Cartoons of the Roaring Twenties: Vol. 2: 1923 - 1925 (Humor)

Edited by R. C. Harvey 

Publisher: Fantagraphics (1992)

 

Softcover, 56 pages

The Roaring Twenties was the decade which truly gave definition to the twentieth century. It’s style, it’s rapaciousness, it’s blatant sexuality, and the explosion of mass media mediums of film, wire news services, and radio tossed away the last remnants of Victorian era ideas. In fact, one could claim that Americana as a whole had finally gripped the entire nation, rather than certain parts of it.  

And one of the most important aspects of any paper or magazine (which were in their heyday in the 20s) was their illustrations. A newspaper could not survive without a good comic section. The quality of the illustrations in a magazine was a direct reflection of the worthiness of the rest of its content. Crossword puzzles, comic pages, and movies were all the rage. 

Collected here is a great selection of cartoons from the luminaries of the day. Near forgotten names like John Held Jr. who’s drawings were said to have created the flapper identity. As humorist Corey Ford wrote “Each new Held drawing was poured over like a Paris fashion plate. Girls cropped their hair and rouged their cheeks and shortened their skirts to be in style, galoshes and racoon coats were indispensable to every male undergraduate wardrobe.” Held claimed he was simply copying the styles around him, but many others in turn copied the copied fashions of his illustrations.  

Also, in this second volume of work was that of Percy L. Crosby who created a decades favorite character named Skippy, a lovable tyke who gets into all sorts of mischief. While that sounds familiar in many comic strips, Skippy was the original. Alas, the only last vestige of this franchise is the peanut butter named after the character.

The two above are far from the only luminaries in this collection. Here we will also see the evolution of the comic scene, specifically the single panel gag. In the beginning hte gag was written and placed along with a seemingly random image. Often the gag and image could bear no real resemblance to each other, but as the years pass we see the merging of both art and text. This volume is essential for those who are interested in the evolution of the medium.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.