| "McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland, introduced in the New York Herald in 1905, has been called the most beautiful comic strip ever drawn. A pioneer film animator (Gertie the Dinosaur and cartoonist whose works border on surrealist dream fantasies, McCay profoundly influenced artists ranging from Walt Disney to Maurice Sendak. At every turn, Little Nemo confronts irrational taboos and forbidden places; his Slumberland is a Freudian landscape."
"Another eerie strip, Dream of the Rarebit Fiend, cheerfully portrays the irrationality and instability of everyday life. Sendak, in his introduction, rightly calls McCay ``one of America's great fantasists.'' That this strange, elfin man (18671934) was also a political cartoonist who, at his best, rivalled Daumier is clear from animator-film historian Canemaker's authoritative, richly illustrated, oversize biography. A rare treat." From Publisher's Weekly.
McCay is one of the most influential artists from the very earliest days of both comics and screen animation. While serious comics fans will be aware of some of his work (especially Little Nemo) they may be unfamiliar with much of the rest of his output since it has been out of print for decades, but is now being collected by Checker Publishing. This biography is a perfect accompaniment to the work, art and life of an artist who has influenced so many in comics over the last century, from the earliest right up to the present (Neil Gaiman, no less, pays homage to McCay).
This is a full revised and updated edition of the previous version from ten years back, with a foreword by the legendary illustrator Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) and issued to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Little Nemo in Slumberland. This volume analyzes his achievements in print and in film while examining his work in relation to his life, family and American culture and values of the period.
Harry Abrams, hardback, 272 pages, published December 2005
Normal Price: £30.49
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Writer: John Canemaker | Artist: Winsor McCay | Publisher: Harry Abrams
Price: £22.87 | |
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