Krazy and Ignatz, 1943-1944: "He Nods in Quiescent Siesta" (Krazy Kat)
The lavish reprinting of Krazy Kat Sunday color installments reaches the end of the strip’s three-decade run (further volumes will corral early, uncollected black-and-white examples). Herriman’s health had long been declining, but only the last few weeks of Krazy Kat show any diminution of his skill. If the final Sundays show a slight visual simplification of characters and backgrounds, the exquisite design and clever wordplay remain sharp as ever. When Herriman died of nonalcoholic cirrhosis in 1944, Krazy Kat ended, too. The syndicate wisely saw that the brilliantly unorthodox cartoonist was irreplaceable. --Gordon Flagg