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 Blackbeard Und Krazy May 20, 2008
Once again Bill Blackbeard earns the gratitude of comic strip fans for rescuing old strips from extinction. So we forgive him his erudite stretch introduction (just the facts next time)but at least he doesn't go into the nonsense of Herriman's racial background as others have done.
The strip's size is a bit of a problem as I recall the actual newspaper size was a bit larger. Here is early Krazy Kat not yet in full flight but giving inklings of what was to come in the 20's and 30's. The gags are vaudevillian and the brick brings to mind the vaudeville hook.All in all, a vital addition for K.K. addicts and less so as an intro. to K.K.
Somebody pick up on this and continue the series! Mar 21, 2008
The sunday Krazy Kat comics are wonderful (thank you Fantagraphics) but you can't get a real appreciation for the strip unless you read the dallies. This is a great book but frustrating that the promised follow-ups never came forth.
In the meantime, I recommend finding the few books that have a collection of Krazy Kat dallies especially the "Tiger Tea" episode.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Kaptivating! Feb 03, 2006
For those who are only familiar with the comic strips of today, something like Krazy Kat is, to say the least, bizarre. There's nothing like it today, but in this era of generally watered down comics, true originality is hard to find. This makes Krazy Kat all the more special.
The hero of this strip is the title character, a cat (or kat) who lives in the desert of Coconino (or Kokonino) county in the southwestern United States. Krazy loves Ignatz Mouse, who in turn wants little to do with the feline; for Ignatz, there is no greater pleasure than beaning Krazy in the head with a brick. Rather than objecting to such behavior, Krazy enjoys it, thinking it is a sign of affection (well, he is crazy!). Rounding out this romantic triangle is Offisa Pup, who is enamored of Krazy and constantly running Ignatz into jail for his assaults.
Around this rather simple idea - mouse tries to hit cat with brick while evading dog - a vast canvas is painted. This is best observed in the Sunday strips, but even in this collection of daily strips, the magic can be seen. This book features relatively early strips from 1918 and 1919. For the most part it's just Krazy and Ignatz; Krazy makes some strange observation (usually involving some wordplay) and Ignatz reacts by pelting his companion with a brick.
The humor is only part of what makes Krazy Kat fun. There is also the absurd desert landscape, constantly changing even in the midst of the daily strip. Although this is also more notable in the more elaborate Sunday strips, we do get a lot of the strange scenery in this book as well. In particular, the backgrounds in the later strips in this book feature the Krazy Klothesline which takes on a life of its own and sometimes steals the show from Krazy and Ignatz's interaction in the foreground.
You have to experience this comic yourself to understand it; I cannot effectively describe what goes on without really diminishing it. The Sunday strips are the best, but even the dailies are great. If your idea of great comic strip humor is Marmaduke or Heathcliff, this is probably not for you; on the other hand, if you like material that is unique and unlike anything out there today, pick this up.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Kat and Mouse Oct 13, 2005
James Kochalka has Ignatz Award bricks just lying around the house (he uses them to soak cat puke out of the carpet). For the rest of us, a few new bricks are a welcome addition. The more of Krazy Kat that gets reprinted the better. The world needs more Kat and Mouse stories, and they are here. This collection goes back to daily strips with a traditional gag line format; the drawings are more expressive than the words. But it's all good, it's Krazy Kat. And Ignatz. In a pinch you could even use it to clean the carpet.
26 of 26 found the following review helpful:
Another attempt to reprint the rare Krazy Kat dailies... May 22, 2005
Krazy Kat often gets hailed as the best comic strip of all time. The strip never gained huge popularity in its run, and by the 1940s it only ran in a few newspapers. So what accounts for its massive reputation? The best advice one can give is to simply read the strip to find out. It doesn't take too long.
Numerous publishing companies have attempted to reprint the strip. Unfortunately, the undertaking seems somewhat cursed (much akin to the "Don Quixote" legend in the world of film). Eclipse attempted to reprint all of the Krazy Kat Sunday pages. They made it to 1924 and then aborted the series. Some time after Fantagraphics picked up where Eclipse dropped off. Recently, news of financial difficulties within that company have spread. But they haven't closed shop yet (the series currently extends to 1932). Now, a company called "Stinging Monkey" announces their intent to reprint Krazy Kat dailies. So far they have published this single volume (in large and small formats). As of this writing, the website "www.stingingmonkey.com", printed on the book itself, cannot be found. Has the Krazy Kat reprint curse returned? Let's hope not.
Stinging Monkey's attempt represents the best attempt so far to reprint the rarely seen Krazy Kat dailies. Pacific Comics Club tried (starting with 1921, and they're up to 1923), but the miniscule size of their books (especially the 1921 issue) makes reading a headache. Though the effort remains appreciated. The initial Stinging Monkey release came out in an incredible large format which made for easy reading and great detailed drawings. Later the small format was released which remained very readable but lost some of the detail of the large format. Get the large format if possible.
As for the strips themselves, this book covers the very early years, 1918 - 1919, of Krazy Kat as its own strip. The jokes spew puns, misunderstandings, and bizarreness that speak both of their time and of Herriman's skills as a cartoonist. Think of the Sunday pages presented in brief snippets. Most are gag cartoons. Some contain verbal jokes, while others remain purely visual. The strips really begin to hit their stride towards the end of the book. Here Herriman's surrealism and charming absurdism starts to seep in. All Krazy Kat fans will not want to miss these.
Hopefully Stinging Monkey has not gone the way of the Eclipse series. A complete run of Krazy Kat dailies would present a boon to fans and the comic community in general. Seeing that this volume dates to 2003, though, it doesn't look incredibly promising.
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