Little Sammy Sneeze [Hardcover]

Winsor McCay (Author), Peter Maresca (Editor), John Canemaker (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2007

Before his magnificent Little Nemo, Winsor McCay created two unique Sunday comics also starring young children: Little Sammy Sneeze and Hungry Henrietta. Sunday Press Books, publisher of the award-winning Little Nemo- Splendid Sundays presents both of these historic and fascinating comic strips in one volume, featuring the complete color Sammy Sneeze (1904-1905) and the complete 27-episode run of Hungry Henrietta , all printed in their original size and colors. Most pages have never been reprinted! "Little Sammy Sneeze" presents a unique concept in classic comics reprints, where the back of each Sammy page features a strip that appeared on the back in the original Sunday comic section of the New York Herald . In 1905 that strip was Hungry Henrietta, but pages from 1904 showcase the unique Upside Downs by Gustav Verbeek, and the unknown nonsense masterpiece, The Woozlebeasts . Just like our earlier Little Nemo and Walt and Skeezix collections, these incredible Sunday pages have been digitally restored to their original colorful brilliance and are reproduced at full size. The book also includesmany other early WInsor McCay strips and essays by Jeet Heer, Thierry Smolderen and Dan Nadel. 96 Pages, 11 x 16 inches.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Sunday Press Books; 1ST edition (November 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976888548
• ISBN-13: 978-0976888543
• Product Dimensions: 16 x 10.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,407,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bless You, Sunday Press!, December 15, 2007

By 

Brent R. Swanson "coffee shop inspector" (Crooper, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little Sammy Sneeze (Hardcover)

At first glance, Winsor McCay's "Little Sammy Sneeze" comes across as the most unappealing of comic strips: all about a dull-looking, homely boy whose sole sign of life is to cock his head back and deliver a sneeze of monstrous proportions. This went on as a regular feature for about two years. And the most peculiar thing about it: it's frequently hilarious.

Though Sammy is the regular, titular star of the strip, he's merely the deux ex machina that shakes up a tableaux of dull, self-satisfied adult society. A pair of ancients take-up a chit-chat flirtation at a recital; Sammy sneezes their hairpieces away. Two childish men try to sneak a highball while their wives aren't watching; Sammy blows their cover. Ancient grandpa delivers an endless table grace at Thanksgiving; Sammy sends a tidal wave of gravy into his beard. And so it goes. We don't laugh at Sammy's sneezes so much as we do at the havoc they create, blowing away pretense or disrupting insipid chit-chat. Even Sammy doesn't appear too bothered being kicked or pushed out of the final frame.

Sunday Press has given these long-neglected strips (or at least the first year's worth) the loving care they deserve, reprinted full-size in their original colors, with the original obverse strips on the flip side: strips by John Pretiss Benson, Gustave Verbeek, and best of all, another Winsor McCay strip, "Hungry Henrietta," one episode of which crosses-over into Sammy's world, with funny and unappetizing results.

Oddly enough, Sammy's progress paralleled that of his contemporary, Outcault's "Buster Brown," who played havoc with high society till he was sent to cool his heels out on the farm. This volume ends during Sammy's own bucolic sojourn. He would return to the city, and soon be pushed aside by another McCay creation, the unparalleled "Little Nemo in Slumberland." But as an introduction to McCay's sly humor and incredible visuals, "Little Sammy Sneeze" is a blast.