Krazy and Ignatz: The Kat Who Walked in Beauty

by George Herriman

A unique, stand-alone collection of some of the most graphic and brilliantly conceived daily strips ever created, along with many other gems, including the very first stand-alone Krazy & Ignatz strips and more rarities.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Art, Comic Strips

200 pages, Hardcover

First published August 29, 2007

About the author

George Herriman was an American cartoonist celebrated for creating the groundbreaking comic strip Krazy Kat, a work widely regarded as one of the most inventive, poetic, and influential achievements in the history of comics. Raised in a culturally diverse environment and navigating complex racial identities throughout his life, Herriman developed a singular artistic voice that combined humor, surrealism, philosophical reflection, and emotional nuance. He began his career as a newspaper illustrator and political cartoonist before transitioning fully into comic strips, producing several short-lived features and experiments that helped him refine his sense of rhythm, timing, and visual storytelling. Krazy Kat, which emerged from an earlier strip called The Dingbat Family, became his defining work and ran for decades in newspapers across the United States. The strip centered on a triangular relationship among three main characters: Krazy, a blissfully optimistic and androgynous cat; Ignatz Mouse, who continually expressed his contempt or affection by throwing bricks; and Offisa Pupp, a dutiful dog who sought to protect Krazy and maintain order. What might have been a simple gag became, in Herriman’s hands, a lyrical exploration of love, longing, misunderstanding, and the complexities of emotional connection, articulated through shifting perspectives, inventive language, and a dreamlike visual landscape inspired by the American Southwest. Herriman developed a distinctive style that blended loose, expressive brushwork with carefully considered composition, often altering backgrounds from panel to panel to evoke mood rather than physical continuity. His dialogue employed dialects, puns, poetic phrasing, and playful linguistic invention, creating a voice for Krazy Kat that felt both musical and deeply human. The strip attracted a passionate following among intellectuals, writers, and artists, including figures such as Gilbert Seldes, E.E. Cummings, Willem de Kooning, and many others who recognized its sophistication and emotional resonance. However, Krazy Kat never achieved the widespread commercial popularity of contemporaries like Popeye or Li’l Abner and often relied on the support of influential newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who admired Herriman’s work and insisted it remain in publication despite fluctuating readership. Herriman also produced the comic strip Baron Bean, as well as numerous illustrations, editorial drawings, and commercial work throughout his career, but it was Krazy Kat that defined his legacy and shaped the development of visual narrative art. The strip influenced generations of cartoonists and graphic storytellers, contributing to a lineage that includes artists working in newspaper strips, comic books, underground comix, graphic novels, animation, and contemporary experimental media. Herriman maintained a private, quiet personal life, working diligently and steadily, drawing inspiration from the landscapes of California, Arizona, and New Mexico, which he visited frequently and often featured in his art as stylized mesas, desert plateaus, and open skies. His deep engagement with the American Southwest brought texture, symbolism, and environmental presence to Krazy Kat, making setting an integral emotional and thematic component rather than a mere backdrop. Although widely honored posthumously, his work was recognized during his lifetime by peers and critics who understood the originality of his vision. Today, he is acknowledged as one of the key figures who expanded the expressive potential of the comic strip form, demonstrating that sequential art could convey subtle emotional states, philosophical ideas, and complex storytelling with elegance and humor. Herriman’s legacy endures in the ongoing study, republication, and celebration of Krazy Kat, which continues to be admired for its innovation, sensitivity, and unique artistic spirit.

Reviews

[Kimley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome to Coconino County, a wild desert town with a highly diverse group of citizens. The main players consist of a slightly perverse ménage à trois with three unlikely consorts. Krazy Kat - a masochistic kat of indeterminate gender (addressed amusingly in a strip in this collection) who loves nothing more than to be walloped by a brick thrown by the much beloved "l'il ainjil" Ignatz mouse. Ignatz is a sadistic little mouse who as I learned from this collection has a historically-based vendetta to bean this kat on a regular basis for all cat-kind's past indiscretions. But secretly we all know that Ignatz clearly loves Krazy. And interestingly, Ignatz has a wife in some of these earlier strips (which I don't recall in the later strips though it's been a long time since I read them...) and she is none too pleased with the attention and time that Ignatz takes in acquiring bricks and preparing scenarios where he can best "zip" the Kat. And then there's Offisa Pup who plays less a part in these earlier strips but who is already seeking ways to breach his powers to prevent the mouse from beaning his beloved Krazy. So this is the vicious circle and it gave Herriman about 30 years of amazing strip-writing material.

