I remembering reading an article about DC's Rudolph books a numbers of years go (perhaps it was in Comic Book Marketplace). This type of strip would not typically not appeal to me, but I am always intrigued by any book that has such a rabid following. It wasn't until I actually bought this digest recently that I realized that Sheldon Mayer was the brains behind these stories. They are fun and inventive with a good dose of humour. The artwork is attractive and clean and should appeal to children under 10. There is some silliness, but it never moves into 'stupid' territory and they general contain some subtle moral lessons for kids. The digest format is pretty great, but might not works so well for those planning on solving the puzzles. Some of the material here is reprinted, but a couple of stories are new and come from a planned, but never published tabloid edition. Good clean fun.Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Kids' Corner: Best of DC #4
I remembering reading an article about DC's Rudolph books a numbers of years go (perhaps it was in Comic Book Marketplace). This type of strip would not typically not appeal to me, but I am always intrigued by any book that has such a rabid following. It wasn't until I actually bought this digest recently that I realized that Sheldon Mayer was the brains behind these stories. They are fun and inventive with a good dose of humour. The artwork is attractive and clean and should appeal to children under 10. There is some silliness, but it never moves into 'stupid' territory and they general contain some subtle moral lessons for kids. The digest format is pretty great, but might not works so well for those planning on solving the puzzles. Some of the material here is reprinted, but a couple of stories are new and come from a planned, but never published tabloid edition. Good clean fun.
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5 comments:
I think it's a shame that DC doesn't seem interested in giving one of it's founding father and brightest forgotten creators the respect he deserves.
Sheldon Mayer managed to get only a single volume of his body of work published in the Archive program. And that SUGAR & SPIKE volume 1 came out more than 20 years after the Archive program began... just as it seem to be on it's last leg...
It has been two years since, and no reprint project of classic Sheldon Mayer has been announced or even hinted.
DC needs to put out a complete SCRIBBLY book, more SUGAR & SPIKE volumes, and, yes, why not a beloved RUDOLPH omnibus just in time for next year's Christmas?
Sheldon Mayer should be as celebrated as Carl Barks and John Stanley, pure artisans who produced fun stimulating reading material for kids of all ages with a respect for their art form and respect for their reading public.
Sheldon Mayer was the main creator for the 70s/80s revival of the Rudolph comics, but the original 1950s comics were by Rube Grossman.
I agree that Mayer should be celebrated more.
Thanks for the info, Shad. I think that a reprint of Rudolph comics would be a good seller at Christmastime.
I think DC is handling this material very poorly. As noted above, there has only been one significant reprint of Sugar & Spike. I would add to that- NO reprints of The Three Mouseketeers, Scribbly or Rudolph! Also, the Sugar & Spike volume, delightful as it was, was a poor marketing strategy. Take a title aimed at little kids and put it in a $60 hardcover? Good going, execs!
If any of these books had decent TPB reprints at a reasonable price and were marketed to the preschool to grade 3 parents' market, they'd do very well, I think!
I think they'd do well, too - not sure why the reluctance. Parents are always looking for good things for kids to read.
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