There are those that take the funny strips in the newspapers very seriously. Every time there is a change made, the fans cry out in anger and frustration. Sometimes it is something there is no control over, like the death of Charles Schultz, and the adventures of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the cast now told only in repeated strips from days gone by. Sometime it is that the creator decides to take a break, as in the case of Berke Breathed, and his beloved Bloom County - yet when they return, they are but a shallow shadow of their once greatness. Poor Opus the penguin now having to appear in the appropriately named strip Wasteland is but a caricature of what he once was. Then again, sometimes, the artist just has run out of things to say, or is just tired, as in the case with Calvin and Hobbes. And I have to admit, even though it has been several years since the last new strip was printed, I still miss the adventures to the boy and his, for a stuffed toy animal, very active tiger.
But now I wallow in the despair of strips that try to claim the throne of greatness no longer with the discovery of the only rightful heir–the web based strip Dandy & Company by Derrick Fish, now at last presented in two beautifully bound trade paperbacks, and a comic book sized magazine entitled Anthrology.
Yes, you read that correctly, web based. The place to find some of the brightest strips around, no longer hampered with syndication and distribution problems, creators are free to tell their stories the way the want to and with that freedom comes some of the best the medium has to offer. I have sampled many that the on line world presents, and for my money, the best hands down, is Dandy & Company.
This is the tale of Dandy, a talking dog that is anything but cuddly, instead filled with an attitude that would give any a good reason to visit the pound–like they would want him anyway.–His foil throughout the adventures is his, I dare not say owner or master, least Dandy track me down, so let’s just say his boy, Bernard. It is obvious that Bernard loves his dog, always willing to forgive and forget the sometime mean spirited but always-hilarious pranks and jabs he suffers at the paws of his canine companion. The world in which they exist is rich with many supporting characters, including Dandy’s little so cute you want to just pick him up and give him a hug brother named Mistake, and the female that makes Dandy’s heart go pitter-patter, Maryweather, Bernard’s parents, and many more, each as richly fleshed out and made alive as any character I have ever seen in any strip-period.
One of the things I love about these collections, besides the fact that I can hold them in my hand and read them as opposed to staring at my monitor, which I do too much as it is, is that in larger doses, you can see how it all fits together, how the world they live in exists and thrives, and the continuity of the strip and the adventures of a dog and his patsy, er, I mean boy.
It is obvious also that Mr. Fish, besides being a great artist and storyteller, is a fan of not only the medium he works in, but of popular culture as well. The strips are ripe with parodies on everything from Star Wars to Spider-Man, and all points in-between. But it is with the epics such as Beanie Quest (don’t ask, just read) is where his talents shine even brighter. In my opinion, to turn a humor strip into an adventure strip and tell a compelling story without losing any of what makes this strip unique just goes to show what a master of the craft he is. I was also very impressed that he has no problem with breaking the fourth wall, inserting himself in a manner of speaking, into the strip where need be–very reminiscent of the classic Daffy Duck cartoon Duck Amuck by the late great Chuck Jones. Mr. Fish even on occasions goes so far as to show us the process he uses to create that which we enjoy reading so much, which does not distract, only adds to the enjoyment and we are allowed peeks behind the curtain. Unlike The Wizard from Oz, we should pay attention to the man behind the curtain–there is a major force brewing on the comic scene there.
Filled with in-jokes, filled with action and adventure, and most of all filled with actual laugh out loud humor, the entire Dandy and Company collection should be on the shelf of anyone who enjoys comics, or just enjoys to laugh. The adventures continue at www.dandyandcompany.com seven days a week where you can join me and thousands of others reading that day’s fix while we wait for the next collection to come out–something I hope will not be long in coming.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Midwest Book Review
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group