Barnaby, Vol. 1: 1942-1943

Barnaby #1

by Crockett Johnson, Daniel Clowes (Cover Art), Eric Reynolds (Series Editor)

Before authoring one of the most beloved children's book series of all time Harold and the Purple Crayon cartoonist Crockett Johnson created the comic strip Barnaby for over ten years (1942 to 1952). Its subtle ironies and playful allusions never won a broad following, but the adventures of 5-year-old Barnaby Baxter and his fairy godfather Jackeen J. O'Malley was and is a critical favorite.

Fantagraphics will introduce the wonders of Barnaby to a new generation of children and parents alike. Co-edited by Johnson biographer Philip Nel (Dr. Seuss: American Icon) and Fantagraphics Associate Publisher Eric Reynolds, with art direction by graphic novelist Daniel Clowes (Ghost World), this five-volume Barnaby series will collect the entirety of the original newspaper strips from 1942-1952. The first volume will collect all the strips from 1942 and 1943.

Barnaby revolved around a precocious five-year-old named Barnaby Baxter and his fairly godfather Jackeen J. O'Malley. Yet O'Malley, a cigar-chomping, bumbling con-artist and fast-talker, was not your typical protector. His grasp of magic was usually specious at best, limited to occasional flashes, often aided and abetted by his fellow members in The Elves, Leprechauns, Gnomes, and Little Men’s Chowder & Marching Society.

Barnaby's deft balance of fantasy, political commentary, sophisticated wit, and elegantly spare images expanded our sense of what comic strips can do. With subtlety and economy, Barnaby proved that comics need not condescend to readers. Its small but influential readership took that message to heart.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Graphic Novels, Comic Strips, Fiction, Art, Comix

319 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2013

About the author

Crockett Johnson was the pen name of the American cartoonist and children's book illustrator David Johnson Leisk. He is best known for the comic strip Barnaby (1942–1952) and the Harold series of books beginning with Harold and the Purple Crayon. [From Wikipedia.]

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love classic comic strips, but I've never been inclined to really try Barnaby based on the few times I've seen some examples of it. The characters aren't particularly attractive or emotive, and were usually standing around doing nothing much of anything underneath very large word balloons with an off-putting type-set font instead of hand lettering. But, hey, Hoopla was offering the first volume of a comprehensive collection of the strips as a free Bonus Borrow, so here we go . . .

When I started reading the first panels, I found Barnaby Baxter to be a dull little child and his fairy godfather, Jackeen J. O'Malley to be an annoying jackass who lies, fabricates, and deceives as he tells tall tales about himself and helps himself to things that don't belong to him. About halfway through the book, I finally started to find the pixie to be a little bit charming, and by the time the little rascal found his natural home in politics and started debunking Santa Claus, Mr. O'Malley had won me over.

I really appreciate all the extra behind-the-scenes essays and material included in the book, including a contemporary review of the strip by the legendary Dorothy Parker.

I'm in no rush, but I'll probably give the second volume a try in the future.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Barnaby since The Boston Globe reran part of it in the 1960's. I am very pleased that the full run of the strip is being published in a projected five volumes by Fantographics.

I happened to read Volume Two of Fantagraphics' Barnaby books before I read this first volume. Having read them both now, I find that in general Volume Two is funnier than Volume One. The first part of Volume One is particularly weak. The drawing also improves noticeably over time.

I believe that Volume Two has more thorough explanatory notes than Volume One does as well. The following are some of the items I think should have been annotated in Volume One:


[September 11, 1942: page 79] The name of O'Malley revered by a grateful humanity with the great names of medicine - Robinson, Muni, Hersholt, Barrymore!

Edward G. Robinson, Paul Muni, Jean Hersholt, and Lionel Barrymore were all actors who had well-known film roles in which they portrayed physicians.

Robinson: Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet, playing Paul Ehrlich. [1940] (Also, The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse [1938] in which Robinson played a doctor assisting gangsters, which I strongly doubt Johnson had in mind.)

Muni: The Story of Louis Pasteur [1936], in which Muni played the title role.

Hersholt: The Dr. Christian series, in which Hersholt played the fictional Dr. Paul Christian. The series began with Meet Dr. Christian [1939], with three subsequent films in 1940 and two in 1941.

