Review- DREAMS OF THE RAREBIT FIEND

DREAMS OF THE RAREBIT FIEND (Dover, 2013 Printing; Softcover)

Collects sixty Dreams Of The Rarebit Fiend strips which were originally published in the New York Telegram 10/07/1904- 8/31/1905

Writer and Artist: Winsor McCay

This is the 2013 printing of the 1973 facsimile edition of the original 1905 hardcover. As of this writing one could get a 1905 original for a mere $10,000 on eBay. Or you can do what I did and buy the 2013 reprint which is still floating around out there for under 20 bucks.

As in the 1905 hardcover and 1973 facsimile edition, the strips are reprinted here in black and white. They are shrunk down from their original publication size, although the Dover editions are 10% larger than the 1905 hardcover. Like the 1973 edition, this 2013 printing omits the final strip due to its unfavorable portrayal of minorities.

Rarebit is apparently some sort of toasted cheese snack, and these unfortunate folks ate them before bed. Apparently this Welsh rarebit gives folks nightmares which probe their innermost fears and desires. This predates McCay's signature strip, Little Nemo In Slumberland but treads the same boards: the realm of dreams. Unlike Nemo, this is not a fun, surreal read, but a bizarre probing of anxieties.

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.

This book is wider than a standard graphic novel.

Linework restoration: I don't have any source material to compare.

Paper stock: Matte stock.

Binding: Perfect bound.

Cardstock cover notes: Laminated cardstock cover.

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. 

Review- LEONARD STARR'S MARY PERKINS ON STAGE VOL. 9

LEONARD STARR'S MARY PERKINS ON STAGE VOL. 9 (Classic Comics Press, First Printing, 2012; Softcover)

Collects Mary Perkins On Stage newspaper strips originally published from November 20, 1967- May 10, 1969

Writer and Artist: Leonard Starr

Everyone, this is what you should be reading. This series has some of the best writing in the history of the medium. Leonard Starr is no slouch in the artwork department, either. Top shelf stuff that belongs in everyone's library. There are only 15 volumes to buy. Child's play!

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: I do not have source material to compare, but I do know that Charles Pelto spends a ton of time making these books look terrific. The only drawback to this book is that the Sundays are in black and white rather than full color as they were originally published.

Paper stock: Uncoated matte stock, great for late night reading by incandescent light.

Binding: Perfect bound.

Cardstock cover notes: Cover has a matte finish to it which feels a little “frosty”. I am not sure how to describe it but it feels dry, like frosted glass bottles.

Review- RIP KIRBY VOL. 1: 1946-1948

RIP KIRBY VOL. 1: 1946-1948 (Library Of American Comics/ IDW, Fourth Printing, 2014; Hardcover)

Collects the Rip Kirby daily strips from March 4, 1946- December 4, 1948

Writer: Ward Greene

Artist: Alex Raymond

Newspaper strips are an acquired taste, but once you do acquire that taste you realize how much superior the storytelling capabilities of this tightly structured form are when compared to even my beloved comic books. The story never ends with newspaper strips. While newspaper strips have been reprinted since the early 1900s (those album-style reprint books were arguably the very first comic books), over the past decade we have seen a slew of high quality, high end reprint collections like this one.

Rip Kirby is the first “modern detective”, meaning that he was the first post-Pulp detective who eschewed all of the various trappings of that genre. Kirby isn't a playboy, instead having a steady gal whom he keeps at arm's length while tapdancing around the various damsels in distress that he encounters. While he occasionally uses a gun and does engage in fisticuffs, it is his intellect and sleuthing which are his strengths. Nor is he a hard drinker, smoking only his pipe. Sherlock Holmes meets pulp detectives with a post-World War II optimistic sheen.

Alex Raymond is a god. His artwork is more streamlined here than on Flash Gordon, the result of meeting the deadline demands of a daily strip rather than just doing a Sunday page. One of the things that I love about reading old comic books and newspaper strips is the artist catching the feeling of the era on paper. The fashions, cars, and architectural styles of the day are on full display in a way that even a historically accurate period piece cannot replicate. There are nuances which historians miss which were matter of fact daily life for those who actually lived through it.

