I very rarely have purchased old comics from dealers, having inherited them, or bought them new off the spinner. But this comic was an exception. Some years ago I talked with a dealer who was on tour with an antique show at a mall, and I told him of my interest in some of Kelly's fairy tale comics, and gave him my address to contact me if he found any on my want list. Whoa, just two weeks later a large envelope arrived with this comic, beautifully packaged. The dealer wrote that if I didn't want it, just send it back, or if I did want it, I could send a check (for a very fair price). I was dumbfounded that a dealer could be so trusting, and to keep that trust, of course I sent a check immediately.
Fairy Tale Parade #50 (Four Color Series) — 1944
Back Cover
The only reason I want a collection of Peter Wheat more than Fairy Tale Parade is because all the Fairy Tale Parades have been scanned. I really think they're the high point of Kelly's very early work. Pogo at this point, while a delight on many levels, feels too much like a work in progress compared to the utter masterpiece it became. (Although I do think a key reason Pogo was so utterly perfect as a comic STRIP is that Kelly was able to take the time to develop it as a comic book before most people ever saw it in their paper.) Our Gang, while also wonderful in its own way, still took a long time to develop and never quite reached the heights of his other stuff in my opinion. Fairy Tale Parade, however, is perhaps the first _great_ Kelly work; it remains a beautiful, timeless piece of art.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll get lucky and find another issue at the Emerald City Comic Con next weekend; I got 4C 87 last year.