Barnaby: 1944–1945

Gr 4 Up—Barnaby Baxter haplessly follows in the wake of his protean fairy godfather, the rotund, verbose J.J. O'Malley, as he tries to get Congress to back the building of a dam, accidentally exposes insurance fraud, and causes a huge stock market crash by trying to buy a pair of morning trousers. Throughout it all, Barnaby's parents shush and cajole him to try and forget about his "imaginary friend" Mr. O'Malley, and seem to just miss meeting him again and again. Adults —Barnaby's family excepted— are persistently depicted as craven opportunists and the mystical folk that populate the book are single-minded naïfs, with only Barnaby's friend Jane shown to be flatly, hilariously sensible, and critical of everything that goes on. This second volume reprints two years of the comic strip, and once again bookends the content with essays and a thorough compilation of its many allusions to provide context for the strip's importance, popularity, and scope. Included reproductions of the cover art of contemporary collections state that the comic was and is for adults, and the elevated vocabulary and historical and social references would back that up, but the book should slyly, winkingly appeal to almost all ages.—Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH