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Li'l Abner: The Complete Dailies and Color Sundays #2
Li'l Abner: The Complete Dailies and Color Sundays, Vol. 2: 1937-1938
-The Library of American Comics is the world's #1 publisher of classic newspaper comic strips, with 14 Eisner Award nominations and three wins for best book. LOAC has become "the gold standard for archival comic strip reprints...The research and articles provide insight and context, and most importantly the glorious reproduction of the material has preserved these strips for those who knew them and offers a new gateway to adventure for those discovering them for the first time.” - Scoop
272 pages, Hardcover
First published September 21, 2010
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About the author
Al Capp
142 books7 followersAlfred Gerald Caplin (1909-1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist. He is best known as the creator, writer and artist of the satirical comic strip Li'l Abner, which run for 43 years from 1934 to 1977.
Capp was born in 1909 in New Haven, Connecticut, of a poor family of East European Jewish heritage. His childhood was scared by a serious accident: after being run over by a trolley car, nine years old Alfred had his left leg partially amputated. This early trauma possibly had an impact on Capp's cynical humour, as later represented in his strips. His father, Otto Philip Caplin, a failed businessman and an amateur cartoonist, is credited for introducing Al and his two brothers to making comics.
After some training in art schools in New England, in 1932 Al Capp moved to New York with the intent of becoming a newspaper cartoonist. The same year he married Catherine Wingate Cameron. In the first couple of years of his career Capp worked as an assistant/ghost artist on Ham Fischer's strip 'Joe Palooka', while preparing to pitch his own comic strips to the newspaper syndicate.
His strip Li'l Abner was launched on Monday, August 13, 1934, in eight American newspapers to immediate success. The comic started as an hillibilly slapstick, then shifted over the year in the direction of satire, black humor and social commentary. The strip run until 1977, written and mostly drawn by Capp.
A lifelong chain smoker, All Capp died in 1979 from emphysema at his home in South Hampton, New Hampshire.
Capp was born in 1909 in New Haven, Connecticut, of a poor family of East European Jewish heritage. His childhood was scared by a serious accident: after being run over by a trolley car, nine years old Alfred had his left leg partially amputated. This early trauma possibly had an impact on Capp's cynical humour, as later represented in his strips. His father, Otto Philip Caplin, a failed businessman and an amateur cartoonist, is credited for introducing Al and his two brothers to making comics.
After some training in art schools in New England, in 1932 Al Capp moved to New York with the intent of becoming a newspaper cartoonist. The same year he married Catherine Wingate Cameron. In the first couple of years of his career Capp worked as an assistant/ghost artist on Ham Fischer's strip 'Joe Palooka', while preparing to pitch his own comic strips to the newspaper syndicate.
His strip Li'l Abner was launched on Monday, August 13, 1934, in eight American newspapers to immediate success. The comic started as an hillibilly slapstick, then shifted over the year in the direction of satire, black humor and social commentary. The strip run until 1977, written and mostly drawn by Capp.
A lifelong chain smoker, All Capp died in 1979 from emphysema at his home in South Hampton, New Hampshire.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 23, 2022
1.5 stars
I have occasionally seen the comic strip Li'l Abner referenced in various contexts, so I at long last decided to see what it was all about. I've learned recently that this strip had a surprisingly broad impact on pop culture, some of which has trickled down to the present day(most notably "Sadie Hawkins Day"). The strip ran for over four decades, but despite its longevity and popularity at the time Li'l Abner seems to have never caught on with any newer generations after it ended. And after trying valiantly but failing to like this funny pages classic, I can see why it hasn't.
I've read a few articles blaming the waning popularity of Li'l Abner on the bad behavior of its creator, Al Capp, near the end of his career. He was apparently a less-than-charming individual who committed indecent exposure and sexual harassment more than once. But since he has been dead for nearly 50 years and is far from a household name nowadays, I doubt that his rap sheet is fully to blame for his work sliding further into obscurity. To put it bluntly, Li'l Abner isn't funny or clever enough to transcend its age or its creator. There are even older comic strips, like George Herriman's Krazy Kat and E.C. Segar's Popeye, that are still funny and memorable, sometimes showing their age but overall timeless works. But the characters and humor of Li'l Abner are so flimsy and shallow that a stream of inane story arcs must be constantly churned out to maintain readers' interest. Abner loses his memory, foils a jewel thief, gets a scholarship to the wrong school, has to raise $100,000 to save his hometown, etc., etc., ad nauseum. The humor is lazy, limited mainly to the characters having country accents and being ignorant hillbilly stereotypes. The only major character I liked was Abner's mother Pansy Yokum, who probably had more brains than all the rest put together. The hero is a noble nitwit, Daisy Mae drifts around looking prettily sad, and I barely remember anybody else.
