The Complete Rip
Kirby is the first
comprehensive archival collection of Alex Raymond's post-war,
post-modern classic. Created by Raymond in 1946, it was a fresh
approach to the crime genre, an about-face from the prevailing
hard-boiled style of detective fiction. Rip Kirby was smart and
sophisticated, but still a man's man. He often applied scientific
methods to his crime-solving techniques, but was still involved in
plenty of action-Kirby was an All-American athlete and decorated
war hero. The supporting cast featured Desmond, Rip's valet and
assistant, and plenty of breathtaking women, particularly Rip's
girlfriend, Honey Dorian, and the raven-haired and aptly-named
Pagan Lee. Highly conscious of the fashions of the day, Raymond
also brought post-war and early-'50s chic to the comics page.
Rip Kirby Vol. 1: 1946-1948
by Alex
Raymond,
Edited & Designed by Dean Mullaney, Essay by Brian Walker
Introduction by Tom Roberts.
The first volume of Alex Raymond's modernist
classic reproduces, from syndicate proof sheets, every strip from
the beginning, March 4, 1946, through December 4, 1948. Co-written
with Ward Greene, the stories sometimes address then-contemporary
issues, including trafficking in black market babies and the
attempt to limit the proliferation of atomic and biological
weapons. But the real star is Raymond's lush and incomparable
brushwork.
Oversized 11" x 10"
hardcover-with-dustjacket, 320 pp., $49.99.
ISBN: 978-1-60010-484-8.
Rip Kirby Vol. 2: 1948-1951
by Alex
Raymond,
Edited & Designed by Dean Mullaney, Essay by Brian Walker
Introduction by Howard Chaykin.
The second volume of Alex Raymond's modernist
classic reproduces, from syndicate proof sheets, every strip from
December 6, 1948 through September 22, 1951.
Oversized 11" x 10"
hardcover-with-dustjacket, 320 pp., $49.99.
ISBN: 978-1-60010-582-1.
Alex Raymond (1900-1956) is regarded, with Milton Caniff and Hal Foster, as one of the three giants of newspaper adventure strip artists. Raymond apprenticed with Chic Young on Blondie, and Lymon Young on Tim Tyler's Luck. The year 1934 was a major turning point in his career: he illustrated X-9, a new detective comic strip written by Dashiell Hammett, and then created Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim. Rip Kirby, created in 1946, signaled a grand departure, both thematically and artistically, from the science fiction classic. He promulgated a new art style—one of cinematic photo-realism—that influenced such artists as Stan Drake, Leonard Starr, Al Williamson, and Neal Adams.
"The key appeal of
Rip Kirby is, of course, the storytelling and art.
Raymond's handling of character nuance in particular is
first-rate.... IDW Publishing and editor Dean Mullaney deserve an
enormous amount of credit for bringing this material back into
print. And on such a gargantuan scale! This slab of a book contains
well over 800 daily strips, and if one enjoys the
dramatic-continuity newspaper comics of the Forties and Fifties,
it's an absolute feast. Before now, one largely had to take on
faith the view that Raymond's dramatic storytelling skills were
almost on the level of his illustrative prowess. The evidence is at
last back with us, and it doesn't disappoint."
-Pol Culture