Walt and Skeezix

I have been reading comics from 1921 to 1924 the last few weeks. They are early strips of Gasoline Alley, collected in two books called Walt and Skeezix, and published by Drawn and Quarterly.

The comics feature the residents of Gasoline Alley, in Chicago, and are from the early days of a comics saga that would carry on for decades, with the characters aging in real time. If I look at Hagar the Horrible today, it is pretty much the same (and just as awful) as when I was a kid. Gasoline Alley is not like that. It was the first comic to have its characters grow older, year by year.

I love these comics, and I have been trying to figure out why. They can be funny, but mostly they are very gentle. Unlike other comics you might describe as gentle though (Family Circus?) they are almost never sappy or sentimental. The stories move slowly and gracefully, and even though they are clearly set in another time (just look at the cars) they still seem very familiar. I don't feel like I'm reading something written almost 90 years ago.

Drawn and Quarterly have committed to producing many of these collections (unbelievably, almost none of the Gasoline Alley comics had ever been published in book form before). The books themselves are beautiful, including essays on creator Frank King and his work and some truly amazing old family photos. Plus they come with endnotes that help point out little extras a reader like me might not notice (like the Skeezix doll in one of the panels).

The books are normally priced at $39.95 in Canada, but I noticed on the Drawn and Quarterly online store that they are now selling for $29.95. It is a bargain.