt Kelly comic strips from nearly seventy years ago, from 1952 when another presidential was roaring across the nation. I need the smiles and the whimsy of this version of the Okefenokee Swamp. And so today I Go Pogo!

Good luck and good night America.

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Government Issue!

Government Issue: Comics for the People, 1940's-2000's is an adorable volume from Abrams Comicart which showcases decades of comics used for safety advice, military propaganda, civil defense information, drug abuse dramatizations, and many other uses. Written and compiled by Richard L. Graham and featuring a forward by Sid Jacobson, former Harvey editor and who along with Ernie Colon has produced some of the best nonfiction comics of the last decade, this volume tries to be comprehensive.

The only knock is that I'd have loved to have had more full comics, but space as always with these kinds of collections is a premium. From benign comics like one about fighting fires starring Smokey the Bear to infamous tomes like Milt Caniff's "How to Spot a Jap" to safety tips from the Peanuts gang, this one truly has something for everyone. There's vigorous work by Jack Sparling and some of the earliest comics work ever by Neal Adams. Also on hand are some great King Features characters and even Walt Kelly's Pogo shows up.

For a gander at some of the material contained take a gander at the covers below, some by seasoned and respected professionals in the comic book biz.

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