Barrymore: The Dr. Kildare series, in which Barrymore played the fictional Dr. Leonard Gillespie. The series began with Young Dr. Kildare [1938], with two subsequent films in 1939 and three in 1940. The series also continued after that.



[September 19, 1941: page 93] No Leprechaun ever thought of sitting on a mushroom until a lady in Sussex had them do it in a kid's book

I am guessing this refers to Beatrix Potter, who did live in Sussex and certainly drew mushrooms. However, I haven't read much of her work and I don't know if she portrayed any leprechauns in her stories.



[November 3, 1941: page 101] I reported that I was about to transfer my patronage to Duffy's Tavern

Duffy's Tavern was a popular radio comedy series that was aired regularly from 1941 - 1951. Duffy's Tavern had also been mentioned on other shows in 1939 and 1940.



[November 28, 1941: page 112] This is the story of a beautiful and talented girl lumberjack and her search for happiness...As Joan learns that her mother's Phi Beta Kappa key has been discovered in the hand of the murdered East Indian prince, she redoubles her efforts to get out of the beartrap fate flung in her path

This double-sized panel shows a radio broadcasting several programs at once. They include comic made-up excerpts from a gangster program, a news program, a children's program, a popular music program, some announcements, brief comments obviously made by Mr. O'Malley, and the made-up soap opera episode quoted above. All of these are funny but the soap opera excerpt is the longest and the funniest.

The following is the daily introduction to a genuine radio soap opera, Our Gal Sunday, only slightly less silly than the fake one above:

Once again, we present Our Gal Sunday, the story of an orphan girl named Sunday from the little mining town of Silver Creek, Colorado, who in young womanhood married England's richest, most handsome lord, Lord Henry Brinthrope. The story that asks the question: Can this girl from the little mining town in the West find happiness as the wife of a wealthy and titled Englishman?

For anyone seeking more information about radio soap operas, see James Thurber's five-part series Soapland in The New Yorker beginning in the May 7, 1948 issue. This was reprinted in the Thurber collection The Beast in Me and Other Animals.



[December 19, 1941: page 121] Reminds me of my Yukon days and the time I was sitting with a friend named McGrew - poor fellow - in the Malamute Cocktail Lounge

There actually is a sort of note about this in the book. It is a refererence to the poem The Shooting of Dan McGrew by Robert W. Service. It is too long to quote in its entirety but this is the well-known first line:

A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute saloon

Mr. O'Malley calls McGrew "poor fellow" because he is shot to death in the poem.



[January 14 - 16, 1942: pages 132 and 133] Gorgon, Barnaby's dog, starts telling shaggy dog stories.

From Wikipedia: In its original sense, a shaggy dog story or yarn is an extremely long-winded anecdote characterized by extensive narration of typically irrelevant incidents and terminated by an anticlimax or a pointless punchline.

Gorgon tells two complete stories and the beginnings of two others. The first of the unfinished stories is said to be the origin of the phrase "shaggy dog story." Gorgon says:

Have you heard the one about the man who found a dog in Chicago and saw an advertisement in the "Lost" column of the London Times and -

There is no absolutely set end to the story but one version continues:

The dog that the man found was (of course) very shaggy and the item that the man saw in the newspaper was about a shaggy dog lost in England. There was a substantial reward offered for the return of the dog. The man and the dog travel from Chicago to New York City. The man books passage for them to England and they sail. They locate the man in England who ran the "lost dog" item, find his house, and knock on the door. The man opens the door, looks at the dog, says, "Not that damned shaggy!" and closes the door.

The story should really be prolonged as much as possible. The story does indeed meet the requirements in the definition above; it ends in an anticlimax or a pointless punchline.

Gorgon's other unfinished story begins:

Well, this Cockney fellow came home one night and found a giraffe in his bathroom. "Bli'me," he said -

I didn't know the real ending to this, but what I have found online is:

The man says to the giraffe, "What are you doing in my bathroom?" The giraffe replies, "No soap, radio!"

A truly pointless punchline.

Of the two stories Gorgon tells in their entirety, the one about the pool table seems to meet the shaggy dog story requirements. The cake joke does not; it's funny.