Rip's valet, Desmond, plays an increasingly important role as the strip progresses. A man with a criminal past yet still prim and proper, Desmond saves the day more than once. Chapter 7, Bleak Prospects (October 13, 1947- June 12, 1948), is a tale of kidnapping, back in the days when the idle rich could buy kids on the black market and get away with it..or almost get away with it. Rip Kirby saves the day, but this particular story arc has the most twists and turns in the entire book.

This is some great stuff. This book has gone through at least four printings, and with good reason. If you are tired of linewide comic crossovers, endless reboots, and stunts and gimmicks but are not ready to give up on comics, try reading some of this stuff. It has never been easier or more affordable to snag this material.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This book is presented in horizontal/ landscape format.

Linework and Color restoration: The restoration is overall very good, but there are several strips in Chapter 8, Terror On The Thames, where the bottom of the strip has been clipped off. I imagine that there were wild variances in the presentation of strips as they were syndicated nationwide. Newspapers likely trimmed strips so that they could fit them in the allotted space. My guess is that it depends on the source for the collection that was used for this book. Either that or the LOAC trimmed them to fit the format of this book.

Uncropped original.

The strip as reprinted in this book.

Uncropped original.

The strip as reprinted in this book.

Paper stock: Super thick matte uncoated stock. Perfect for zero light glare under any source. I experiment with incandescent, CFL, LED, and natural sunlight. I only use incandescent in my bedroom reading lamp (no overhead lighting), but there is no glare with any of the aforementioned sources.

Binding: Sewn binding with a built in ribbon. Some folks like the ribbon, as it is an elegant nod. I can take it or leave it. The book block has room to flex within the casing, allowing the book to lay flat without assistance from you.

Due to the horizontal presentation and weight of the book block you can see a slight sag as gravity takes effect over the years. You might want to store this one spine down if such things bother you. As for myself, I will be dead and gone by the time that this is a real concern and my kids can worry about it when they sell my collection off after I die of old age.

Dustjacket and Hardback cover notes: The casewrap has a texture to it that makes it feel like an old book. The logo is stamped on the front cover and the spine. The dustjacket has a matte coating.

Review- BUSTER BROWN'S ANTICS

BUSTER BROWN'S ANTICS (Frederick A. Stokes Co.(*?), 1906(*?); Softcover)

*My copy has copyright dates on the strips of 1906 and 1907 American Journal Examiner, Great Britain. It's possible that my copy is from the UK. If so, it was released in the UK in 1908, not 1906, which is probable seeing as how the US version is copyright 1906. Contents differ wildly between countries. The French version of this book with the same cover and title has wholly different contents.

The spine of this book.

The following strips are present in my copy of this book:

Buster And The Goat- Tige To The Woods (1906)

Buster's Goat Yields To Kindness (1906)

Buster Fools His Mama/ Up In A Balloon, Boys. (1906)

Poor Buster Gets The Blame (1906)

Buster's Education/ The New Tutor (1906)

Buster Gets The Worst Of It (1907)

Why is a Goat Nearly? (1906)

What Would You Do With A Boy Like This? (1906)

Was It Not Buster's Boat? Not Yet- But- Soon (undated)

Buster's Pet Goat/ But The Goat Was Cleaned (undated)

Getting An Education (1906)

Buster's Dilemma/ And It Was Halloween Too (1906, my copy is missing the second page)

(NOTE) I can't find an exact table of contents for this book anywhere online. My copy is missing the title page, which seems to be in every other copy I've seen online. Most sources show this book as having 31 pages. My copy has a total of 23 pages, meaning that it is likely missing the title page, one story page, and three two-page stories. This was a “quarter box” equivalent beater reader copy when compared to the nicer copies found online. If you are willing to spend upwards of 400 bucks you can get some cleaner copies. I got this for a small fraction of that cost. Oh well, you get what you pay for, right?

Writer and Artist: R. F. Outcault

This is the fourth collection of Buster Brown newspaper strips that was published from what I have gathered. There is a real lack of resources on the publishing history of the character online. The usual sources have some information but it is skeletal at best. I have yet to find a definitive source on the publication history with dates for each strip. Indeed, one may not even exist.

Outcault is an absolute genius. His earlier creation, The Yellow Kid, was a real salt of the Earth concept. Buster Brown is an affluent upper class child, the Little Lord Fauntleroy prudent Victorian child that was all but fantasy to a large portion of the reading audience.

