Vintage Pop

The comics section used to be one of the most important pieces of the newspaper. The comics were filled with fun, humor, and adventure. Comics sold papers.

More recently, the comics have become something papers carry grudgingly. They’re often dull and unfunny. They’ve been shrunk to postage stamp size. The life has gone out of them.

Fortunately for fans, there seems to be an ever-increasing demand for reprints of the great comic strips of the past century. Fantagraphics’ Complete Peanuts project ignited the fire, and subsequent collections have fanned the flames. Peter Maresca’s Little Nemo project, So Many Splendid Sundays stands as the pinnacle of the recent revival. (Though I admit to being a huge fan of the Gasoline Alley reprint project, Walt and Skeezix. This is an amazing strip deserving of wider appreciation.)

I intend to cover comic strips often at Vintage Pop, and hope to eventually produce a list of what I call the Indispensable Comic Strip Reprint Library. For now, here’s a list of current and upcoming reprint projects.

• The Complete Peanuts (Fantagraphics) — vol. 7 of 25 ships in May
• Popeye (Fantagraphics) — vol. 1 of 6 out now
• Walt and Skeezix, which reprints Gasoline Alley (Drawn and Quarterly) — vol. 3 ships in June
• The Complete Dick Tracy (IDW Publishing) — vol. 2 ships in April
• The Complete Terry and the Pirates (IDW Publishing) — vol. 1 of 6 coming in July
• Forever Nuts: The Early Years of Mutt & Jeff (NBM Publishing) — ships in July
• Krazy & Ignatz, which reprints Krazy Kat (Fantagraphics) — vol. 8 of 15 just released
• Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon (Checker Books) — all seven volumes have been released
• Hank Ketcham’s Complete Dennis the Menace (Fantagraphics) — vol. 3 available now
• So Many Splendid Sundays reprints selected Little Nemo strips (Sunday Press Books) — rumor has it that a second volume is in the works
• Mary Perkins on Stage (Classic Comics Press) — vol. 2 out now
• Steve Canyon (Checker Books) — vol. 7 (1953) out now

There are also many minor projects underway. I just discovered Spec Productions the other day, and have already compiled a very expensive wish list. Gulp. (Their Buck Rogers Sundays books is going to be mine, and soon!)

For a comic strip collector, we are living in an age with an embarrassment of riches. I’ve recently decided to abandon collecting comic book compilations to focus solely on comic strip compilations. They’re so much more enjoyable.