$4.99 delivery February 10 - 14. Details

Or fastest delivery February 9 - 10. Details

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

[{"displayPrice":"$39.95","priceAmount":39.95,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"39","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"95","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"B9CRNW8fK3COM0Vee00X8cSrQcHTxupdKKRORogY3xWrpTuUEYKbkGTeyXCSTJohj0kinE0eQ554yx8GmicFQ7U61b6n1YLjx14kIKQGxgI%2FtUOZItJFUGfxgci5ZEKt3bxjLVxRUvCltq60s6sjT%2FeuH5zc2cWpGcfMfvMIUA%2FlSC2WmEoUsprD6TIzf1zb","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"$35.51","priceAmount":35.51,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"35","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"51","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"B9CRNW8fK3COM0Vee00X8cSrQcHTxupd490tAmRk6xXjrval1tmhn5Mr2OogX2VzZUfnzHiVmh5Wb8ARkK3MRHH4Ei5H78e%2F3u2ShJs8EECpCf2X%2BEVlLyudMNDRLyhbkgjYch9Jfan02rKBeic4xtEB4s0AJZrt9GFMR0uoZ9Mj3gBEfBm2iA87N5lyfaQ0","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]

$$39.95 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Ships from

Clover Press

Sold by

Clover Press

Details

Ships from

Clover Press

Sold by

Clover Press

Return policy: Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

FREE delivery Saturday, February 18

Or fastest delivery Wednesday, February 15

Select delivery location

Used: Like New | Details

Sold by Rod P Books

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 2 images

Follow the Author

Jared Gardner

LOAC Essentials Volume 2: The Gumps - The Saga of Mary Gold Hardcover – April 9, 2013

by Sidney Smith (Author, Artist), Dean Mullaney (Editor)

15 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$39.95

$28.37

Hardcover
$39.95

5 Used from $28.37 2 New from $39.95

Enhance your purchase

In the late 1910s, Sidney Smith developed a formula of the daily strip that would make The Gumps one of the most popular comics of the 1920s and himself one of the richest cartoonists of his day. By the end of the decade Sidney Smith's The Gumps had secured a huge and loyal audience with a decade of melodrama, adventure, mystery, and comedy. So devoted were his readers, in fact, that they regularly wrote in to offer advice for his characters' love lives and business decisions and they generally treated the characters as friends and family members. In 1928-29, with the launching of what would be his most famous story, "The Saga of Mary Gold," Smith's relationship to his readers would be tested as never before. Its heartbreaking conclusion would change comics forever. Here for the first time since the story made headlines across America in the spring of 1929, IDW reprints the saga that Hogan's Alley magazine called "One of the Ten Biggest Events in Comics History" — a tale that has lost none of its power to captivate readers in the 21st Century.
LOAC Essentials reprints, in yearly volumes, the rare early daily newspaper strips that are essential to comics history, seminal strips that are unique creations in their own right, while also significantly contributing to the advancement of the medium.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

IDW Publishing
Publication date

April 9, 2013
Dimensions

4.4 x 1.2 x 11.6 inches
ISBN-10

1613775733
ISBN-13

978-1613775738
See all details

Hal Foster
25
Hardcover
18 offers from $14.64

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ IDW Publishing (April 9, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1613775733
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1613775738
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.34 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.4 x 1.2 x 11.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,726,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,191 in Comic Strips (Books)
- #52,760 in Humor (Books)

Customer Reviews:
15 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Jared Gardner

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5

15 global ratings

5 star		83%
4 star		17%
3 star 0% (0%)		0%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Ajit

What if Charles Dickens had created a newspaper strip?

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 24, 2013

Verified Purchase

At first glance this latest edition of the Library of American Comics' 'Essentials' line, 'The Saga of Mary Gould', seems oddly familiar -- a cross between Frank King's ' Gasoline Alley Volume 1 ' (without the warmth and the whimsy) and Harold Gray's 'Little Orphan Annie' (stripped of the scrapiness and the outright political polemic). And that is natural enough because all three were part of the 'Midwest School' of comics, nurtured by Colonel Joseph Patterson. (The greatest comics editor ever?)

But look beyond the art -- those odd blank eyes, the over-large hands, the exaggerated expressions -- and the differences begin to crop up. Where his Chicago Tribune-New York Daily News stablemates Milton Caniff and Al Capp made their mark in adventure and satire, Sidney Smith, creator of 'The Gumps', found his forte in another genre -- melodrama.

Being a Victorian -- he was born in 1877 -- Smith seems to have reached out for inspiration to the greatest of the Victorian novelists, Charles Dickens. (As would Smith's colleague Harold Gray.) Reading this book, which collects 'The Gumps' daily strips from May 1, 1928 through May 3, 1929, it is hard not to believe that Smith wasn't unconsciously influenced by 'The Old Curiosity Shop'.

