Next Up for Fantagraphics: Dennis the Menace

http://www.komotv.com/stories/38430.htm

I’m really excited that Fantagraphics has managed to bounce back from financial devastation, thanks to their current undertaking of reprinting every Peanuts strip ever in chronological order. I’m not too wild about Dennis the Menace, but hey, whatever keeps them in business.

Yeah. That’ll save 'em.

I think they’d be better off doing the original Popeye strips.

Dennis the Menace? What, they couldn’t get Family Circle.

I agree with Andrew. Popeye would be a much better choice. Pogo would also be great. Hell, L’il Abner would be better.

Anyone have any idea what their target audience is?

They’re already doing Pogo, though I don’t know for sure that they mean it to be complete. They did Segar-era Popeye back in the 80s, though they’re long out of print — I read them all in the 90s in the public library of Iowa City, IA, which has a great comics collection.

I don’t know very much about Dennis the Menace, but I’ve read that it was originally very different than the generic comic strip we all know from the past 30 years — God knows how many anonymous creators it’s had by now. Fantagraphics are pretty hardcore comics historians; I guess they think the old stuff is worth preserving. I’ll be interested to take a look at it.

Oh, I just noticed on Amazon this past weekend that Fantagraphics is doing Gasoline Alley — you might think that’s as bad a choice as Dennis the Menace if you haven’t seen Frank King’s original run (which began right after WWI and ended several decades ago), but believe me, it’s great, especially the Sunday strips, some of which are nothing short of psychedelic.

I didn’t know Fantagraphics was in trouble, though.

[edit]Oh yeah — Dark Horse has been reprinting the Li’l Abner Sundays, which were done for years by famous barbarian artist Frank Frazetta! I’d love to see the dailies done complete too, at least through the 50s. Great strip; really great drawing.

Somebody needs to re-print Garfield.

I’m only semi-sarcastic. For some reason I have a weakness for that strip.

Good point.

And thanks for the Pogo link.