LOAC ESSENTIALS
is a new series that will reprint, in yearly volumes,
the rare early daily newspaper strips that are essential to comics
history, seminal strips that are unique creations in their own
right, while also significantly contributing to the advancement of
the medium. The strips are presented in a novel
format: 11.5" wide by 4.25" high, each page containing a single
daily. By reproducing the strips one per page in an oblong format,
it allows us to have an experience similar to what newspaper buyers
had fifty to a hundred years ago—reading the comics one day
at a time. Each page will also showcase the title given to that
daily by the cartoonist, plus the weekday and
date.
LOAC Essentials Vol. 1: Baron Bean 1916
by George
Herriman
Edited and designed by Dean Mullaney, Essay by Jared
Gardner.
This inaugural volume features the first year of Baron Bean, by perhaps the greatest of all comic strip stars: George Herriman. From his earliest cartoons, the creator of Krazy Kat found few themes as fascinating as the power of titles and the ways in which worth in society is determined based on a hat, a name, or the color of one’s skin. Baron Bean quickly developed into one of Herriman’s richest and funniest creations, second only to Krazy Kat, whose citizens would occasionally grace the panels of Baron Bean. Each day Herriman gives reason to question not only the superiority of would-be “Barons” over their vassals and retainers, but equally the superiority of so-called “humans” over the animals they call “pets.” The complete series from 1916 to 1919 will be reprinted in three volumes.
"The book itself is in proportion to the dimensions of a newspaper strip. The accompanying essay - always a must read in any LOAC volume - goes a long way to educating the reader about Herriman and Baron Bean, and it's an incredible package for $19.99."—Scoop
Once again The Library of American Comics sets
the standard for archival and reprint quality. In addition to the
historical importance of this volume in the annals of comic
history, Baron Bean also provides a detailed look back at
the sociological issues in America at that time.—New York
Journal of Books
Oblong 11.5” x
4.25” hardcover, 336 pp, $19.99. ISBN:
978-1-61377-442-7
New Release
LOAC Essentials Vol. 2: The Gumps 1929
by Sidney
Smith
Edited and with an Introduction by Jared Gardner. Designed by Dean
Mullaney.
In the second decade of the 20th Century Sidney Smith created a formula of melodrama, adventure, mystery, and comedy that made The Gumps one of the country's most popular comics and himself perhaps its richest cartoonist. So devoted were his readers that they regularly wrote in to offer advice for his characters' love lives and business decisions and generally treated the characters as friends and family members.
In 1928-29, with the launching of what would be his most famous story, "The Saga of Mary Gold," Smith's relationship to his readers would be tested as never before. Its heartbreaking conclusion would change comics forever. Here for the first time since the story made headlines across America in the spring of 1929 we reprint the saga that Hogan's Alley magazine called "One of the Ten Biggest Events in Comics History"—a tale that has lost none of its power to captivate readers in the 21st Century.
"What holds The Saga of Mary Gold together more than anything is the inevitable march toward the end. As the reader begins to realize where Mr. Smith is taking us the anticipation builds to the point where you almost want to cry “NO!” out loud….A volume of touching sincerity that reinforces the best of what it meant to be an American in times of turmoil. The reproduction of the art is flawless.…" —New York Journal of Books
Oblong 11.5” x
4.25” hardcover, 344 pp, $19.99. ISBN:
978-1-61377-573-8