Rip Kirby Volume 9 Hardcover – October 18, 2016

This volume continues the wonderful tribute to the American Comic Strip begun by IDW seven years ago starting with Alex Raymond's first work on Rip Kirby, the stereotype of the gentleman detective. This volume collects strips that appeared in newspapers between 10 July 1967 and 25 April 25 1970 telling tales of beautiful con artists, kidnapping, international intrigue, a manipulative starlet, and a touching family tale featuring Rip's butler, Desmond. There is also a bizarre tale where Rip and Desmond are "taken" by Greek Gods; Rip visits the moon with Aphrodite and he and Desmond must travel the river Styx to return home. Not a typical detective story. Still the reason to buy this book is for the art and John Prentice was at the height of his skill during this period winning the National Cartoonists Society award for “Best Story Strip Cartoonist” in both 1966 and 1967. As always, the reproduction is from the original King Features Syndicate proofs and is as good as it will get.... unless shot from the originals. This is one of the few series I look forward to and always order as soon as I see it offered. A true treasure!

The art work is superb even after having to make changes in the size and details of the story line.

Great art!

Received as advertised.

Top book

Every new volume of Rip Kirby is a cause for celebration as we get an eagerly awaited ninth volume ( and 5th volume of artist John Prentice). It has been sixteen months since Volume 8 and I was starting to worry. The John Prentice volumes are a labor of love for publisher Dean Mullaney, and not a big seller, but they have vowed to keep publishing them as long as they are not losing money on them.This beautiful (over 300 page) volume brings us 34 months of daily strips. That's nine complete storylines running in a deluxe landscape format with three black and white daily strips to a page. The strips contained here are from July 1967 through April 1970. The reproduction is top notch and the images are crystal clear.The book features a classy dust jacket and an attached linen bookmark. Plus Bruce Canwell's usual introduction. While these introduction are usually a well researched delight this one seems rather on the week side. Mr Canwell starts talking about the three episodes of Gilligan's Island where the cast members get hypnotized and then the Green Hornet. These connections are rather tenuous and silly.The art from John Prentice is once again just gorgeous and ranks up there with Alex Raymond , Al Williamson and Neal Adams as some of the finest photo realism art ever created for comics.The stories by John Dickenson, I found to be not quite as diverse as the previous volumes with much more light hearted, whimsical strips then in previous collections.The cast for those coming in late to the series is bespectacled Detective Rip Kirby from New York City and his butler Desmond. Desmond the former burglar appears in every single story and has a couple stories built around him this time. The only other regular in this volume is Wiggers (Desmond's Butler Buddy).1) THE MESMERIZING MISS MERLIN. In this story Desmond gets hypnotized and unknowingly reverts to his burglar ways.2) THE MONARCH OF ALL HE SURVEYS. This is my favorite of this volume as it is it straight International Adventure. Rip and Desmond get involved in a hijacking by an evil man who kidnaps a professor and his beautiful daughter. It has a kind of James Bond feel to this story.3) NO HONOR AMONG THIEVES. This is a good Bank heist story. What I enjoyed about this story is how much time it spends with the thieves. In the first eight weeks Rip Kirby only appears in a single Daily strip.4) MARNY. Rip goes to Hollywood to be a bodyguard for a Sexy Actress who flirts with every man she comes across. This one is very light hearted and the man who kidnaps her is only laughed at.5) THE BIG AND LITTLE KNOCKOVER. This is another light hearted one and the most dated of the bunch. A cigar chomping bigger then life female casino owner wants to straighten out her two nephews who have become hippies.6) THE TREACHERY OF TANGA. Rip and Desmond arrive on the Polynesian Island of Tanga, where the Woman rule. This is another of my favorites. Not sure if it is it the outdated sexism or all the beautiful woman in bikinis that Prentice draws.7) RIP KIRBY, BUTLER. This is another Desmond centered story and of course sit-com silly. Desmond and Rip switch roles to trick Desmond's niece in a very goofy story.8) EYE SPY Rip becomes a teacher and heads for Midwestern Small Town. The story revolves around what would now days be deemed as rather disturbing practices. The Grandfather spies on his hot Granddaughter with a telescope. Meanwhile Rip and Desmond are spying on the same poor single girl with binoculars. All of this seems rather creepy.9) A DREAM OF OLYMPUS. Wow, this story is pure fantasy and like the Science Fiction in the last volume really a change of pace. Rip and Desmond are out backpacking in California when they meet all the Gods of Olympus. It of course ends with one of those was it a dream or was it real endings.Well I hope I have convinced you to buy this volume so that maybe in a year we will get another. My Highest Recommendation.

The 9th Rip Kirby collection from IDW is the 5th drawn by John Prentice. This is significant because Prentice has now drawn more strips than the series originator, the great Alex Raymond. It has now become his strip and this has resulted in greater recognition and awards from his peers.It also meant that the strip was beginning to deviate from its roots ever so slightly. Although plotter Fred Dickenson made sure the strip didn't become unrecognizable, there were subtle, and then not so subtle, changes. In this volume Kirby's love interests Honey Dorian and Pagan Lee make no appearances whatever. Kirby hooks up with a new female character every story arc. Kirby's assistant Desmond is still very much front and center but has his role of comic relief expanded to point of being the plot of entire stories; there is usually some criminal activity but it seems almost incidental to the plot.So this volume has a few traditional crime dramas interspersed with a few situation comedies and one out and out fantasy. This all makes Kirby a little less edgier but overall is still immensely entertaining. The change in tone is not as disconcerting as it might have been because Kirby and Desmond stay right in character throughout.So while there has been some drifting from the series roots this collection is still highly recommended. I do wish we would see Honey Dorian and Pagan Lee again (especially the latter who hasn't been seen in a few volumes) and appearances by former nemeses like the Mangler but Kirby and Desmond do carry the strip into another generation nicely.The book itself is an attractive product which looks like it will hold up for a lifetime and many readings.

Coleção espetacular.

Excellent reproduction of these classic strips. Another highly recommended volume in this series.

Rip Kirby is simply brilliant. Thank you Amazon for bringing these large comic books to India.

Excellent production, well up to the high standards of the previous volumes in the series.Looking forward to Volume 10...if or when it appears

rip was always one of my favourites in the flemish newspaper Vooruit. Reading it not day by day but from a bookform is wonderfull for me