Review- DAUNTLESS DURHAM OF THE U.S.A.: 1913-1914

DAUNTLESS DURHAM OF THE U.S.A.: 1913-1914 (Hyperion Press, First Printing, 1977; Hardcover)

Collects Dauntless Durham Of The U.S.A. daily strips from January 22, 1913-January 31, 1914

Writer and Artist: Harry Hershfield

Harry Hershfield's vaudeville melodrama is a charming snapshot of a world long gone. It was a backward looking piece even in it's day, with ironic takes on villains of the late 19^th century. Durham seeks the hand of his beloved Katrina in marriage. At first Lord Havaglass was trying to steal her away, but he was soon replaced with Desmond, the star of Hershfield's previous strip Desperate Desmond. This is when the series really gets going.

Desmond launches one caper after another trying to steal Katrina away. I mean he literally tries to steal her away, as kidnapping must not have been as frowned on back then as it is today. The capers and pissing contents between Durham and Desmond run the gamut of the absurd. There is a real charm to this strip.

Unlike many strips of the era, minorities are portrayed across the board as a melting pot, with stereotypes used as less caricature or more characteristic. There is a huge difference, as one is intended to offend and the latter offends because times and society has changed. One must use proper historical context when reading old material, because nothing from the past can measure up to the values of 2019.

I learned a lot of words when reading this book.

It is fascinating to see then-current events referenced (the new buffalo nickels, Hoover Dam, and many more). Old slang and old songs are referenced as well, and I had a blast using Google and YouTube to experience these as I read the book. It is incredible to be able to add an extra layer of reference to this material in a historical context.

This page is not in this book, but I provide it to demonstrate how this strip looked when originally published. Old newspapers were huge. 

Volume 194, No. 2 of The Official Gazette Of The United States Patent Office lists a claim use date of January 22, 1913 for this strip. American Newspaper Comics by Allan Holtz confirms this date as the start of this series. The Buffalo Enquirer ran the intro strip on January 25, 1913 with the story beginning on Monday, January 27, 1913. Pinning down dates on old strips is a wild game of dice, as syndication often meant that strips appeared on different days in different markets. (Thanks to Brent Swanson and Buddy Lortie of the Sunday newspaper comics 1890-1950 Facebook group for providing the answers for the second and third sentences of this paragraph.)

This strip ended when Hershfield created Abie The Agent, the long running strip which he is most remembered for. There is a nice happy ending to wrap things up. This strip is all but forgotten. Indeed, I wouldn't have even heard of it had I not checked Art Out Of Time from my local library and been exposed to it. I hope that Library Of American Comics will reprint this in one of their LOAC Essentials books, as that is the ideal format for this vintage of strip.

The OCD zone- This is the part where I go into tactile sensations and materials used in physical media. Those with heart conditions, high blood pressure, or women who are pregnant should exit my blog at their earliest convenience, as their safety cannot be guaranteed beyond this point.

Linework restoration: The primitive reproduction methods used in the stone age of 1977 yielded surprisingly decent results. I know that Library Of American Comics or one of the other publishers could do better today, but credit where credit is due. There area few spots that are bad in this book but given the tools that neanderthal 20^th century man had to make this book with I would say that this is a good restoration job for the time and serviceable by 2019 standards.

Paper stock: Matte stock.

Binding: Sewn binding that has held up pretty well.

Hardback cover notes: You don't see textured casewrap like this anymore. Primitive man feared nuclear annihilation from Russia and used production methods that ensured that their books would survive the nuclear winter.