Overview

The long-lost comic strip masterpiece by Crockett Johnson, legendary children's book author (Harold and the Purple Crayon, The Carrot Seed), collected in full and designed by graphic novelist and Barnaby superfan Daniel Clowes (Ghost World, Wilson). Vol. 2 collects the years 1944-1945 of 5-year-old Barnaby Baxter and his Fairy Godfather J.J. O'Malley's misadventures. The cigar-chomping, bumbling con-artist and fast-talker O'Malley takes Barnaby on a trip to D.C. to serve his term in Congress. Also, Gus the Ghost and O'Malley follow the Baxters to their seaside cottage, enlisting Barnaby to join them on a treasure hunt. Plus Wall St., Ermine hunters, soap salesmen and more! Adored by all ages, Barnaby's deft balance of fantasy, timeless humor and elegant cartooning will delight even the most sophisticated reader (Chris Ware (Building Stories) loves it), much as it did in its original run, attracting fans as diverse as Dorothy Parker, Charles Schulz, W.C. Fields, Gardner Rea, Milton Caniff, Rockwell Kent and Louis Untermeyer.

Full Product Details

9781606997093

Table of Contents

Reviews

[T]he stories contained in this generous collection are magical in nearly every sense of the word: they delight and charm, they follow their own shaggy dog pace and rhythm, and they contain all kinds of enchanted creatures a book like this is almost more charming now than it was back in the day. --Jason Sacks

Cushlamochree, Barnaby is back. ... Five-year-old Barnaby Baxter and his fairy godfather, Mr. O'Malley, had amazing journeys through the world (and dark underbelly) of politics, high finance and current events. They crossed the line between reality and imagination as often as we crossed the street, leaving readers spellbound and craving more. --Michael Taube

[Johnson's] worldview gave us one of the 20th century's most entertaining comic-strip characters, J.J. O'Malley. He might not be the fairy godmother a boy wants, but he's the egotistical lowlife of a fairy godfather we all deserve. --Jesse Walker

I haven't read a better book this year than the second volume of Fantagraphics' collection of the Crockett Johnson Barnaby strip. --Tom Spurgeon

Author Information

Crockett Johnson was the pen name of cartoonist and children's book illustrator David Johnson Leisk (October 20,1906-July 11, 1975). He is best known for the Harold series of books, which began with Harold and the Purple Crayon, and for the comic strip Barnaby. He was married to the children's book author Ruth Krauss, with whom he collaborated on several books, including The Carrot Seed. Philip W. Nel is a scholar of children's literature and comics. He is best-known for work on radical and anti-racist children's literature, Crockett Johnson, and Dr. Seuss - especially Was the Cat in the Hat Black? Jules Feiffer (1929-2025) is a cartoonist, playwright, children's book author and illustrator, and member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He teaches a humor writing class at Stony Brook Southampton College and lives in Southampton, New York. Daniel Clowes is a Harvey, Eisner, Ignatz, and PEN America Literary Award Winner whose comics and graphic novels have been translated into over 20 languages worldwide. He is also an Academy Award nominated screenwriter (for Ghost World), and retrospectives of his work have appeared at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Oakland Museum, and the Wexner Center in Columbus, OH. He lives in Oakland, California, with his wife and son.

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