Posted by
Michael on Thursday, March 15, 2007 7:08:34 PM
I got assigned this story by a major internet magazine which will remain unnamed, and it was never published. Instead of letting it linger when the guys at Fantagraphics were nice enough to let me interview them, I thought I'd let this story be the first Deschamps Blog
Exclusive!
Fantagraphics continues trend
of vintage comic strips
By Michael Powell
Fantagraphics
is a Seattle based publishing company known best for acclaimed alternative
comics such as Love and Rockets and Joe Sacco’s Safe Area Gorazde.
While known for comics that often push the envelope, Fantagraphics has
also released a fair share of vintage comic strips, many of which have
rarely been seen since they were originally published.
They first got started by publishing comic strips such as Popeye and
Prince Valiant, items that weren’t huge sellers. Most recently, they
struck gold with The Complete Peanuts, which published Charles Schulz’s
very first work, when the iconic characters we know today were still
in their infancy. “Peanuts has gotten us more press than anything
else,” Gary Groth, co-founder of Fantagraphics, said.
Just
recently released is a collection by cartoonist Gene Deitch called Terr’ble
Thompson, which follows the adventures of a young boy who travels through
time, going on adventures with famous figures from history.
Terr’ble
Thompson should be of interest to many readers who grew up watching
Saturday morning cartoons. Dietch abandoned his attempts at having a
syndicated comic strip in order to have a safe, full-time job at UPA
Animation Studio. With three kids at home, Dietch had to put food on
the table and the UPA job offered security that freelancing simply didn’t.
However, he kept the character
alive in his work on Captain Kangaroo. On each episode of Captain Kangaroo,
a five minute animated serial appeared starring a character named Tom
Terrific. “Most everyone that is over the age of 35 will remember
Tom Terrific,” said Eric Reynolds, who edited the collection.
Terr’ble Thompson came out around the same time that Peanuts
started, and Reynolds theorizes that the world of comics could be very
different if Gene Deitch had not dropped it for the job at UPA. “When
you read it, you can see that it could have easily become a successful
comic strip. The style looks really iconic and like nothing else that
was in the newspaper at the time. It may be stretching it, but I think
Gene [Deitch] hadn’t taken that job, it could have been just as influential
as Peanuts.”
Another
classic by Fantagraphics, which is slated for release in October 2007,
is the first in a 12-volume collection of Walt Kelly’s comic strip
Pogo. Running from 1949 to 1973, Pogo criticized political figures ranging
from Joseph McCarthy to Richard Nixon. Kelly’s work on Pogo got him
in enough hot water so that his phone was tapped and he became suspected
of spying for the Soviet Union.
That
collection will be designed by Jeff Smith, author of the creator-owned
series Bone. In a press release, Smith said, "This
collection has been a long time coming. I've been waiting for it ever
since I was nine. I'm very happy to be helping the Kelly family and
Fantagraphics bring this comic strip masterpiece to a new audience." 