Buster seems to lead a carefree life free of all want, left to pursue fun and mischief with playmates while causing headaches for his prim and proper mother. His talking dog, Tige, seems to be the moral compass and smartest character in the strip.

This stuff bleeds charm. It's a fun read as a read, and when you factor in the obscurity, scarcity, and cultural and historical significance to the artform it's invaluable. There is one strip here which would offend today's more politically correct fanbase. I wish that Sunday Press Books, Classic Comics Press, Fantagraphics, or Library Of American Comics would rescue this strip from the dustbins of history and reprint it in hardcover. This likely hasn't happened because the strips are either scarce and/or there aren't enough fans of Outcault left in this mortal coil to buy them.

I am admittedly not an expert on the Platinum Age of Comics but am eager to learn. There are several Facebook groups on the subject and scattered resources but have yet to find some definitive source detailing the print history of the strip and assorted books. I would be grateful to anyone who can show me where to go to learn more.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Old newspapers were fricking HUGE. The Sunday pages are cut in half here, with the top half's worth of panels going across one page and the second half going across the next. Each page is single sided, likely due to the limits of printing technology of the day.

Buster Fools His Mama/ Up In A Balloon, Boys. page two is misbound behind the story which followed it. These books were bound by hand back then, so it is doubtful that the entire run was effected by my copy's defect.

Linework and Color restoration: I couldn't even begin to guess how this compares to the original newspaper strips. From what I've been able to piece together this strip wasn't even printed in color in every market. What I can tell you is that the print quality for this time is downright stunning. Four color printing with minimal line bleed or off-register printing.

Paper stock: Glossy paper of the day, far less glossy than what we would call glossy today but the paper has a slickness to it as well as bright, vibrant colors. Being 110+ years old it is brittle and there are flakes everywhere every time I flip through it.

Binding: Cloth bound. Handling a 110+ year old book felt like handling the dead sea scrolls.

This book once belonged to some children, who wrote their names on the back cover. It's wild to think that the children who wrote this are long dead and gone and likely have greatgrandchildren roaming around now.

Cardstock cover notes: The cover is pretty thick, but time and endless handling have rendered it fragile, with folds, creases, and flaking everywhere. 

Review- BUSTER BROWN

BUSTER BROWN (Create Space, Printed on February 12, 2017; Softcover)

Collects 70 Buster Brown Sunday strips from 1902-1904.

Writer and Artist: R.F. Outcault

The book's spine does not feature the title. -10% enjoyment on The OCD scale.

The Platinum Age of comics (pre-comic books newspaper strips) is woefully underrepresented in Collected Editions. Buster Brown has two reprint books from the 1970s, but neither are complete. A handful of his strips have appeared in books like Society Is Nix, but comprehensive reprints are nonexistent. This mostly forgotten character doesn't have enough clout to be reprinted today, which is a shame considering that he was an outright phenomenon in his heyday. It seems almost criminal to let historically significant works like this rot in the hands of private collectors or exist as poorly scanned images on a handful of websites on the Internet. There aren't enough people who care about the history of the artform to make any publisher take a gamble and release a collection. If I ever win the Lotto I'll do it.

Imagine my delight when I discovered this collection, a bargain priced print on demand reprint from Amazon's CreateSpace imprint for $9.99. Where do I sign? I was in. Two days later this expectedly low budget affair arrived at my home. I have mixed feeling about this book. It's great to own these strips, but I have 20/20 vision and had a hard time reading the dialogue in spots.

This strip stars your run of the mill well-to-do Victorian child getting into all manner of mischief with his dog, Tige. Then-contemporary fashions and slang are fascinating to me. Societal mores, such as the once acceptable spanking of children, are on full display. Buster Brown's resolutions are usually found after him being on the receiving end of his mother's hand or hairbrush. This is unintentionally funny 113 years after publication.

Buster gets in all sorts of trouble and celebrates every holiday along the way. The whimsical nature of the strip, coupled with Outcault's unintentionally creepy faces, makes for a bizarre read that bleeds charm. I love the fashions and customs of the day (i.e. tea parties, the ash man, etc.) and found a reference to the then-new vaccinations, where people still objected to them out of ignorance. Another famous cartoon strip, Raggedy Ann, was actually the symbol of the anti-vaccination movement of the early 20^th century.

