Li'l Abner The Frazetta Years HC (2003 Dark Horse) comic books

Volume 1 - 1st printing. "1954-1955!" Story and art by Frank Frazetta. Before legendary artist Frank Frazetta became an American institution for his lush paintings, he was drawing muscular hillbillies and scantily clad women for an earlier American institution: the comic strip Li'l Abner, which boasted 60 million readers daily. From 1954 till 1961 Frazetta toiled as a ghost for Al Capp, the most famous and successful cartoonist of his era. Except for a brief 1954 dailies sequence (when Frazetta drew himself as "Frankie the Biker" in a send-up of Marlon Brando's contemporary motorcycle film The Wild Ones) Frazetta's energy was focused on the Li'l Abner Sunday strips. For the first time ever these gorgeous full-color Sundays are being collected! Dark Horse is publishing four comprehensive 9" x 12" volumes. Each quarterly volume will contain an introduction and extensive annotations by Li'l Abner expert Denis Kitchen. Volume 1 features The Bald Iggle (from Capp's Shmoo and Kigmy school of creatures with social messages), Loverboynik (a thinly disguised Liberace) and Milton the Masked Martian (an early superhero parody) as well as Indian princess Minnie Mustache, Moonbeam McSwine, The Tigress, Daisy Mae Yokum and Gloria Van Wellbilt as only Frank Frazetta can draw them!! Hardcover, 9-in. x 11-in., 128 pages, full color. Cover price $18.95.

Volume 2 - 1st printing. "1956-1957!" Story and art by Frank Frazetta. A super-sexy Marilyn Monroe leads off Volume 2--drawn as only Frank Frazetta could draw her! Monroe appears in all 12 panels of the first 1956 Sunday, setting the pace for the next two sizzling years. Highlights for Volume 2 include: Al Capp's legendary parody of busybody "Mary Worm" led "Mary Worth" creator Allan Saunders to reciprocate, casting Capp as a drunken and loutish cartoonist in his strip. Others skewered are gay pianist Liberace (Loverboynik), bald actor Yul Brynner (Errol Skinn), actress Jayne Mansfield (Jayne Cornfield), and actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly (supplanted here by Daisy Mae Yokum) marrying the Prince of Monte Carload. Regular cast members with plot time include Evil Eye Fleegle (with his powerful whammy), Hairless Joe and Lonesome Polecat, Moonbeam McSwine (who prefers the company of pigs to men) and über-capitalist General Bullmoose. Each volume will contain an introduction and extensive annotations by Li'l Abner expert Denis Kitchen, who provided the incisive text and annotations for Dark Horse's popular Little Annie Fanny books. Hardcover, 9-in. x 11-in., 128 pages, full color. Cover price $18.95.

Volume 3 - 1st printing. "1958-1959!" Story and art by Frank Frazetta. From 1954 until 1961, famed fantasy artist Frank Frazetta toiled as a ghost on Al Capp's Li'l Abner, one of the most popular cartoon strips of all time. Volume 3 collects the Sunday strips from 1958 to 1959. Ever wonder what shiftless hillbilly Li'l Abner does for a living? This volume reveals that he has a job... as a mattress tester! Abner also becomes a successful cartoonist and separates from Daisy Mae. Ever wonder how to pronounce Joe Bftsplk? (The little man with the cloud over his head who is the world's worst jinx.) Al Capp reveals the easy answer. Earth is invaded by flying saucers, Hairless Joe becomes the Duke of Djaugh, Adam Lazonga returns, deadly turnip termites invade Dogpatch, General Bullmoose turns 99... and much more. Frank Frazetta's paintings and illustrations have set the standard for fantasy artists for the past 50 years! The original comic strip, Li'l Abner once boasted over 60 million readers! The color strips are being scanned from the best available archival sources. Hardcover, 9-in. x 11-in., 128 pages, full color. Cover price $18.95.

Volume 4 - 1st printing. "1960-1961!" Story and art by Frank Frazetta. Volume 4 features two separate Fearless Fosdick adventures and collects the Sunday strips from the beginning of 1960 through 1961. In one, our favorite bumbling detective moonlights as female officer Phyllis Fosdick. Paramount successfully released their Li'l Abner movie in 1959, but here Li'l Abner makes a separate film... with disastrous results. Years before Japan invaded the American auto market, Capp presciently depicts the success of the $19.95 Japanese Nomotocar (it has no motor), and Capp foresaw the cross-breeding of animals long before DNA manipulation. Also featured in this volume: jinx Joe Btfsplk, pilot Captain Eddie Ricketyback, and more! Each quarterly volume contains extensive story-by-story annotations by Li'l Abner and Al Capp expert Denis Kitchen. Hardcover, 9-in. x 11-in., 120 pages, full color. Cover price $18.95.