Barnaby Volume Two

by Crockett Johnson, Daniel Clowes (Artist), Jules Feiffer (Introduction), Philip Nel (Editor), Eric Reynolds (Editor)

Overview

Volume 2 of legendary children’s book author (Harold and the Purple Crayon) Crockett Johnson’s long-lost comic-strip masterpiece collects 5-year-old Barnaby Baxter and his Fairy Godfather J.J. O’Malley’s 1944-1945 newspaper strip misadventures: designed by graphic novelist Daniel Clowes (Ghost World).

The long-lost comic strip masterpiece by Crockett Johnson, legendary children’s book author (Harold and the Purple Crayon, The Carrot Seed), collected in full and designed by graphic novelist and Barnaby superfan Daniel Clowes (Ghost World, Wilson). Vol. 2 collects the years 1944-1945 of 5-year-old Barnaby Baxter and his Fairy Godfather J.J. O’Malley’s misadventures. The cigar-chomping, bumbling con-artist and fast-talker O’Malley takes Barnaby on a trip to D.C. to serve his term in Congress. Also, Gus the Ghost and O’Malley follow the Baxters to their seaside cottage, enlisting Barnaby to join them on a treasure hunt. Plus Wall St., Ermine hunters, soap salesmen and more! Adored by all ages, Barnaby’s deft balance of fantasy, timeless humor and elegant cartooning will delight even the most sophisticated reader (Chris Ware (Building Stories) loves it), much as it did in its original run, attracting fans as diverse as Dorothy Parker, Charles Schulz, W.C. Fields, Gardner Rea, Milton Caniff, Rockwell Kent and Louis Untermeyer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781606997093
Publisher:	Fantagraphics Books
Publication date:	06/22/2014
Series:	Barnaby
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	10.40(w) x 6.50(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

Crockett Johnson was the pen name of cartoonist and children’s book illustrator David Johnson Leisk (October 20,1906–July 11, 1975). He is best known for the Harold series of books, which began with Harold and the Purple Crayon, and for the comic strip Barnaby. He was married to the children’s book author Ruth Krauss, with whom he collaborated on several books, including The Carrot Seed.

Daniel Clowes is a Harvey, Eisner, Ignatz, and PEN America Literary Award Winner whose comics and graphic novels have been translated into over 20 languages worldwide. He is also an Academy Award nominated screenwriter (for Ghost World), and retrospectives of his work have appeared at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Oakland Museum, and the Wexner Center in Columbus, OH. He lives in Oakland, California, with his wife and son.

Jules Feiffer is a cartoonist, playwright, children’s book author and illustrator, and member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He teaches a humor writing class at Stony Brook Southampton College and lives in Southampton, New York.

Eric Reynolds is the VP/Associate Publisher of Fantagraphics Books. He has curated well over 4,000 pages of comics anthologies, between ten volumes of Now, 22 volumes of Mome from 2005-2010, and several Free Comic Book Day anthologies for Fantagraphics. He lives in Seattle, WA, with his wife and daughter.

Editorial Reviews

"Strikingly minimal, in that pre-Peanuts era, was Crockett Johnson's Barnaby, whose characters appeared in profile and whose talk balloons were lettered not by hand but by mechanical typesetting. In my love of cartoons, I sent away to cartoonists, begging for a free original strip. My sample Barnaby strip slowly shed, over the years, its glued-on lettering."

John Updike

"In 1942, Crockett Johnson caught the American public by storm with his brilliant comic strip Barnaby. A whole new generation now will have the opportunity to become acquainted with Johnson’s influential creation, a real treasure for readers of all ages."

The Washington Times - Michael Taube

"I think, and I'm trying to talk calmly, that Barnaby and his friends and oppressors are the most important additions to American arts and letters in Lord knows how many years."

Dorothy Parker

08/01/2014
Gr 4 Up—Barnaby Baxter haplessly follows in the wake of his protean fairy godfather, the rotund, verbose J.J. O'Malley, as he tries to get Congress to back the building of a dam, accidentally exposes insurance fraud, and causes a huge stock market crash by trying to buy a pair of morning trousers. Throughout it all, Barnaby's parents shush and cajole him to try and forget about his "imaginary friend" Mr. O'Malley, and seem to just miss meeting him again and again. Adults —Barnaby's family excepted— are persistently depicted as craven opportunists and the mystical folk that populate the book are single-minded naïfs, with only Barnaby's friend Jane shown to be flatly, hilariously sensible, and critical of everything that goes on. This second volume reprints two years of the comic strip, and once again bookends the content with essays and a thorough compilation of its many allusions to provide context for the strip's importance, popularity, and scope. Included reproductions of the cover art of contemporary collections state that the comic was and is for adults, and the elevated vocabulary and historical and social references would back that up, but the book should slyly, winkingly appeal to almost all ages.—Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH

School Library Journal