Recently Read: Cozmic Taco Volume 1, by Joseph Morris

 

Joseph Morris' Cozmic Taco Vol. 1 features nearly 200 pages of some of the best and most fun cartooning being produced today. Taco is only one of the strips Morris has written and drawn over many years and its influences are wonderfully apparent, some of which are: David Lynch, Vaughn Bodē, Jack Kirby, Buddhist philosophy, H.P. Lovecraft and the early 20th century works of Floyd Gottfredson, E.C. Segar and the Fleischer brothers.

This shouldn't imply that Morris isn't his own artist. The collection, encompassing several full-length stories and various shorts and ruminations, are personal, even autobiographical, both cosmic and intimate, whimsical and at the same time profound. The variety of characters (some pulled in from some of his other projects, Quixote Coyote and the Dolphin Bros) are drawn in an imaginative, seemingly carefree style, useful for fast efficiency and emotional expression. Like the best cartoonists, you can practically feel the emotions and energy of the creator drawing the work on the page.

Like all Morris' work, this collection is highly recommended.

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Recently Read: Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: Hoppy the Kangaroo

 

The 8th volume of Gladstone's comic album series reprints a prime 1935 Floyd Gottfredson comic strip story, Hoppy the Kangaroo. While the coloring is not good and some of the artwork looks extended to fit the format, it's Gottfredson's genius at physical comedy that sells the story, one so early in the series that it's Horace Horsecollar who functions as the sidekick instead of Goofy. For those who just want a fun Mickey story about a pet kangaroo fighting a ferocious gorilla in the ring, this'll fit the bill. The volume is rounded out with an earlier (lesser) serialized story and also gag-a-day dailies from different time periods of the Mickey Mouse strip. An informative background essay by Geoffrey Blum is also included.

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