“Frank Johnson: The Secret Pioneer of American Comics”
Chris Byrne and Keith Mayerson, editors
Fantagraphics, $49.99
Welcome to Wally's Gang. The series is illustrated in a comic book format similar to modern graphic novels, but was born before that format entered the publishing scene. And the kicker: “Wally's Gang” was never shown or shared in his 50 years of production (1928-1979).
Frank Johnson, who had no formal training in art, drew these cartoons in a lined composition notebook using a graphite pencil, and co-editor of the volume, Chris Byrne, wrote: There is. Pages of images written in notebooks and 131 unbound drawings were discovered by his family after his death. ”
A front matter that guides the reader through informed historical context sets the stage. In the preface, Byrne provides the known biographical information about Johnson (which is scant) and the series of connections between collectors, editors, and curators that led to the current volume (a second volume planned to introduce the remaining works of Johnson). The company has announced its introduction and cooperation. It has been described as).
In his preface, Keith Meyerson, another co-editor, calls attention to the uniqueness of Johnson's work and provides context for its unpublished status during Johnson's lifetime.
“In its form and composition, Johnson's work is visionary. It was only in the late 20th century that printing technology became capable of faithfully and inexpensively reproducing pencil lines and tones. Formal. Johnson's work represents the first fully rendered graphite comics, predating the wave of 21st century pencil work and early colored pencil artists like Raymond Briggs. Ta. Revolutionary publishing (and now online) that could faithfully reproduce halftones and shading didn't happen in America until well into the 1990s. 1980s. ”
The word “treasure trove” comes to mind and I feel the mystery of this unexplored excavation. A similar sense of wonder is found in the story of Emily Dickinson's more than 1,000 unpublished poems discovered after her death in a “fascicle'' (hand-stitched book) she created. However, unlike Frank Johnson, Dickinson shared. During his lifetime, he did not publish many other poems.
The title character of “Wally's Gang” is Wally Reading, an assertive grump with the catchphrase “BAH!” — I can see his frequent irritation. However, Wally is the glue of a gang made up of six men who are members of Wally's club. They live in the clubhouse, make plans together, and react to life events as a group.
Although there is much conflict and competition among the men, a calm sense of camaraderie prevails. It's a common bachelor's utopia, where no one gets too depressed and flaws are forgiven. The antics, the harebrained schemes, the reckless storylines all show that each male character is skillfully and recognisably drawn. Like a voice actor, Frank Johnson played multiple roles and nailed them every time. Bigger, longer entire stories end with one-liners, clever cracks, wordplay, and other punchlines.
After spending some time with “Wally's Gang,” we begin to understand how the conclusion flows from the setup. It creates a sense of predictability and logic, but it's also more satisfying than putting. In general, gang members strive for solutions to ridiculous problems, often caused by themselves or further complicated by their own lack of resourcefulness (e.g. An attractive female doctor moves nearby and the gang begins self-harming (such as by taking her to the clubhouse). The men in the gang are not necessarily well-behaved, but they are unaware and innocent. The absurdity of life is revealed by the forgetfulness of a pure-hearted person.
This book is lovingly published by Fantagraphics, an independent publisher of comics and graphic novels for over 40 years that has helped define the field. An elegant, spacious design with a generous trim size supports the clarity of the comic itself. The editors and publishers of this book take the publication of this book seriously as a resource for others. Artists, readers, curators, scholars, and those who combine overlapping roles will find a carefully presented volume.
High production values make books expensive. Libraries should consider this as their first purchase for any collection where comics and graphic novels are popular and art, art history, and cultural history are of community interest. Or how about anywhere? Because books like this help shape your understanding of these rich subjects.
This volume is a complete, faithful, even somewhat fetishistic reproduction of the original work, framed to include the faint blue lines of the component book the comic is drawn on, the pages that pile up on the far left as the comic progresses. This captures a scanned image.
There's a sense of looking at archival material, including the front and back covers of each composition book containing Frank Johnson's creations, the first nine of which are included in this publication. The manufacturer's color scheme, graphics, and print names printed on the notebook's cover (Red Robin, Up to 100 Percent Composition Book, Penworthy, Whitefield, Victory Du Haut Stitch) emphasize the period aesthetic of the piece.
Johnson placed his own volume names and numbers on the front of the composition books, somehow ignoring and integrating the manufacturer's existing notebook cover designs, a bizarre display of DIY talent.
Understanding the origin, discovery, and advocacy of these comics, along with the experience of reading them, creates a powerful line of inquiry into creativity and how our culture perceives and embraces it. Masu. Frank Johnson's work provides new evidence to consider if you accept the editor's professional and enthusiastic composition of this book, including its discussion of outsider or visionary art.
What other valuable, glorious, creative work is there that we haven't seen, read, heard, or experienced? To what extent is the nature of what we have access to tied to the urge (on the part of the creator) to share the creation, or the urge of ambition or recognition? How does the perception of others affect the creative process? And lack of awareness? In the modern climate of hypersharing, where celebrity exists in all its forms, from local to global, it may be even more impossible to think of acts of creativity unaffected by the temptations of recognition.
When I read Frank Johnson's comics, I feel a sense of destiny. Technology has made it possible for works to be published. They seem to be meant to be shared. But he did it with a passion that he didn't know. He can't ride a bike yet, but he's actually like a kid riding a bike. How wonderful he was, pedaling off into the sunset, pedaling away for 50 years, without any praise or affirmation of his own accomplishments.
Evan Harris co-created the zine Quitter Quarterly. Her other zines and comics include Occasional Alphabet, SuperHeart, and Cosmic Rock booklets. She lives in East Hampton.
Chris Byrne is the owner and founder of the Elaine de Kooning House Art Center in East Hampton.