Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Years, Vol. 2: 1956-1957
Before he became renowned for his heroic fantasy paintings, Frank Frazetta toiled as a journeyman comic-book artist. His steadiest gig then was as an assistant on Capp's famousLi'l Abner, 1954-61. He worked mainly on Sunday installments, and those are reprinted in color in this series of oversize hardcovers. The Sunday serials were briefer than the daily ones, which would often stretch for months, and often downplayed Abner and the rest of the Yokum family in favor of such supporting characters as ruthless capitalist General Bullmoose, walking jinx Joe Btfsplk, and gorgeous but odoriferous pig-keeper Moonbeam McSwine. Among these volumes' highlights are a sequence depicting the slothful Abner's job as a mattress tester, an account of Dogpatch's invasion by turnip termites, and an episode featuring an unbilled Marilyn Monroe that plays to Frazetta's cheesecake skills. Frazetta's touch is often hard to detect, especially since the reproduction from actual newspaper pages leaves something to be desired, and much of the satire now seems dated and the humor surprisingly puerile, but readers who fondly remember this classic comic will welcome this volume.Gordon FlaggCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved