In previous
Feast Your Eyes posts we’ve looked at IDW’s jaw-dropping Artists Editions. This time we’ll turn to another side of the medium. Let’s look at the great comic strips of old. Fantagraphics under the editorship of comic historian
Richard Marshall offers up a beautiful over-sized showcase of
Johnny Gruelle’s near forgotten fantasy masterpiece
Mr. Twee-Deedle. Gruelle became world-famous at the turn of the century for inventing the iconic characters
Raggady Ann and Andy. In 1911, when it came time for the New York Herald to find a suitable front page replacement for
Little Nemo, they smartly turned to Mr. Gruelle who developed a on-going strip about a a pixie named Mr. Twee-Deedle. It ran for almost seven years. The strips collected here (with a fascinating intro by Mr. Marshall) are a delightful selection of strips- a beautiful blend of story and art. And this over-sized book is an ideal showcase for this masterpiece. Just look at this breath-taking example:
