Barnaby, Vol. 4: 1948–1949

Barnaby #4

by Crockett Johnson, Crockett Johnson, Philip Nel

Volume Four collects 1948–1949; the misadventures of five-year-old Barnaby Baxter and his Fairy Godfather J.J. O’Malley continue. Bumbling but endearing, Mr. O’Malley rarely gets his magic to work — even when he consults his Fairy Godfather’s Handy Pocket Guide. The true magic of Barnaby resides in its canny mix of fantasy and satire, amplified by the understated elegance of Crockett Johnson’s clean, spare art. It combines of Johnson’s sly wit and O’Malley’s amiable windbaggery, a child’s feeling of wonder and an adult’s wariness, highly literate jokes and a keen eye for the ridiculous. Designed by Daniel Clowes (Patience, Wilson), it includes scholarly material.

Genres: Humor

372 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1948

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

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barnaby is, as always, a delight. I first encountered it as a wee lad, in the pages of The Smithsonian Book of Newspaper Comics. I eagerly purchased each book when Del Rey attempted a complete set of reprints in the 80's. Owning a complete run of the strip seemed like a pipe dream …

… until now, of course. Kudos to Fantagraphics for all the care and love they've put into this project over the years. Yes, there's one more volume to go after this one, but it's standing by ready to go after I finish writing this review.

Barnaby ran from 1942 to 1952, and was the brainchild of Crockett Johnson, also known for the Harold and the Purple Crayon series of books. The titular Barnaby wishes for a fairy godmother, but what comes crashing through his window is a stout pixie with pink wings and smoking a cigar who introduces himself as J.J. O'Malley, “... your fairy godfather.” He's much more interested in helping himself to the leftovers in the icebox and the cigars in Mr. Baxter's humidor than he is in granting wishes. O'Malley is a conman, a schemer, a mountebank, and a fraud. But he's so ineffectual, bumbling, and open about his ambitions that he manages to be loveable and even charming. Barnaby's faith in him is unwavering.

The art is simple, yet pleasing. The writing is wonderful, mixing gentle satire with a love of language and wordplay. Over its ten year run, the strip only faltered when Johnson brought in a new artist and writer to ghost the strip while he attempted to create a Broadway show of it. He was unsuccessful, and returned to writing the strip. There's a period during volume 3 where the writing becomes much less memorable, but Johnson was back by the time this volume kicks off.

Barnaby is a classic comic strip. Highly recommended!

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barnaby tells the tale of Barnaby Baxter, a five year old boy living with his parents, John and Ellen. At the very beginning of the strip, Barnaby acquires a fairy godfather, Jackeen J. O'Malley. O'Malley is short (about the same height as Barnaby), rotund, and has pink wings. He smokes a cigar, which doubles as a magic wand. His magic rarely works as planned. None of the adults ever see O'Malley, not because he is invisible, but just because they are never in the same place at the same time.

The strip originally ran from 1942 to 1952, and then a somewhat updated version was reprinted in newspapers from 1960 to 1962. I first read it in the reruns. I loved it then and I still do.

Barnaby was a great comic strip. In the first place, it looks great - not in the way that, say, Prince Valiant or Flash Gordon do, but with a beautiful simplicity of line that stands out from almost all other comic strips. Barnaby also used typography in the dialogue balloons instead of hand-lettering.

Second, I think that it is very funny. To me, this ranks with Pogo, Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, Sir Bagby, and Cul de Sac.

This is Volume Four of the Fantagraphics Books collections of Barnaby strips, including all the strips from 1948 and 1949. There should eventually be one more volume, including the strips from 1950-1952.

This volume opens with a Foreward by the renowned cartoonist Trina Robbins. With respect, I think that she gets much of her summation of the strip wrong. Mr. O'Malley is far from the villain she portrays. He is indeed "a humbug, a braggart," and a "blowhard." He is also a concerned fairy godfather, who genuinely tries to help Barnaby and his family. She is totally wrong when she states that, "Despite constantly talking about meeting with Barnaby's father, Mr. O'Malley is terrified of meeting him face to face..." Mr. O'Malley frequently tries to meet Barnaby's family; whenever he tries to meet them, they happen to go elsewhere. They do not believe that he exists, so they ignore any plans for them to meet. (Also, I think that her comments about Donald Trump, however accurate, are probably inappropriate in this setting.)

But Robbins loves Barnaby, and that surely outweighs her errors.

