AMERICA'S GREAT COMIC-STRIP ARTISTS
by Richard Marschall
A swiftly paced and engrossing survey of the lives and careers of the most influential and original creators of comic strips, ranging across the hundred-year history of the genre. Marschall, the editor of Hogan's Alley: The Journal of the Cartoon Arts, brings an extraordinary fund of knowledge to the project and a refreshingly sharp, frank critical sense. Beginning with R.F. Outcault, the creator in the late 19th century of the phenomenally popular ``Yellow Kid'' and ``Hogan's Alley,'' and concluding with Charles Schultz and the ubiquitous ``Peanuts'' strip, these profiles offer a nice blend of the biographical and the critical. Indeed, Marschall's pieces on such diverse figures as George Herriman (the shy genius who created ``Krazy Kat'') and Al Capp (``Lil' Abner'') are superb introductions to the artists and their creations, and the most succinct and convincing evaluations of their work available. E.C. Segar (``Popeye''), Harold Gray (``Little Orphan Annie''), Hal Foster (``Prince Valiant''), Milton Caniff (``Terry and the Pirate''), and Walt Kelly (``Pogo'') are among those profiled. A handsome, lively introduction to the genre. (250 color and b&w illustrations)