The Best of Li'l Abner

by Al Capp

Cartoonist Al Capp presents 26 of his favorite sequences from his cartoon strip.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

190 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Alfred Gerald Caplin (1909-1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist. He is best known as the creator, writer and artist of the satirical comic strip Li'l Abner, which run for 43 years from 1934 to 1977.

Capp was born in 1909 in New Haven, Connecticut, of a poor family of East European Jewish heritage. His childhood was scared by a serious accident: after being run over by a trolley car, nine years old Alfred had his left leg partially amputated. This early trauma possibly had an impact on Capp's cynical humour, as later represented in his strips. His father, Otto Philip Caplin, a failed businessman and an amateur cartoonist, is credited for introducing Al and his two brothers to making comics.
After some training in art schools in New England, in 1932 Al Capp moved to New York with the intent of becoming a newspaper cartoonist. The same year he married Catherine Wingate Cameron. In the first couple of years of his career Capp worked as an assistant/ghost artist on Ham Fischer's strip 'Joe Palooka', while preparing to pitch his own comic strips to the newspaper syndicate.
His strip Li'l Abner was launched on Monday, August 13, 1934, in eight American newspapers to immediate success. The comic started as an hillibilly slapstick, then shifted over the year in the direction of satire, black humor and social commentary. The strip run until 1977, written and mostly drawn by Capp.
A lifelong chain smoker, All Capp died in 1979 from emphysema at his home in South Hampton, New Hampshire.

Reviews

[Dan Blackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of the comic strip Lil Abner. It has some of the funniest stories that Al Capp made in the papers.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was growing up Li’L Abner was a daily feature in the comics. Written about the town of Dogpatch U.S.A. where there is lots of poverty and backwardness. Capp uses wit and satire to deflate some of the popular notions of the day, such as pompous nature of congressmen, men’s dominance over women, bigotry, all done with humor. Who can forget Sadie Hawkins Day, or Fearless Fosdick, or Moonbeam McSwine, Schmoos, Lower Slobbovia, Kickapoo Joy Juice, Barney Barnsmell, Daisy Mae (I was in love with Daisy) Mammy Yokum, Ann Noy, General Bullmoose This book captures a few of the more memorable events of the many years that Capp did the series. It may not seem as witty to people now but I looked forward to each days installment in my youth.

[James Maxey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weird that Al Capp chose these as his best. Very few of the strips feature Li'l Abner in any meaningful role, and the storylines often have gaps of missing strips. I'm confident there are better compilations out there.