Al Capps’ Shmoo: The Complete Comic Books

April 7, 2008 | Trades

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Al Capp’s Shmoo: The Complete Comic Books
Dark Horse Books
$49.95 US (Hardcover)
**** (out of five)

The rise of the Shmoos may just be one of the oddest pop-culture phenomena of the 20th century.
These doughy white, armless, mass-reproducing, edible, multi-use creatures burst onto the national scene after appearing in Al Capp’s immensely popular syndicated newspaper cartoon strip, Li’l Abner, and proceeded to take American by storm.
There was over 100 different licensed products related to these lovable characters (whose greatest joy in the world is helping people), including a very popular three-foot inflatable Shmoo, and a short-lived comic book series that introduced Super Shmoo, Frankenshmoo and dozens of other Shmoo-based characters.
This Complete Comic Books collection, featuring an introduction, and some fascinating annotations, by Denis Kitchen, is a great glimpse into an peculiar moment in the history of pop-culture.

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