Gasoline Alley

I’ve heard of almost all of the suggested comics except for “Gasoline Alley” by Frank King.   I almost passed it over as I was looking in the Library for a “Gasoline Alley” and not “Walt and Skeezix.”  I almost picked another comic then I resourced Wiki and noticed the characters names were a match.  So in skimming this book in the library I knew this was the right one for me.  I always see the humor in automotive breakdowns…  Except when they happen to me, LOL. 

            Obviously, the whole aspect of reading a story complete with visuals frees up the literary intellect needed to be on the receiving end of a communication.   Like this comics allowed even 3rd graders to laugh it up and still learn to read a bit and who are we kidding 100 years ago there were a whole lot of adults that didn’t read up to a 3^rd grade level.   With the short panel strips the imagery is already there for you and comics like Tin-Tin were a Win-Win.

            When I was young I was into Japanese comic books (Way different than the Manga crap of today).  There was a lot similarity to way a story would play out  like this “Gasoline Alley”.  Story characters would age of course this was nothing new because this was the 1980’s.  But in the 1920’s when “Gasoline Alley” first entered the scene the was pretty radical.  Even today the characters expanded as the family tree has and all the characters have aged and lived the saga of American society.

In the case of “Gasoline Alley” Frank King had enough success with his small inserts that he was allowed to start a regular strip The Chicago Sunday Tribune.  The whole theme began with Walt the protagonist, if you will, and his difficulties of being a car, or jalopy, owner.   By the time that Walt actually gets rid of his rattle trap of car traded in on a new he gets hit with a double whammy of a surprise.  Someone has left an infant on the bachelors doorstep.  In most comical way Walt tends to take care of the infant in the same hap-hazard way he takes care of his car.  Walt names the kid Skeezix and raises him throughout the first book, which covers 1921 - 1922.  Walt continuously goes through the shinanigans of trying to raise this kids by himself  (with the help of his maid) until by the end of 1922 he is dating Mrs Phyllis Blossom.  This saga continues on with Walt eventually marrying Phyllis to the point that Skeezix even becomes grandpa.

In the days of publishing newspapers it’s easy to see why “Gasoline Alley” could carry on for so many years.  It had a visual relationship with it’s readers regarding all the situations that life replays in reality.  Plus it's always a hoot to poke fun and offer that comic relief with our fellow man when we goof up with our high-tech toys the times.