As an aside, I don't believe that five year old Barnaby would really say to Gorgon, "If you don't stop telling shaggy dog stories, I'll put you in the cellar..."



[May 28, 1942: page 190] Only last week a gentleman contacted me about a very perplexing matter...After I'd reassured him with a gentle smile and a kindly nod he took a last bite at a finger nail and confided in me. "My problem, Mr. O'Malley," he began in a timorous voice...Before he'd finished talking, I'd solved his problem and I said, sternly, "My advice to you, Mr. Anthony, is this - "

No idea.*



[June 15, 1942: page 197] the high-powered B. B. D. & O'Malley agency

From Wikipedia: BBDO is a worldwide advertising agency network, with its headquarters in New York City. The agency began in 1891 with George Batten's Batten Company, and later in 1928, through a merger of BDO (Barton, Durstine & Osborn) and Batten Co. the agency became BBDO.

Mr. O'Malley just added the "Malley" following the "O."



[October 14, 1942: page 249] slightly used placards

The notes in the book discuss some of the "used" placards in this three-panel-length picture. These are placards used in previous campaigns, with the name "O'Malley" now covering part of each sign. Some of the ones not mentioned in the notes are:

"DON'T TREAD ON O'MALLEY":
"Don't tread on me"
Evidently a really old placard.
From Wikipedia: The Gadsden flag is a historical American flag with a yellow field depicting a rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike. Positioned below the rattlesnake are the words "DONT TREAD ON ME." The flag is named after American general and politician Christopher Gadsden (1724–1805), who designed it in 1775 during the American Revolution.

"MUGWUMP O'MALLEY":
From Wikipedia: Mugwumps were Republican political activists who bolted from the United States Republican Party by supporting Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of 1884. They switched parties because they rejected the financial corruption associated with Republican candidate James G. Blaine.

"TIPPECANOE AND O'MALLEY TOO":
"Tippecannoe and Tyler Too"
From Wikipedia: "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too", originally published as "Tip and Ty", was a popular and influential campaign song of the Whig Party's colorful Log Cabin Campaign in the 1840 United States presidential election. Its lyrics sang the praises of Whig candidates William Henry Harrison (the "hero of Tippecanoe") and John Tyler, while denigrating incumbent Democrat Martin Van Buren.

"O'MALLEY IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER":
"Prosperity is just around the corner."
This is a phrase attributed to President Herbert Hoover regarding the Depression that began in 1929 during Hoover's presidency.

"KEEP COOL WITH O'MALLEY":
"Keep cool with Coolidge"
"Keep cool with Coolidge" and "Keep cool and keep Coolidge" were slogans used in President Calvin Coolidge's run for re-election in 1924. Coolidge won, beating John W. Davis.

"16 TO 1 O'MALLEY":
From Wikipedia: Free silver was a major economic policy issue in late 19th-century American politics. Its advocates were in favor of an expansionary monetary policy featuring the unlimited coinage of silver into money on demand, as opposed to strict adherence to the more carefully fixed money supply implicit in the gold standard. Supporters of an important place for silver in a bimetallic money system making use of both silver and gold, called "Silverites," sought coinage of silver dollars at a fixed weight ratio of 16-to-1 against dollar coins made of gold. Because the actual price ratio of the two metals was substantially higher in favor of gold at the time, most economists warned that the less valuable silver coinage would drive the more valuable gold out of circulation.

TO[obscured - perhaps B or R]Y
I don't know this one. The word might be "Tory" but I don't know of a campaign slogan that starts that way.

RU[rest obscured] ROM[rest obscured] O'MALLEY":
"Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion"
No wonder Johnson covered up most of this. This was a slogan used by James G. Blaine in the presidential election of 1884. Blaine was a Republlican and the sign was meant to denounce Democrats for being against Prohibition, having many Catholic members, and supporting the South in the Civil War. The slogan was considered very offensive by many and reportedly hurt Blaine's chances. The Democratic candidate, Grover Cleveland, was elected.




[November 24, 1942: page 267] When Gus returned from the Potomac where he'd gotten rid of a pile of old letters from a fellow named Button Gwinnett

The notes in the book briefly explain that Gwinnett was a signer of the Declaration of Independence but they don't explain the joke. Gwinnett was killed in a duel in 1777 and his signature is rare and very valuable. Throwing away a pile of Gwinnett's signed letters meant that they had thrown away a potential fortune.


