Rick O'Shay was one of my favorite strips growing up. Especially, the ones post 1969 when the setting was changed to 1869 and a more realistic style was used. At that time, the art style also changed from cartoony to realistic.
I own only a few comic strips so saying that this is a favorite doesn't mean much, I've only bought ones that I really like. So, that begs the question, "Why this one?"
The obvious answer is that I'm a fan of Rick O'Shay as mentioned above, but that's insufficient because none of the main characters are featured. Instead, we see a father and daughter that were specifically created for this story line. So, while I wanted a Rick O'Shay strip, this clearly isn't a typical example. Therefore, this desire was only a minor consideration.
Another obvious answer is Stan's lovely drawing. This is a good example of that, but it's not definitively better than that in other pieces. So, that's part of the answer, but not a large part to select this particular strip.
The major reason was the story telling. Look at these few panels closely.
- In the first panel, we see the young woman in the foreground in a submissive position to her apparently stalwart father.
- In the second panel, we learn of the dilemma and see the father slumping with the news.
- In the third, he falls to the back and shrinks more while turning to the bottle.
- In the final panel, his hand shakes as he drinks and acknowledges that he isn't the man he used to be.
Good solid story telling and lovely art.
I found this on eBay for next to nothing and jumped on it.
I have two other Rick O'Shay pieces:
