World Famous Comics: Al Capp's Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Sundays, Vol. 2: 1956-57
Al Capp's Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Sundays, Vol. 2: 1956-57
By: Frank Frazetta Publisher: Dark Horse Average Rating: Binding: Library Binding Label: Dark Horse Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 128 Publication Date: November 19, 2003
Product Description: A super-sexy Marilyn Monroe leads off Volume 2 - drawn as only Frank Frazetta could draw her! Monroe appears in all 12 panels of the first 1956 Sunday, setting the pace for the next two sizzling years. Highlights for Volume 2 include: Al Capp's legendary parody of busybody "Mary Worm" led "Mary Worth" creator Allan Saunders to reciprocate, casting Capp as a drunken and loutish cartoonist in his strip. The ruckus made a national scene, including Time magazine. Others skewered are gay pianist Liberace, bald actor Yul Brynner, voluptuous actress Jayne Mansfield, and actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly marrying the Prince of Monte Carload. Regular cast members with plot time include Evil Eye Fleeglem, Hairlessd Joe and Lonesome Polecat, Moonbeam McSwine, and uber-capitalist General Bullmoose. Contains an introduction and extensive annotations by "Li'l Abner" expert Denis Kitchen.
Comics Junkie Grew up reading this series. Now I have a permanent copy of my own. Good price and great product for comics junkies.
How Sweet It Is! How sweet it is to sit down and read these comics from the 1950's- it's like a miniature journey back into the past where sexism, politcal correctness and all the sociological baggage we lug around today did not exist. It's like opening a window and letting in a fresh breeze that tickles your lungs and makes you laugh!
Thank goodness for Frazetta's reputation, this has Marylin Monroe 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.
This is the only full color page spread of Marylin Monroe in Lil Abner.
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
The Hills are Alive This is the second volume of Li'l Abner Sunday strips drawn by future king of fantasy art Frank Frazetta. I have be honest and admit that in my opinion Li'l Abner is the greatest American comic strip of all time. So, my opinion is not exactly unbiased. Naturally, I loved this book. Many people have the opinion that the strip went downhill after Li'l Abner and Daisy Mae got married. That may be true, but it was a slow descent down that hill, and the strip was still great in the mid 1950s. The scripts are hilarious and the Frazetta art is beautiful (although drawn in the style of Al Capp, not his own style). I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in classic American comic strips.
Brilliant Material Puts Modern Comics To Shame! Finally! Although one may quibble over some technical details ( the strips might have been printed a bit larger, and the color is a bit muddy in spots, ) there's no denying that publisher Denis Kitchen is performing a service to mankind by making these historic strips available again - for the first time in almost 50 years.
Al Capp was at a creative peak in the 1950's, the heyday of his uber cool American satiric masterpiece: LI'L ABNER, and these classic Sunday page sequences don't disappoint. For many people, this was their first exposure to Frank Frazetta's work, and he managed to capture Capp's idiosyncratic style with the greatest of ease, adding many brilliant, characteristic nuances of his own along the way.
With the demise of the late, lamented Kitchen Sink Press a few years back, I despaired of ever seeing this classic material back in print again - but here it is! It's impossible for gen X-ers weaned on tripe like Dilbert and Foxtrot to even begin to imagine what a rich source of art and humor the American comic strip used to be in the 30's, 40's and 50's.
For anyone interested in re-visiting a Golden Age of this uniquely American art form, you couldn't ask for a better place to start than this. Hopefully the series will be continued before and beyond the Frazetta years - into the forties and sixties. And while we're at it, how about a color POGO Sundays collection, Mr. Kitchen?
Anything Goes Trivia
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