There is a second, longer commentary by college professor Jared Gardner. Gardner agrees with me that O'Malley is a devoted godfather. I disagree with Gardner's chief premise, however. He states that "what is arguably the true subject of this fantasy strip [is] the collective worship of Brand, Image, and Buzz." Crockett Johnson was indeed committed to a left-wing agenda and that is unquestionably an important factor throughout the Barnaby comic strip. I believe, though, that the "true subject" is being funny and making the readers smile at the marvelous adventures of Barnaby, his friends and family, and his fairy godfather, Mr. O'Malley.

The material in the back of the book begins with an Afterward titled "Barnaby Meets the Cold War" by Philip Nel, author of Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children's Literature. This is quite interesting, giving a lot of information about Johnson's life and ways in which it influenced the comic strip. Nel feels that the strip became less confrontational through the years.

Nel's material also includes a number of preliminary layouts and sketches for strips, photographs and drawings of theatrical productions of Barnaby, and three astonishing pages of comic strips announcing the end of the Sunday version of Barnaby. These may well be the funniest strips in this volume.

The last essay is titled "Last Survivor of the Species Confidence Man" by Stephen Becker from Becker's 1959 book Comic Art in America: A Social History of the Funnies, the Political Cartoons, Magazine Humor, Sporting Cartoons, and Animated Cartoons . This is a brief look back at Barnaby. (Of course, in 1959 there were no internet confidence games; people then did not need to be wary of Nigerian princes.)

Philip Nel also did the notes at the back of the book. These are excellent, much better than ones in some of the earlier volumes. The only definite error that I noted is a tiny one: the name of the Oh Henry! candy bar is spelled correctly in the actual cartoon (2/27/48), but wrong in the notes.

I disagree with a couple of Nel's theories. I think that the quoted dialogue from the film Mutiny on the Bounty (4/19/48) is not a caricature of the speech of some African American actor but rather of Charles Laughton.

I strongly doubt that the made-up play The Peon's Plight has anything to do with Thornton Wilder's play The Skin of Our Teeth. The two seem to be about as different as they could possibly be.

Nel helpfully divides the two years of strips into eighteen sections, with brief titles for each and the dates on which they were originally published. The first one, for example, is labeled:
SYLVANIA VS. THE UNITED NATIONS
2 DECEMBER 1947 - 14 FEBRUARY 1948

And on page 10, there is a fine photograph of a snow sculpture of O'Malley at Dartmouth College in 1947.

Some of the subjects covered in the comic strips are the United Nations, conservative commentators, radio Westerns, newspapers, advertising, radio comedy-variety shows, urban farming, rural farming, summer theaters, very serious plays (is playwright/director Evers Green modeled on Clifford Odets?), pompous critics, going to Kindergarten, overcrowded schools, very grumpy rich people, fake swamis, hospitals, art museums (with the art coming to life), child psychology, the true origin of the discovery of the law of gravity, manufacturing cultured pearls, jewel thieves, college scholarships and the high cost of college, the growing popularity of television, horror comic books, television quiz shows, and a great many magical beings.

The magical beings include a very meek ghost, an invisible leprechaun, a dragon, the Sandman, Davy Jones, a Printer's Devil, a Mental Giant, a very short police officer, an equally short hunter, Jack Frost, a Fire Pixie, an Ice Box Pixie, an Automobile Pixie, and a Vacuum Cleaner Pixie. The Vacuum Cleaner Pixie (who lives in the vacuum cleaner and makes it work) wears what looks very much like an N95 mask, decades before they became fashionable.

And, of course, Mr. O'Malley.

My favorite sequences in this volume are:

⏺️the invention and marketing of Mother Baxter's Swamp Oil Eyewash

⏺️the only time that I can recall Barnaby being angry at Mr. O'Malley, when O'Malley decides that the way for the Baxter family to economize is to lay off Gorgon, Barnaby's dog

⏺️the summer theater performance

⏺️Barnaby meeting his fellow Kindergarteners (probably my favorite part of the book)

⏺️Barnaby's classmate Georgie and his friend Mutzy

⏺️O'Malley's contemporaries (calling them his "friends" might not be accurate) contributing anecdotes to the proposed The O'Malley Story.

An unanswered question: where did Mr. Merrie go and will he return?


A beautiful and very funny book. I hope that Volume Five follows soon.

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reread the three previous volumes before receiving this recently released volume. This one was the most consistently funny.

I look forward to the next (and final) volume.