The Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume One: 1924-27 Will Tomorrow Ever Come? Harold Gray, Jeet Heer (commentary). IDW Publishing, 2008. When Oliver Warbucks first sees a strange little mop-headed girl in his mansion, he exclaims: "What th — Say - whose kid are you?" "I'm nobody's kid, Mr. Warbucks," she sheepishly replies. "I'm just an orphan Mrs. Warbucks took on trial."
So begins one of the most endearing, enduring relationships in the history of American comic strips—the relationship between Little Orphan Annie and "Daddy" Warbucks.
This sequence, which hasn't seen print since its initial 1924 newspaper appearance, is among the many treasures to be found in "Will Tomorrow Ever Come.
The Complete Little Orphan Annie is the second series to be released under IDW's The Library of American Comics imprint, edited and designed by Dean Mullaney.
Dick Tracy, Terry & the Pirates and Little Orphan Annie were the crown jewels of the world famous New York News-Chicago Tribune comics section.
Volume One contains more than 1,000 daily comics in nine complete stories, from the very first strip in August 1924 through October 1927.
In the pages of "Will Tomorrow Ever Come?" readers will discover how Annie escapes the orphanage and is ultimately adopted by "Daddy;" how she finds that loveable mutt Sandy and rescues him from being tortured; how she meets the Silos, who become recurring characters throughout the series; how she joins the circus and first encounters Pee Wee the elephant; and how, broke and alone, she hits the road on a succession of dangerous yet spiritually uplifting adventures.
"Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie is one of the great American comic strips," adds comics historian Jeet Heer, who is writing an extensive Harold Gray biographical essay that will run continuously through the series. "With Dickensian imagination and gusto, Gray put his spunky orphan through a world of trouble. We should all be glad to see Annie again in her truest incarnation." The text will be illustrated with rare photographs and background material.
Since its premiere in August 1924, Little Orphan Annie has become a cultural icon—in both her red-headed, blank-eyed appearance, and as the embodiment of American individuality and self-reliance. The serious tone running throughout "Will Tomorrow Ever Come?" will broaden and enrich the character for those readers who know Little Orphan Annie only from the Broadway musical and subsequent film treatments.
Harold Gray was born in 1894 in Kankee, Illinois, and began his cartooning career as an assistant to Sydney Smith, creator of the famously successful strip, The Gumps. Gray wrote and illustrated Little Orphan Annie from 1924 until his death in 1968. 386 pages. Hard Cover Black & White 11" x 8½" (279mm x 215mm) (ISBN-13: 9781600101403)
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