I'm sure there are others as well.

Saying this book is not quite as good as the one that follows might be misleading. This one is very good; Volume Two is excellent.


***************************

*5/28/19

I just stumbled across the explanation of the "Mr. Anthony" comments. This refers to a radio show from the time that Barnaby originally appeared. The following is an edited version of the explanation from Know Old Time Radio, an online encyclopedia of personalities of old radio programs.


Monday, September 01, 2008
John J. Anthony (1902-70)

Lester Kroll was born September 1, 1902, in New York, New York. From 1920 to 1925, Lester was a New York taxi driver. In 1926, one of Lester's passengers told him about a radio station he was starting up in Queens. The radio station was WMRJ. It was located in the Merrick Radio Store at12 New York Boulevard in Jamaica, Long Island. Lester had just married Stella, a former Earl Carroll's girl in 1925 and she would bear him two sons. At first, Lester worked under his own name. He was mainly a disc jockey but he was also a general announcer. A prankster at heart, one of his pranks didn't take too well for wife Stella and she divorced him in 1929, moving to California with the boys. Vengefully, Lester refused to pay alimony and child support. This got Lester in trouble with the law. He spent three months in the New York City Jail for not making those payments. Eventually he would mend his ways. He sought professional help and began his own radio series where listeners would call in with their problems in 1930. Radio historians consider this the first instance of talkradio.

Using the names of his two sons, John (who was called "Jack") and Anthony, he came up with John J. Anthony. Ask Mr. Anthony was a program dedicated to helping the sufferers from an antiquated and outmoded domestic relations code...

As John J. Anthony, he claimed he did all the study of a fully licensed psychiatrist at the "world famous" Institute of Marital Relations on the campus of Vassar College, then an-all women's university...

The Goodwill Hour (taking its name from the "kind" gesture Mr. Anthony was doing to give them free counseling sessions) began broadcasting on WMCA in New York in 1937 and was eventually heard on the Mutual network (via New York's WOR). The name of the program was changed to the John J. Anthony Program in 1945...

[Stewart Tame · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barnaby is one of the best comic strips of all time, so this lovely reprint series from Fantagraphics almost made me weep with joy. A young boy, Barnaby Baxter, wishes for a fairy godmother. In through his bedroom window crashes a diminutive, portly fellow with pink wings and smoking a cigar, who introduces himself as J.J. O'Malley, "... your fairy godfather." O'Malley is more interested in raiding the icebox and helping himself to Barnaby's father's cigars than granting wishes. Barnaby's parents refuse to believe in Mr. O'Malley, hardly surprising since he invariably wanders off before they get a chance to meet him. The humor is character driven, and never seems to flag. O'Malley is difficult to resist quoting. When attempting to persuade Barnaby to dig for water in the cellar, he remarks that city water is, " ... Not to be compared in taste with the clear, cool, beautiful nectar of the natural earth ... Makes me thirsty merely to describe it ... Er ... Is there any beer on ice, m'boy?" The strip was much beloved by the leading lights of the day. W.C. Fields, Duke Ellington, and Dorothy Parker were some of its many fans. After the aborted attempt by Del Rey Books to reprint the series, I despaired of ever seeing a complete run of the strip. These books belong on the shelf of every comics fan.

So, Fantagraphics, I notice the comics equivalent of a typo on the bottom half of page 243. The first panel of the September 30 strip appears to have a copy of the first panel in place of the second. I can look up the strip in question in volume 3 of the Del Rey edition and see how it's supposed to look, but not everyone has that book on hand to refer to. I assume the error will be corrected in future printings, but is there any chance of also including it in the introduction to one of the latter volumes? It doesn't seem to be in the intro to volume 2. Still giving this book five stars because it's Barnaby, darn it, and really, it's a small flaw, not worth getting too bent out of shape about.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific.
It's always nice to see what other work great and admired comics like Peanuts and Pogo (and possibly Calvin & Hobbes) drew inspiration from, to help put them in perspective, in context. And it's even better when those ancestors prove to be every bit as great and entertaining in their own right.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume, the first in a series, collects the initial 2 years of Crockett Johnson's brilliant comic strip Barnaby.

