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dr_hermes (dr_hermes) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-08-06 21:23:00

Entry tags:

creator: winsor mccay

Winsor McCay, great art and funky balloons
Newspaper strips today, with their truncated size and editorial limitations, are but a sad echo of their former glory. So I should not let too many days go by without a sample of the classics. KRAZY KAT. THIMBLE THEATRE. POGO. PRINCE VALIANT. TERRY AND THE PIRATES. MAD. You know, the good stuff.

From 1911, another of Nemo's perplexing dreams. Did that kid eat Welsh rarebit EVERY night or what? He had some imagination. And, as much as I love Winsor McCay's work, I wouldn't mind if he had let an assistant letter the dialogue balloons, they go beyond disorganized.

(Post a new comment)

	fungo_squiggly 2009-08-07 04:51 pm UTC (link)
	This reminds me of a sci-fi story I once read, by H.P. Lovecraft I believe. It involved an explorer from Earth who gets lured into a crystal maze in an alien world. Things don't go quite so well for him as they went for Flip. (Reply to this)

	freddylloyd 2009-08-07 07:07 pm UTC (link)
	I actually decided a while back to read only the first panel of a McCay cartoon, to understand the set-up, and then let the art explain the rest of the story. Much more efficient than wasting effort deciphering a balloon, only to discover all its says is, "Oh! Mama!" or "I'll be jinged." (Reply to this) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-08-07 09:27 pm UTC (link)
	That's not a bad idea. Most of the dialogue doesn't contribute to the effect, and the way it's continued from one panel to the next vexes me. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	psychop_rex 2009-08-09 04:31 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, the dialogue's a bit haphazard, that's for certain. It does give the stories a unique sort of feel, but really, McCay was a much better artist and plotter than he was a writer. It's a shame that his career was pre-comic books - he would've been dynamite if he'd had someone else provide the dialogue for him, Stan Lee-style. (Reply to this)