Little Sammy Sneeze: The Complete Color Sunday Comics 1904-1905

by Winsor McCay, John Canemaker (introduction), Peter Maresca (Editor)

Before his remarkable  Litttle Nemo in Slumberland , McCay created two strips starring young children.  Today, Winsor McCay (1867-1934) is universally acknowledged as the first master of both the comic strip and the animated cartoon. Although invented by others, both genres were developed into enduring popular art of the highest imagination through McCay's innovative genius. From the publishers of the widely-acclaimed deluxe reprint series  Little Nemo In Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays! , this book features all of the Little Sammy Sneeze color pages (1904-05) plus Hungry Henrietta , McCay's other comic, which appeared on the back of Sammy in the Sunday New York Herald . The unique style of this book presents two other "flipside" comics of 1904: The Woozlebeasts and The Upside Downs , along with the complete 27-chapter saga of Hungry Henrietta . All comics are digitally restored in the original size and colors. Full color illustrations throughout

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor

96 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2007

About the author

Was an American cartoonist and animator, best known for the comic strip Little Nemo (begun 1905) and the animated cartoon Gertie the Dinosaur (1914). For legal reasons, he worked under the pen name Silas on the comic strip Dream of the Rarebit Fiend.
A prolific artist, McCay's pioneering early animated films far outshone the work of his contemporaries, and set a standard followed by Walt Disney and others in later decades. His comic strip work has influenced generations of artists, including creators such as William Joyce, André LeBlanc, Moebius, Maurice Sendak, Chris Ware and Bill Watterson.

Reviews

[Damián Vives · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bellísima edición de Reino de Cordelia que compila las planchas dominicales completas de Little Sammy Sneeze (1904-1905). Si bien la obra da muestras del talento gráfico de McCay (impecable, al igual que en Little Nemo) el chiste del pequeño estornudador no resistió el peso de los años, por lo la gracia argumental de la tira casi nula para quien no se acerque a ella con ojos de historiador.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short showcase of some of Winsor McCay's pre-Little Nemo work. The book starts with a few little essays on the comics in the book which is followed by the full run of Sammy Sneeze Sunday strips in color along with black and white comics that appeared with it. Sammy has a set formula--plop an ugly kid in a setting, have him build up to a massive sneeze, then end with Sammy getting a boot to the butt. The best thing about the comic is McCay's meticulous background drawings. The other McCay strip included, Hungry Henrietta, follows a girl growing up. Every time she gets upset, her family starts smothering her with useless attention. They go crazy asking what's wrong then force food on her. It's basically a how to on creating an eating disorder. The other two strips are not by McCay. The Woozlebeasts features fantastic creatures and short rhymes. It's a bit Edward Gorey meets Dr. Seuss. I largely skipped the Upside Downs since I've read some of those strips before and didn't like them. It's an interesting concept to have the second half of the story be the first half turned upside down but I found the artwork annoying.
These were published in 1904-5 so be forewarned there is some racism.

[Bill Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Winsor McKay's early work is beautiful, single-minded, and strange. His art, as usual, is immaculagte and his eye for detail and ear for speech are things of wonder. Sammy is almost dadaesque in its simplicity and cheerful, if predictable sneeze-induced chaos and the other strip collected here, Hungry Henrietta, is similarly obsessive, if more poignant, in its central theme. Beautifully presented with a smattering of the strips that ran on the obverse of Sammy in 1904 and 1905 (including the bizarre, Gorey-like Woozlebeasts), this is another beautiful Sunday Press book, essential for anyone who enjoys early comics.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

McCay's pre-Little Nemo strips, Little Sammy Sneeze and Hungry Henrietta, are as well done as Little Nemo In Slumberland. It's interesting how LSS and HH crossover into each other's strip. While I don't believe it's the earliest crossover (that's probably Katzenjammer Kids, Buster Brown, or The Yellow Kid), it's worth noting.

There are some unfortunate racist stereotypes found in this book, but in 1904-1905 these depictions were not outside of societal mores.

The two strips rely on a simple formula, but it works. Page after page prove entertaining.

[JC Denton · Rating 1 out of 5]

La edición es de 10 y el dibujo increíble pero es una puta mierda la obra, ni con puntero láser la tocaría. Ahora si queremos nos la agarramos con papel de fumar y decimos que si es la época que si mierdas, solo os digo una cosa, estética de la recepción, y eso es lo que pasa esta obra ahora solo merece si te vas a documentar para hacer algo sobre historia del comic, fuera de ahí ni la toques, vamos para académicos y fin

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little Sammy Sneeze: The Earliest Oubapo comics
Hungry Henriette: She grows as time passes