Terr'ble Thompson [Paperback]

Gene Deitch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2007

Introducing a lost classic from an animation giant.

In 1955, Gene Deitch embarked on a daily comic strip for United Features Syndicate that he hoped would become his life's work. One of the most unusual strips of the decade, Terr'ble Thompson was about a very odd little boy who had his "Werld Hedd Quarters" in a tree house and was regarded far and wide as "the bravest, fiercest, most-best hero of all-time."

Less than a year into the strip, Deitch received an offer he couldn't refuse: to become head supervisor for Paul Terry's Terrytoons Studios, and Terr'ble Thompson was abandoned. For the very popular live-action kid show Captain Kangaroo, Deitch created a daily five-minute cartoon serial. Its central character was an invincible champion of justice, and he shared more than just the same initials as his comic strip predecessor. Tom Terrific, aided by Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, had a much longer and more memorable career than poor Terr'ble (as did Deitch himself, who continues his Oscar Award-winning career in animation over 50 years later).

Terr'ble Thompson collects the entirety of Deitch's short-lived inspiration for Tom Terrific, and a new generation will discover what could have been one of the great comic strips of all-time had it continued. The strip is drawn in a simple, modernist style that served as an antidote to the ubiquitous Disney look that had spread into all facets of popular culture. Terr'ble Thompson was a visual and verbal feast of fun that blended time and space, with Terr'ble going on adventures with great historic figures like Columbus, George Washington, and Davy Crockett.

This collection features annotations for the entire run of the strip by Deitch himself, as well as introductory essays by Deitch, his son Kim (also a renowned cartoonist), and historian Dan Nadel (The Ganzfeld). The book collects both the dailies and Sundays, with many of the latter newly recolored by Deitch (who was always unhappy with the inferior color processing of 1950s newspaper technology) for this book. 112 pages of comic strips in color and black-and-white

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Who's the bravest, fiercest, most-best hero of all? Who was "Nero's hero, had Robin Hood a-quiver, and made Alexander great"? Why, it's Thaddeus "Terr'ble" Thompson, that's who, but don't bother looking him up in your history books. Terr'ble is a seven-year-old boy who travels the length and breadth of world history, fixing what needs fixing in the classic exploits of antiquity's greats, all the while allowing such luminaries as Columbus, George Washington, Davy Crockett, Cleopatra and Sir Gawain to take the credit. Frequently thwarting the efforts of his arch foe, Mean Morgan, Terr'ble Thompson always saves the day and somehow makes it home in time for dinner. Creator Deitch, an Oscar-winning animator, is perhaps best known for his '60s cartoon whiz kid Tom Terrific, and both characters share the same initials, a sketchy, geometric art style—a precursor of pop art—and boundless creative energy. The Terr'ble comic strip lasted a bare six months in 1955–1956 and was forgotten until now, a historical wrong that is finally being righted, providing readers of all ages with a fun and charming volume. (Jan.)
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From Booklist

While still directing the UPA animation studio's New York operation in 1955, Deitch night-jobbed a comic strip based verbally on his two boys' endearing solecisms (the elder, Kim, who grew up to be a major underground cartoonist, was then 11 and presumably beyond saying cute things, but his father's memory was fully, affectionately functional). Marrying a love of history to the concept, Deitch came up with a seven-and-a-half-year-old boy who inexplicably time travels to solve problems for the likes of Columbus, Cleopatra, and Washington, who acknowledge him the greatest hero ever. Parents, classmates, and older kids just think he is screwy. Deitch packed the strip with kiddisms (e.g., "reckionize," "boom" as an all-purpose exclamation) and the spontaneous-looking line work and "unnatural," designer's coloration of UPA cartoons (e.g., the Mr. Magoo series). Cleanly reproduced here, with spot-on registration in the Sunday color installments, it's delicious, high-quality eye candy. But it wasn't funny, the plots were flimsy, and Deitch's wife hated his constant working. It ran only six months, though its star reemerged, slightly restyled, as made-for-TV cartoon hero Tom Terrific. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books (January 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560977728
• ISBN-13: 978-1560977728
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 9.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,871,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 52-year dream come true!, January 10, 2007

By 

Gene Deitch "Blues lover and animator" (Prague 1 Czech Republic) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Terr'ble Thompson (Paperback)

To finally see the complete run of my little known and nearly forgotten

1950s comic strip so lovingly collected, restored and beautifully printed, is one of the great thrills of my life. I hope that all lovers of newspaper comic strips will enjoy what then seemed too far ahead of its time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Restored in all it's Glory, January 12, 2007

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Terr'ble Thompson (Paperback)

I've always been a big fan of newspaper strips, especially when they are collected into one big volume. Now imagine my delight at the discovery of Terr'ble Thompson, a nearly forgotten strip that was well ahead of its time when originally published over fifty years ago. Now, thanks to the good people at Fantagraphics the entire six-month run of Terr'ble Thompson has been re-mastered to its original glory and collected in this beautiful soft cover volume.

Now in truth, the strip was before my time, but the Terr'ble Thompson character would eventually morph into a character that I, and I'm sure many baby boomers were familiar with, Tom Terrific. Tom's animated adventures were a regular part of the Captain Kangaroo show. Tom and his magic thinking cap...boy does that take me back, not to mention age me!

The basic plot around Terr'ble Thompson was that he would have to help out various historical figures in need. These normally found "TT" battling his arch foe Mean Morgan who hated fun and little kids. TT is a rather rambunctious kid, an early forerunner of Calvin from `Calvin & Hobbes" and Jason Fox of Foxtrot. Terr'ble is able to think himself out of any jam it seems.

The storylines were usually played out over a number of days. The first adventure finds TT having to help Christopher Columbus whose crew is on the verge of a "mewt'ny" because they are in fear of a sea serpent. Next, TT has to help Cleopatra (Reluctantly as he doesn't like girls!) when her father is turning into a tree! The people of ancient Egypt are not fond of having a tree for a Pharaoh and want to run him off. Later, Terr'ble has to help out Santa Claus who is now refusing to believe in children because they don't believe in him!

The strips are filled with the kind of word mispronunciations that would make Norm Crosby proud. Creator Gene Deitch was, and still is a gifted cartoonist. His style of cartooning was clean and very angular, similar to the style used by Jay Ward on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show several years later. The strips look absolutely marvelous and as Deitch himself mentions in the introduction, this was no small feat as none of the original strips existed.

Terr'ble Thompson can now take his rightful place as one of the great comic strips and a great piece of 1950's Americana.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Stuff, November 17, 2009

By 

Ren Dawg "Ren Dawg" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Terr'ble Thompson (Paperback)

Good stuff! Wow I just love Gene Deitch's style and it shines through brightly here. Wonderful characters rendered beautifully in pen and some color strips too. The publisher did a fantastic job with this and this book is a real treasure, even if you never heard of T'rrble Thompson before. It has that wonderful 50's style!