George Herriman Books

the first item of "The Komplete Kat Komics" from Eclipse books/Turtle Island Foundation (1988)

A week by week account of Krazy + Ignatz saga though year 1916

a good first part dealing with the first appearance of Krazy Kat in the "Dingbat family" and other strips from Herriman

should have deserved a bigger size reprint (newspaper size ??)

This is the earliest book collection of the Krazy Kat komic strip, published only 2 years after its creator died. Now it's been over 50 years and only a dozen or so Krazy Kat kompilations have kome to kreation since then. This book should set an example for the growing amount of K. K. books. No extra stuff, no crap, just a short introduction and move right on to a good, big, healthy dose of these subtle ironic cartoons. Not recommended to those unfamiliar with Krazy Kat, as it takes familiarity with the basic concepts of the strip to understand the subtle ironic non-joke of the whole ordeal. I'm not saying it isn't funny, but don't expect big laughs, just a little ironic chuckle here and there.

A well-made collection of Krazy Kat postcards, for sharing the joy that is Krazy and Ignatz. If your only desire is to see some Krazy Kat strips, you're probably better off buying the Fantagraphics collections of Sunday strips, but this offers a chance to see some of the daily strips, collections of which can be harder to find. One panel is shown on the front, in full color, while the rest of the strip is in black and white on the back. The strips on the back are small but not too difficult to read, and there is plenty of room for a personalized message. The strips are mostly amusing, and typical of the series. A great way to introduce a friend to Krazy!

Produced entirely in black & white, and with very small images. The original was in color & about twice the size. There is really nothing to hold your interest, visually. This will turn people off to Krazy Kat. I sent my copy back.

Not to nitpick too much, but Herriman didn't use color in his Sundays until (I believe) 1935. The comics are reprinted here smaller than the original full-page size; to reprint the comics that large would require an oversized folio that would cost many times as much and not fit on most shelves. Not that it wouldn't be neat.

Fantagraphics delivers again. The greatest comic ever published is getting its due thanks to this series (taken over from the now defunct Eclipse series). Once again the book is crammed with great Krazy Kat full page strips (keeping in step with the series previous three volumes). Comics were at one time far more complex, as a simple head poke into this book will reveal. These aren't your average four panel "I hate Mondays" gag strips. These involve reading, not glancing. Herriman was a master at his trade, and dialects, puns, non-sequiturs, nonsense, changing backgrounds, slapstick, and poignancy pervade every page. There's nothing like this on the incredibly shrinking comics page of today.

If you've never read Krazy Kat, here's some background: Krazy is a Kat (yes, with a "K", that's very important); Ignatz is a mouse; Offica Pupp is a dog (who also happens to be a cop). These three folks live in Cocino County, where Ignatz fulfills his greatest desire of flinging bricks at Krazy Kat's head. It's not so simple as "BANG!! HAHAHA!" Krazy LOVES Ignatz (pines for him) and since Ignatz only showers attention on Krazy in the form of a brick, Krazy has come to interpret this as an act of love. If you see a little heart rising from Krazy's head after Ignatz "beans" Krazy's head, this is why. Three is of course more fun, and Offica Pupp makes the triangle complete. Offisa Pupp has something for Krazy (though it's not as obvious as the other trist). Consequently, Offisa Pupp detests Ignatz for throwing bricks at Krazy. Ignatz is often seen being dragged off to jail protesting his innocence while Krazy rhapsodizes about his "'lil dahlink!" If this doesn't sound like good reading to you, then you obviously haven't read the strip. Give it at least a few chances; it takes some time to sink in. It's easier to experience than to explain. You can't read this strip vicariously.

This installment has an amazing bonus - a boatload of Krazy Kat daily strips from 1931. Previous volumes have included interesting miscellany from the past (pictures of an Ignatz figure, or piano music for the "Krazy Kat" rag), but this is almost too much to ask for. Krazy Kat dailies are harder to find in print than the Sunday pages (will Fantagraphics take on the daily strips when they're through with the Sundays?), so this is a welcome bonus. And the book is HUGE! The strips are very readable, and the dailies are VERY readable. Also included is an article about George Herriman's early cartoon career, along with some of his earliest strips from 1909-1910 (Baron Mooch and Gooseberry Sprig). There are some fascinating facts here: Charles Dickens considered art to be an integral part of his novels (wouldn't know that today!), and Cocino County was actually created for an early strip of Herriman's, not for Krazy Kat.

May Fantagraphics march on and chronicle all that there is to chronicle of Krazy Kat. Fans of "both high art and low culture" (taken from a review on the back of the book) appreciate it to an infinity squared degree.