Betsy and Me
This collection of a failed, forgotten 1958 comic strip only exists today for two reasons: we're living in the Golden Age of comic reprints, with all kinds of amazing material from the last seven decades coming back into print, and we still don't know exactly why author Cole killed himself. He's much better known for creating the wacky and wonderfulPlastic Man, but as the lengthy introduction by comic historian R.C. Harvey details, this strip was the goal toward which [he] had been striving all his professional life.... It is tempting to suppose that [it] must somehow contain the explanation for Cole's taking his own life. The comic itself, only four months' worth, isn't particularly memorable, although it's a bit different from the usual family humor. The comedy comes from the contrast between father Chet's narration and what's really shown happening. He plays up his family, but the only part of his epic fancies he gets right is that his five-year-old son is a genius. The art is deceptively simple. Chet has the face of a Muppet, but with '50s design charm. It's rather refreshing in its jaded take on the American dream, almost postmodern in its approach, as the family stumbles through house-hunting, car-buying and child-raising.(Dec.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.