Nuts

This is one of my favorite books! Gahan Wilson has a wonderful drawing style, and is well-known for his imaginative, slightly macabre sense of humor. But when you see his one panel cartoons and illustrations, you always want more. Well, here's more! This is a dense collection of wonderful comic strip stories Wilson did in the 70's. They are about a pre-teen "Kid," and capture boyhood better than just about anything else I've ever read. The Kid is an only child, growing up in a big city. There is great honesty here, with the kid saying (to himself) swear words and imagining those horrible things we all imagined when we were small and easily terrified. Neither condescending nor obnoxious, these strips are gentle, warm and genuinely funny. And, course, they are beautifully drawn. The Kid reads comics, gets sick, build model planes, goes to a relative's funeral, visits the scene of a recent murder, goes to the matinee, and generally has a great set of universal adventures. Especially for this volume Wilson has drawn full pages like "The Sick Bed," 'Mr. Schultz's Cigar Store." I can't believe this book is out of print. A smart publisher could bring this back and do well with it. Will appeal to fans of LYNDA BARRY.