| Title | : | Walt and Skeezix, Vol. 4: 1927-1928 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1897299397 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781897299395 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 400 |
| Publication | : | First published March 9, 2010 |
THE LONG-AWAITED NEW VOLUME FROM THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ARCHIVAL COLLECTION OF FRANK KING’S CLASSIC STRIP
In this fourth volume of Walt and Skeezix, the newly married Walt Wallet settles into domestic life with his wife, Phyllis, and their adopted son, Skeezix, but their family bliss is soon disrupted by a man who claims to be Skeezix’s natural father. A long custody battle erupts, raising questions as to the importance of blood ties compared with a loving environment. Later, Walt and Phyllis have to deal with all the dilemmas of a young couple’s life as their family starts to unexpectedly expand. This is the very stuff of life—paying the bills, nursing a sick child, finding the right job while spending quality time with family—expertly explored with cartoonist Frank King’s unerring fidelity to reality. In unfolding the drama of the Wallet family’s life, King displays his full mastery of long and complex narratives, which made his work a forerunner to the modern graphic novel. In his introduction to the series, Jeet Heer explores King’s storytelling prowess and links the concerns of the strip with changes in American culture in the 1920s. Lavishly illustrated with King’s family photos, the book is designed by Chris Ware, whose elegant and detail-rich books have revolutionized the graphic novel field.
Walt and Skeezix, Vol. 4: 1927-1928 Reviews
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This fourth volume in the series continues to chronicle the antics of Walt Wallet, his family, and the neighbors of Gasoline Alley. Well, the neighbors provide less antics as the storylines focus more on the growing Wallet family. Probably the longest tale running through these years details yet another attempt to take Skeezix away from Walt. I think if all of these happened to someone in real life, they'd need therapy. Fortunately, in the comics we can have some drama with a happy ending all but guaranteed.
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The long awaited fourth volume of Gasoline Alley is here! In this volume we begin with another interesting article about the life of the strip's creator Frank King and incidents that occurred in his life that contributed to the strip. With Miss Blossom and Walt now married the strip takes a distinct turn into family drama with a drawn out epic about Skeezix's paternity and adoption taking center stage before settling back into the groove of the joys of domesticity. A great deal of tact is used to create strips that feature Mrs Wallet's pregnancy without directly using the word or showing any maternity belly, Walt gets a job, and generally things get a bit more normal. However the volume ends with a bit of a cliffhanger as Walt, short on money, buys stocks on credit and unwisely spends his projected windfall before his chicks are hatched, leading the readers to feel a sense of doom awaiting in the next volume.
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Great insight into the 1920's. In one string of the story makes lots of money in the stock market. Earlier in the story Walt is just getting his first job. I'm guessing he was independently wealthy enough before so as to not need a job, but the costs of raising a family and fighting court battles depletes his wealth. I'm hoping to eventually read all of these.
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So heartbreaking for a comic strip!
