ANDY’S PICK :: LIBRARY OF AMERICAN COMICS ESSENTIALS: HC VOL 02 THE GUMPS: THE SAGA OF MARY GOLD: Just how popular and influential was Sidney Smith’s The Gumps? Begun in 1917 in an attempt to present a strip that featured a real American family,the success of the Gumps inspired the Chicago Tribune to start their Syndication Company which delivered Moon Mullins, Gasoline Alley, Harold Teen and eventually Little Orphan Annie, Dick Tracy and Terry and the Pirates to the rest of the country’s avid  comic readers. By 1922, The Chicago Tribune awarded Smith the first Million Dollar contract in Comic history– $100,000 a year for 10 years at the same time Babe Ruth was only making a paltry $80,000 per season! The nation was so caught up with the Gumps daily soap-opera continuity that in 1923, the Minneapolis Board of Trade actually halted trading so the day’s strip could be read over the loud speaker! The Gumps nationwide fame reached its pinnacle in 1929 when Smith broke new ground by killing off one his most popular supporting characters. This had never happened on the comic page before. Letters and telegrams poured into the Tribune Offices.  Tens of thousands threatened to cancel their daily newspaper subscription if she was not brought back to life. This was comic fandom in a frenzy at a national level!  Now the good people at IDW are offering a beautiful and affordable edition of this landmark Gumps 1929 continuity. LOAC Essentials: The Saga of Mary Gold was a true watershed event in comics history and this gorgeous volume does it proud!  It is a must-own for every serious comic strip fan.