Let's face it, there is no finer soap opera comic strip than Frank King's GASOLINE ALLEY. Unfortunately, King, at least at this point in his career, veered too often into melodrama. This most obviously and annoyingly true in the return of Madame Octave yet again threatening to take legal action about Skeezix. I dated women like Miss Blossom, and my advice is to break-up with her. King has Walt marry her, but she is still a manipulating jerk and gets away with it. These are just two of the things that pull GA down in my estimation, and the melodrama keeps the strip from being a higher form of art.

This handsome volume's story content was a little disappointing I have now read the first three volumes and the collected Sunday pages. The Sunday pages are definitely the most exciting with groundbreaking graphics. The first volumes of the dailies introduced the characters and established the ensemble cast. The tour in the form of an auto race through the US was funny and enjoyable. However, the daily strips are probably most valuable for their depiction of day-to-day life in America in the time period in which they appeared. To attract readers then, they were offering something readers could identify with. Sadly, this includes the forms of racism that dominated daily life in those days. For nostalgia and a view of the period, this book follows through well. But the main drama of Volume three is the development of the relationship between Walt and Phyllis. This was often trite and clichéd, except for the new element that Phyllis has a trim figure while Walt is hugely overweight. The intriguing Madame Octave, who wanted to break up the romance and seize Skeezix, just sort of fades away, which took the edge off of much of the plotting. Frank King was a steady, solid creator - I proudly own and love a page of his artwork for a Sunday strip. He is always a steady creator with many inspired graphics, but the dailies from this period do not sustain interest as well as other years.

Another two years in the charmingly humdrum life of Walt, Skeezix, and their eccentric friends. Not as visually inventive as Windsor Mc Cay or George Herriman, nor as witty as Charles Schultz, Frank King nevertheless brings a gentleness and calm to an art form that otherwise favored big laughs or dazzling spectacle. It’s comforting to know these lovingly compiled strips are around so the slowly unfolding lives of these simple and kind characters are always there for us to share.

Third volume of the life of Walt and Skeezix. This took me about a year because I set it down during the winter last year and let it gather dust. Had already got through the first two volumes from when Skeezix is found on the doorstep by Walt just days old. Now Skeezix is in kindergarten and Walt is married (he knew when he was "well off" but changed his mind on that). Goofy humour and plot lines at times and the Gasoline Alley theme is still there in the mobility of Walt and his cohorts. I have another two volumes on deck so another four years of the pair of them to get into. Hopefully at a faster pace than this one.

Another wonderful trip courtesy of the great Frank King.

This was the first of the Walt and Skeezix albums that I wouldn't (and, duh, didn't) rate a five out of five. I'm not sure if I'm just becoming accustomed to the strip, and getting pickier, or if Frank King actually lost a little bit of his magic. Maybe it's just my frustration with certain elements of Madame Octave, and of how I think Walt should just be punching her in the head and stomping on her stomach, rather than inviting her to his wedding.

Regardless...it's still some beautiful cartooning. King was always of the bigfoot style of cartooning, but his layouts and techniques are so creative that he nonetheless was a beautiful illustrator, and I'm glad I've discovered the treasures of the Gasoline Alley strips.

Magical stuff. My appreciation and genuine fondness for King grows with each volume. A gifted artist with a keen eye for the nuances of the human spirit. A treasure.

As I set out to write this review, I discovered that I've never written up my thoughts on the first two volumes of the series. My bad. Overall, I've been enjoying these collections of the earliest Gasoline Alley comic strips. Not only are the comics amusing, but they offer a glimpse of another world--mid-America in the 1920s.* The picture is enhanced by the extensive articles and notes added by the publishers at Drawn & Quarterly Books.

The strips from 1925 & 1926 focus more on the romance between Walt & Phyllis Blossom and less on Skeezix's shenanigans. They illustrate a culture with strict gender roles and social mores. I'm assuming they've been exaggerated a bit to draw out the storyline and work in a few gags. There also seems to be more travelling involved in this volume than in the previous ones. If I were inclined to count them, I think its possible that more of the strips are set "on the road" than in Gasoline Alley. Makes me wonder how the characters can afford such a lifestyle. But that's taking the book way too seriously. I'd much rather move on to the next volume.
________
*Note: That world is a far from perfect world. The racial stereotypes in the art are painful. The writing is a bit better, though still reflects the biases of the time. Read at your own risk.