Reprints of old newspsper comic strips are a rich and rewarding source of entertainment -- as well as a fascinating glimpse into the culture of the time they were drawn in. Unfortunately, many of the older classic strips from the 1920s, '30s, '40s and '50s are hard to track down... There have been some archival efforts over the last few decades, but these have been undertaken against harsh odds: newspaper syndicates didn't save the material themselves, and most historical efforts were mounted by private collectors who had to track down complete runs of actual newspapers which were then photocopied and restored to be added into folio editions. The quality of these reprint volumes increased dramatically from the early Pacific Comics Club books of the 1980s (which had a mimeograph-like look) to the splendid Flying Butress editions of the 1990s, and the continuing efforts of Fantagraphics Books, who are perhaps the premiere cartoon strip publishers of today.
Sadly, while several famous strips have been widely collected, dozens of others have not, and even those that have (such as the magnificent Alley Oop strip, which is reviewed below) have been collected in incomplete runs. The archivist's task was further complicated in the computer age by the short-sightedness of librarians across the world who sacked their own newspaper collections in favor of "high tech" information storage approaches, such as microfiche files (and digitized microfiche collections) which have notoriously poor quality reproductions. The original newspapers were either tossed out or sold to mercenary nostalgia merchants who hacked them apart and sold the ads, articles, front pages, etc. to the history-hungry masses. Profitable, but tragic. There has been a brisk trade in "original" newpaper cartoons on eBay and among collector groups, but the longterm damage to our popular culture in losing the papers themselves is incalculable.
Anyway, I have enjoyed reading a few of these great reprint books, and while I'm certainly not as heavily into it as the more hardcore strips collectors, I will offer a few quick observations and recommendations...
Lil' Abner
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(Kitchen Sink, 1988)
Al Capp's classic Lil' Abner strip, followed the misadventures of a goodnatured hillbilly musclehead, Lil' Abner Yokum, of Dogpatch, USA, and his cantankerous, kooky family and quaint, kooky neighbors. The strip ran for xxxxxxxxxxx, and has countless loyal adherents. Personally, I find it unreadable. Capp's art clearly incluenced the early MAD Magazine artists, but matched with his clunky writing and belabored humor, it's not really that much fun. Part of my aversion to this strip may stem from my dislike of the corny "hillbilly humor" that's based in white trash stereotypes which infects many "alt-country" music acts. (My thoughts on this phenomenon can be read in greater depth in my Country Music section.) At any rate, I can't honestly recommend this strip -- it irritated and bored me.
