Brian Walker (1) (1952–)

A sumptuous look at the world of "Doonesbury" by Brian Walker, who is a lot better comic historian than a cartoonist. There are segments on the creation of the strip, its early history, public reaction, the reclusive author, merchandising, the hiatus, contributions by the inker, letterer and colorist, the animated special and the Broadway play, and interviews with Trudeau. Much of this I was already aware of (been an avid fan for over 40 years), but I was not aware of most of the merchandising portrayed herein, which set my avarice gland pumping. I have got to find some of the posters with the Doonesbury denizens, done in the style of the old jazz and travel posters of bygone days. A very fun book for the fan; a bit too much for anyone else.… (más)

A sumptuous combination of Brian Walker's two comic strip references, "the comics before 1945" and "the comics after 1945". Walker is a better comic historian than comic strip creator; this is one of the better illustrated and annotated comic strip references I've seen. The preponderance here is toward the examples of comic strip art. The text is less comprehensive than you'd expect for a book this size (668 pages and about 13" high), but that's fine. It's nicely organized, and I've plenty of other references that are heavy on the text. A nice basic reference for the budding comic strip historian.… (más)