Johnson, better known now as the author/illustrator of Harold and the Purple Crayon and other children's books, not only created one of the absolute best comic strips ever, he also hit the ground running. Unlike other highwater comics (say, Peanuts or Pogo), Barnaby emerges pretty nearly fully formed and goes on from strength to strength.

In Barnaby's fairy godfather Mr. O'Malley, Johnson devised one of the classic comic scoundrels in fiction, a character who ranks with the riverboat rogues of W.C. Fields' films, J. Wellington Wimpy of Popeye fame, and the likes of Dickens' Mr. Micawber.

This book can be enjoyed - and loved - by children and adults alike. Though the strip partakes of its chronological setting in World War II, the then-contemporary, now-historic references to victory gardens, ration books, and air raid wardens are easily explained to those too young to have experienced them. Reading a collection of Barnaby when I was 10 was how I first learned about these things, having to then go and ask my own parents for some context.

Barnaby is a strip with a higher than average word count, thanks to Johnson's preference for typeset lettering. This gives it room to breathe, and Mr. O'Malley the scope he needs to achieve his full rush of blarney. Johnson's apparently simple graphics, almost Egyptian or bas relief in their two-dimensional flatness, are at times quite sophisticated in terms of panel progression. His use of black and white (no shading and no gray tones) is lovely and powerful.

If you want merely to read one of the pinnacles of the comic strip form, this book is for you. If you want to encounter characters who will resonate in your heart and/or head and/or funny bone, this book is for you. I envy anyone coming to it for the first time: It's such a generous explosion of quality and worth.

[Dominick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful collection of the first couple of years of Johnson's fascinating, short-lived comic strip. As usual, Fantagraphics provides not only excellent scans of the strips themselves (though they clearly had variable quality among their sources) but also insightful and informative editorial material--biographical material, contemporary responses (including Dorothy Parker's review), even notes that explain many of the strip's allusions. The idea of a rogueish fairy godfather--liar, trickster, loafer, scam-artist--etc.--ostensibly protecting Barnaby leads to many humorous situations, and not a few rather chilling ones, if one thinks about the potential real-world implications rather than the whimsy. For instance, one of O'Malley's interventions sets an old barn ablaze; another turns on all the lights in the house during an air raid drill--potentially disastrous, if there really was an air raid. The strip uses O'Malley as more than just a prankster, though; there is some incisive satire here, notably of politics and political corruption. And of course, Johnson has a very clean, precise line; his characters and strips are masterpieces of design, even if everyone looks more or less the same. Recommended to any fan of the comics medium.

[Mixter Mank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barnaby is a good boy, misunderstood and neglected by two well-meaning but misguided parents. He wishes for a fairy godmother, but instead gets a well-meaning but misguided fairly godfather who misunderstands and neglects him. Ha! The stories are deftly told, one running into the other, with an incredibly clever cast of characters: Gus the timid ghost, Gorgon the (boring) talking dog, Atlas the mental giant, and, of course, J.J. O'Malley the cigar chomping, dive-dwelling, huckster fairy godfather. This is the brilliant precursor to Peanuts - smart dialog and precocious children, with an added dash of political and social satire. A very fun (and funny) strip to read, but also quite insightful and even profound. Barnaby will take you as deep as you'd like to go.

I enjoyed Barnaby as a (misunderstood and neglected) child in paperback form. Thirty years later, I LOVE it. I'd easily call this one of the greatest comic strips of all-time. 'Can't wait for the subsequent volumes to be published!

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read some of these stories as a child and really liked them. I had hoped, someday, that they would be reprinted. Yet now that they are being republished, I have been vacillating over buying or reading them. I found the first volume at the library and over the weekend read the entirety, cover to cover. It is a good book and I enjoyed it to a point. What I think is bothering me, that didn't as a child, is Mr. O'Malley's behavior. He is a liar and a fraud but, because he is loyal to Barnaby, people who know the strip find him loveable. I cannot. Barnaby is a good boy but, his fairy godfather is trouble and little more. Of course this is just my opinion.
I did like the extra included at the end of the book, including the glossary of people and places referenced in the body of the book.
I do hope to read later volumes and challenge my own opinion.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great discovery. Influential comic in both style--clean, simple four-panel format, as opposed to other early strips that were cluttered and cumbersome to read--and tone (direct line to Peanuts). Even Dorothy Parker said, "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." And who's going to argue with her?

