King Aroo, Vol. 2: 1953-1954

King Aroo #2

by Jack Kent

The peaceable little kingdom of Myopia rocks with laughter in the second IDW/TheLibrary of American Comics collection of Jack Kent's King Aroo. Colorful visitors come and go while Professor Yorgle pontificates, faithful Yupyop frets, and Mr. Elephant forgets everything but his own name! Kindly King Aroo presides over all the outlandish slapstick and witty wordplay in over seven-hundred daily and Sunday comic strips from 1953-1954, edited and designed by Eisner Award-winner Dean Mullaney. Plus, Bruce Canwell continues his groundbreaking biography of Jack Kent, featuring rare photos and never-before-seen artwork. -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

Genres: Comics, Humor

360 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

John Wellington "Jack" Kent (1920 – 1985) was an American cartoonist and prolific author-illustrator of children's books. He is perhaps best known as the creator of the comic strip King Aroo. In addition to his own books, he illustrated more than twenty books by other authors.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was too young to read King Aroo when it was appearing in newspapers. I don't remember even hearing of it until about ten years ago when I saw reprints of some of the strips. I liked those, so when I saw the first two books of compilations, I bought them.

All talking animal strips are fantasies but King Aroo is fantasy in more than just the characters. Most of the situations take place in a totally fantasy world. The most important thing to know about
King Aroo is that it is consistently genuinely funny.

I wish that compilations of comics were not so expensive (a wish I assume most buyers share). There are many book collections of comic strips now and I would love to buy more. I noticed recently that one volume of collected Polly and Her Pals is selling on Amazon in new condition for $69.20. Obviously people buy these but I don't know how most people could afford that.

If somebody publishes a book of Sir Bagby strips, however, I'll be first in line to buy one.