Barney Google: Gambling, Horse Races, & High-Toned Women! #[nn]

This handsome IDW/Yoe Books collection showcases the irresistible absurdity of Billy DeBeck's beloved strip, with a cover featuring the bug-eyed, top-hat-tipping Barney Google astride his beloved racehorse Spark Plug — a scrappy, blanketed steed rolling along on what appear to be wheels, with a grandstand crowd visible in the background. The cover's warm, vintage color palette and DeBeck's wonderfully expressive linework set the tone perfectly for a volume themed around gambling, horse races, and high-toned women. Edited and designed by Craig Yoe with a foreword by Richard Thompson, this 2010 collection is a genuine treat for anyone who loves early American newspaper comic strips at their most gleefully eccentric.