What do Milton Canniff, Alex Toth, Hergé, Frank Santoro and a whole heck-of-a-lot of other cartoonists all have in common?  A solid appreciation of the genius of Roy Crane, that's what.  In the family tree of comics, one of the sturdiest and vital branches is that of Roy Crane.  A natural story-teller and fluid draughtsman who knew how to lay out a page like nobody's business, Roy Crane originated the adventure comic strip in 1924 with his Wash Tubbs daily strip (a full decade before Terry and the Pirates).  Populated with thoroughly likable, humble, human heroes, the Wash Tubbs daily comic strip, and its later outgrowth, the Captain Easy Sunday pages established Crane at the forefront of the cartoonists of his day.  Crane achieved a magic balance between realism and cartooning that went a long way towards defining the visual identity of comics in the twentieth century, and Captain Easy is his masterpiece.  This wonderful, oversize, full color, hardcover volume presents the first two years – and then some! – of this classic, from its very first strip, 7/30/33 through to 12/1/1935.  And, best of all, this is only the first volume of a promised complete collection, which will run through four volumes!  Five full adventures are herein assembled – "Gungshi," "The Slave Girl," "The Sunken City," "Pirates," and "The Princess."  Learn more about Roy Crane, Wash TUbbs and Captain Easy by reading this excellent article by R.C. Harvey.

Break out the champagne, it's time to celebrate!  In a rare bit of synchronicity, we have received the latest volumes in the two concurrently published Fantagraphics series of collections penned by the father of the adventure comic strip, the one and only Roy Crane.  First up is the third of the four massive 11" x 16" volumes collecting the complete run of Captain Easy Sunday pages in vibrant full color:  135 consecutive weeks of adventure comics that combine fluid cartooning with dynamic page layout, plus a couple bonus strips: one, an authentic replacement scan of an artificially recreated color scheme for a page from the first volume for which no tear sheet could be found in time for the original publication, along with a page hand colored by Crane.  Also included is a heavily illustrated 10 page introduction by R.C. Harvey. 

This volume is the second of the four volume set that is the current standard, definitive edition.  Each one of these wallopin' 10 1/2" x 14 3/4" hardcover books presents two years of Captain Easy Sunday pages in eye-popping full color, and all are a joy to anyone who appreciates great comics.  Roy Crane was the father of the adventure comic strip and one of the greatest and most influential of all comics creators.  His work informed that of countless artists who followed, including, most notably, Milton Caniff, Alex Toth, Jaime Hernandez, and, of course, Frank Santoro himself, who was inspired to do this tribute.  Special features of this particular volume include a foreword by series editor Rick Norwood, an illustrated introduction by fellow cartoonist and Crane aficionado Paul Pope, an essay by the late Bill Blackbeard, and a gallery of rare Captain Easy comic book covers.