



Used price: $26.47
Collectible price: $26.47



List price: $14.95 (that's 30% off!)
Buy one from zShops for: $8.98


I love this strip and I respect George Herriman as an artist. If you already have a taste for Krazy Kat--and are longing for more material to be continuously reprinted (as I am)--this is a purchase you should be making without me telling you. Otherwise, you had better get a taste for this particular work before you delve into this chapter of its development. Or try back in a book or two.

If you know nothing of Krazy and Ignatz, I can only invite you to slide into their surreal world. Words won't do it justice. Krazy is yin, Ignatz is yang. You figure it out.

More good news is Fantagraphic's pledge (near the end of this book) that once they complete the Krazy Kat cycle (kompleat with the kompleat Kolor Komiks in full Kolor), they will go back and republish the years covered by the Eclipse volumes! I was never able to find all 9 volumes, and those that appear on E-bay tend to get VERY pricey ...
This is good news for all of the Kat's devoted followers. May Fantagraphics march on.

Used price: $7.95
Collectible price: $15.88



compiled principally by patrick mcdonnell (artist and author of "mutts" -- the finest contemporary comic strip) this is a good introduction to the best comic strip of all time. for some thirty years in the first half of the american century, george herriman created one of the greatest works of american art and literature. based almost entirely on variations on a theme (cat loves mouse, dog loves cat, mouse throws brick, cat deems said abuse [rightly?] as a sign of love), herriman caught the essence of a country barely growing up, as well as love in all its potential manifestations.
"krazy kat" can be appreciated as allegory, or it can be enjoyed simply as damned funny. this volume will allow you to have a bit of both.
but oh dear, when will some brave publisher issue the entire run?


List price: $14.95 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $10.39
Buy one from zShops for: $9.82




Krazy Kat can be classified as art, but hopefully it won't be classified TOO MUCH as art, because it can be appreciated on many levels as well as an artistic one. Krazy's worst fate would be to end up as solely a museum piece for aficionados. Krazy doesn't belong in a museum, he/she belongs in books; which is what makes this series so great. I just wish they could print all of them at once.
Krazy Kat works by means of the tension of 3 forces: innocence, evil, and justice. Krazy is the ultimate innocent who, when Offissa Pup pummels Ignatz with his club, merely says "Those two play so well togedda." Ignatz is evil and maybe obsession. His grand purpose in life is to "bean" Krazy with bricks. He sometimes goes to Rube Goldberg extremes to succeed. Offissa Pup is justice which is sometimes just, sometimes political, sometimes personal. In an old daily strip, Offissa Pup grabs Ignatz and says "To the jail, viper!" When Ignatz replies "Why?" Offissa Pup only says "Because it gives me pleasure." Things get more complex because Krazy loves Ignatz and Offissa Pup often insinuates that he loves Krazy. A futile love triangle and battle of good, evil, and justice gets mixed up in a strange salad.
It is simply one of the best comics ever produced.