Mary Gould is Smith's Nell Trent, Tom Carr is Kit Nubbles (right down to being framed for theft), Henry J. Ausstinn is Daniel Quilp (with the Victorian 'Betsy' turning into an equally long-suffering wife named 'Betty' in the American comic strip), and so forth. Most tellingly, both Mary Gould and Nell Trent will meet the same fate.

'The Old Curiosity Shop' was published as a serial, and the episode covering Nell's fate were awaited as eagerly, and were as much of a publishing sensation, as the 'Harry Potter' books. So, in its time, did the long tale in this book.

In an era when radio was a novelty and television all but unknown the daily newspaper strip was eagerly discussed across the country. 'The Saga of Mary Gould' inspired such an outcry that Governor Theodore Bilbo granted Tom Carr a full pardon and the Arkansas Senate adopted a resolution calling for justice to prevail (which Smith smartly included in the March 11, 1929 strip).

But what of the Gumps, the titular heroes of the strip? Well, the strip started on February 12, 1917 when the Gumps moved into a house where Smith's previous hero, Old Doc Yak (a goat!), had once lived. By 1928 Any Gump had moved from being the hero of the strip to being a raconteur, occasionally the device through which Smith uses to move the plot.

Jared Gardner has contributed a long, thoroughly absorbing, nineteen-page essay that appears at the front of the book, putting Sidney Smith as well as 'The Saga of Mary Gould' in perspective, showing us how important they were to the development of the newspaper strip as a medium. Gardner also contributes footnotes, clarifying, for instance, who Nellie Bly might be.

For readers who may not be familiar with the series, the Library of American Comics 'Essentials' is an intriguing line. Shorter than most titles --half the height of ' Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume 1 (Complete Little Orphan Annie) ' -- and printing just one strip to a page, the 'Essentials' publish a single year of a comic strip of historic or literary value.

The spine seems a bit 'bendy' to me but that said the first volume, ' LOAC Essentials 1: Baron Bean (Library of American Comics Essentials) ', is still holding up. And the Library of American Comics continues to include that aid to civilized reading, the ribbon marker.

If you are interested in the history of that thoroughly American artform called the newspaper comic strip or just want a good read you owe it to yourself to read this book. Throughly recommended!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Robert Fisher

A classic moment in comic strips

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

The Gumps is not terribly well remembered today, but in the 1920's and 1930's, it was one of the most popular comic strips around. In those days, movies and radio were just starting to become major industries, television was still in the experimental stage and if there was anything like the Internet, it could only be found in science fiction stories, so it could be said The Gumps was one of the leading sources of entertainment, period. The Library of American Comics Essentials has recently published The Saga of Mary Gold, perhaps the most famous story in the strip's history. Those who follow comics history might recall that this is the first time a major character in a comic strip died and many people reacted as if a real person was lost. Creator Sidney Smith and his syndicate received an enormous amount of mail expressing outrage. Now, readers can take a look and see for themselves a story that had folks in 1928 and 1929 on the edge of their seats. The Gumps are Andy and Min. Andy might be seen as the prototype for Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin. He is the self-styled head of the household, convinced of his brilliance, despite all evidence to the contrary. However, in a crunch, he's also capable of rising to heroism. Min is of course the sensible one. This book starts with the arrival of new neighbors, the Golds. A modern reader might find the strips a bit odd and dated; however, it occurs to me if someone from 1928 had a chance to see some of today's comics, like Dilbert or Pearls Before Swine, the reaction would be similar. The Gold's daughter Mary is being courted by Tom Carr, a would-be inventor and Henry J. Ausstinn, a wealthy banker. The story soon moves from humor to drama. Ausstinn is one of the nastiest creatures around; perhaps only A Game of Thrones' Prince Joffrey outdoes him in that department. He wants Mary and is willing to use underhanded means to sabotage Tom's chances. Tom is forced to become a fugitive through a complicated series of circumstances that suggest he stole money from Andy Gump. In time, Tom is sent to prison and Ausstinn, having worn Mary down, sends him a wedding invitation just to twist the knife. In his introduction, Jared Gardner notes how people got caught up in the story. The state senate of Arkansas passed a resolution calling for justice for Tom Carr and the governor of Mississippi actually wrote out a pardon for Tom. Just when you think all will finally be righted, there is the tragic ending. The humor of The Gumps might not always hold up but this story's finale can still break a reader's heart (or that of the Gumps' usually hard-hearted maid Tilda). To hear of people in grief over the death of a comic strip character might sound quaint or like Stephen King's Misery on a mass scale, but when you read the saga, you can understand the emotional outpouring. Gardner writes that Sidney Smith had had a tragedy in his own life that might have influenced this story. The Gumps: The Saga of Mary Gold is not only recommended for its historical value, but also for being a good, sadly beautiful book.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Dale M. Houstman

No Forrest but a Mess of Gumps

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 12, 2022

Verified Purchase

I am an admirer of classic newspaper comic strips from Thimble Theater to Pogo to Prince Valiant, and the Gumps - not widely known of now - is a very charming family strip with the typically amusing and proficient pen work and gags galore. This little book is well worth adding to any collection of newspaper strips.

Helpful

William F. Jannke III

The book is terrific!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 28, 2014

Verified Purchase

Anytime a classic comic strip is reprinted, it is a reason for cheer and I seek it out. The Gumps is well worth the price and is part of the Library of American Comics series. The strips are printed from the best masters that could be found and the forward and essay on the life of creator Sidney Smith are very welcome additions and set the stage and put into context the strips that follow.

Now if only LOAC would publish the early Thimble Theater strips by E.C. Segar. I'd be the first person to order that!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 4, 2018

Verified Purchase

Very good. I read it straight through.

Helpful

Frank H. Stack

beautifully and intelligently presented

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 19, 2014

Verified Purchase

A classic of the early comic strip, beautifully and intelligently presented.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Joao Costa

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 3, 2015

Verified Purchase

A great little book in a very interesting format, very suitable to print dailies.

Estragon

In Deutschland fast unbekannter Klassiker des Comic-Strips

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on July 2, 2015

Verified Purchase

Es ist das erste Mal, dass ich einen Band aus der Reihe ›The Library of American Comics Essentials‹ in der Hand halte. Das Format ist in der Tat ungewöhnlich: Das Buch ist ungefähr dreimal so breit wie hoch. Es ist stabil und optisch ansprechend gebunden. Das für den Abdruck der Comics verwendete Papier ist etwas gräulich, was anscheinend den Ton von Zeitungspapier treffen soll.

Das Vorwort von Jared Gardner umfasst ungefähr zwanzig Seiten und ist hilfreich illustriert, unter anderem auch mit Beispielen früherer Comic Strip-Serien aus der Feder von Sidney Smith (1877-1935). Der Rest des Buches bietet »The Gumps« pur, und zwar einen kompletten Jahrgang vom 1. Mai 1928 bis zum 3. Mai 1929. Pro Seite ist einer der täglichen schwarzweißen Strips abgedruckt. Die Restaurierung ist, soweit ich dies erkennen kann, sehr behutsam vorgenommen worden. Die Druckqualität ist einwandfrei.

»The Gumps« war in den 1920er ungeheuer erfolgreich. Es gab Zeichentrickfilme und zahlreiche Merchandising-Artikel. Sidney Smith galt damals als bestbezahlter Comic-Schöpfer. Der Gumps-Schöpfer starb 1935 bei einem Autounfall, als er sich – tragische Ironie des Schicksals – auf dem Rückweg von einer überaus günstig verlaufenen Vertragsverhandlung befand. »The Gumps« startete im Jahre 1917 und lief in der Hand anderer Zeichner – unter anderem Martin Landau! – noch bis 1959.

»The Gumps« hat die titelgebende Familie als zentrale Figuren. Die Gumps sind eine Durchschnittsfamilie mit reichem Onkel und Hausmädchen sowie mit Hund und Katze. Der Strip bietet eine Mischung aus Melodrama, Abenteuer und Komödie. Anfänglich bestand die Serie aus nicht zusammenhängenden Einzelgags, doch noch in den 1910er Jahren ging Smith dazu über, Fortsetzungsgeschichten zu erzählen.

Der vorliegende Band präsentiert eine abgeschlossene Geschichte: »The Saga of Mary Gold«. Mary Gold gehört zu einer neu zugezogenen Nachbarsfamilie, die die Gumps näher kennenlernen. Der Schluss der ›Saga‹ ist sehr außergewöhnlich (mehr wird nicht verraten), was dazu geführt hat, dass diese Geschichte bis heute als eine Art Vergleichsstück zitiert wird. In grafischer Hinsicht ist hier allerdings kein zweiter Winsor McCay oder George McManus zu entdecken. Smith' Stil ist handwerklich gut, zeittypisch und doch wiedererkennbar, aber als besonders virtuos würde ich ihn nicht bezeichnen.

Fazit: Ein Comic Strip, den zu lesen auch heute noch Vergnügen bereitet, wenn man bereit ist, sich auf die zeittypische Erzählweise einzulassen (was natürlich für jegliche klassische Literatur gilt). Wer sich intensiver für die Geschichte der Comics interessiert, wird hier etwas vorfinden, das zeigt, wie man in der Dekade vor ›Erfindung‹ der eigentlichen Abenteuer-Comics spannende Geschichten erzählt hat.

Translate review to English

jesus m contreras gomez

Recomendabilísimo

Reviewed in Spain 🇪🇸 on May 22, 2013

Verified Purchase

Es una maravilla poder encontrar cómics tan antiguos y que al mismo tiempo ejemplifiquen el trabajo bien hecho que representan

Translate review to English

See all reviews