This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new titles. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators and web-savvy comic shops are saying about them (more to be added as they appear), check out our previews at the links, and contact your local shop to confirm availability.
Mr. Twee Deedle: Raggedy Ann's Sprightly Cousin – The Forgotten Fantasy Masterpiece of Johnny Gruelle
by Johnny Gruelle
128-page full-color 14" x 18" hardcover • $75.00
ISBN: 978-1-60699-411-5
"I have the name Johnny Gruelle permanently stuck in my memory from the Raggedy Ann & Andy books I used to look at as a kid. He was a comic-strip artist, too, and Mr. Twee Deedle ran from 1911 to 1914 after he won a New York Herald competition. It's gorgeous stuff, given the Sunday Press-style super-oversize treatment in this $75 hardcover — those who like 'Little Nemo in Slumberland' and/or 'Maakies'… should certainly have a look at it." – Douglas Wolk, ComicsAlliance
"…I have fond memories of reading my mother’s old, frayed Raggedy Ann and Andy books as a child, so I’m curious to see Mr. Twee Deedle, a collection of strips done by Raggedy creator Johnny Gruelle prior to his seminal children’s series." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6
"Mr. Twee Deedle: Raggedy Ann’s Sprightly Cousin – The Forgotten Fantasy Masterpiece of Johnny Gruelle may run a fair risk of getting buried this week, but I’ve had my eye on the strip since Tony Millionaire started referencing it years ago, and these 128 pages are reproduced in a 14″ x 18″ format, so they should be fairly easy to spot, even above the din of stuff that escorts our June into history; $75.00." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal
"This is a staggering-looking book of work from the cartoonist Johnny Gruelle that I think ran concurrently to the Raggedy Ann stuff that found more of a place in the pop-culture firmament. You could see this as a way of exploring where someone like Tony Millionaire came from, or as a precursor to the Peter Wheat book someone out there has to be doing." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter
Hey, Wait… (4th Printing)
by Jason
64-page black & white 7" x 10" softcover • $12.95
ISBN: 978-1-56097-463-5
"Also of note this week [is a reprint of] Jason’s Hey Wait. If you haven’t read [it] before, [it's] worth a look…" – J.K. Parkin, Robot 6