Walt and Skeezix

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Walt and Skeezix
Publication information
PublisherDrawn & Quarterly
FormatHardcover
GenreSlice of Life
Humor
Publication dateJune 2005
No. of issues8 volumes to date
Main character(s)Walt Wallet
Skeezix
Creative team
Written byFrank King
Artist(s)Frank King
Editor(s)Jeet Heer
Chris Ware

Walt and Skeezix is a hardcover book collection of the daily comic strips of Gasoline Alley, an American comic strip written and drawn by Frank King, originally syndicated in newspapers by Tribune Content Agency between 1918 and 1969. The collection is published by the Canadian publisher Drawn & Quarterly; the first volume of the series was released in 2005.

Background[edit]

John Benson had already made an unsuccessful attempt to produce a collection of Gasoline Alley comic strips through Kitchen Sink Press in the 1990s.

The publication began with the comic creator and collector Joe Matt, who had been collecting Frank King's daily and Sunday Gasoline Alley strips for some time and had accumulated a sizable collection of the strip. He introduced some of the strips's prime material to Chris Oliveros of Drawn & Quarterly, convincing him that it was worth publication. Chris Ware had also been collecting the strip in clippings and merchandising, and Drawn & Quarterly reached out to him for additional material once the project had started. Jeet Heer was also contacted to participate by Oliveros due to his knowledge of Heer's many writings on comic strip history.[1]

In January 2009, after publication of three volumes of the series, it was put on hiatus due what Oliveros described as threats of a lawsuit by Tribune Media (the original syndicate behind the Gasoline Alley strip) if the reprint was to continue publication.[2] Steve Tippie, VP of Marketing and Licensing of Tribune Media, responded a week later that he was unsure what Oliveros was referring to, and that Tribune Media had not sued nor threatened to sue Drawn & Quarterly over what they were currently publishing.[3] In mid 2010 the series resumed with the release of its fourth volume.[1]

The whole daily strip output of Frank King's Gasoline Alley spans from 1918 to 1969. According to editor Jeet Heer, as of 2014, the publisher had not decided how many volumes the series would have.[4] However, Heer stated that would like to get out as much of King's material as possible. The series' editors have pondered the idea of an ending of the series shortly after WWII since, after that point, the comic strip started being produced to a greater extent by the many assistants working under King and to a lesser extent by King himself.

Format[edit]

The hardcover volumes of the series measure 10 inches × 7.5 inches (254 mm × 191 mm). Each volume has a dust jacket and fabric ribbon bookmark. The strips are reproduced in black-and-white, and most often at two strips per page to the amount of around 700 strips (two years of the original run) per volume. The book design is done by Chris Ware. Introductions and biographical pieces are written by Jeet Heer and extra material such as photographs, memorabilia, drawings, sketches, excerpts from Frank King's diary and essays are included. The base for the biographical material of the books have been supplied by Drewanna King, grand-daughter of the creator Frank King, this being: the original letters, diaries, photographs and home movies of the King family. The MSRP per volume was by the time of volume one's release set at $29.99 but has over time til the latest volume (volume eight, released 2019) got raised to $49.99.[5][6][7][8][9][1] The source material for the comic strips reprinted in the volumes are among others mostly sourced from Joe Matt, Chris Ware and the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.[10][1]

Volume one of the series starts off from year 1921, the same time that Skeezix was introduced into the strip. The real beginning of Gasoline Alley, from 1918, is reprinted in the standalone volume Walt before Skeezix which feature the very beginning of the strip from 1918 onwards to when volume one of Walt and Skeezix then takes over.[11][12] The earliest installments of the strip were single panels, the first proper strip did appear in September 1919.[8] The book series does only collect the daily strips of Gasoline Alley, a decision made due to the editors considering the major marvel of Frank King's genius is to be seen in the daily continuation, the accumulated story of Walt and Skeezix over time while they age.[11]

The Walt before Skeezix book was released in 2014 just after the Walt and Skeezix series had completed the first decade of the comic strip, and was going to receive a redesign prior to continuation into the next decade of strips. The editors of the series thought that it would be a good fit to therefore publish the beginning Gasoline Alley strips prior to the series' design shift.[4]

Recognition[edit]

