Comics are better than they were ten years ago in almost every category but one -- reprints of classic comic strips.  Although Fantagraphics continues their long-running reissues of Hal Foster's Prince Valiant, far fewer classic comic strips collections are being published now than a decade ago.  However, Canadian publisher Drawn & Quarterly is about to embark on a major project to reprint one of the classic American comic strips, Frank King's Gasoline Alley.  King's comic strip began in 1921 in the Chicago Tribune, where it gleefully chronicled the lives of ordinary 'Joes,' who were originally drawn together by their interest in cars.  At the suggestion of Tribune owner Joseph Medill Patterson, King added a foundling to the cast and the infant, who was given the wonderful moniker Skeezix, duly appeared on the doorstep of portly and kindly Wally Wallet.  Unlike Dennis the Menace or Calvin, Skeezix aged and the comic strip followed him from infancy to middle age, providing a priceless chronicle of American life in the process.  In each of the two most recent issues of the Drawn & Quarterly Anthology (#3 & #4), the Canadian publisher has reprinted 30 Gasoline Alley Sunday pages in full color.  These issues are currently available from FM International, Coldcut Distribution, and Diamond Comic Distributors.

 

Drawn & Quarterly will eventually collect the Sunday pages and publish them, but the publisher is also assembling the black-and-white daily Gasoline Alley strips, which it will publish in a series of trade paperback volumes designed by Chris Ware.  Ware, whose graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan has received major critical raves and sold exceptionally well in bookstores is known for his superb sense of design.  He recently provided numerous illustrations for the 'Summer Reading Issue' of the New York Times Book Review.  Ware's style incorporates many design elements from the early twentieth century, so he is the perfect choice to design the Gasoline Alley volumes.  Look for a publishing schedule and pricing details to be finalized in the next few weeks.