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Walt and Skeezix
Publication information
PublisherDrawn and 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 hardover 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 and Quarterly, the first volume of the series was released in 2005.

Background

The Gasoline Alley comic strip had previously been attempted to be collected by John Benson during the 1990s, by trying to get Kitchen Sink Press to take on the task, a project which never took off.

The project of publishing this series started out with the comic creator and collector, Joe Matt who had been collecting Frank King's daily and Sunday strips of Gasoline Alley for a long time, making up an impressive collection of the strip. He introduced some of the strips's prime material to Chris Oliveros of Drawn and Quarterly, convincing him that the material was worth a publication. At the same time Chris Ware had also been collecting the strip in clippings and merchandising, so by the time when Drawn and Quarterly decided to go ahead with the series for publication they also contacted and teamed up with Ware. Jeet Heer's many writings on comic strip history was known by Oliveros, so Heer was contacted to also participate in the project.[1]

In January 2009, after three volumes of the series having been published, it was put on hiatus due to, according to Chris Oliveros, publisher of Drawn and Quarterly, threats of suing from Tribune Media (the original syndicate behind the Gasoline Alley strip) if D&A were to continue with the reprint book series' publication.[2] Steve Tippie, VP of Marketing and Licensing of Tribune Media Service, did one week later reply about the matter and stated that: he was not sure about what Drawn and Quarterly was refering to, and that Tribune Media Service had not sued nor threated to sue Drawn and 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, the publisher had by 2014 according to the editor Jeet Heer, not decided on how long or for how many volumes the series will go on, but Heer stated that he 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 by the time after WWII since that after this point in time, the comic strip was taking on another feel than before due to the many assistants working under King, and a lesser and lesser extent of the strip were made by King himself. However nothing had at the statement's point in time (2014) been decided.[4]

Format

The hardcover volumes of the series measure 10 inches × 7.5 inches (254 mm × 191 mm), comes with dust jackets 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 recieve 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

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[16], NPR[17], PopMatters[8], Publishers Weekly[18], Time[19] and The Washington Post[20].

  • 2006
    • Volume 1 of the series was nominated for a Harvey Award in the category, "Best Domestic Reprint Project".[21]
    • Volume 1 of the series was nominated for the Eisner Award in the categories, "Best Archival Collection/Project - Comic Strips" and "Best Publication Design",[22]
  • 2007
    • Volume 2 of the series was nominated for the Eisner Award in the category, "Best Archival Collection/Project - Comic Strips".[23]

Volumes

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

  1. ^ a b c d https://www.cbr.com/the-return-of-walt-wallet-an-interview-with-jeet-heer/ Retrieved 2019-10-30
  2. ^ https://www.cbr.com/walt-and-skeezix-put-on-hiatus/ Retrieved 2019-10-30
  3. ^ https://www.cbr.com/walt-and-skeezix-put-on-hiatus/#comment-173 Retrieved 2019-10-30
  4. ^ a b http://www.tcj.com/a-conversation-with-jeet-heer/ Retrieved 2019-10-30
  5. ^ https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-896597-64-5 Retrieved 2019-11-30
  6. ^ https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/frank-king-old-comic-strip-about-modern-fatherhood# Retrieved 2019-10-30
  7. ^ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-best-in-comics-three-books-to-check-out-now/article20172820/ Retrieved 2019-10-30
  8. ^ a b c https://www.popmatters.com/185131-walt-before-skeezix-by-frank-king-2495622861.html Retrieved 2019-10-30
  9. ^ http://www.tcj.com/reviews/walt-skeezix-1933-1934/ Retrieved 2019-10-30
  10. ^ a b https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/arts/design/14schw.html Retrieved 2019-10-30
  11. ^ a b c https://aux.avclub.com/new-releases-include-witzend-tw-td-and-jim-starlin-s-1798269724 Retrieved 2019-10-30
  12. ^ https://www.npr.org/2014/06/10/318216879/a-charming-road-trip-to-the-past-in-walt-before-skeezix?t=1572425098856 Retrieved 2019-10-30
  13. ^ https://aux.avclub.com/frank-king-walt-and-skeezix-1798200792 Retrieved 2019-10-30
  14. ^ https://www.geist.com/fact/reviews/walt-and-skeezix-1921-1922/ Retrieved 2019-10-30
  15. ^ https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/frank-king/walt-skeezix/ Retrieved 2019-10-30
  16. ^ https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/frank-king-old-comic-strip-about-modern-fatherhood Retrieved 2019-10-30
  17. ^ https://www.npr.org/2014/06/10/318216879/a-charming-road-trip-to-the-past-in-walt-before-skeezix Retrieved 2019-10-30
  18. ^ https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-896597-64-5 Retrieved 2019-10-30
  19. ^ http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1142132,00.html Retrieved 2019-10-30
  20. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/10/AR2008011004383.html Retrieved 2019-10-30
  21. ^ https://www.diamondcomics.com/Home/1/1/3/124?articleID=29571 Retrieved 2019-10-22
  22. ^ https://www.cbr.com/chris-ware-warren-ellis-lead-2006-eisner-nominations/ Retrieved 2019-10-22
  23. ^ https://comicsalliance.com/2007-eisner-award-nominees-announced/ Retrieved 2019-10-22


Category:Comics publications Category:Comic strip collection books Category:Drawn and Quarterly titles Category:Comic strips syndicated by Tribune Content Agency Category:2005 comics debuts Category:Gag-a-day comics Category:Humor comics Category:Slice of life comics

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