Publisher's Weekly Review
This ambitious new book from Yale accompanies an exhibition of the same title debuting this fall at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. Both focus on the 15 "Masters" of American comics, including George Herriman, Jack Kirby and R. Crumb. Well known figure like Jules Feiffer, Pete Hamill and Matt Groening, among others, contribute essays on each of the artists. These are complemented by a 175-page essay by Carlin, "Art History of 20th Century American Comics." Unfortunately, this essay is a disorganized and overly academic attempt to tell the story of comics through just these 15 artists, with little context for their achievements, thus failing to elucidate what makes them so special. Going too far the other way, the individual essays vary wildly in depth and intent. Jonathan Safran Foer's piece is little more than a memory of his friendship with Art Spiegelman, while Brian Walker casts much needed light on Lyonel Feininger's little known cartooning career. If the book is an uneven example of scholarship, it will still deserve a place on the comics reference table for the lavish number of full-color pages celebrating the glorious achievements of the cartoonists profiled. They show what the text sometimes doesn't: the vital impact these artists have had on the form. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Guardian Review
It is sometimes said that the early comic strip reflected the rectilinear grid layout of Manhattan, endorsing its rational harmony, and only gradually evolved to break out of the prison of boxy panels. But George Herriman's Krazy Kat , which still looks startlingly modern and subversive, was already toying with anarchic or freeform layouts in the 1910s, making much of what follows in these pages look staid by comparison. This book is a large, gorgeously glossy exhibition companion, which exhibits a certain bias towards the "underground" or "alternative" comic. Superheroes such as Spider-Man and Superman are passed over rapidly, though happily Charles M Schulz is given due reverence. Much attention, meanwhile, is lavished on R Crumb, Art Spiegelman and Chris Ware, the author of Guardian prize-winning Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth . Ware (the subject here of a characteristically annoying anti-essay by Dave Eggers) has a hyper-geometric style, and despite his remarkable crossover success he exhibits, in a sketch for a cover of his book, a seething resentment of those who don't consider his work "art". Perhaps a mature artform is one that doesn't feel the need to go round protesting that it is an artform. Caption: article-Etcet28.3 It is sometimes said that the early comic strip reflected the rectilinear grid layout of Manhattan, endorsing its rational harmony, and only gradually evolved to break out of the prison of boxy panels. - Steven Poole.
Booklist Review
The rise of the newspaper comic strip and its artistic eclipse by comic books and graphic novels are traced in this lavishly illustrated survey that opens with comics scholar John Carlin's lengthy critical chronicling of the medium's development in the careers of 15 figures, from pioneers Winsor McCay and Lionel Feininger to contemporary doyens R. Crumb and Art Spiegelman. A stellar lineup of writers follows with briefer, less-ponderous pieces on each of the 15. Some writer-creator pairings work better than others. Stanley Crouch doesn't have much to say about George Herriman and Krazy Kat. But Jules Feiffer on Popeye creator E. C. Segar, Pete Hamill on Terry and the Pirates' Milton Caniff, J. Hoberman on MAD founder Harvey Kurtzman, and Dave Eggers on Jimmy Corrigan's Chris Ware each offer informed and affectionate tribute to a seminal comics artist. The book's main appeal, though, lies in the accompanying 200--odd examples of these 15 artists' work, many reproduced from the original drawings. They vividly demonstrate why these artists deserve to be analyzed and celebrated. --Gordon Flagg Copyright 2005 Booklist
Library Journal Review
This beautifully designed but sometimes frustrating oversized hardcover volume is the catalog of a joint exhibition at the Hammer Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art, both in Los Angeles. It spotlights 15 important American cartoonists, including comic strip masters Winsor McCay, E.C. Segar, and Chester Gould; comic book legends Jack Kirby and Harvey Kurtzman; underground comics father Robert Crumb; and more recent graphic novelists Art Spiegelman and Chris Ware. The color and black-and-white examples of the artists' work, sometimes from printed copies but often from the original artwork, are well selected and wonderfully reproduced. Each artist is the subject of a biographical or analytical essay by an admirer (e.g., Mutts creator Patrick McDonnell writes on Charles Schulz, jazz critic Stanley Crouch on George Herriman). These are interesting and worthwhile, though Raymond Pettibon's commentary on Will Eisner can be abstruse. Also, the book's first half features a lengthy and disappointing introductory essay by John Carlin, which contains interesting information on early comics but is peppered with questionable statements and padded with too much rote description of the book's artwork. Still, this is an impressive volume, recommended for all adult collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.