This particular book is predominantly a collection of oversize panoramic daily strips done over a nine month period in 1920 and Fantagraphics has done a nice job in reproducing the art at it's original size in a luscious oversize book that would look good on anybody's coffee table. Also included are several strips from the teens that show the early development of the characters. And to top it off, the book includes the original program guide to an interpretive ballet based on the strip from 1922 - I'd love to see a revival of that!

There's definitely a touch of borscht-belt humor here and Krazy and Ignatz frequently remind me of Burns and Allen with Ignatz playing straight man to Krazy's innocent, ridiculous truths. Krazy speaks in an odd patois that often requires one to read it out loud to understand but once you do, you can't help but to also laugh out loud.

Herriman's artwork is a pure delight. Continuity is of no interest to him. The backgrounds will change dramatically from frame to frame. And his desert landscapes are beautiful, eerie, surreal, graphic and entrancing even in these early black and white strips.

There are other collections that may be a better introduction to the strip for neophytes (though this one certainly wouldn't be a bad intro) but for anyone who already loves Krazy and his/her loves, this is a must-have!

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a giant book full of giant-size newspaper comic strips that were originally published 86 years ago, back in the age of dinosaur-sized newspapers and newspaper comics.

George Herriman, the cartoonist-vessel through whose pen Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse found their way into the world of the early 20th Century, I am convinced, was certifiably insane. How else could he have managed to produce these humongous beautiful DAILY comic strips for months on end, as well as a weekly FULL PAGE size Sunday strip, which, nearly a hundred years later, are seen as being amongst some of the finest pieces of 20th Century comic art? Yes, a manic production schedule can often be inspirational, and can sometimes snowball with the kinetic energy such a schedule builds up, but he somehow maintained it for months at a time. It's mad I tell you!

This is a beautifully-designed, huge coffee-table sized book, too, allowing the strips to be printed very close to their originally-published size - and early 20th-Century newspapers had significantly larger page sizes than they do today.

Krazy.

[Dane Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite Krazy Kat collection. Krazy Kat is perhaps in its most perfect state as a daily strip. Get in, get out, in the most haunting and amazing way possible. Squeeze the beauty out of those panels. No one should die without seeing these images.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

But of course.

[Luke Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best of the dailies by far

[Michael P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is sublime. It reprints all the daily strips in which Krazy Kat appeared from 1914-1920, plus the Herriman illustrated sheet music for KRAZY KAT: A JAZZ PANTOMIME (1922). The only flaw is that some of the 1920 strips are printed out of order, which does not matter for continuity but does for the subtle evolution of Herriman’s writing. These short-form strips are less involved, but most often show a dialog between Krazy and Ignatz Mouse as two friends. Krazy says something crazy to earn Ignatz’s wrath, most often displayed with a brick to the bean. Very often Krazy’s muddle is linguistic, confusing words that sound alike, and Herriman’s observations here are wonderful. Like the airs that Caliban describes, these strips give delight and hurt not. There are several Shakespeare references and quotations, some attributed and others not.

[Jon]

Fantagraphics has gradually been reprinting Sunday color KRAZY KAT strips from the 1930s, this is a large-sized re-issue of earlier black-and-white dailies that tend to be punchier, more joke-driven, and less artsy than the later strips. Most surprisingly, Officer Pupp is a relatively minor character at this stage: typically, a strip will end with Ignatz beaning KK with a brick without being jailed as he usually was later. For anyone who's never explored Herriman's krazy kosmos this would be a good place to start.

[Bree Pye · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entire encyclopedia could be written about Herriman's clever humor. Subtle and not-so-subtle jabs at the historical social and political hierarchy are evident throughout the book. White the complex relationship between Krazy Kat and Ignatz often leave the reader feeling confused, the comic's ability to ignite critical thought is delightful! If you struggle with poor sight, I would highly recommend using a magnifying device so as to make sure you don't miss a clever word!

[Fantagraphics Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique, stand-alone companion to our Krazy & Ignatz series. This nine-month stretch of dailies, never-before-reprinted, is among the treasures included in this collection, along with many other Herriman gems. This book fills in several gaps in the daily strip history, reproduced at close to their original size.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is worth reading this book if you like calvin and hobbes because krazy Kat definately influenced bill watersons work. Also, the illustrations are fun and there is a lot of brick throwing. Unfortunately the text is sort of hard to read (it is little and messy) but whateva...

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bee-yoo-tee-fulll tome. Hard not to drool on it.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Krazy Kat has to rank up there with Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side as my favorite comic strips.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this at the library. GORGEOUS book. Wish I could keep it...