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Post by EdoBosnar on Jul 28, 2019 16:07:57 GMT -5
Just found out about this today and couldn't find any references to it anywhere else on this forum. If it has already been posted, my apologies. Personally, I only have the Sunday strip collections published by Fantagraphics starting with 1925, so I like that he posted all of those comics from earlier years. Of course, now I just need to find the time to go through them...
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Aug 8, 2019 0:31:03 GMT -5
I don't get Krazy Kat. Sorry, Comics Journal staff.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 8, 2019 0:57:06 GMT -5
Just randomly selected several different strips from different years and gave them a whirl.
Wow. I really don't get it.
What am I supposed to be getting?
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 8, 2019 10:48:48 GMT -5
I've sampled; but, it really depends on the strip. I get the artistry and the surrealism; but, the humor was all over the place. I've seen some that I thought were hilarious and others that I just thought, "Okay, that was interesting." I think it is one of those that is more evocative in its artistry than its humor, much like Little Nemo was more about the wild imagery, rather than telling a story or setting up a gag. I can see its influence on the fantasy sequences in Calvin & Hobbes; but, Watterson was far better at conveying the humor element.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2019 12:37:42 GMT -5
Personally, I only have the Sunday strip collections published by Fantagraphics starting with 1925, so I like that he posted all of those comics from earlier years. Of course, now I just need to find the time to go through them...
My grandfather was a huge Krazy Kat fan that appeared in the Sunday Strips by our Local Newspapers including Dailes (Monday to Saturday) ... he considered this version is the true version of Krazy Kat. He collected all of them starting in 1925 and onwards. I don't know when he stopped collecting them and he even cut out the strips and put them in scrapbooks for the time being. My cousin had all of them of them and don't know where they went because he sold them to a buyer back in the late 90's. I sampled some of them and I have the same feelings as Shaxper. I just don't understand the nature of that strip that my grandfather loves so much. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 8, 2019 12:43:07 GMT -5
I have no idea what pretentious take the Comics Journal may have on Krazy, nor do I care, really.
Personally, I just like them as often surreal pieces of art - the humor, such as it is, is almost beside the point (and the dialog itself, the odd way it's written in a mostly made-up pidgin, is funnier than the actual jokes or punchlines). That's why I like the Sunday strips the best, as they're so beautifully designed. And this is probably something considered a bit of heretical among Krazy purists, but I loved it when Herriman finally started doing the Sunday strips in color in the last few years before he died. I think color added a whole new dimension and depth to the art.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Aug 8, 2019 15:02:55 GMT -5
I have no idea what pretentious take the Comics Journal may have on Krazy, Poor TCJ. I'm generally a big fan, myself. And Krazy was # 1 on their list of greatest English language comics of the 20th century. 1) Krazy Kat 2) Peanuts 3) Pogo 4) Maus 5) Little Nemo 6) Fieffer's SICK, SICK, SICK 7) Carl Bark's Donald Duck 8) Kurtzman era Mad 9) Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary 10) R. Crumb's Weirdo Stories 11) Thimble Theatre 12) EC War Comics |
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,874
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Post by shaxper on Aug 8, 2019 15:10:12 GMT -5
