World Famous Comics: Al Capp's Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Years, Volume 1 1954-55
Al Capp's Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Years, Volume 1 1954-55
By: Frank Frazetta Publisher: Dark Horse Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Dark Horse Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 128 Publication Date: June 11, 2003 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: Before legendary artist Frank Frazetta became an American institution for his lush paintings, he was drawing muscular hillbillies and scantily clad women for an earlier American institution: the comic strip Li'l Abner, which boasted 60 million readers daily. From 1954 to 1961 Frazetta toiled as a ghost for Al Capp, the most famous and successful cartoonist of his era. Volume 1 (of four) features The Bald Iggle (from Capp's Shmoo-and-Kigmy school of creatures with social messages), Loverboynik (a thinly disguised Liberace), and Milton the Masked Martian (an early super-hero parody) as well as Indian princess Minnie Mustache, Moonbeam McSwine, The Tigress, Daisy Mae Yokum, and Gloria Van Wellbilt - as only Frank Frazetta can draw them!
Great cartoons! (Shame about the colour!) The nearest thing I know of today to the satire of Li'l Abner is The Simpsons. Parodies of popular culture, politics etc.. from the perspective of flawed innocents somehow getting caught up in weird events. Al Capp's creation was probably just as well known in it's day as Groening's work is now. There is great drawing to be seen here by the stable of cartoonists employed in Li'l Abner, there is persistently good writing which must surely have cut close to the wind in 50's America. This is pre-PC and the way Capp seemed to look at the world and the roles and weaknesses of men and women is funny to look back on. At the same time the comedy stands up in it's own right. I particularly enjoyed the Lower Slobbovia scenes. There is often a frenetic pace to all these comics, with Capp seemingly uninterested in continuity concerns. These works do not seem to be taken from original art (perhaps it can't be located (easily anyway)). They are scanned from newspapers with mastheads still intact. This is interesting to a degree but the limitations of the sources mean the colour leaves a lot to be desired. One of Lonesome Polecat and Hairless Joe's dinosaurs is a different colour each week it appears. A character may have different coloured hair or clothes. Skin tone also vary greatly. These quibbles are major but the quality of the cartooning and writing is such that it can be overlooked. The 4th volume has some isolated pages which are well coloured and that makes you wish that it was all at that higher standard. Perhaps it would be better in black and white as the dailies look great. Time to get the dailies back out too. Get on it Fantagraphics!
Great satire I caught the tail end of the Li'l Abner series as a child in the 1960's and remember loving it. I recently started looking for some collections in libraries, but couldn't find any so I looked on Amazon and found this volume and bought it. I've had a great time reading it and even though the things it satirizes occurred before I was born, I'm familiar with much of them through my study of history. Much of what is satirized is applicable to any time and is still fresh.
I've recently been reading some of the classic satire of Voltaire (Candide) and Rabelais (Gargantua and Pantagruel) and this seems to fit right in with that style. I guess I have a warped sense of humor. I wish today's comics were this good.
I enjoyed the artwork and appreciated the explanations at the end of the book highlighting some of the items that someone born after that era may have missed. I highly recommend this book. I will probably order more volumes.
Comics Junkie Grew up reading this series. Now I have a permanent copy of my own. Good price and great product for comics junkies.
Fabulous Fifties I bought this volume (and volumes 2-4) for my Dad for Christmas because he was such a big L'il Abner fan when I was a kid in the 60's. When they arrived I just had to sit down and read them all before wrapping them up! L'il Abner is a lens focused on it's own era in time, totally tongue-in-cheek! For rollicking fun and biting satire these comics can't be beat!
Thank goodness for Frazetta's reputation Lil Abner always had a strong fan club that allowed the reprinting of the daily strips by Kitchen Sink press for about 25 volumes, which if there was no fan base, only one or two volumes would have been published.
In addition,we are very lucky that Frazetta's reputation and fan club would allow the printing of a comic strip that John Steinbeck once stated, its author, Al Capp, should be given the Putszler (excuse the spelling) prize.
Al Capp was a master satirist and storyteller, who would have one acclaim like Mark Twain or O'Henry if not for the snob attitude toward comic strips.
This is shown here. The 50-year-old color strips are re-printed in a fine manner with expert commentary about the period they were written in by Denis Kitchen.
Beware, they feature "politically incorrect" well-endowed women, and one main character, Daisy Mae, as mostly submissive, which would not be allowed in comic strips today as it would raise the ire of feminists and other "progressive" people.
On the other hand, it features the two main male characters, Abner and Pappy, as idiots or wimps, Abner and his brother Tiny as "hunks", and the one of the main women characters, Mammy as the leader of the Yokum clan, who occassionally beats Pappy, which are allowed in comic strips today as the "Progressives" seem to have no problem with this.
Remember, vintage comic strip reprints do not generate big bucks, some even lose money. They are produced out of great admiration for the strips, and we should be grateful for the publishers for doing so.
By the way, why does Amazon include a 'NO' in 'was this review helpful to you?'. People are only human and don't like opinions that differ from themselves. With some who are less mature, this the 'NO' makes it too easy express such displeasure.
Are they trying to discourage negative reviews, hence not purchase the CD. Such reviews only help a person in not being dissatisfied a product that received positive reviews
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