The Collected Doug Wright, Vol. 1

by Doug Wright, Lynn Johnston (Introduction)

A career-spanning retrospective of one of the masters of North American cartooning

The first of a historic two-volume set, The Collected Doug Wright: Canada’s Master Cartoonist presents the first-ever comprehensive look at the life and career of one of the most-read and best-loved cartoonists of the 1960s. Compiled in cooperation with Doug Wright’s family, it draws from thousands of pieces of art, pictures, letters, and the artist’s own journals to provide a fully rounded view of Wright, both as a cartoonist and as an individual.

Volume One follows the artistic development of the British-born cartoonist from his earliest unpublished work to the first days of his most enduring comic strip, Nipper. First published in 1949, a full year before the debut of Peanuts, this wordless strip perfectly captured the humorous—and frustrating—side of parenting for several generations of both young and old. Remembered by many for Wright’s cartoon children’s striped shirts and bald heads, Nipper quickly grew into a Canadian phenomenon.

Designed by the acclaimed cartoonist and Peanuts designer Seth and featuring a biographical essay by the writer Brad Mackay, this lavish hardcover collection gives Wright’s career the recognition it has long been due. The introduction is by one of the most famous working cartoonists today, Lynn Johnston of the syndicated heavyweight comic strip For Better or For Worse.

“I don’t think I’d have had the basics needed to do a syndicated comic strip had it not been for Doug Wright” (Lynn Johnston, from the introduction).

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

240 pages, Hardcover

First published May 12, 2009

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This guy is awesome. The comic timing is impeccable. The drawings themselves are beautiful, among the best comic strip drawings I've seen.

These strips make for perfect winter reading material. Wright has a way of expressing warmth and love while at the same time being incredibly funny and uncompromising. These strips star a young boy called Nipper, who is, like an actual boy, a bit of a trouble maker at times. Wright presents scenes that are familiar to me from my own childhood. The strips come off as very Canadian - a friend asked me explain what I mean by that - it does mean more than featuring hockey in a few strips!

I'd recommend this to anyone thats interested in great cartoon strips. Fans of Peanuts should find lots to love here, for example.

I'm starting to think that Canada just doesn't like its self. How else can I explain living here my entire life and only just now, in this past year, coming to know about Doug Wright? He's never featured in any of the newspapers here - I guess we have to make room for that lasagna joke Garfield has in store for us.

[David Rickert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the funniest comics I’ve ever read. Always good to find a neglected master of the comic strip.

[Dominick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Selected more than collected, but a treasure-trove nonetheless, this volume includes tons of Wright's (mostly) wordless (certainly dialogue-less) strip Nipper, a very amusing kid-centric strip that preceded and anticipates Dennis the Menace, Peanuts, etc. The vertical format takes getting used to, but Wright's visual chops are most impressive, as is his un-usual colour device (the strips usually include one colour other than black, usually red, in very effective ways). Also includes a long biographical essay and samples of Wright's sketches, advertising work, and so on. Excellent collection.

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

What stands out for me is how beautifully put together this is, in every was. Thank Seth for the look of it. Obviously, somebody did exhaustive research here and it shows. The photos, and his whole life were meticulously chronicled here. I must admit, I'd never heard of Doug Wright. The closest thing I can compare his art to is Henry. This guy drew good cars too. All in all, a nice historical reference piece on this Canadian artist.