Customer Reviews

Krazy & Ignatz 1925-1926: "There is a Heppy Land Furfur A-waay" (Krazy Kat)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have never read George Herriman's masterpiece--one of the few comic strips I would label as such, and it's creator: a genius--I would NOT suggest this one. Buy "Krazy Kat: the komic art of George Herriman" instead. I say this only because Mr. Herriman's style changes so dramatically throughout his tenure on Krazy Kat, that this can only give you a very incomplete impression of his work and, truthfully, I can't say very much for this particular impression. It is not George's fault, either. At this time a certain visual structure was imposed on his work by William Randolph Hearst--a fan himself of our author/cartoonist--that limits the VISUAL creativity of the strip. Some critics have suggested that this period is where the SOUL of the Krazy Kat strip was first truly refined; where the relationship between Krazy, Ignatz, and Officer Pupp begins to be fully realized. That may be. The writing is as good as it ever was. But the uniformity of the art and visual structure--all panels are of uniform size, shape, and number (though not at the very beginning of the book)--make the material seem redundant. Especially when reading one after the other in the same sitting.
I love this strip and I respect George Herriman as an artist. If you already have a taste for Krazy Kat--and are longing for more material to be continuously reprinted (as I am)--this is a purchase you should be making without me telling you. Otherwise, you had better get a taste for this particular work before you delve into this chapter of its development. Or try back in a book or two.

Wow. There is justice in the world. After Eclipse stopped their "Kompleat Krazy Kat" series I feared that no publisher would dare take up the cause for a loooooooong time. I'm having spasms of joy over the continuation of the series. There was indeed no comic (even the best ones) that came close to the subtlety, detail, and substance of Krazy Kat. The irreconcilable love triangle between Krazy, Ignatz, and Offica Pupp provided enough material for decades of brutally good material. These volumes also carry on Eclipse's tradition of good and helpful notes at the book's end to elucidate anachronisms that will inevitably arise in nearly anything approaching a century in age.

More good news is Fantagraphic's pledge (near the end of this book) that once they complete the Krazy Kat cycle (kompleat with the kompleat Kolor Komiks in full Kolor), they will go back and republish the years covered by the Eclipse volumes! I was never able to find all 9 volumes, and those that appear on E-bay tend to get VERY pricey ...

This is good news for all of the Kat's devoted followers. May Fantagraphics march on.

Readers of the Eclipse Krazy Kat reprint series (which died out in the early nineties after collecting nine years' worth of KK Sunday pages) will only need to know that this book picks up where those left off, and that the new design is consistent with the Eclipse volumes, though it incorporates a number of improvements (the off-white, better quality paper, and the inclusion of the original titles atop the strips, for example). More great material, a bargain price, no reason to hesitate over this one. Of course it merits "five stars," or fifty.

For those who are not familiar with Krazy Kat--a larger group, alas--there isn't room here for the superlatives that this strip inspires, let alone for an explanation of the many facets of the work. When you first read it, you may be puzzled at all the praise heaped on this thing--this is because so much of the effect of KK is cumulative. In my experience, it is the richest example of variations-on-a-theme in all of art, regardless of medium. (And there are hundreds of Krazy Kat strips that I've never seen!)

The best introduction to Herriman remains the the bio by McDonnell, et al, which samples the breadth of his work. But there's much to be said for reading a group of strips sequentially.

The 1925-26 Sunday strips collected here show Herriman in fine form, even though his inventive page design is straightjacked much of the time. Herriman's publisher W.R. Hearst imposed a strict format on Herriman from mid-1925-29, in an effort to promote the strip (this is explained in the book). But Herriman manages to make the best of the restrictions, and Herriman's best is fine indeed.

It is scandalous that this material has remained unavailable for so long. Kudos to Fantagraphics, and lucky for all of us that Herriman's glorious work is again becoming available.

If there's anything I could add that would make my recommendation more emphatic, consider it said.

I first encountered Krazy Kat as a twelve-year old, years, even, before the Eclipse collections started coming out. (This series picks up where Eclipse left off). I was hooked from the start. With the sole possible exception of the works of Jim Woodring, Krazy is the apex of comics and equal to anything in twentieth century art in any form. How much that was taken seriously by the "intellectuals" of its day remains on our radar screen now? And yet Krazy is with us still. This particular collection is from the prime of the strip, the black-and-white era before Herriman's line got a little fat and his strips a little abstruse. The sole flaw this book has is its too-cute graphic design; for some reason the cover images are upside-down, and the lettering is all pseudo-old-fashioned. I guess that's what passes for creativity today. The content, of course, needs no such silly devices to prop it up; even after seventy plus years every single strip is as fresh as a daisy.Here's to seventy more.

I'm absolutely blown away every time I pick up this book. I'd heard it referred to by everyone from Max Speigelman to Bill Watterson himself, artist of Calvin & Hobbes, but hadn't ever seen it, being born a number of decades after it had left the papers. I decided to pick it up, since as an aspiring comic artist, I figured it'd be a good idea to take a look at something credited by Bill Watterson.
The comics are absolutely amazing. The art is playful, sometimes delicate, sometimes bold, but masterfully executed and always artistic, a quality so often missing from modern comics. And the text is just as amazing - it always strikes me as poetry in word bubbles. Anyone and everyone who enjoys art, poetry, comics, or humor owes it to themselves to pick up at least one of these volumes.

Every man, woman, and child should own a complete set of George Herriman's Krazy Kat, but that's currently impossible cos so much of it is out of print (or has never been reprinted). Thanks for getting this thing started again, Fantagraphics, and hopefully you'll get the financial support to see this thing through.

If you know nothing of Krazy and Ignatz, I can only invite you to slide into their surreal world. Words won't do it justice. Krazy is yin, Ignatz is yang. You figure it out.

I came upon Krazy Kat recently while doing research on early comic strips.My intent was to follow the older strips to see how they have progressed into what they are today.I was surprised to find that no modern strip adds anything to this early work of art or comes close to being its' equal.There has been much praise over the years for George Herrimans' work and if I can add one thing I would say get all these titles you can.This was as good as it will ever get.

Thank god Fantagraphics took this on! All of us Krazy fans had lost hope when the previous reprint went under. (especially if you hadn't heard of it until after it was over. Hint to Fantagraphics, "Let people know its out there!")

As for the new book it was a long time waiting (how many times did they put off the publication date?) but well, well worth it. What more can you say about Herriman? The new graphics are great. Any fan of komics, 20th century literature, art or graphic design should buy this book and enjoy!

Anyone who's looking at this collection and hasn't read "The Comic Art of George Herriman" (McDonnell (Mutts) et al), should. Oh, by the way I forgot the best part. Krazy Kat is the funniest thing you'll ever read!

Herriman finds his metier. Krazy waxes eloquent. Ignatz waxes his brick.
Offica Pup keeps the peace.

If you are a fan of comics as an art-form, you should probably be familiar with Krazy & Ignatz. Thanks, Fantagraphics, for committing to these great collections.