The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics

by Bill Blackbeard (Editor), Martin Williams (Editor)

A collection of the most critically acclaimed American comic strips, from Yellow Kid of 1896 to such admired contemporary works as Peanuts, B.C. and Doonesbury. Old favourites Katzenjammer Kids, Mutt and Jeff, Gasoline Alley, Bringing up Father, Mickey Mouse, Little Orphan Annie, Dick Tracy, L'il Abner, Barnaby, Pogo and many more fill this collection of American comic classics.

Genres: Comics, Art, History, Humor, Nonfiction, Comic Strips, Collections

336 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1977

About the author

Bill Blackbeard was an American writer, editor, and pioneering comics historian whose lifelong mission was to preserve the art of the newspaper comic strip. As founder and director of the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art, he assembled one of the world’s most important collections of comic strips and newspaper sections, ultimately totaling millions of items. His belief that the newspaper comic strip was a vital and uniquely American art form shaped both his scholarship and his preservation efforts, especially at a time when libraries were discarding bound newspapers in favor of microfilm.
A passionate advocate for the cultural value of comics, Blackbeard wrote, edited, or contributed to more than two hundred books, including The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics, 100 Years of Comic Strips, and major restorations of series such as Krazy & Ignatz and Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy. His work helped establish the foundation for modern comics scholarship, and his meticulous archival practices preserved material that would otherwise have been lost.
Through the Academy, he developed a vast network of supporters who helped him rescue newspapers from across North America. His collection later became a cornerstone of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, where it continues to support research and publication. Blackbeard’s influence extends far beyond his own writing; generations of scholars, cartoonists, and historians have relied on the resources he saved and the standards he set.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This coffee table book has samples from lots of newspaper strips from 1900 to 1977, starting with the Katzenjammer Kids and ending with less innovative stuff like Hagar the Horrible and Hi & Lois.

It's a fun read but not something you'd read from cover to cover. I've been sampling bits and pieces of it over the past couple days. My main takeaways are that I like the art style in the Mickey Mouse newspaper strip and that I want to read a lot more Alley Oop and Polly & her Pals comics.

[Alec Longstreth · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was just starting out as a cartoonist I bought a copy of this book at the urging of my new cartoonist friends. Every time I opened it though, I had a hard time getting into the material. At the time, I saw this as "old comics" and I was only interested in "graphic novels." I got rid of the book in one of my many moves. I was a fool.

Last year I came across this book in a local used book store and decided to give it another shot. I'm glad I did. It gave me a much deeper understanding of the history of comics in America and made me feel like I am making contributions to the legacy of a great storytelling medium and art form. i.e. "Standing on the shoulders of giants." It turns out many of these "old comics" are much better than most of the "graphic novels" I've read.

Highly recommended for any cartoonist.

[Goatllama · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first came across this in third grade. It was probably the first book that I ever wanted to steal. Aside from some disjointed storylines of which I really wanted to read more (a younger me would probably say “I don’t care if it’s a ‘collection,’ give me the whole darn thing!”), this is an astoundingly fun assortment of large, high-quality scans. I never knew that Mickey Mouse and Popeye could have so much depth to their storylines ‘til I opened this tome (the laugh of the Sea Hag!... ANK ANK ANK). And don’t even get me started on Little Nemo… I was constantly drawing before I read this, but afterward I know for a fact that I tried to emulate the masterwork of these old cartoonists as best I could. A random line that has stuck with me: “OH all you Hollanders! Watch out for SLIM JIM!!,” which is followed by a glorious, chaotic, full page involving a windmill and the aforementioned Slim Jim. Really, need I say more?

[Norman Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

As one of the first comprehensive histories of newspaper comic strips, this coffee table book does a very good job of highlighting the important strips, and strips that have fallen into obscurity (there are a number that I had never heard of). Yes, there are some omissions, and the strips that are included often are token samples. Thankfully, in the almost half century since this book was written, many compilations have been published by the likes of Fantagraphics, IDW, and Sunday Press. But this is a good place to begin. The reproductions are excellent, although there are some Sunday strips that are only in black-and-white. The editors' commentary is fairly sparse, leaving room for more artwork, but perhaps leaving out important historical data in the process. There is a nice annotated index at the end of the book which supplements some of this information, but is still a bit short on details. Although this book measures a hefty 10" x 14", some of the early strips are nevertheless shrunken from their original tabloid size, making some of the captions and dialogue balloons hard to read. One of the clearest take-aways from this book is how strips evolved--from meticulously drawn and text heavy when newspaper pages were large to today's much more simplified renderings as comic pages got smaller and smaller.

