Synopsis
Recognized as the most popular children's book author of the 20th century, Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) had a career in illustration that varied widely before he wrote his first juvenile book. Early Works Volume 1 is the first of a series collecting various political cartoons, advertisements, and other images drawn by Geisel long before he had written any of his world-famous books.
Reviews
Readers may have hoped this copious collection of early cartoons and accompanying texts by Geisel, alias Dr. Seuss, would prove to be a treasure trove of forgotten gems. Instead this volume demonstrates how long a path Geisel trod to reach the brilliance of his classic books. The opening selection, "This is Ann," a 1943 pamphlet meant to warn soldiers against a malaria-bearing mosquito, now seems misogynist, portraying the mosquito, "Ann," as if she were "a real party gal" spreading venereal disease. The cartoons from the late 1920s and early 1930s from Judge magazine and elsewhere are unmistakably Geisel's, but much cruder than his later work, and the art is not enough to prop up the weak gags. By 1937 Geisel had made a breakthrough, and his cartoon ads for the Macy Westchester newspapers feature striking, imaginative compositions and appealing figures with the signature Seussian whimsy. The book also includes Geisel's 1941 editorial cartoons sharply attacking isolationists. Occasionally this book reveals images reminiscent of Geisel's famous characters: Yertle-ish turtles standing atop each other's backs and Horton-like elephants. But this collection is more for Dr. Seuss completists and those who wish to trace the evolution of a great artist than casual readers. (Nov.)
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His pen name suggests something essential about Geisel. Seuss in "American" sounds like suss, German for sweet, and there is nothing in all cartooning sweeter than the style of Dr. Seuss. Bitterness and meanness have no part in it, even in the handful of early-1940s political cartoons in this sampler of work predating his unparalleled success as a children's writer. Besides those cartoons, done for the famous radical New York newspaper PM, the selection includes advertising work for a suburban newspaper chain, a pen company, a building materials firm, and an auto-accessories business; illustrated features for the magazines Judge and Liberty; illustrations for a book of schoolchildren's bloopers (e.g., "Polonius was a mythical sausage"); and a malaria-prevention pamphlet aimed at World War II servicemen. Everything delightfully attests that Geisel developed early the wonderfully athletic, loopy line (reminiscent of the physical comedy of Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd) and the benignly goofy humor (greatly inspired by his cartoonist forebear, Rube Goldberg) that stood him in good stead throughout his long career. Ray Olson
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