Children of the Yellow Kid: The Evolution of the American Comic Strip - Softcover

Harvey, Robert C.; Walker, Brian; West, Richard V.; Frye Art Museum

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0295977787 ISBN 13: 9780295977782

Publisher: Univ of Washington Pr, 1998

Synopsis

Traces the development of the comic strip since its birth at the turn of the century. The reproductions of vintage strips are strikingly pristine, due to the use of original artwork rather than published versions in the production of the volume. The author, a seasoned writer and scholar of the subject is good at historical and aesthetic discussion, less so at discussing the sociological context of various strips. Two other experts in the field, Brian Walker and Richard V. West, contribute a foreword and afterword. An attractive and enjoyable volume. 9x12<"> Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About this title

About the Author:

Robert C. Harvey has been writing about cartooning for well over a quarter of a century. He is a former associate member of the National Cartoonist Society, an associate member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and a member of the Comic Art Professionals Society (CAPS). He is the author of numerous columns and articles for comics-related publications. His books include ART OF THE FUNNIES: AN AESTHETIC HISTORY and THE ART OF THE COMIC BOOK.

Brian Walker is a founder and director of the Museum of Cartoon Art (now the International Museum of Cartoon Art in Boca Raton, Florida). He is currently part of the creative team that produces the BEETLE BAILEY and HI AND LOIS comic strips and is chairman of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society and editor-in-chief of COLLECTORS' SHOWCASE magazine.

Richard V. West is an art historian and director of the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, Washington.

From Booklist:

The catalog of a 1998 exhibition at Seattle's Frye Art Museum traces the 100-year evolution of American newspaper comics through 130 examples of vintage and recent strips. What distinguishes it from other historical collections of comic art is that nearly all its illustrations are reproductions of artists' original drawings--a few of them at full size--that reveal the pencil sketches underneath, corrections, and artists' notations. These examples show how the art form developed, from primitive efforts like The Yellow Kid and Happy Hooligan to Dick Tracy, Terry and the Pirates, and other adventure strips of the 1930s to the visually simple but otherwise sophisticated efforts that dominate the medium today, such as Dilbert and FoxTrot. An out-of-chronology chapter documents "socially conscious" strips ranging from Little Orphan Annie and Pogo to Doonesbury. Although the illustrations are, appropriately, the main attraction, comics scholar Harvey's informative text could stand alone as perhaps the most knowledgeable succinct history of the medium ever written. Gordon Flagg

About this edition

• Publisher: Univ of Washington Pr
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0295977787
• ISBN 13: 9780295977782
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176