Rip Van WInkle by way of Walt Kelly

 

cover art by Walt Kelly

The third issue of Dell's Fairy Tale Parade (October-November 1942) included an adaptation of Rip Van Winkle, drawn by Walt Kelly.

Every single one of Kelly's Fairy Tale Parade stories are things of beauty and "Rip" is no exception. The adaptation follows Washington Irving's short story pretty closely. Rip is married with two kids. He's easygoing, but a bit lazy, while his wife is a bit of a nag constantly after him to get some work done. She's deliberately presented as an unpleasant shrew, though realistically, you can't blame her for wanting Rip to do some work.

To get a break from his wife, Rip goes squirel hunting. Here he meets the small Dutchmen who are playing at bowls and drinking beer from kegs. Rip shares some beer, falls asleep and wakes up several decades later. When he wanders back into town, he gradually figures out what happened. His wife has died and his grown daughter takes him in.

Kelly's adaptation is smoothly written, telling the story effectively and economically. His art, as I already mentioned, is beautiful. The comic version leaves out a possible origin for the Dutchmen, but that's an understandable cut when adapting the tale to another medium. Also, I've always felt the original short story implies the Dutchmen may have deliberately did Rip a favor by keeping him asleep until his nagging wife was gone. That idea isn't brought across in Kelly's version, but that's was just my personal impresson of Irving's tale.

You can read this online HERE.

Next week, we'll return to the Hulk and the saga of his no-longer-microscopic girlfriend.