According to The New York Times, the first volume of the series managed to sell over 10,000 copies from its release in June, 2005 to January, 2007.[10] Volumes of the series have been reviewed in The A.V. Club,[13][11] Geist,[14] Kirkus Reviews,[15] The New Yorker,[6] NPR,[12] PopMatters,[8] Publishers Weekly,[5] Time[16] and The Washington Post.[17]

  • 2006
    • Volume 1 of the series was nominated for a Harvey Award in the category, "Best Domestic Reprint Project".[18]
    • Volume 1 of the series was nominated for the Eisner Award in the categories, "Best Archival Collection/Project - Comic Strips" and "Best Publication Design",[19]
  • 2007
    • Volume 2 of the series was nominated for the Eisner Award in the category, "Best Archival Collection/Project - Comic Strips".[20]

Volumes[edit]

Volumes
Volume Release date Title Period Page count ISBN
0 2014-06-10 Walt before Skeezix 1918-1920 540 978-1-77046-141-3
1 2005-06-23 Walt and Skeezix - 1921-1922 1921-1922 352 978-1-89659-764-5
2 2006-08-22 Walt and Skeezix - 1923-1924 1923-1924 400 978-1-89659-799-7
3 2007-10-02 Walt and Skeezix - 1925-1926 1925-1926 400 978-1-89729-909-8
4 2010-04-13 Walt and Skeezix - 1927-1928 1927-1928 400 978-1-89729-939-5
5 2011-12-06 Walt and Skeezix - 1929-1930 1929-1930 400 978-1-77046-031-7
6 2016-02-02 Walt and Skeezix - 1931-1932 1931-1932 400 978-1-77046-178-9
7 2019-04-23 Walt and Skeezix - 1933-1934 1933-1934 352 978-1-77046-346-2

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "The return of Walt Wallet: An interview with Jeet Heer | CBR". www.cbr.com. 4 June 2010.
  2. ^ "Walt and Skeezix put on hiatus | CBR". www.cbr.com. 7 January 2009.
  3. ^ "Walt and Skeezix put on hiatus | CBR". www.cbr.com. 7 January 2009.
  4. ^ a b "A Conversation with Jeet Heer |". 13 October 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Fiction Book Review: Walt & Skeezix, Book One by Frank King, Author, Chris Ware, Editor, Jeet Heer, Editor . Drawn & Quarterly $29.95 (352p) ISBN 978-1-896597-64-5". PublishersWeekly.com. June 2005.
  6. ^ a b Schwartz, Ben. "An Old Comic Strip About Modern Fatherhood". The New Yorker.
  7. ^ Rogers, Sean (22 August 2014). "New in comics: Three books to check out now". The Globe and Mail.
  8. ^ a b c "'Walt Before Skeezix' Captures a Slice of American Life just After World War I". PopMatters. September 17, 2014.
  9. ^ "Walt & Skeezix: 1933-1934 |". 28 June 2019.
  10. ^ a b Schwartz, Ben (January 14, 2007). "See You in the (Restored, Reprinted) Funny Papers". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  11. ^ a b c "New releases include witzend, TW+TD, and Jim Starlin's Thanos Annual". aux.avclub.com. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  12. ^ a b Lehoczky, Etelka (10 June 2014). "A Charming Road Trip To The Past In 'Walt Before Skeezix'". NPR.org.
  13. ^ "Frank King: Walt And Skeezix". AUX. July 2005.
  14. ^ Macklin, Sam (May 29, 2014). "Walt and Skeezix: 1921 & 1922". Geist.com.
  15. ^ "WALT & SKEEZIX | Kirkus Reviews" – via www.kirkusreviews.com.
  16. ^ Arnold, Andrew (December 17, 2005). "Best of 2005: Comix". Time – via content.time.com.
  17. ^ "Extra, Extra: Vintage Strips Rise Again". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  18. ^ "2006 Harvey Nominees Announced". www.diamondcomics.com.
  19. ^ "Chris Ware & Warren Ellis Lead 2006 Eisner Nominations | CBR". www.cbr.com. 5 April 2006.
  20. ^ McElhatton, Greg (20 April 2007). "2007 Eisner Award Nominees Announced". ComicsAlliance.

External links[edit]

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