Sunday, October 11, 2015

OUTBURSTS OF EVERETT TRUE

Another mini-blog...

Outbursts of Everett True by A.D. Condo and J.W. Raper [Underworld Amusements; $16.95] was a must-buy for me. As readers of the late  and sorely missed Comics Buyer’s Guide will recall, I was so taken with this turn-of-the-century force of nature that I wrote hundreds of modern-day, comic-centric Everett True cartoons for CBG and the publisher’s Movie Collectors World. When I pulled the feature from CBG over creative/ethical issues, I wrote a dozen or so more strips for Amazing Heroes and The Comics Journal. These strips were mostly drawn or at least inked by the great Gary Dumm. In his introduction to this 280-page collection of the original strips, Trevor Blake notes only my Comics Journal appearances and was apparently unaware of the many others I did elsewhere.

Amazon has this to say about the book:

HERE IS A MAN WHO WOULD NOT TAKE IT. We have forgotten about Everett True, a man who attended with prejudice to those most deserving—the daily pests. Sure, superheroes may have stopped crimes and Popeye may have known his share of dust-ups. But what about the million annoying twerps who don’t break the law, but instead stomp on the social contract? When do they get theirs? Everett had no superpowers nor can of spinach, just a keen sense of human nature and the will to reward it but good. Everett True wished to live a simple life. He wished to go about his day without being unnecessarily bothered. His success then was not far from your own today. From loud-mouths in the theater to the overly pushy salesman, from the incessantly bothersome co-worker to the sidewalk hoggers, there’s always some do-gooder who needs done in. You and I might take it on the chin, but Everett gives it on the noggin with interest. Outbursts of Everett True rarely strays from a natural formula: the pest impinges on Everett, Everett clobbers the pest. Far from repetitive, the rhythm reveals the timeless truth that the line between justice and revenge is a phantom’s dream. Away with pity for the braggart, the inconsiderate, the assuming, the imposing, the blowhards, those cruel to animals and all the other pushy clods who would turn a perfectly pleasant day into a trial. Here are the best and brassiest Outbursts of Everett True. Many are reprinted for the first time since they were created by A. D. Condo and J. W. Raper, beginning in 1905. Outbursts of Everett True also packs the one-two punch of rare bibliographical information about the creators. Let Trevor Blake reintroduce our hero to a world ever more crowded with louts. Here is a man who stood up.

Everett True will not be to everyone’s taste. I love the guy, but, while some of his actions seem downright progressive, others seem born of ignorance. Still, I remember my days writing Everett True with fondness. Perhaps our paths will cross again.

© 2015 Tony Isabella

3 comments:

  1. I'd love to see a collection of your Everett True stories!

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  2. That;s on the bucket list of things I want to write/produce before I kick the bucket.

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  3. I'm with John on this. Recall fondly your take on Mr. True and his confrontations with the then current issues in comics and society.

    Wish you could find a spot for him again there a lot of uses to which Everett could put his trusty umbrella.

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