This book presents the strips in their original forms. Thus, there is racism, violence (including domestic violence), and a general lack of diversity. Some of the racism is quite bad, but overall I think most readers will be able to put the stories into the historical context of their times. There is also a sequence in the Wash Tubbs selections that graphically depicts the killing and rendering of a whale, something you would never see today.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a massive sampling of newspaper comics from The Yellow Kid to modern days (well, about 1977 anyway). The large pages allow for great classics like Little Nemo in Slumberland to be printed almost as big as they were originally. Comics like Nemo were so rich in fine details that are hard to appreciate or discern when printed in 8 1/2" x 11" format.

I used to pore over this book quite a bit as a kid. It gave me an appreciation for E. C. Segar's early Popeye comics from the Thimble Theater days. In comparison to these tales, the cartoons made in the 1960's were trite and poorly drawn. The early Fleischer cartoons, however, kept Segar's wit and art quality intact (and sometimes used revolutionary animation techniques, such as in Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves).

It was also with this book that I discovered George Herriman's surreal Krazy Kat. Krazy, the Kat, is caught in the middle of a bizarre love triangle between Ignatz, the mouse who terrorizes Krazy by throwing bricks at her, and Offissa Pupp, the police dog who feels the need to protect Krazy and arrest Ignatz. However, Krazy loves to get hit in the head with a brick by Ignatz, seeing the abusive attention as a sign of affection. Now, take this conflict, set it in the strange landscape of Coconino County, sprinkle in some other minor characters, add some long-running storylines that go beyond the main conflict, and you have a great comic strip.

Sadly, this book was destroyed one day when my dog decided to eat it. It seems that he found the glue in the binding to be a tasty treat and he devoured a good chunk of it. Fortunately, a good friend of mine gave me his copy of the book as a gift when he was moving so it is now back in my library.

[Steve Pifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Believe it or not, I picked this volume up for a measly dollar at the local library's annual sale. Some massive brain therein apparently goes thru their volumes and decides what they no long need, want, or feel is essential any more. Most probably, their way to decide which is to stay and which is to go is by the number of checkouts in the past few years. Well, what can I say. This is the publics loss and my gain.
A wonderful historical collection of newspaper comics, many of which even this old man doesn't remember. All comics are discussed, including their context and how they related to the world at their time. Some are obviously quite politically incorrect, but an accurate history will necessarily include much of what makes most folks blush and gulp today.
I don't really believe that we are all that sensitive, but for the sake of fitting in, most of us will continue to pretend so.
So when did we begin to depend on cartoons to be honest, revealing, and relaying truth to the masses? Well, probably right from the very beginning!
This book is an essential. No question.

[Csaba Rusznyák · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of american newspaper comics from (mostly) the first half of the 20th century. I am not saying I loved all of the comics presented here, maybe not even most of the comics, but I am still giving the collection a five star rating because it provides the reader with a very enlightening, interesting and informative window to the evolution of the comic strip through many-many groundbreaking or even revolutionary examples in the widest variety of genres and styles. For somene like me, who only knew the most famous comics from this period (like Little Nemo, Flash Gordon or Peanuts) this book is a treasure trove and I will look up some volumes of the more intresting strips that I learned about and enjoyed in this collection (like Gasoline Alley, Polly and Her Pals or Wash Tubbs/Captain Easy).

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

My grandmother had this book on her shelf, and I would read through it when I visited. After her funeral, I took it as no one else wanted it. A great cultural repository.

[Daniel]

tweet.

[Garry Cannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously I haven’t read this entire thing cover to cover as it is a coffee table book but this thing is wonderful. Amazing size with an almost encyclopedic selection of newspaper comics that are wonderfully scanned.

I’ve realized going through this collection that I don’t care much for Hogan’s Alley, The Katzenjammer Kids, nor Buster Brown but that I am a big fan of Little Nemo In Slumberland, Krazy Kat, EC Segar’s Sappo strip in Thimble Theatre, The Newlyweds, and many others.

[Michael P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb sampling of newspaper comic strips from the start thru the next several decades, only slightly flawed (because there isn't much of it) by Blackbeard's overwritten narrative. If there is another flaw it is that it leaves you wanting more, but you forgive this thick book for not being even thicker.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you know Dashall Hammett scripted "Agent X-9". Well I didn't. This is a great general history in a large format. The first appereance of Superman and The Batman? It's all here. Plus Terry and the Pirates and my all-time favourite comic strip. Krazy Kat.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic collection of newspaper comics, in a size that does justice to the old full page Sunday strips. Has a classic full Segar Popeye sequence as well as many other fantastic strips.

[Arpad Okay · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the best collection of old time comics i've ever seen. beautiful color sundays and whole plot lines of weeklies. perfect. huge.

[Fishsanwitt]

stamped

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the finest collection of comics ever printed. This is one of my all time favorite books - an endless collection of treasures.

[Jerome · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no better overview of older newspaper comics out there. Phenomenal collection worth rereading many times.

[Banjomike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basically the book is beyond critisism.

Buy it.

[Vince Coleman]

This book was AMAZING. Hours of fun. I wish it was still in print. If you can find it, buy it!