Rip Kirby vol. 1
Written & Illustrated by Alex Raymond, with Ward Greene
Published by IDW
God bless the American Library of Comics. Whenever I hear people talk about their history reading comics, so many readers always offer the caveat of a few years when they quit reading for one reason or other. And too often that reason grows from a general lack of interest in the comics they’d been reading. Since I started reading comics regularly, I’ve never taken a break, and it’s entirely because I continue to find amazing stuff both new and old.
Alex Raymond, if you’re unaware, made his name as the creator and artist of the Flash Gordon Sunday newspaper strips. After a healthy run on Flash (and its accompaniment strip, Jungle Jim, and even a brief partnership with Dashiell Hammett on Secret Agent X-9), Raymond resigned his newspaper comic strip duties and enlisted during World War II. When Raymond was released from service, his space ace had gone on to new adventures under the guidance of cartoonist Dan Barry, and King Features Syndicate, which owns the strip, hesitated to re-assign Raymond over Barry. However, King offered Raymond the opportunity to create a new adventure strip. Despite considerable disappointment at surrendering Flash Gordon, Raymond eventually took them up on the offer and Rip Kirby was born.
Rip Kirby’s a very interesting strip. Pulp magazines bore most of the early comics’ inspirations, and the pulps were rife with hardboiled, two-fisted, chain-smoking, surly detectives in the mold of Chandler and Hammett. Remington “Rip” Kirby operates a more modern investigation. He’s a scientist, wears glasses, and maintains a cool attitude. On the other hand, he’s a former All-American athlete and not above knocking sense into a suspect when necessary. But the strip is a clear step away from the noir detective, and a move toward the procedural dramas seen today.
Being a Raymond-drawn strip, Rip Kirby looks gorgeous. Rip’s a handsome fellow, and his girlfriend Honey Dorian is an absolutely knockout. Raymond really embraced the comic format, believing totally in its power as a storytelling form and art form, and you can really see his confidence in what he’s doing on every daily sequence. The cinematic quality layouts, dynamic figures and detailed, natural illustrations deserve all the plaudits that have been heaped on Raymond’s work.
Only the first story, with a clunker of a reveal, fumbles on a story level. Fortunately, Raymond and his editor and writer, Ward Greene, craft meticulous dramas in each of the ensuring mysteries. Even when the culprit is obvious, they leave plenty of thorns and surprises along the path to justice. Though readers usually know more than Kirby, the character’s logical deductions always feel genuine.
Raymond’s ability to pace a drama out is incredible. Especially when read in sequence over a short duration, there is an irresistible motion to the daily serial, and Raymond knows exactly how to use the format. Each strip offers another layer, a hint, a clue, a misdirect, a piece of character insight, building incessantly toward the inevitable climax. With only three or four panels per daily, the tension never stops.
The American Library of Comics’ massive hardcover edition, published through IDW, presents the work in a beautiful format. Nearly all of the artwork is reproduced beautifully, and the introductions provide useful background into Raymond’s switch from Flash Gordon to Rip Kirby, as well as some suggestion of the man who produced these wonderful cartoons. A full week of dailies (Rip never ran a Sunday page) shows on each two-page spread, allowing readers to absorb the strip in a condensed variation of its original pacing.
Whether you buy it or borrow it, Rip Kirby vol. 1 is simply great comics and fully recommended. Anybody who loves a rip-roaring, smartly written adventure really owes it to themselves to explore the work of Raymond (as well as Milton Caniff and Hal Foster).
December 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
I got this and it’s awesome – alex raymond is just _too_ good; I can just look at his stuff forever — Flash Gordon was good and really shows his development, but this stuff is just so sophisticated and polished — completely sucks you in. And I think (if glamourpuss is anything to go by, and I think it is) the best is yet to come in upcoming editions. I usually hesitate to buy big things like this, especially when they’re “old stuff” (I want to do dig into popeye and terry and the pirates but it just doesn’t grab me), but I think I’m on board for the long run here. Oh, and some of the dialogue is just great: totally swanky ’50s hipster-speak (not beatnik, but… ah you gotta read it to see: it’s like what you imagine Frank Sinatra talked like)
December 18th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Deco,
I have the entire six volume set of TERRY and all the POPEYEs to date, and I’d really recommend both series. I actually like them more than RIP KIRBY – and I love RIP. Def. looking forward to reading the rest of the series as fast as IDW puts ‘em out.
The writing in TERRY is the best I’ve seen in a daily adventure strip – Caniff was a master at setting up storylines and characters months in advance, and he really develops into a superb artist during the run. Segar’s is just drop-dead hilarious, slapstick, English-mangling brilliance.
December 30th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
I am reading Rip right now and have to agree with everthing you’ve said, including your comparison to Caniff above. I have only read the first two Kirby adventures so far, and while it is as beautiful as any comic any time, the relationships in Terry and the Pirates are just so much more complex and mature. Partly that’s because I’ve read so much more of them and seen them developed further, but also because Caniff really did represent the top of the pyramid.