Barnaby

This often-brilliant newspaper strip created by Johnson (of the children's classic Harold and the Purple Crayon) stars five-year-old Barnaby and his kindly, portly, pink-winged fairy godfather, Jackeen J. O'Malley, a charlatan, blowhard, and master mooch. Barnaby's parents have never seen O'Malley and don't believe he exists; neighbor girl Jane wisely regards him as "dopey"; but Barnaby trusts him implicitly. At its best the strip is hilarious, with a satirical bent (one of O'Malley's preposterous exploits gets him elected to Congress in absentia) and erudite, literate humor, exemplified by O'Malley's far-out-of-date cultural references (helpfully explained here in endnotes). The winningly absurd supporting cast includes Atlas the pygmy giant, talking dog Gorgon, and Gus the timid ghost. Unfortunately, Johnson has turned the strip over to others here, and while Morley provides a fine replica of Johnson's endearingly simple and clean artwork, Ferro never masters either punchline crafting or O'Malley's loquacious boasting. But near the end of this volume Johnson returns to writing chores, remaining until the strip's 1952 conclusion.