The artwork of Li'l Abner is the only aspect that I thought was of decent quality. The character designs are appealing, and Li'l Abner is highly expressive in his faces and movement. But other than this one redeeming feature, I'm genuinely mystified about how Al Capp's creation became such a phenomenon in the first place.
I have occasionally seen the comic strip Li'l Abner referenced in various contexts, so I at long last decided to see what it was all about. I've learned recently that this strip had a surprisingly broad impact on pop culture, some of which has trickled down to the present day(most notably "Sadie Hawkins Day"). The strip ran for over four decades, but despite its longevity and popularity at the time Li'l Abner seems to have never caught on with any newer generations after it ended. And after trying valiantly but failing to like this funny pages classic, I can see why it hasn't.
I've read a few articles blaming the waning popularity of Li'l Abner on the bad behavior of its creator, Al Capp, near the end of his career. He was apparently a less-than-charming individual who committed indecent exposure and sexual harassment more than once. But since he has been dead for nearly 50 years and is far from a household name nowadays, I doubt that his rap sheet is fully to blame for his work sliding further into obscurity. To put it bluntly, Li'l Abner isn't funny or clever enough to transcend its age or its creator. There are even older comic strips, like George Herriman's Krazy Kat and E.C. Segar's Popeye, that are still funny and memorable, sometimes showing their age but overall timeless works. But the characters and humor of Li'l Abner are so flimsy and shallow that a stream of inane story arcs must be constantly churned out to maintain readers' interest. Abner loses his memory, foils a jewel thief, gets a scholarship to the wrong school, has to raise $100,000 to save his hometown, etc., etc., ad nauseum. The humor is lazy, limited mainly to the characters having country accents and being ignorant hillbilly stereotypes. The only major character I liked was Abner's mother Pansy Yokum, who probably had more brains than all the rest put together. The hero is a noble nitwit, Daisy Mae drifts around looking prettily sad, and I barely remember anybody else.
The artwork of Li'l Abner is the only aspect that I thought was of decent quality. The character designs are appealing, and Li'l Abner is highly expressive in his faces and movement. But other than this one redeeming feature, I'm genuinely mystified about how Al Capp's creation became such a phenomenon in the first place.
November 23, 2014
There are times when Capp is clearly operating on a higher plane. He's pretty clever.
But much of the time, the exigencies of a daily comicstrip seem to push him too hard. He wastes a lot of panels recapping the previous days' strips and recycles a large number premises. Then he burns through setups and a prodigious pace.
Small note, the Sunday comics and the daily comics have no real relationship. The book published the 1937 dailies, 1937 Sundays, 1938 dailies, and then 1938 Sundays. It would have made more sense to do all dailies then all Sundays because there are continuities within each set.
But much of the time, the exigencies of a daily comicstrip seem to push him too hard. He wastes a lot of panels recapping the previous days' strips and recycles a large number premises. Then he burns through setups and a prodigious pace.
Small note, the Sunday comics and the daily comics have no real relationship. The book published the 1937 dailies, 1937 Sundays, 1938 dailies, and then 1938 Sundays. It would have made more sense to do all dailies then all Sundays because there are continuities within each set.
November 1, 2025
I was reading this Li'l Abner, and I realized how repetitive the comic really is. Abner gets into so much turmoil, he never has a break, Daisy Mae bawls as he won't marry/romance her, Abner's pappy gets kidnapped or lost, etc. I wasn't a big fan of when Abner would visit the big city, as it just wasn't exciting. I like the artwork, but what else can I say? I came to terms and realized that this felt like reading an instruction manual in different languages. Much as I hate to say this, it got boring, and that's why I put it down without finishing it off.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews