Fantagraphics Books new collections explore the connection between comics, reality, and fantasy
The storylines of comic strips largely serve as an escape from reality for cartoonists and readers alike. Yet, for all the strips based on fantasy, there are notable examples that have contained small doses of reality – or, in some cases, rather large concentrations.
Three recent collections, all published by Fantagraphics Books, give credence to the connection between comics, reality and fantasy. (My thanks to Eric Reynolds and Jacq Cohen for sending them.)
We’ll start with Giovan Battista Carpi’s Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck in Les Misérables and War and Peace. He’s described by comics historian Luca Boschi as a “European Disney master,” along with the more well-known Romano Scarpa. These two cartoonists achieved legendary status in the long-running Italian comics magazine Topolino, which is Mickey Mouse’s name in their country.
Carpi always stood out for his interest and enthusiasm in placing these popular Disney characters into great works of literature and music. His comic adaptations of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Georges Bizet’s Carmen and Dante Alighieri’s Inferno fascinated Italian readers for years. Now, English readers get a chance to discover his work through Fantagraphics’s Disney Masters series, along with Scarpa, Dean Jippes, Giorgio Cavazzano and others.
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Uncle Scrooge McDuck is the main protagonist in The Secret of the Candlesticks, a wonderful adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. He plays Jean McJean, once accused of stealing two candlesticks by Inspector Javert but now reformed and serving as town mayor and guardian of Daisette (Daisy Duck). Rumour has it those candlesticks could lead to a lost Parisian treasure, which has piqued the interest of the devious frères Beagle and Terrible Tom Thénardier (Peg-Leg Pete). A great adventure is about to begin!
As for Carpi’s equally enticing adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Donald Duck assumes the lead role as Count Donald Dukzukov. His great love is Ducktasha Roastov (Daisy Duck), who he wants to be with for the rest of his life. Prince Scrooge McDukzukov (Scrooge McDuck) has other plans for the young count in the form of an arranged marriage. If he doesn’t comply, it will be off to the dreaded McDukzukov Metalworks. Will war or peace reign supreme?
Let’s move on to Frank Johnson’s Secret Pioneer of American Comics Vol. 1: Wally’s Gang Early Years (1928-1949) and The Bowser Boys (1946-1950). If this name doesn’t ring a bell, there’s a reason why – and a fascinating story behind it.
Johnson was a musician and shipping clerk by day and a “weekend cartoonist” by night. He left behind a massive 2,300-page proto-graphic novel drawn in notebooks that started in 1928 and continued for 50 years, along with 131 unbound drawings. This private project was discovered posthumously by his family in 1979 and was kept alive by his step-grandson and comics collectors. It’s a similar story to that of Henry Darger, a retired custodian who left behind an even bigger collection of private drawings and illustrations that was likely created in private and never shown to anyone.
We’ll never know what exactly motivated Johnson to create Wally’s Gang, The Bowser Boys and other strips. The work he left behind is not only exceptional but decades ahead of its time. He’s a “pioneer of comics genres that pervade our own contemporary culture,” artist/cartoonist Keith Mayerson wrote. Indeed, it’s a lifetime of masterful pen-and-ink creations before the growth of popular comic books and graphic novels. He also understood how to properly craft storylines and maintain character development, in spite of the fact that he was seemingly only doing it for himself.
Could Johnson have become a professional cartoonist? The first volume of his work indicates that he had the talent and ability to potentially succeed. Fantagraphics will help ensure his private vision will always have a place in public discourse.
Finally, we come to Paco Roca’s Return to Eden. One of Spain’s finest cartoonists, he has been heavily influenced by American cartoonists like Frank Miller and European-style comics, including the Franco-Belgian bande dessinées. He also has a flair for blending real historical events and personal stories into his fascinating and extremely personal graphic novels.
I’ve reviewed two of Roca’s superb books, The Winter Of The Cartoonist and The Treasure of the Black Swan. (Fantagraphics has been translating his work from Spanish to English for several years.) His newest work, originally published in Spain in 2020, may be his masterpiece. This fascinating look at his mother, Antonia, and her life in post-war Spain is depicted as “his most poignant graphic novel yet.”
Antonia and her family struggle constantly with everything from hunger and abuse to dictator Francisco Franco’s authoritarian rule. Yet, there are surprising moments of pleasure and tranquility among family, friends and the world of cinema. Through it all, the dream-like memories in his mother’s photo of a young woman on a picnic with her family at Valencia in 1947 serve as a private route to her own personal Eden.
Three fascinating book collections of comic strip fantasy, each containing different elements of real-life people, places and things. I hope you enjoy each and every one.
Michael Taube, a Troy Media syndicated columnist and political commentator, was a speechwriter for former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics.
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