Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Years, Vol. 3: 1958-1959 [Hardcover]

Frank Frazetta (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2004

From 1954 until 1961, famed fantasy artist Frank Frazetta toiled as a ghost on Al Capp's Li'l Abner, one of the most popular cartoon strips of all time. Volume 3 collects the Sunday strips from 1958 to 1959. Ever wonder what shiftless hillbilly Li'l Abner does for a living? This volume reveals that he has a job... as a mattress tester! Abner also becomes a successful cartoonist and separates from Daisy Mae. Ever wonder how to pronounce Joe Bftsplk?(The little man with the cloud over his head who is the world's worst jinx.) Al Capp reveals the easy answer. Earth is invaded by flying saucers, Hairless Joe becomes the Duke of Djaugh, Adam Lazonga returns, deadly turnip termites invade Dogpatch, General Bullmoose turns 99... and much more.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Before he became renowned for his heroic fantasy paintings, Frank Frazetta toiled as a journeyman comic-book artist. His steadiest gig then was as an assistant on Capp's famous Li'l Abner, 1954-61. He worked mainly on Sunday installments, and those are reprinted in color in this series of oversize hardcovers. The Sunday serials were briefer than the daily ones, which would often stretch for months, and often downplayed Abner and the rest of the Yokum family in favor of such supporting characters as ruthless capitalist General Bullmoose, walking jinx Joe Btfsplk, and gorgeous but odoriferous pig-keeper Moonbeam McSwine. Among these volumes' highlights are a sequence depicting the slothful Abner's job as a mattress tester, an account of Dogpatch's invasion by turnip termites, and an episode featuring an unbilled Marilyn Monroe that plays to Frazetta's cheesecake skills. Frazetta's touch is often hard to detect, especially since the reproduction from actual newspaper pages leaves something to be desired, and much of the satire now seems dated and the humor surprisingly puerile, but readers who fondly remember this classic comic will welcome this volume. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (February 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569719772
• ISBN-13: 978-1569719770
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #636,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Material Puts Modern Comics To Shame!, February 26, 2004

By 

Mike Fontanelli (Sherman Oaks, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Years, Vol. 3: 1958-1959 (Hardcover)

Finally! Although one may quibble over some technical details ( the strips might have been printed a bit larger, and the color is a bit muddy in spots, ) there's no denying that publisher Denis Kitchen is performing a service to mankind by making these historic strips available again - for the first time in almost 50 years.

Al Capp was at a creative peak in the 1950's, the heyday of his uber cool American satiric masterpiece: LI'L ABNER, and these classic Sunday page sequences don't disappoint. For many people, this was their first exposure to Frank Frazetta's work, and he managed to capture Capp's idiosyncratic style with the greatest of ease, adding many brilliant, characteristic nuances of his own along the way.

With the demise of the late, lamented Kitchen Sink Press a few years back, I despaired of ever seeing this classic material back in print again - but here it is! It's impossible for gen X-ers weaned on tripe like Dilbert and Foxtrot to even begin to imagine what a rich source of art and humor the American comic strip used to be in the 30's, 40's and 50's.

For anyone interested in re-visiting a Golden Age of this uniquely American art form, you couldn't ask for a better place to start than this. Hopefully the series will be continued before and beyond the Frazetta years - into the forties and sixties. And while we're at it, how about a color POGO Sundays collection, Mr. Kitchen?

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's gold in them thar hills, July 7, 2004

By 

Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Years, Vol. 3: 1958-1959 (Hardcover)

This is Volume 3 of Dark Horse's reprinting of the Li'l Abner Sunday pages drawn by Frank Frazetta. Li'l Abner is my all time favorite comic strip, so you know I loved this book. I just wish they would reprint all the Sunday pages, not just the ones that were drawn by Frazetta. Highly recommended to anyone interested in old comic strips.

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank goodness for Frazzetta's reputation, December 7, 2005

By 

S M - See all my reviews

This review is from: Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Years, Vol. 3: 1958-1959 (Hardcover)

Lil Abner always had a strong fan club that allowed the reprinting of the daily strips by Kitchen Sink press for about 25 volumes, which if there was no fan base, only one or two volumes would have been published.

In addition,we are very lucky that Frazetta's reputation and fan club would allow the printing of a comic strip that John Steinbeck once stated, its author, Al Capp, should be given the Putszler (excuse the spelling) prize.

Al Capp was a master satirist and storyteller, who would have one acclaim like Mark Twain or O'Henry if not for the snob attitude toward comic strips.

This is shown here. The 50-year-old color strips are re-printed in a fine manner with expert commentary about the period they were written in by Denis Kitchen.

Beware, they feature "politically incorrect" well-endowed women, and one main character, Daisy Mae, as mostly submissive, which would not be allowed in comic strips today as it would raise the ire of feminists and other "progressive" people.

On the other hand, it features the two main male characters, Abner and Pappy, as idiots or wimps, Abner and his brother Tiny as "hunks", and the one of the main women characters, Mammy as the leader of the Yokum clan, who occassionally beats Pappy, which are allowed in comic strips today as the "Progressives" seem to have no problem with this.

Remember, vintage comic strip reprints do not generate big bucks, some even lose money. They are produced out of great admiration for the strips, and we should be grateful for the publishers for doing so.

By the way, why does Amazon include a 'NO' in 'was this review helpful to you?'. People are only human and don't like opinions that differ from themselves. With some who are less mature, this the 'NO' makes it too easy express such displeasure.

Are they trying to discourage negative reviews, hence not purchase the CD. Such reviews only help a person in not being dissatisfied a product that received positive reviews