Product Review

Sunday Krazy Kat strips from all of 1941 and 1942 and a bounty of extras, including an essay by Jeet Heer about the history and precedents of Herriman's unique use of language.

George Herriman integrated full, spectacular color into Krazy Kat in June, 1935. The gorgeous evolution continues in Fantagraphics's fourth color volume (subtitled "A Ragout of Raspberries"), which includes the Sunday strips from all of 1941 and 1942. The color format opens the floodgates for a massive amount of spectacular, rare color art from series editor Bill Blackbeard and designer Chris Ware's files. Most of these strips in this volume have not seen print since originally running in Hearst newspapers over 60 years ago.

For this volume, critic Jeet Heer contributes an essay about the history and precedents of Herriman's unique use of language, exploring his characters' loquacious lexicography.