I have no idea what pretentious take the Comics Journal may have on Krazy, Poor TCJ. I'm generally a big fan, myself. And Krazy was # 1 on their list of greatest English language comics of the 20th century. 1) Krazy Kat 2) Peanuts 3) Pogo 4) Maus 5) Little Nemo 6) Fieffer's SICK, SICK, SICK 7) Carl Bark's Donald Duck 8) Kurtzman era Mad 9) Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary 10) R. Crumb's Weirdo Stories 11) Thimble Theatre 12) EC War Comics Sort of seems like a "Greatest Generation" list. If it didn't happen prior to 1960, it wasn't worth a damn kind of mindset (Maus excepted). I have no opinion on TCJ, but this list seems less than balanced. |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Aug 8, 2019 15:16:22 GMT -5
Poor TCJ. I'm generally a big fan, myself. And Krazy was # 1 on their list of greatest English language comics of the 20th century. 1) Krazy Kat 2) Peanuts 3) Pogo 4) Maus 5) Little Nemo 6) Fieffer's SICK, SICK, SICK 7) Carl Bark's Donald Duck 8) Kurtzman era Mad 9) Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary 10) R. Crumb's Weirdo Stories 11) Thimble Theatre 12) EC War Comics Sort of seems like a "Greatest Generation" list. If it didn't happen prior to 1960, it wasn't worth a damn kind of mindset. Probably true. It was written in '99 and works from the '80s and '90s was ranked poorly because the writers didn't have a sense of theri historical importance yet. Like Watchmen was # 87 or something, but I'm sure that even among the superhero adverse Comics Journal crowd it would be much higher today. |
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Post by MDG on Aug 8, 2019 15:19:43 GMT -5
Poor TCJ. I'm generally a big fan, myself. And Krazy was # 1 on their list of greatest English language comics of the 20th century. 1) Krazy Kat 2) Peanuts 3) Pogo 4) Maus 5) Little Nemo 6) Fieffer's SICK, SICK, SICK 7) Carl Bark's Donald Duck 8) Kurtzman era Mad 9) Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary 10) R. Crumb's Weirdo Stories 11) Thimble Theatre 12) EC War Comics Sort of seems like a "Greatest Generation" list. If it didn't happen prior to 1960, it wasn't worth a damn kind of mindset (Maus excepted). I have no opinion on TCJ, but this list seems less than balanced. Well actually three items (1/4 of the list) are post-1960, and another three are from the '50s, so it seems pretty balanced as far as the first and second half of the century. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Aug 8, 2019 15:34:21 GMT -5
"Top Ten" lists are arbitrary by nature, so.
It's why I never really have an answer for "What's your favorite ___________________ ? Too many variables.
That said, I wouldn't have Peanuts on the list, let alone in second place. Important, well, ok, maybe, but greatest? Ehhh.
I'd rank Calvin and Hobbes in the top 10 on a Greatest Strips list way before Peanuts, especially in 1999.
Pogo would be on both, though. I can't imagine any Top Ten list measuring a strip's value that it wouldn't be on.
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Post by beccabear67 on Aug 8, 2019 20:38:09 GMT -5
One of the few things I agree with the Comics Journal about perhaps. William Randolph Hearst was a great fan of the strip and kept it going longer than it might have and up to Herriman's death in the 1940s. It started as a pretty simple bottom filler strip below a Herriman strip called The Dingbat Family and seemed to appeal to people more than the main feature Dingbats. It's hard to call the humor gentle what with the brick violence, but there is a lot of amusing wordplay, and the ever changing Coconino County landscape is another aspect that appeals to it's fans. George Herriman also illustrated the Arch And Mehitabel books which became a popular stage musical and later animated feature cartoon. Current newspaper strip Mutts is the inheritor of the Krazy style of whimsy.
