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Home , Rick Geary, Robert Crumb, Shary Flenniken

Adapted by CHARLES SANTINO and JOHN CALDWELL RED HEMBECK STANLEY GOLDSTEIN B JAY RATH VAL SEMEIKS GEORGI

F AN TA G R A P H IC S BOOKS THE WOLF AT THE COTTAGE Hilary Barta 3 ; THE ANT AND THE DOVE 5 THE STAG AND THE LION Val Semeiks 7

THE BEAR AND THE Ï TRAVELLERS Randy Jones * 8 THE DONKEY’S SHADOW Stanley Goldstein 11 THE LION IN LOVE 1 Jay Rath 13

THE CAT AND APHRODITE 00 Shary Flenniken 15 THE BEAR, THE BEETLE, AND THE CROW George Trosley 19 »A THE DOG AT THE BRIDGE John Caidwell _ 25 THE WASP AND THE SNAKE 26 WHY THE ANT IS A THIEF Fred Hembeck 29 THE EAGLE, THE JACKDAW, AND THE SHEPHERD S. Goldstein 30 CONTENTS

1 Adventures in the public domain -.. by Charles Santino

Once upon a time (to coin a phrase), I was looking for something in the public domain to turn into a . “In the public domain” is a fancy term for any literary work that’s not protected by copyright. Anybody can reprint or adapt this material without getting permission or paying a royalty. For example, Dracula—both the Bram Stoker novel and the blood­ thirsty character—is in the public domain. So are many of the generally accepted classics of literature. Because these books are universally recognized, culturally approved, and free from licensing fees, it’s no surprise that comic book publishers, hoping to attract a wider audience, have been publishing more and more comic books based on the classics. Why publish a comic book about any old vampire when it doesn’t cost a dime more to publish one about Adapted, scripted, and Dracula, the most famous vampire of all? edited by This movement to recast the classics, dominated by the revived CHARLES SANTINO series, has left the list of public domain titles pretty picked over. I wanted to adapt something that had been overlooked. So did the publishers I talked to. After all, Design by JIM BLANCHARD he may be well-known in the public domain, but how many comic books about Dracula can the market support? Cover by Aesop’s Fables certainly fit the bill. Everyone’s heard of it, it’s been in the public PETER KUPER domain for about 25 centuries (before there even was such a concept), and it doesn’t appear to have been given the panel-by-panel treatment since a few appearances in Typesetting by some issues of E.C.’s Animal Fables in the late 1940s. GIL JORDAN I readily admit that Aesop’s Fables wasn’t an old favorite I had longed to adapt. Not because I didn’t like the fables, but because I was unfamiliar with them beyond Color separations by “The Fox and the Grapes,” “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” and a few others. But in RAYSON FILMS my calculating way I stumbled upon a treasure trove of great reading. Printed at In researching Aesop’s Fables, I discovered more than a dozen different editions, PORT PUBLICATIONS many of them published for adults. The fables, it turns out, had originally been intended for adults and were a popular form of political and social commentary in Published by ancient Greece. I found one edition that had over 200 of these clever, funny little and stories—enough material to keep me busy for quite a while. I came up with a simple plan to adaptt Aesop’s Fables: play up the humor and write them for both adults and children. Like the best Warner Bros, cartoons, the fables are sharply-pointed satirical tales aimed at skeptics of all ages.

AESOP’S FABLES #1, Spring, 1991. My plan was aided by the lack of any standard or “official” version of the fables, AESOP’S FABLES is published by Fanta­ giving me literary license to adapt some of them beyond recognition if necessary, graphics Books, Inc., and is copyright © 1990 Books and Charles or even invent wholly original fables. This turns out to be a time-honored tradition Santina Ail characters, stories, and art © started by the Greeks and carried on more recently in Jay Ward’s “Fractured Fairy 1990 their respective creators. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without Tales.” written permission from Fantagraphics Books or Charles Santina No similarity Not much is known about Aesop the man. He was probably a Greek slave. He between any of the names, characters, never wrote anything down; he was an orator, like Homer before him. That’s if he persons, and institutions in AESOP’S FABLES and those of any living or dead even existed—some historians say he didn’t. Yet somehow the name “Aesop” (pro­ persons is intended, and any such simi­ nounced EEsop, by the way) has become forever linked to the fables. larity that may exist is purely coinciden­ tal. Letters to AESOP’S FABLES become Aesop didn’t use the “morals” often tagged on the end of the fables, nor will the property of the magazine and are assumed intended for publication in whole I. Somebody added them long after he went to that peaceable kingdom in the sky. or in part, and may therefore be used for I’ll bet Aesop wanted his audience to decide for themselves what his stories meant. those purposes. First printing: January, 1991. This issue available from the You should have that opportunity, too. publisher for $2.25 + 50’ postage and So here we are with a brand new rendition of some of the oldest stories in the handling: Fantagraphics Books, 7563 Lake City Way NE, Seattle, Washington 98115. public domain. I hope you find Aesop’s Fables as timeless as I do. A “This is a fine selection, broad enough to encompass examples of syndicated features like ’s weekly strip and ’s Life in Hell as well as the panoply of subject matter and styles to be found in such comics magazines as , RAW, and Prime Cuts.. .an outstanding offering..—BOOKLIST

ONE DECADE... T W O VOLUMES... 5 T STORIES. . . 6 O 2 4 8 PAGES... THE VERY BEST Griffith

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FROM 1990

© 1 980 - Hernandez

Bros.

Los 1990 1990

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