It's a simple story of a little boy and his cigar-chomping fairy godfather who his parents insist does not exist. There's also a talking dog and a ghost named Gus.The material is timeless, despite a lot of in-jokes and timely references to the 1940s--actually, makes it seem hipper. Must-read for comic strip fans.

[Samuel Valentino · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always liked comic strips, especially the classic ones. And since it's by the author of Harold and the Purple crayon, I had to pick this up.

It was great to see so many of the strips collected in one place, especially as they are stories rather than individual jokes. What was especially good about the writing is how often Mr. O'Malley's advice could get Barnaby into real trouble, yet it all works out well, and plausibly so, in the end. Really clever storylines!

The strip isn't really laugh-out-loud funny, but it is entertaining. And the essays and info in the beginning and end of the book are very informative.

Glad this is all being published as a collection, and looking forward to reading volume 2.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This classic comic strip by the creator of the Harold books is one that I'm glad I found, and the collection from Fantagraphics is phenomenal. There is plenty of accompanying material, including a glossary of difficult references, that show how much effort was put into contextualizing this material. The artwork and humor are endlessly charming.

I will say that, past the early "Nazi ogre" arc, I found this a bit hard to read through as a book. It was fun but never engaged my interest for long at a time. That's really not a knock against a daily comic strip, although I'm not sure whether I'll bother sticking it out for the entire series. I'll probably give the second volume a try and see what I think.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having been a fan of Harold and the Purple Crayon from childhood, I was a firm believer that Crockett Johnson was a genius of immense talent. Who knew that before Harold there was Barnaby? Thank heavens I was introduced to this wonderful little boy with the cigar-smoking fairy godfather! If you haven't ever read these, run, don't walk, to get yourself a copy and settle yourself into a joyous journey with Johnson's wry and what turns out to be always timely commentary on political chicanery. Seems like things never change.

[Dolores · Rating 5 out of 5]

A whopping big collection of strips of this comic that ran from 1942-1943. I had never heard of this one before, and just reading the introduction was a revelation. This comic is smart and satirical, political and groundbreaking. In its day, it appealed to children and the biggest wits of the time alike. That is pretty impressive. It is a war time comic, and there are many references to life on the home front. For someone without context, the "Handy Pocket Guide" of terms and expressions in the back would make this book doable, but probably a lot of work. It's worth it.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful volume--I wasn't a fan of Barnaby before (nor not a fan, I simply hadn't encountered him--but I was greedily ordered the second volume.

The stories are charming, there's just the right amount of disbelief among adults (it's there, but it's not oppressively present), the spare clean lines of the art perfectly complement the typeset text, and it's the kind of gentle fantasy that's very appealing to me.

(Note: 5 stars = rare and amazing, 4 = quite good book, 3 = a decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. There are a lot of 4s and 3s in the world!)

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful collection of comic strips from 1942-43. The adventures of Barnaby, a little boy, and his fairy godfather, Mr. O'Malley. O'Malley is a self-aggrandizing, cigar-smoking leech, but he is charming. I really enjoyed this collection, particularly the stories from the latter half of 1943, where Mr. O'Malley gets elected to congress. Whimsical and drawn with a simple style, this is a great comic strip.

[Michael P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is true: if I had any class or sophistication I would give this collection of the first year and seven months of the BARNABY comic strip five stars, but I am so shallow that I find the repetitive story lines unengaging, three of the main characters obnoxious, and the whole thing stale after a couple of months worth of strips. People with class and sophistication find this strip sublime. Cushlamochree!

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was incredibly witty and it reminded me of the South American Mafalda in many ways. Absolutely worth the read. I only wish they had either footnoted the notes at the end or put them under the panels the notes were referring to as by the time I got to the end I had forgotten what some of them referred to.

