The new book CHUCK JONES: THE DREAM THAT NEVER WAS by Kurtis Findlay details a little-known, short-lived newspaper comic strip titled "Crawford" that Mr. Jones created. The strip ran six months and then crashed.
Findlay describes the origins of the idea:
I first learned about Crawford while reading Chuck Jones’s Wikipedia entry. “From 1977-1978, Jones wrote and drew the syndicated comic strip Crawford (also known as Crawford & Morgan) for the Chicago Tribune-NY News Syndicate.” That was it; a single sentence. I longed to know more, but could only find two examples of the strip online. It isn’t discussed in any of the books on Chuck Jones, including his two autobiographies.
Kurtis Findlay, along with IDW's Library of American Comics editor Dean Mullaney, shows us every strip, plus preliminary sketches and a treatise on Jones' post-Warner animation career. The new hardcover book, recently expanded by 26% ("...[W]e have now had to add an extra SIXTY PAGES to accommodate all of the art we found!"), is scheduled for release in December.
Westfield Comics' Roger Ash interviews Kurtis Findlay here.
Do visit the great site for the book with lots of art and previews.
Hi Mike!
ReplyDeleteAnimation fan Kurtis Findlay uncovered a bit of comic strip history thanks to a natural curiosity and wound up sharing a treasure of long lost and forgotten cartoon and comic strip work by legendary Looney Tunes and three-time Academy Award winning director Chuck Jones. Hear all about his find in this original Mr. Media video interview. Watch it here: http://www.mrmedia.com/?p=4706