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SCREWBALL! The Cartoonists Who Made the Funnies Funny
The story of screwball comics, with new research and rare art from some of the most hilarious cartoonists of all time.
Before "screwball" became a movie genre, it was a staple of other forms of American culture, including newspaper comic strips. Emerging from the pressures of a rapidly accelerating technological and information-drenched society, screwball comics offered a healthy dose of laughter and perspective. The disruptive, manic, and surreal verbal-visual comedy of these "funnies" fostered an absurdist sensibility embraced by The Marx Brothers (who took their names from a popular comic strip), W. C. Fields, Tex Avery, Spike Jones, Ernie Kovacs, and Mad magazine. Comics scholar Paul C. Tumey traces the development of screwball as a genre in magazine cartoons and newspaper comics, presenting the work of around fifteen cartoonists, with an art-stuffed chapter on each.
The book offers a wealth of previously un-reprinted comics unleashing fresh views of some of America's greatest and most-loved cartoonists, including George Herriman ( Krazy Kat ), E.C. Segar (creator of Popeye), Rube Goldberg ( The Inventions of Professor Lucifer G. Butts, A.K. ), Bill Holman ( Smokey Stover ), and Frederick Opper ( Happy Hooligan ). In addition, readers will be delighted to discover previously "lost" screwball masters, such as Gene Ahern ( The Squirrel Cage ), Gus Mager ( Sherlocko the Monk ), Boody Rogers ( Sparky Watts ), Milt Gross ( Count Screwloose ), George Swanson ( $alesman $am ) and others.
Both humorous and educational, this book is aimed at a general audience of all ages and at university comics studies programs.
Before "screwball" became a movie genre, it was a staple of other forms of American culture, including newspaper comic strips. Emerging from the pressures of a rapidly accelerating technological and information-drenched society, screwball comics offered a healthy dose of laughter and perspective. The disruptive, manic, and surreal verbal-visual comedy of these "funnies" fostered an absurdist sensibility embraced by The Marx Brothers (who took their names from a popular comic strip), W. C. Fields, Tex Avery, Spike Jones, Ernie Kovacs, and Mad magazine. Comics scholar Paul C. Tumey traces the development of screwball as a genre in magazine cartoons and newspaper comics, presenting the work of around fifteen cartoonists, with an art-stuffed chapter on each.
The book offers a wealth of previously un-reprinted comics unleashing fresh views of some of America's greatest and most-loved cartoonists, including George Herriman ( Krazy Kat ), E.C. Segar (creator of Popeye), Rube Goldberg ( The Inventions of Professor Lucifer G. Butts, A.K. ), Bill Holman ( Smokey Stover ), and Frederick Opper ( Happy Hooligan ). In addition, readers will be delighted to discover previously "lost" screwball masters, such as Gene Ahern ( The Squirrel Cage ), Gus Mager ( Sherlocko the Monk ), Boody Rogers ( Sparky Watts ), Milt Gross ( Count Screwloose ), George Swanson ( $alesman $am ) and others.
Both humorous and educational, this book is aimed at a general audience of all ages and at university comics studies programs.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published October 8, 2019
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35 people want to read
About the author
Paul C. Tumey
4 books1 followerPaul Christley Tumey
I'm a writer, designer, artist, cartoonist, teacher and cultural historian in Seattle, WA. My first book, Screwball! The Cartoonists Who Made the Funnies Funny (The Libary of American Comics/IDW) is scheduled for release in late 2018.
I'm a writer, designer, artist, cartoonist, teacher and cultural historian in Seattle, WA. My first book, Screwball! The Cartoonists Who Made the Funnies Funny (The Libary of American Comics/IDW) is scheduled for release in late 2018.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 11, 2020
Well-done, but no women!
June 2, 2022
I love old comedy where I know it should be funny but for the life of me can't figure out why.
November 11, 2024
A wonderful, essential, and revelatory look at this forgotten genre of newspaper strips.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews