Bruce Simon

Hoo-Hah! Out Our Way - Smokey's Saga Bruce Simon

J. R. Williams has often been called "The Mark Twain of the American Newspaper Cartoon." This volume is the third of a series devoted to J. R. Williams' long-running "Out Our Way" panels (1922-1957). The professional cartooning career of J. R. Williams began in 1922 and continued until his death in 1957. During this period, it is estimated that he produced over 10,000 published drawings. From his own experiences as young ranch hand, Williams drew a series of cowboy cartoons from 1924 to1926 that actually work as a graphic novel. Combining gag-a-day cartoons with elements of romance, suspense, and thrilling western adventure, this early newspaper panel cartoon collection will leave you laughing and gasping! In many ways, this story could be considered one of the first Graphic Novels, and has never been presented in this way before. Williams himself left home at an early age and worked as a cavalry man, a cowboy, and machinist. His true-life experiences became the basis for his cartoons, and his panels were among the most clipped ever to appear in newspapers. To this day, "Out Our Way" scrapbooks from the twenties and thirties still regularly show up at estate sales and thrift shops. The editors of Hoo-Hah! have restored Williams' drawings from yellowed clippings and scans of microfiled newspapers to look like they originally appeared when first printed -- large formatted and with clean lines. In the near future, more Hoo-Hah! publications will be printed, devoted to single subjects, or a variety of Classic American humorous stories, comics, and film.