Why read Screwball! The Cartoonists Who Made the Funnies Funny?

Book cover of Screwball! The Cartoonists Who Made the Funnies Funny

Book description

The story of screwball comics, with new research and rare art from some of the most hilarious cartoonists of all time.

Before "screwball" became a movie genre, it was a staple of other forms of American culture, including newspaper comic strips. Emerging from the pressures of a rapidly accelerating technological…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Screwball! The Cartoonists Who Made the Funnies Funny as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Michael Tisserand

Author

Paul Tumey is one of our pre-eminent comics scholars, but like the cartoonists he honors in this work, he mainly wants to make you laugh. To this end, he’s assembled cartoons, comics, and old photos, mostly dating to the early 1900s, to build a case for a comics genre he calls Screwballism. It’s all a very funny read, and if the names of genius creators like Frederick Burr Opper and Gene Ahern aren’t yet household names, don’t blame Tumey.

From Michael's list on for reading century-old newspaper funnies.