World Famous Comics: Al Capp Studios Al Capp's Complete Shmoo: The Comic Books
Al Capp Studios Al Capp's Complete Shmoo: The Comic Books
By: Al Capp Studios Publisher: Dark Horse Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Dark Horse Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 176 Publication Date: March 26, 2008
Product Description: First appearing in Al Capp's "Li'l Abner" comic strip in 1948, the oddly shaped (and happily edible) Shmoo became an overnight phenomenon, spawning an unprecedented merchandising frenzy in the late '40s and 50s. As part of the Dark Horse Archives series, ALL Shmoo comic book appearances are being collected for the first time ever in a deluxe hardcover edition! In addition to every issue of Shmoo Comics from 1949 and 1950, rare bonus stories, and Shmoo-centric advertisements from yesteryear, Al Capp's Complete Shmoo: The Comic Books features an introduction and annotations by certified Shmoo-ologist Denis Kitchen. A persistent presence in pop culture, the selfless Shmoo has served humanity for decades - mostly by offering itself as food - but also by entertaining and tickling our funny bones like no other creature can. Treat yourself to these hilarious adventures, featuring Washable Jones, Super Shmoo, Frankenshmoo, Fu Manshmoo and truly a cast of thousands! This archival collection sports a new cover by Peter Poplaski.
Extremely disappointing As an Al Capp fan who bought and read all the Kitchen Sink reprints of the original newspaper Li'l Abners, I had hoped that this volume would satisfy my demand for more. As mentioned already, the publisher admits that this is not what you'd call quality. After an especially dumb story about "Super-Shmoo", replete with puns based on the word "shmoo", I closed it for good. I hope beginning readers at the local library, where I donated this waste of time and money, find it amusing. If you enjoyed George Lucas's "Howard the Duck" adaptation, this may be for you.
These strips are not from Li'l Abner It is not entirely clear in the book description above that the source material is not Capp's Li'l Abner. In fact, this book is a reprint of a series of Shmoo comic books created by Capp's publishing company to capitalize on the public's obsessive demand for Shmoo material that arose after Capp introduced the creatures in the strip Li'l Abner in 1948.
These comics, written and inked by junior artists outside of Capp's immediate studio, don't even remotely approach the quality -- in story lines or drawings -- of Li'l Abner. In fact, as the publisher notes in the introduction, "The series is barely average fare even by the relatively low comic book standards of the time."
I concur with this assessment; the drawings are dull and the story lines are awful, often suggesting the energy an elementary schooler might bring to a dull creative writing assignment. Fans of Li'l Abner expecting Capp's frenetic drawing style and intricate, subversive plots will be disappointed. One might ask why these comics were reprinted at all; perhaps to help fund a forthcoming second edition of Shmoo material drawn from the original Li'l Abner sources?
Regardless of the publisher's motivation, Shmoo and Capp fans are advised to pass on this book in favor of either the second Complete Shmoo volume (when it arrives) or Al Capp's Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Years, the only collection of Capp's work still widely available.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