This book is a disservice to the genius of Outcault. The stories are great but the subpar presentation prevents me from recommending this book to anyone. I gambled 10 bucks but my advice to you is to find the scans on the Internet that these were swiped from and read them on your device or try printing them out yourself. They won't come out any worse, I promise you.

Junk Food For Thought rating: * out of 5.

The OCD zone- *While this book is wider than a standard trade paperback/ graphic novel, the artwork is shrunk down so much that it is virtually unreadable at times. I can't give a fair rating, so I won't give one at all.

Linework restoration: Awful. Imagine listening to a mp3 that is sourced from a cassette which was recorded off of a record by placing the tape recorder next to the speaker as the record played. You are dealing with this level of loss of fidelity. These strips were originally printed in color. The black and white presentation here is a murky grayscale mess. I have actually located the page where these scans were swiped from for this book. This material deserves better than this book, which any boob could have slapped together using Amazon's CreateSpace imprint.

Paper stock: Lighter weight uncoated stock.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover notes: Laminated cardstock. 

Review- BUSTER BROWN: EARLY STRIPS IN FULL COLOR

BUSTER BROWN: EARLY STRIPS IN FULL COLOR (Dover, First Printing, 1974)

Facsimile edition of the 1904 hardcover collection Buster Brown And His Resolutions, which collects fifteen Sunday newspaper strips which were originally published in 1903 and 1904 in the New York Herald.

Writer and Artist: R.F. Outcault

Before there were Buster Brown shoes there was Buster Brown the comic strip. R.F. Outcault was the premiere cartoonist of his day, arguably the first “superstar” in the world of comics. His Hogan's Alley (later The Yellow Kid) strip, published during the mid-1890s through the turn of the 20^th century, made his name. His work on this strip and Pore Lil Mose remain criminally neglected in this golden age of comic reprints. I have been waiting for Sunday Press Books or another publisher to preserve them for posterity. The sad fact of the matter is that comic fandom as a whole has little interest in the history of the medium prior to superheroes, and reprints of strips like this would be expensive to produce and sell very few copies for any publisher brave enough to even try. If I ever win the Lotto I will procure a complete run of this series and start up a publishing company to rescue these lost classics from obscurity.

Early 20^th century newspaper strips were compiled and reprinted in hardcover books. These were the first collected editions, if you will. I was looking at Buster Brown books one night on eBay when I came across this book. A few minutes on Google and I was able to peg this as an affordable reprint, and in color no less! Dover must have photographed the old book that they did this facsimile off of, as the colors are completely authentic and scanners as we now know them were science fiction back in 1974.

The strip itself is charming. Buster Brown is a child in a well to do family during the then-contemporary Victorian era. The fashions and furnishings were current when published but look like something out of Henry Ford Museum today. Buster and his dog Tige always get in trouble, with Buster often finding his posterior region on the receiving end of a hairbrush. Buster tends to get himself into all manner of trouble with a resolution provided in a text panel in each strip. This book seems to span all seasons and doesn't seem to follow any publication order, as it skips back and forth between 1903 and 1904 copyright dates. The strips themselves are undated.

Beating your children with a hairbrush was not only acceptable, it was passed off as wholesome lowbrow family entertainment in 1903-1904. 

Outcault remains a genius. Many modern comic fans are willfully ignorant of the history of the medium. I am by no means an expert, but I am learning more all the time, and the Internet has made studying the history of the medium easier than it would have been in my younger days. Unfortunately many strips like this remain out of reach of most fans due to expense or scarcity. We have been living in the golden age of comic reprints over the past dozen or so years, and in spite of everything that has been published one thing remains clear: We have barely even scratched the surface.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This opens like a calendar, meaning that it opens vertically and not horizontally like a normal book. The strip was originally published as a full sheet. Those old newspapers were huge, so each one is cut in half, with one half on one page and the other half on the next.

Linework and Color restoration: I have no source material to compare this to, but everything looks “authentic”. It's interesting how some of the earliest four color printing presses were more accurate than the ones which would turn up and print early comic books.

Paper stock: Thick uncoated stock with minimal browning on the edges, a real feat for a forty-plus year old book.

Binding: The binding is a stapled, saddle-stitched book.

Cardstock cover notes: Extremely thick cardstock cover with a durable lamination.