GASOLINE ALLEY: DAILY COMICS VOLUME 1 1964-1966 (IDW Publishing, October 2012) by Frank King and Dick Moores. Hardcover, 288 pages. ISBN: 1613774400 / 9781613774403
Summary from the Goodreads website . . . . .
The year 1964 was a momentous one in the history of Gasoline Alley -- it's when Frank King officially handed the baton to Dick Moores. King continued to help plot the strip but it's Dick Moores who takes center stage.
More so than any other newspaper strip, Gasoline Alley is renowned for its strict continuity and this is our chance to see Moores -- who continued writing and drawing the strip until 1986 -- make it his own.
Forty-plus years earlier, Walt Wallet found baby Skeezix in a basket on his doorstep and in the 1964-1966 strips reproduced in this volume. Skeezix is now middle-aged and has a family of his own.
For the first time since they appeared in newspapers fifty years ago, readers can enjoy these classic strips featuring Walt and his wife Phyllis, Skeezix and his wife Nina, Corky, Clovia, Slim, Avery, Mr. Pert, Joel, Rufus, and a whole cast of familiar characters.
"This is Gasoline Alley at its finest. Once you've read this beautifully designed book and seen Moore's art and stories up close, it will be hard to put down - and you'll be craving for more." --Michael Taube, The Washington Times
My review on the Goodreads website . . . . .
I can still recall the excitement every Sunday after church when we returned home with a Sunday newspaper with a big color section of comics/funnies. While I was aware of Gasoline Alley during my youthful 1960's and could have easily read it, I passed over it in favor of Dick Tracy, Prince Valiant, The Phantom, Lil' Abner, Nancy, and Peanuts. Better late than never applies here.
After reading this massive collection I'm impressed with both the quality of story and art as well as the consistency of good reading. There are some great, heart-warming stories in this collection that realistically capture small town life, values, and concerns of that period in history.
The centerpiece is one single family (and a huge one) but goes on to encompass the whole town, all with colorful and authentic-seeming characters (with a few exaggerations). Also in groundbreaking fashion, these characters aged in real time - - so if a Gasoline Alley couple had a baby in 1964, we've watched it grow into a two-year old when reading Gasoline Alley in 1966.
The presentation of these daily strips in a hardbound format with oversized panels is excellent. I plan to see if the county library has any other editions in this series.
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