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I mourned the capitulation of Gwandanaland Comics for a short period of time (mainly because I finally learned how to spell "Gwandanaland"), but I guess that Midcentury Comics is picking up where those public domain perusers left off. Picked up in a good way too, 'cause starting your new publishing firm off with a ten volume (maybe even more!) selection of FRITZI RITZ Sundays is certainly a smart way to get the balls rollin. Crazed Bushmillians like myself who grew up with NANCY and remained loyal throughout the years deserve as much of his work as we can get, and Gocomics and "X" can only deliver so much regarding those single-digit thrills I certainly got reading the comics while spread out on the parlor floor! Besides, it's so hard to drag the computer into the bathroom where I seem to be getting most of my comic book reading done these days.
For quite a long time Aunt Fritzi had her own Sunday comic running concurrently with her niece's, at least until the mid-sixties by which at that time NANCY creator Ernie Bushmiller was clearly not the artist (whoever was doing it had a brash, wide-lined style but was reams better'n most of the NANCY artists who took over in his wake). As you'd guess even if you are a half-braincell'd person, these Sundays focused on Fritzi and seemed to deal mostly with her love/hate relationship with fuddy duddy boyfriend Phil Fumble, a definitely non-masculine blob of a weakling type who many believe was an actual Bushmiller surrogate with his real life wife the tru blu Fritzi. Lucky guy!
Whilst giving these 30's/40's era Sundays a re-perusal I've noticed a number of things that definitely prove most of the anti-Bushmiller types we've ALL encountered downright wrong. The artwork is surprisingly detailed and dare I say immaculate. I remember some wonk out there once saying that Bushmiller didn't even draw his comics but used a whole bunch of rubber stamps...well, I know that the man's abilities faded away with age and all, but these comics are about as detailed and as crisp as any of the competitors. They're perhaps even on the same level of long-gone firmness as, say, ELLA CINDERS was during the same period. I must also admit that the stories and jokes are definitely not of a Scholastic Books level but were smart and downright witty. These FRITZI's are quite clever in the way they throw that psychic cream pie tossed in your face right when you least expect it.
One thing about these FRITZI RITZes which really should discredit the rubber stamp brigade's all of the sexy artwork that appears whether brazenly up-front or slyly in the background. There are many a panel with Fritzi in various stages of undress (or taking a bath) as well as lots of unabashed pulchritude to be seen whether it be hula girls or majorettes showing off their curvaceous legs. I'm surprised some prudes didn't go after this comic because of its overt potential pinup nature...this sure ain't the suburban slob kiddo world that Nancy lives in but grown up horniness transposed to the funny pages that's for sure!
Bad points...at times the small reproduction hurts dem eyes, and there are way too many repeats within these three volumes making me wonder just how many of the strips that appear here also show up in Midcentury's other FRITZI efforts. Eh, given just how Bushmiller-starved one can be you'll be glad to get these strips in any wayshapeform, but hurry up because when these go O.P. you'll be paying a whole lot more for these than you've ever bargained for!
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