Walt & Skeezix: 1925 & 1926
Montreal: Drawn & Quarterly Books, 2007.
First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. One-half black cloth, green cloth over boards, pictorial endpapers, green ribbon marker, 400pp, fully illus., introduction includes many in color. Item #900407
ISBN: 9781897299098
Frank O. King (1883-1969) created what is arguably the longest-running story in comic strip history, Gasoline Alley. Begun in 1919 as a simple topical gag strip about the new fad of automobiles, the tone changed in 1921 with the introduction of a foundling baby named "Skeezix," inspired by King's own son, Robert Drew. The life and development of Skeezix soon became the strip's focus, following him through childhood, adulthood, and his own eventual parenthood.
The present volume is Volume 3 (1925-1926) of a series produced by the publisher. In this volume, the domestic side of Gasoline Alley receives full play. An old flame comes to visit Walt, with an eye towards marriage. Meanwhile, Walt pines for Mrs. Blossom, the neighborhood widow. Out of these entanglements, a long engagement and wedding ensue. An eighty-page introduction features private photographs of the cartoonist Frank King and his family and delves into the marketing of Gasoline Alley in the 1920s and 1930s, highlighting dolls and toys taken from the personal collection of Chris Ware, the series designer and award-winning cartoonist.
Remainder dot bottom-edge, else fine in very good dust wrapper with 3 archival tape-repaired tears, in protective mylar.
Price: $125.00