Comic Book Reviews - Intro Page (Slipcue e-Zine)

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...

General Reference Works

Lil' Abner "The All-Music Guide To The Blues"
(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.

"MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide"
ed. Leland Rucker
(Visible Ink Press, 1998)
Heavy on the beer-ad blues side of things, with sidebars that talk about "monster solos," and a CD sampler that comes from the infamous House of Blues. You see where this is leading, right? Nonetheless, this also includes admirable entries on artists such as Sammy Price, Victoria Spivey and Buddy Johnson, who might otherwise languish outside of the canon. Appendices include listings of blues festivals, labels and artist web sites, which may be useful to the up-an-coming blues hound. Readers may also want to check out MusicHound's R&B guide, which is listed below.

"MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide"
ed. Gary Graff, Josh Freedom du Lac, and Jim McFarlin
(Visible Ink Press, 1998)
This includes a disproportionately hefty dose of hip-hop and rap albums, which makes sense, considering the intense recent cross-pollination of hip hop with cheesy quiet storm "soul" (which is also heavily emphasized in this volume). However, the emphasis is clearly more contemporary than historical -- for example, the reference sidebars are entitled "Word Up!", which seems tacky as well as rather dated. Modern artists such as Bobby Brown, Sheena Easton, and Toni Braxton get equal -- if not superior -- billing with soul music touchstones such as Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and the Stax/Volt and Motown crowds. Very few pre-rock artists are included -- Cab Calloway and Big Joe Turner make it in, for example, but not Buddy Johnson or Floyd Dixon, and several classic 60s soul stars such as Garnett Mimms are also omitted. Finally, while most of the big-name blues shouters such as Wynonie Harris, Amos Milburn and Louis Jordan have entries, practically none of their great gospel counterparts are included. This really is a disgrace, as well as a short-sighted, culturally revisionist nod to contemporary tastes (which do not embrace the preachin' and shoutin' religious side of African-American music). Rest assured that without Bessie Griffin, Clara Ward, the Soul Stirrers, or Rev. James Cleveland, there would never have been a BeBe Winans, Mariah Carey or Aretha Franklin -- much less a Parliament, Lauryn Hill or KRS-1. As with other MusicHound books, this also provides useful appendices, including fan sites, etc., and the companion CD is a nice (if stingy) sampler of some of gems from the Mercury Records catalog. But if Wu Tang or Billy Oceans are not your "R&B" thing, you may wish to be wary of this tome.

"Rollin' And Tumblin' - The Postwar Blues Guitarists"
Ed. by Jas Obrecht
(Miller Freeman Books, 2000)
By "postwar blues", we mean the upbeat, amplified, often aggressive material that many popologists see simply as the roots of rock'n'roll. But for blues fans, the muscular power and driving passion of the bluesmen is enough by itself, and this collection of articles and interviews profiling many of the genre's greatest players, is manna from heaven for the folks who could care less what happened after Elvis shook his little heinie on the Ed Sullivan show. This is a classicist's view of the blues -- standardbearers such as Otis Rush, Muddy Waters and BB King get multiple entries, wild West Coast and Texas bluesmen like T-Bone Walker and Clarence Gatemouth Brown also get their propers, and while the main emphasis is on the dudes who plugged in, acoustic players such as Fred McDowell also get a nod or two. The book draws on a variety of writers, and reflects a variety of interviewing and narrative styles -- most of the material originally appeared in Guitar Player magazine, but while some technical points are investigated, the book is an even better source of information about the players themselves -- their personalities, their stories, their world view. A true blues fan should enjoy this book quite a bit!

"Children Of The Blues - 49 Musicians Shaping A New Blues Tradition"
By Art Tipaldi
(Backbeat Books, 2002)
The canon of old-school blues masters is pretty well set: Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, etc., etc. Here's a look at a few dozen "younger" artists -- some of who are actually pretty long in the tooth by now (Charlie Musselwhite, Taj Mahal, Kim Wilson and John Hammond, Jr.) and some who really are fairly new on the scene, such as Kelly Joe Phelps and Keb' Mo'... Tipaldi is ay his best in longer interview pieces when he gets someone genuinely talkative, such as Marcia Ball, and can let them carry the show... For anyone keen on keeping up with the newer generation(s) of blues players, this may be a nice book to check out. Sure are a lot of artists profiled here!

"Honkers And Shouters: The Golden Years Of Rhythm & Blues"
By Arnold Shaw
(Collier Books, 1978)
A groundbreaking work documenting the careers of some of the greatest R&B artists, as well as the labels that brought their music to the jukeboxes and turntables of America. Rhythm & Blues's reputation has suffered mightily in recent years -- that they call the soft-soul pop of the post-disco generation "R&B" is a joke of tremendous historical proportions, but looking back to the real glory days of Ray Charles, Louis Jordan, Ike Turner, Clyde McPhatter and the like, there's no denying that "golden years" is the right term to use. This book is admirably inclusive, tracking the adaptations of bluesmen and early rock'n'rollers to the new, sleeker sounds that came out of Motown, Philly and Mussell Shoals... The profiles of various labels and A&R men are particularly welcome, since this book largely documents the day when success in the music business still depended on having "an ear" and the magic that happened when guys could still spot real talent. A good read -- definitely worth tracking down a copy.

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