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Brian Walker

The Comics: Before 1945 Hardcover – Illustrated, October 1, 2004

by Brian Walker (Author)

4.3 16 ratings

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In their first five decades, the funnies became an essential part of American life. Comic strip characters - Mutt and Jeff, Barny Google, Little Orphan Annie, Popeye, Blondie, Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon, Li'l Abner - were everywhere. They starred in live-action and animated films, stage plays, and radio programs, and they helped market a wide range of products. Their phrases enriched the language; their adventures, which reflected societal changes, were retold in books and inspired hit songs.
Cartoonist and historian Brian Walker's comprehensive survey - illustrated with rare original art - is the most authoritative history of American newspaper comics currently in print. It documents the fascinating origins of the comics and, decade by decade, the major trends in the funnies business. In-depth biographies of twenty-one of the most important creators of the era are featured, as well as samples of many other artists' work. The Comics Before 1945 joins the author's The Comics Since 1945 to form a classic survey of American popular culture by one of the greatest authorities in the field.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Abrams
Publication date

October 1, 2004
Grade level

8 and up
Reading age

13 years and up
Dimensions

9.25 x 1.25 x 12.5 inches
ISBN-10

0810949709
ISBN-13

978-0810949706
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Brian Walker
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Paperback
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Something of a prequel to Walkers already released The Comics Since 1945, this volume actually surpasses its companions considerable beauty and charmif only because early newspaper comics were so whimsical and imaginative. Gorgeously illustrated, the weighty coffee-table book is organized by decade, allowing it to broadly contextualize the strips into the historical periods that gave them life. There are also brief, page-long bios of their most notable creators, among them Richard Outcault (The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown), Frank King (Gasoline Alley), Cliff Sterrett (Polly and Her Pals), Harold Gray (Little Orphan Annie) and Chester Gould (Dick Tracy). For the most part, however, Walker wisely steps back and lets the strips tell their own storiesa good decision since the one fault of the book lies in his prose, which tends to chug along with a kind of bland lethargy that doesnt quite rise to the verve of his subject. While informative and factually interesting, his writing often contains all the vigor of a college textbook. But the strips themselves are perfectly chosen and lovingly laid out: from the fanciful slapstick of the Katzenjammer Kids to the protosurrealist dreamscapes of Windsor McKays Little Nemo and the obsessively reenacted dramas of unrequited love in George Herrimans Krazy Kat.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From The New Yorker

Walker follows his previous book, "The Comics Since 1945," with this similarly encyclopedic and sumptuously produced volume. He asserts that comics did not, strictly speaking, start with the Yellow Kid (whose nightshirt was at first blue). Nonetheless, the spectacular success of Richard F. Outcault's grammatically inept street urchin essentially inaugurated American comic-strip culture. Walker revisits such popular titles as "Blondie," a high-living-flapper strip that subsequently became a tale about everyman Dagwood Bumstead; "Li'l Abner," said by John Steinbeck to contain some of the best writing in the world; "Secret Agent X-9," originally written by Dashiell Hammett; and the nearly forgotten "Wash Tubbs," which featured a valiant but flawed do-gooder named Captain Easy, the prototype for the modern superhero. Over the next half century, comics gradually split into the two main genres still recognizable today: improbable adventure stories and situational high jinks.
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Abrams; Illustrated edition (October 1, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0810949709
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0810949706
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 years and up
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 8 and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.25 x 1.25 x 12.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,529,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #198 in How to Create Comics
- #2,964 in Pop Culture Art
- #8,294 in Art History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 16 ratings

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4.3 out of 5

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Gord Wilson

When Comics Were Funny

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2005

Verified Purchase

And not just funny--witty, colorful, inventive, slapstick, adventurous--and eagerly awaited. Here's an oversized, hardback, full-color, coffee table book chock-full and brimming with the art of the funny papers. Brian Walker, son of Mort Walker (Beetle Bailey), not only draws comics but also mounts exhibitions of them. This book includes hand-colored originals from the Museum of Cartoon Art, as well as full page Sunday layouts. From the Yellow Kid and Hogan's Alley at the turn of the century to the wartime wonders of the 'forties, this is a coffee table book you can't put down. Retailing at $50, Amazon's price is about $30--a bargain and a steal for such a beautiful volume. Also check out Walker's companion volume, The Comics: Since 1945.

12 people found this helpful

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Michael Fuchs

this is a most wonderful addition to any comics connoisseur's library

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2016

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Even though the gold standard is still the 'Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics', this is a most wonderful addition to any comics connoisseur's library. A *must-have*, really: highly knowledgeable, tightly written, great print quality & choice of artwork. Vol. 2, The Comics: After 1945 extends the time frame even further than the Smithsonian (+ no dupes !).
Highly recommended !
(ps. There is a new revised edition collecting both volumes into one. Go check !)

2 people found this helpful

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T. Seneca

beware of very small font

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2008

I was disappointed in this book... all of the cartoons are reduced in size. The font is impossibly small, and both the text and artwork suffer for it. Better to have included less content so that it could be more legible. I had to buy my dad a magnifying glass specifically to read this book. It's a shame - they're great comics.

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Great as a gift book and for the hard to please fan!

Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2005

Verified Purchase

Many time book stores will sell gift books that are all fluff with no meat in them. This book (I am happy to state) is not one of them.

Broken up by decade you get a treasure trove of strips, some everyone knows and some obscure but beautiful (you will often find yourself wishing for more).

The text pieces are insightful and the strips themselves both are chosen for the classic and the obscure.

Well worth it for the Amazon price!!!

4 people found this helpful

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thirdtwin

History Of The Strip

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2015

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If you want to study the history of graphic art this isn't a bad place to start- slightly oversized format that helps highlight the art.
Its Mr. Peabodys Wayback Machine in a book.

One person found this helpful

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gnome d. ploom

A Sunday morning, a cup of coffee, and the comics of the ages

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2018

Verified Purchase

What a great book! A compendium of the comics over the years. Interesting history.

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Richard Hyman

Great compendium of comic art.

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2016

Verified Purchase

Some strips are small making them harder to see, but more inclusion. Good clear images.

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2015

Verified Purchase

This book was in great condition, I was really happy with it.

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Jerry Guild

"I yam what I yam an' that's all I yam."--Popeye

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2006

This is a wonderful book for anyone who has followed the Comics,Strips,Funny Papers,Cartoons,or whatever you want to call them.

I was born in 1935 and by the time I could read,I became addicted to the comics. I didn't consider it an addiction at the time,they were just something I loved to follow.

This book is really a set of two. The other is "The Comics Since 1945",also by the same author. I wrote a review on it on April 28,2005;and won't repeat what I said there. I am surprized that "Before 1945" was published in 2004 ,while "Since 1945" was published in 2002. Why in that order? Who knows. All the things I said in that other review also apply to this volume.

The two books are really a 2-volume set. If you read and want to own one;you'll want both.

Physically, the books are identical; 10"X13",each 336 pages,glossy hard cover with a selection of strips,lovely dust covers and each weighs about 4 pounds. The paper is of excellent quality and so is the printing,color reproduction and binding.The overall quality of the manufacturing simply

couldn't be better. One might think that these books are too large;but it takes this size to do the strips justice and readible.

These 2 books bring back so many memories to me of following the strips.

I have always been interested in the mechanics of the strips and the artwork and lettering.

One of the things that amazes me is that when the Comics were in their heyday;in the 1940's, everyone followed them. For instance;everyone knew who Dagwood and Blondie,Li'L Abner,Daisy Mae and the Yokums,Jiggs,Dick Tracy,Superman and a host of others were;and followed their stories and adventures.

The books give you a brief story about each of the Cartoonists,and a surprising idea of the earnings they enjoyed.In those days we didn't pay much attention to the creators.The strips were just there. However; there was always a big issue when your paper dropped your favorite.

Comics certainly don't have the broad appeal that they used to for several reasons. First,when the creator retired,the people who tried to continue it,just didn't "have it". Political correctness spelled the end of many strips. The really good strips were full of adventure,such as;Tracy,Red Ryder,Annie,Li'l Abner,Prince Valiant and so on. The introduction of romance and feminine strips changed what comic strips were all about and probably resulted in the loss of many readers.I know they never interested me.

My daily paper,the Toronto Star,has only one strip that I follow every day;that being Doonesbury. It hasn't even carried Dick Tracy for years;fortunately I can still follow it on the Net.

These books have excellent indexes and extensive notes providing all sortd of information for further reading.

If you enjoyed the Strips,you'll love these books.

5 people found this helpful

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Craig W. Englund

THE Essential Book on American Comic Strip Art

Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2007

Anyone who is interested in American comic strips and their creators must have this book in their library. It is by far the most comprehensive survey of the genre and the best source for reproductions of the comic strips discussed. While obviously limited by space considerations, Brian Walker has done an admirable job of showing at least one example of most comic strips of connsequence from the first half of the twentieth century. The rather disturbing insecurity demonstrated by some comic artists and other commentators in other recent books (Masters of American Comics and Cartoon America), who seem obsessed with their desires to have comic art classified as "fine art," is nowhere to be found in Brian Walker's essays on the subject. He rightfully accepts comic art for what it is and, by providing useful background information on the creators, helps the reader appreciate the obvious merits of this art. The color reproductions in this volume are also superior to those in the catalogue which accompanied the recent comic art exhibition. All those with a new found interest in comic strip art after visiting that exhibit would be best served by making this their first purchase from those books currently available on the subject.

Craig Englund

7 people found this helpful

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Jack E. Gilbert

God Is In The Comic Details

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2004

Insider, Historian and Exhibition Curator of note, Walkers take on the Early Comics is naturally second to none ,gathered in a single volume; as a companion volume to the Comics Since 1945, unparalleled in its overview of a nearly 110 Year History of an American Original Art Form. A Must- Have for any Library on Popular Culture, and for any well-read Home Library.

A balanced look at a long time American Art form that does NOT criticize the Wide Range of various Talents who expressed , with satire, humor and foibles of American life with the big foot style ,as well as the adventure comic genres, including the noble, ignoble and everyday .

Without a doubt, a 10********** out of a 5 ***** possible!

A wonderful Holiday Gift for that Special Favorite Friend.

8 people found this helpful

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