Synopses & Reviews
The long-lost comic strip masterpiece by legendary children's book author Crockett Johnson (, ), collected in full and designed by graphic novelist and superfan Daniel Clowes (). Volume Three collects the postwar years of 1946-1947, continuing five-year-old Barnaby Baxter and his Fairy Godfather J.J. O'Malley's misadventures. Bumbling but endearing, Mr. O'Malley rarely gets his magic to work--even when he consults his . The true magic of Barnaby resides in its canny mix of fantasy and satire, amplified by the understated elegance of Crockett Johnson's clean, spare art. In its combination of Johnson's sly wit and O'Malley's amiable windbaggery, a child's feeling of wonder and an adult's wariness, highly literate jokes and a keen eye for the ridiculous, expanded our sense of what comics can do. This volume also features essays by comics historians Charles Hatfield and Coulton Waugh, as well as Johnson biographer Philip Nel.
Review
"That's the unalloyed brilliance of Johnson's strip: in the end there's nothing extraordinary in this world -- only little flying men, ghosts and imps of all sorts, talking dogs, and the like, and a well-balanced little boy who doesn't consider that anyone should think any of this to be unexpected. ... These are gorgeous and charming books, fine harbingers of future volumes in the series, and a necessary reminder of the gentle pleasures of, as [Chris] Ware observes, the last great uncollected comic strip." Reason
Review
"[Johnson's] worldview... gave us one of the 20th century's most entertaining comic-strip characters, J.J. O'Malley. He might not be the fairy godmother a boy wants, but he's the egotistical lowlife of a fairy godfather we all deserve." Jesse Walker
Synopsis
This is the third book in a series of five collecting author Crockett Johnson's long-lost newspaper comic strip about a five-year-old boy and his fairy godfather.
Synopsis
Vol. 3 collects the newspaper strip's postwar years of 1946 "1947, continuing five-year-old Barnaby Baxter and his Fairy Godfather J.J. O (TM)Malley (TM)s misadventures. Bumbling but endearing, Mr. O (TM)Malley rarely gets his magic to work "even when he consults his Fairy Godfather (TM)s Handy Pocket Guide. The true magic of Barnaby resides in its canny mix of fantasy and satire, amplified by the understated elegance of Crockett Johnson (TM)s clean, spare art. In its combination of Johnson (TM)s sly wit and O (TM)Malley (TM)s amiable windbaggery, a child (TM)s feeling of wonder and an adult (TM)s wariness, highly literate jokes and a keen eye for the ridiculous, Barnaby expanded our sense of what comics can do.
Synopsis
The long-lost comic strip masterpiece by legendary children's book author Crockett Johnson (Harold and the Purple Crayon, The Carrot Seed), collected in full and designed by graphic novelist and Barnaby superfan Daniel Clowes (Ghost World). Volume Three collects the postwar years of 1946-1947, continuing five-year-old Barnaby Baxter and his Fairy Godfather J.J. O'Malley's misadventures. Bumbling but endearing, Mr. O'Malley rarely gets his magic to work -- even when he consults his Fairy Godfather's Handy Pocket Guide. The true magic of Barnaby resides in its canny mix of fantasy and satire, amplified by the understated elegance of Crockett Johnson's clean, spare art. In its combination of Johnson's sly wit and O'Malley's amiable windbaggery, a child's feeling of wonder and an adults' wariness, highly literate jokes and a keen eye for the ridiculous, Barnaby expanded our sense of what comics can do. This volume also features essays by comics historians Nathalie op de Beeck and Coulton Waugh, as well as Johnson biographer Philip Nel.
About the Author
Crockett Johnson was the pen name of cartoonist and children's book illustrator David Johnson Leisk (October 20,1906-July 11, 1975). He is best known for the Harold series of books begun with Harold and the Purple Crayon and for the comic strip Barnaby. He was married to the children's book author Ruth Krauss, with whom he collaborated on several books, including The Carrot Seed.Jack Morley drew a Sunday newspaper page in the 1940s, and was an assistant on the mid-century newspaper strips Barnaby and Toonerville Folks.