My personal #1 if not Krazy would be Percy Crosby's Skippy. I would say that Skippy, Krazy Kat and Peanuts have the most capital A art appeal and most likely to survive through the ages as examples of a cartoon literature over many others dealing as they do in relationships between characters and universal types in a sometimes profound seeming way.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 8, 2019 22:58:56 GMT -5
One of the few things I agree with the Comics Journal about perhaps. William Randolph Hearst was a great fan of the strip and kept it going longer than it might have and up to Herriman's death in the 1940s. It started as a pretty simple bottom filler strip below a Herriman strip called The Dingbat Family and seemed to appeal to people more than the main feature Dingbats. It's hard to call the humor gentle what with the brick violence, but there is a lot of amusing wordplay, and the ever changing Coconino County landscape is another aspect that appeals to it's fans. George Herriman also illustrated the Arch And Mehitabel books which became a popular stage musical and later animated feature cartoon. Current newspaper strip Mutts is the inheritor of the Krazy style of whimsy. My personal #1 if not Krazy would be Percy Crosby's Skippy. I would say that Skippy, Krazy Kat and Peanuts have the most capital A art appeal and most likely to survive through the ages as examples of a cartoon literature over many others dealing as they do in relationships between characters and universal types in a sometimes profound seeming way. Ironically, those strips and Pogo were the influences of Calvin & Hobbes. For me, it's Calvin & Hobbes; but, i'd put Peanuts a very close second, in terms of humor strips. I can't compare humor and adventure strips, as they evoke different reactions to the material With adventure; it's tough. Of the ones I've read most, it's hard to decide between Tarzan, Flash Gordon, Prince Valiant and Terry & the Pirates. Everyone has their favorites. As a kid, I loved Alley Oop, which is all but forgotten, these days. may dad has always enjoyed it, going back to its real glory days. I loved both the Sunday gag strips and the daily adventures. As a kid, once I discovered the comic strips, I read almost all that our paper carried: Peanuts, Alley Oop, Steve Roper & Mike Nomad, Steve Canyon, Apartment 3G. The Sunday edition had Captain Easy, Tiger, Short Ribs, Eek & Meek, Frank & Ernest, Peanuts, Blondie, Family Circle, Hi & Lois, Beetle Bailey. Short Ribs was the first strip I ever saw come to an end. Since then, I've seen Peanuts, For Better, For Worse, Bloom County, Outland, Far Side, Calvin & Hobbes, and Foxtrot. |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Aug 8, 2019 23:25:21 GMT -5
"Top Ten" lists are arbitrary by nature, so. It's why I never really have an answer for "What's your favorite ___________________ ? Too many variables. That said, I wouldn't have Peanuts on the list, let alone in second place. Important, well, ok, maybe, but greatest? Ehhh. I'd rank Calvin and Hobbes in the top 10 on a Greatest Strips list way before Peanuts, especially in 1999. Pogo would be on both, though. I can't imagine any Top Ten list measuring a strip's value that it wouldn't be on. See, you made Charlie Brown even sadder! In my mind, Peanuts should be # 1, just because of it's cultural impact. It basically single-handedly introduced the idea of sensitive introvert as protagonist to popular culture. ANd it's just tonally brilliant, still being really funny while maintaining a pervasive sense of quiet melancholy. Plus it features at least a dozen well-developed, rounded characters with complex and interesting relationships with each other. (I think Krazy Kat does a lot of the same things, but Peanuts is like Krazy Kat that I understand.) |
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Post by beccabear67 on Aug 9, 2019 11:07:40 GMT -5
With adventure; it's tough. Of the ones I've read most, it's hard to decide between Tarzan, Flash Gordon, Prince Valiant and Terry & the Pirates. Milton Caniff Terry, and Dickie Dare, are my favorites, they read like a '30s movie on paper, but I experienced them only as collected editions much later. Hate the George Wunder Terry unfortunately. I don't really know the experience of following an adventure daily first-hand. Our two local daily newspapers didn't carry Star Hawks or Spider-Man (or at least not for long), but I vaguely remember a DC heroes strip that wasn't around long, and maybe Archie had a continuing story but a bit of a loose one. I liked the early '70s DC Tarzan which had some Russ Manning strips collected alongside the new Kubert; amazing stuff! I'm not sure if the Foster or Hogarth Tarzan would appeal to me as much, or Raymond Flash Gordon, just admired short bits and panels of either. I had one Prince Valiant comic book by King but it is a bit of work to get into the right frame of mind for reading all captions. The Al Williamson and Reed Crandall Flash comic books are wonderful, and Floyd Gottfredson Mickey Mouse from when he had adventures were also classic. Alley Oop was a great adventure strip at times with time travel and a stone-age king! Even Krazy Kat had some longer adventure style stories, like the Tiger Tea saga. |
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