Al Capp's Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Sundays, Vol. 2: 1956-57

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Material Puts Modern Comics To Shame!
Review: 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?

Rating:
Summary: The Hills are Alive
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: The Hills are Alive
Review: 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.