[Jeremy Hornik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great and funny stuff. I'd ready some small selection of Barnaby strips years ago, so seeing that a big reprint has started was fantastic. It takes some patience to get used to the pace... dry and andante. But very funny and very beautifully drawn.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the all time great comic strips is finally getting the treatment it deserves. The strips. creator, Crocket Johnson is a pure master of his craft. Good for ages 3 to 100.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Done in a clean, simple style that's influenced many other cartoonists. Didn't think the humor was anything better than ok.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great mix of charming, exciting, and funny. Somehow it felt like a slog anyway, and I can't tell you why.

[Robin Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://deliberateobfuscation.wordpre...

[Norman Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of charming comic strips from April 20, 1942 - December 31, 1943 tells the tale of a small boy and his fairy godfather, Mr. O'Malley. The strip was not terribly popular in its time, but through reprints has gained a devoted following, influencing other comics as well as TV and movies such as Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, and I Dream of Jeannie. Mr. O'Malley is visible to anyone, but through intention or accident Barnaby's parents never catch a glimpse of him and are convinced Barnaby has an imaginary friend. Barnaby's real friend Jane does see O'Malley, as well as the expanded cast that includes a ghost, an invisible leprechaun, and a talking dog. O'Malley is a long-winded, somewhat pompous fellow whose magic never quite seems to work (he uses his cigar as a magic wand), yet somehow manages to come out on top of every situation. The strip is filled with references to current events, particularly World War 2 (Barnaby's father is a volunteer air raid warden), and to history and literature (there is a guide to these allusions in the back matter). The humor is situational, so there aren't a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, but there is plenty of satirical moments that make you think. The artwork is clean and spare, yet meticulous. There are a lot of panels with people just standing around talking, but that's ok because this is intended to be more cerebral than action oriented. Johnson used a sans serif typeface for the speech balloons so that he could get more words into each panel. This book is certainly a must read for anyone interested in the history of comics, as well as for anyone who wants a little cozy humor to ease their day.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barnaby Volume One: 1942-1943 by Crockett Johnson (Fantagraphic Books 2013) (741.56973) (4068).

Crockett Johnson is the guy who wrote and illustrated Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955), which was the first in his series of Harold books. He also illustrated The Carrot Seed (1945) written by his wife Ruth Krauss.

A dozen years before he began writing the Harold series, Johnson wrote a daily comic strip he named “Barnaby” about a small boy named Barnaby who had a fairy godfather that no one else could see. Before reading this collection of "Barnaby" strips, I thought that Bill Watterson’s “Calvin & Hobbes” comic strip (in which a small boy named Calvin had a best friend, a tiger named Hobbes, that no one else could see) was the most original and inspired comic idea of all time. Little did I know that Watterson had “appropriated” Crockett Johnson’s ideas hook, line, and sinker.

Incidentally, the character Harold sure looks like Barnaby with a new name.

These strips are droll and whimsical, and a big bunch of them make up the text of this volume.

My rating 7/10, finished 7/12/25 (4068).

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had seen a handful of these strips printed in various places over the years, so it was a joy to finally immerse myself more fully in it. Both Chris Ware and Jeet Heer in their introductions note the similarity to the work of Johnson's contemporary, the equally wonderful Gluyas Williams. Otto Soglow's Little King might be another apt comparison, but Johnson's distinctive line is all his own and combined with his wry humor, it's a perfect match.

A word about this book in particular: Quite by chance, I also happened to pick up an earlier compilation of the strip (Henry Holt and Company, 1943) at a used book store and while the Fantagraphics book is printed in a much larger format and includes a lot of interesting historical background and essays (including some choice words from Dorothy Parker), in some ways I actually prefer reading the older book, with its two panels to a page format. That said, Fantagraphics absolutely matches the high standards that they've set for comic strip reprints with their Peanuts books and others.

Highly recommended!

[Ed Erwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't familiar with this old strip. I can see why it was popular. Not as much fun bulk-reading the strip in this day and age, for me at least. (I actually only read 1/2, up to page 150. I may very well go back and finish it someday, as I think it was improving as it went along and was adding more characters.)

[Cail Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure delight. I'd heard about this comic over the years (and knew the drawings from The Carrot Seed), but I'd never read this and my word, it's so goddamn funny. It's also a comic that greatly benefits from starting at the beginning. Excited to read volume two.

[Samantha Glasser]

The fairy godmother reminds me of W.C. Fields.