“HE CAUGHT LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE AND LEARNED HOW TO DRAW WITH IT”
San Diego, CA (December 7, 2011)—IDW Publishing and the Library of American Comics are proud to announce a new archival hardcover series that will reprint, for the first time, the complete legendary Skippy comic strips by Percy Crosby. THE COMPLETE SKIPPY will be co-edited by Jared Gardner and Dean Mullaney, with an ongoing biography by Gardner, and designed by Lorraine Turner. The premiere volume, containing the daily comics from 1925 through 1927, will be released in summer 2012.
“Percy Crosby caught lightning in a bottle and learned how to draw with it,” wrote Jules Feiffer in a 1978 appreciation. Milton Caniff marveled, “Boy, there's nothing faster than watching Skippy run the way Crosby drew him.” Debuting in 1923 in Life magazine, Skippy moved to the comics pages in 1925 and soon became a sensation, published in twenty-eight countries and fourteen languages. In 1931, Skippy became the first comic strip to see its film version win an Academy Award. Crosby continued writing and drawing the feature until 1945.
Crosby was also heralded as “the greatest apostle of motion in the field of art” by Edward Alden Jewell, art critic of The New York Times. Crosby’s artwork has hung in the Louvre in Paris, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, and the Tate Gallery in London, among other venues, but it is his work as a cartoonist, as the creator of Skippy—the philosopher man-child— for which he's best known.
Today Skippy can be seen as the spiritual ancestor to Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes, among many other kid strips. Crosby influenced cartoonists from Charles Schulz to Walt Kelly to Garry Trudeau, and perhaps more than any other cartoonist before him, brought philosophy and politics to the American newspaper comic strip. In the end, it would be his outspoken political and philosophical beliefs that would place him increasingly outside the mainstream of 1940s American culture, ultimately leading to his exile from comics and his forced incarceration in a mental institution for the last sixteen years of Crosby Family his life. As a result of his tragic end, Crosby’s remarkable contributions to American culture have been largely eclipsed, until now.
The series is produced with the full cooperation of Skippy, Inc. and the Crosby estate. Joan Crosby Tibbetts, Crosby’s daughter, who has waged a 50-year campaign to keep her father's legacy alive, said, “I’m delighted that the complete Skippy will be published at long last. For years, Skippy fans and namesakes have written me, wanting to see more of their favorite character, and now I can tell them their wishes are granted.”
The book is now available at the following retailers:
Amazon Books: click here
Barnes and Noble: click here
Independent Comic shop retailers: click here
ALSO AVAILABLE NEW SKIPPY DOLL
Percy L. Crosby (1891-1964) was an American author, illustrator and cartoonist best known for his popular comic strip "Skippy®." Written and drawn by Crosby, the strip is regarded by comics historians as a classic which innovated a number of sophisticated touches used later by many famous cartoonists from Charles Schulz' 'Peanuts' to Bill Watterson's 'Calvin & Hobbs.'
When it was launched in 1923, nothing like Skippy had ever been seen before in the comic strips. It was not just Crosby's expert draftsmanship or remarkable flair, although that artistry earned him a reputation as "the cartoonist's cartoonist"... The brilliance of Skippy was that here was fantasy with a realistic base, the first 'kid' cartoon with a definable and complex personality grounded in everyday life.
The syndicated strip was enormously popular, at one point guaranteeing Crosby over $2,000 a week, an enormous sum in those harsh economic times. Grosset & Dunlap published Crosby's Skippy novel in 1929 and a radio show was soon developed. In 1931 the strip was adapted as a movie by Paramount Pictures. A success, it won director Norman Taurog the Academy Award for Best Director and boosted the career of young star Jackie Cooper in the title role.
Creator Crosby retained the copyright, a rarity for comic strip artists of the time. In his heyday, there were Skippy toys, comic books, and dolls. The Effanbee Company, New York, was licensed to make Skippy dolls which they produced from 1928-1943. Marketed as the boyfriend of the popular "Patsy" doll, Skippy was 14" tall and made of composition with molded hair with a long forelock on the forehead. His custom head mold was sculpted by famed doll designer Bernard Lipfert based on the artwork of Percy Crosby.
It gives us great pleasure to present the first Skippy doll made entirely of felt! Closely based on the vintage Skippy doll design and the artwork of Percy Crosby, Skippy measures approximately 12 1/2 inches tall and is fully jointed with the RJW ball & socket system with internal wood mechanism. Skippy's hands have individually-sewn fingers and molded details. His impish face is delicately hand painted and for the first time he has a completely handknotted wig of the finest mohair.
This mischievous little boy comes costumed in an authentic outfit made of the finest natural materials. A tailored cotton shirt with large collar and tie, felt shorts, overcoat, and slouch hat are based closely on the original comic illustrations. He wears cotton socks and hand-cobbled shoes made of fine custom-made leather with custom-made miniature shoelaces. On his chest, Skippy sports a special replica pinback button which reads: "R. John Wright Dolls, I AM SKIPPY® - The Real American Boy."
Skippy was produced by special permission from the Estate of Percy L. Crosby in this extremely small edition of just 150 pieces worldwide. Each doll will come beautifully boxed with a signed certificate of authenticity and the forms for owner registration.
Skippy, may be ordered from THE TOY SHOPPE.