Dick Moores (1909–1986)

If I picked my 5 favorite comic strips of all time, Frank King's "Gasoline Alley", begun in 1919 and continued as what may be America's longest-runnning story in any format until 1960, when Dick Moores took over, would certainly be on that list. Moores did a fine job, but was not King's equal in art or depth of story. However, he was able to keep the charm and nostalgic simplicity of the strip and its characters alive, and this book which shows several story arcs from the 1960's and 1970's is a distinct pleasure to the "Gasoline Alley" fan. All the stories are fine, with a few departures from form (the rapacious Pert sacrificing a well-paying client's interests in favor of doing the right thing, the often dim-bulb junkman Joel cleverly saving handyman Rufus from humiliation). And one story, about a conniving ventriloquist and his charming little-girl dummy, has moments of sheer and surreal genius. I only wish the current strip would allow Walt to die a graceful death. He may be the world's only 300-pound 111-year-old, and it's been a ridiculous strip for a long time. The strip itself may still have worthy characters to mine stories from, but the last original character needs to go, and the strip revived by somebody who will respect King's body of work as Dick Moores did.… (mehr)