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Reviews
The TOON Treasury of Classic Children's Comics by Françoise Mouly, Jon Scieszka, Art Spiegelman
pwbalto's review
4.0
This hefty tome landed on my desk with a question: "Shelve with adult or in kids' graphic novels?"
It's a question. First of all, the beast is 350 oversize pages long. It has an introduction AND a foreword. On the other hand, the Introduction is written by Jon Scieszka, and his first word of it is "Wow."
Dennis the Menace and Little Lulu are in this book. So's Pogo, Uncle Wiggly, Donald Duck, and Gerald McBoing Boing. The comics are funny - funny in that slapstick name-calling kid-friendly way. I think that what most tempts us to slide this puppy in with the grownup books is its sumptuous production and classy design. Printed on ivory paper, the cartoons are reproduced in their original misregistered halftones, but I swear the page numbers and some of the interstitial text looks like letterpress. But this high-quality presentation is what Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly are known for. I swear that man took all the money he made from Maus and sunk it all into TOON books, their publishing company.
While this book might be kind of too much for a kid to check out of the public library, it would make a really excellent gift - it would be the kind of book that would stay in a child's bedroom for six years, as he picked it up and put it down, browsed for something silly, or showed his favorites to his friends.
It's a question. First of all, the beast is 350 oversize pages long. It has an introduction AND a foreword. On the other hand, the Introduction is written by Jon Scieszka, and his first word of it is "Wow."
Dennis the Menace and Little Lulu are in this book. So's Pogo, Uncle Wiggly, Donald Duck, and Gerald McBoing Boing. The comics are funny - funny in that slapstick name-calling kid-friendly way. I think that what most tempts us to slide this puppy in with the grownup books is its sumptuous production and classy design. Printed on ivory paper, the cartoons are reproduced in their original misregistered halftones, but I swear the page numbers and some of the interstitial text looks like letterpress. But this high-quality presentation is what Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly are known for. I swear that man took all the money he made from Maus and sunk it all into TOON books, their publishing company.
While this book might be kind of too much for a kid to check out of the public library, it would make a really excellent gift - it would be the kind of book that would stay in a child's bedroom for six years, as he picked it up and put it down, browsed for something silly, or showed his favorites to his friends.
emilyanddeb's review
3.0
I had to read this for my Comics & Graphic Novels college course, and it was enjoyable for what it was, but is not something I would pick up on my own. If you're a fan of classic comics though, I'd recommend it.
jayshay's review
4.0
A wonderful collection of classic children's comics. My favourties were Little Lulu ('Five Little Babies' is positively a Jacobean revenge play), Intellectual Amos (shrunk down in an ant hill), and Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge in "Tralla La" (move over Karl Marx). Still can't overcome my aversion for 'Dennis the Menance' probably because I was exposed to the watered-down, sappy version when I grew up. This is what children's literature should be subversive, imaginative and fun-fun-fun!
emilyheartscats's review
3.0
I had to read this for my Comics & Graphic Novels college course, and it was enjoyable for what it was, but is not something I would pick up on my own. If you're a fan of classic comics though, I'd recommend it.
ipacho's review
5.0
A wonderful assortment of classic toons and strips, selected by the master hand of Art Spiegelman. I had a blast of a time reading this classics and remembering good childhood days. Highly recommended, a source of inspiration!
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