Books

Frazetta - Funny Stuff

By Beth Davies-Stofka
June 27, 2012 - 09:18

Did you know that Frank Frazetta ghosted for Al Capp for ten years?

Did you know that Frank Frazetta turned down a contract from the New York Giants’ farm team?

Did you know that Frazetta originally had two “z’s”?

Did you know that the greatest fantasy artist of all time, Frank Frazetta, drew funny stuff?

Well I didn’t!

I was stunned when this edition of IDW’s Yoe! Books imprint crossed my desk. I have a dad who lived and breathed pulp fiction as a kid in the 1940s and as a young man in the 1950s. When my brother and I first started to read, we had our choice of some of the finest of adventures, and that included Conan, Tarzan, and John Carter. Frank Frazetta’s ominous cover paintings were like forbidding gatekeepers, sternly warning us to enter these fantasy worlds with caution. Heavy and dark, weighty and threatening, I never knew any other Frank Frazetta.

Yet here they are, Frazetta’s comics, telling stories of funny animals, crafty country folk, and wide-eyed teens. And there is a remarkable admission from Frazetta himself, so remarkable that it’s on the cover:

I do reveal that dark side in some of my work. I am known for my violent stuff. But the funny stuff is the real me.

Once again, Craig Yoe has plugged a major hole in the history of comics – one that I didn’t even know was there! Within these pages you will find the tales of Hucky Duck, Barney Rooster, and Dodger de Squoil (Frazetta was from Brooklyn). You’ll find outlandish stories of hijinks and scrapes starring Looie Lazybones and the teenaged Kathy.  

You’ll also find a cornucopia of illustrations that Frazetta did for text stories. They feature funny animals, and served as title illustrations for stories which generally were not otherwise illustrated. The drawings are incredible, cartoon animals all, yet the lush settings and kinetic energy typical of Frazetta’s later paintings are already on display. 

This surprising and beautiful account of a world-famous artist’s nearly forgotten career as a cartoonist and comics creator is reproduced in typical Yoe! Books fashion: with meticulous care, on thick sturdy paper, showing real love. It comes with a fabulous stream-of-consciousness introduction by the immortal Ralph Bakshi, and an excellent biography of Frazetta written by Craig Yoe himself, including a reflection on Frazetta’s art, and the impact “Fritz” had on his friends and his fans.

I wouldn’t recommend buying this book in order to read the comics. They really are dated. The title illustrations of the funny animal stories might leave you feeling unaccountably sad, orphaned as they are from their stories. They seem poignant. What was the fate of “The Bunny Who Wanted to Know”? Did anyone calm “The Worried Owl” or grant “The Silly Wish”? It’s sad, somehow, not knowing.

The significance of this book lies in the art. If you are a Frazetta completist, this is a must-own. And if you are learning the craft of cartooning or children’s book illustration, you need to buy this. You need to copy Frazetta until you too can make your drawings wiggle, stampede, flutter, and squirm, laugh, weep, and connive on the page. This book is affordable for what it delivers (as are all books in the Yoe! Books imprint). And if all else is lost, you can persuade your library to acquire a copy. This is our history, after all!

Rating: 10 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12