Yogi Takes a Vacation was published by Whitman in 1965 as part of its “Big Tell-a-Tale” series. The artwork in it is by Art Seiden, who did commercial illustration and began working in the children’s realm in the early ‘50s. His last book was in 1999. You can read a biography of him at this blog.
I must admit his style in this book doesn’t do much for me. I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe it’s the open mouths and odd angles. The drawings just seem a little stiff, certainly more so than the Yogi comics you’d see in the newspapers drawn by people like Harvey Eisenberg, who had wonderful, thoughtful poses (from Gene Hazelton’s layouts, I imagine). The crouching Ranger Smith with the galoshes is, well, odd. Boo Boo’s arm looks broken in one drawing.
The story here is designed for little children as well. Don’t expect Warren Foster-style narration or irony.
Still, it’s worth a glance. You can click on any of the pages to make them larger.
While it was a very nice kids' story - and there always SHOULD be stuff like this - none of it was drawn in anything resembling a Hanna-Barbera style. ...But, that's just a cranky adult fan's complaint!
ReplyDeleteStill woulda preferred Harvey Eisenberg, Dick Bickenbach, Pete Alvarado, etc.
In the sixth image, is Boo Boo reading a Snagglepuss comic?
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of galoshes until this story was read to me as a child. From then on I always knew what galoshes were, and hip boots. The characterizations are not too bad here, pretty close to their TV counterparts, but the artwork is truly all over the place. Not bad, but certainly not typical Hanna-Barbera. Still, when I was a kid I didn't pay too much attention to style. If I remember correctly, this book when brand new had a very nice new book smell to it.
ReplyDeleteI still have my copy of the book from when I was a kid, but I was never crazy about it despite being a big Yogi Bear fan. The drawings were too realistic and creepy, and the plot of being swept over the falls seemed too melodramatic.
ReplyDeleteI'm still trying to figure out who's on the cover of Boo Boo's other comic book. Maybe one of the Top Cat bunch?