[MarkWarner]

This week's (late as usual) choice is  a really special book. it was self-published "in 1972 by Bill Chapman at his Juniper Studios in Gardiner, Montana".

Happily Bill Chapman is still with us, and after speaking with our very own Kracalactaka gave permission for us to house it here! How cool is that?

So with many thanks to both Bill and Krak here is Yarns of the Yellowstone: https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=71274.

Happy Reading!

[lyons]

Hopefully, the man himself, Bill Chapman, will address members of the reading group with some words about his book, and its ability to bring history alive to the reader.  The superb artwork definitely brings realism to some great story telling.  Making history and geography entertaining is hard.  Bill Chapman has achieved this feat from the mighty 'Juniper Studios in Gardiner, Montana.'  Top-notch.       

[Kracalactaka]

Bill lives a non-computer life.

[narfstar]

I read the whole comic and enjoyed it. I like history. Art was very good and panels interesting. Stories were abrupt but that is understandable for the format. This should be something still sold at Yellowstone. George Cowan sure deserved his own comic book story. Please pass my praise on to Bill.

[SuperScrounge]

I read this recently when I indexed it for the GCD, so I just sorta flipped through it rather than rereading it. A nice, occasionally amusing, book of the history of Yellowstone. In some parts I wish he had fleshed out things a bit more, but considering the size of the topic, it's understandable why he didn't. A good book. 

[Kracalactaka]

I saw this book on a wire rack on the wall in the section of my local comic shop that has older back issues.

the 1st time I saw it there ($5) I decided to pass it by. Several days later it was still there, so I said "what the heck", I'd never heard of it before.

So I took it home and scanned it for posterity, but could not post it here as was non-PD

Then late last year I made a trip to LOC and decided to donate some books that were not in their catalog.
Yarns of the Yellowstone was one.

Before I went I did a bit of digging and found out Bill Chapman was still among the living (he is 83ish) and through a third party was able to get ahold of him to let him know I was donating my copy of Yarns to the LOC. Bill was excited to hear that.

When I got to the LOC, my timing was perfect. One of the research librarians was putting together a special display of LOC-held items about the National Parks for the capitol building, and Yarns of the Yellowstone was a perfect fit.

Bill does not do internet, so I had called him some time back and left a message on his answering machine. a couple weeks ago he finally called me back and I got a chance to tell him what happened with the book, he was very pleased. While I had him on the line I told him of our efforts here to digitally preserve all the old classics that he remembered from his youth. Even though he is not online, he definitely thinks our efforts are worthwhile. I asked permission to put the scan I made of Yarns of the Yellowstone on CB+ and he gave it readily & enthusiastically.

He had been chewing on the idea of doing a comic book about Yellowstone for quite some time. In 1972 it came together and he got it done, even had it printed at the same printer in St Louis that was printing books for major comic publishers.  The 50 cent cover price was more about recouping production costs rather than profit as the book was a labor of love (for Yellowstone and the Comic Book medium). As far I have been able to discern, the book was sold in shops in and around Yellowstone, target audience being tourist kids. My copy had made its way to Ohio.

Now the whole world can read Bill's little gem of a book.

Krac

[lyons]

Thanks, Krac, for the background info on 'Yarns.'  Interesting piece on timing at the LOC.  Readers, present and future, are fortunate to have the conviction to digital preservation that exists at CB+.  Thanks for bringing this book to the limelight.   

[crashryan]

I like this. Hearing Bill Chapman's background makes it even more interesting. It's inspiring to hear about someone conceiving a personal project like this and pushing it through single-handed. More people should do that!

The only complaint I have is that the historical sections sort of run into one another. A minor quibble. The tales of Cowan, Trafton, and Durand could each have filled a book. The story of George Cowan is downright amazing.

Historical and true-adventure comics are often dry, but Chapman's enthusiasm for his subject makes this an engrossing read.

[The Australian Panther]

Chapman has real talent. Pity he never did more work, but this is great. I really like the idea of comics being used for non-fiction and this is a really good example. I learned a lot about Yellowstone from it. As a non-american and a child, my introduction to Yellowstone came from the exploits of Yogi Bear. So I found it ironic that the History of Yellowstone is associated with so much crime. The incident here involving the Nez Perce may give a negative image of them, their story needs to be more widely known.  Understanding their actions in context is worthwhile. A painless way is to read Will Henry's novel, 'From Where the Sun Now Stands'. Of various Wikipedia articles this one on Chief Joseph is pretty good.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Joseph 
A reminder that there is  1959 #1056 Dell FourColour adaption of the movie, 'Yellowstone Kelly' - illustrated by Dan Speigle. Don't know how much it has to do with Yellowstone Park,if anything, and don't know if it is on the site.   
And Mark, thanks for the choices you have been making for the reading group. 
Cheers!         

[Kracalactaka]

Panther,

Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo and Mr Ranger inhabited the Fictional "Jellystone Park".

[The Australian Panther]

Which was obviously a pseudonym for Yellowstone and therefore alerted many to the existence of the real 'Yellowstone'. 'Smarter than the average bear, BooBoo!'
Cheers.   

[lyons]

That rings a bell for me, Panther.  Jellystone was an early education in the parks system for many youngsters in the early 1960's.  It pre-dated Yellowstone by a margin, but the connection was immediate.  Yogi was a favorite.  What boy wouldn't love to live in a cave and steal delightful morsels from passing tourists?  Then again, maybe stealing was my thing as a youngster, because I also wanted to be a Robin Hood pirate or a Jesse James outlaw.       

[POWPUCK]

I preferred the Jetsons' high rise apartment building. Granted it takes a gruelling 3-hour workday to afford, but c'est la vie.

[bowers]

A fine example of how good a comic can be. Entertaining and informative, educational but without a heavy-handed approach. A true labor of love by a man who gave a lifetime of service to this wonderful and awesome park.

An interesting mix of stories. Some I knew about but others I hadn't heard of, such as "The Phantom" and the stagecoach robberies. I knew the army was in Yosemite, but I hadn't heard they were also in Yellowstone. I  enjoyed the mentions of Gardiner, Dunraven, and the thumbnails of Colter and Bridger. All quite interesting people to research.

As for Yogi, I enjoyed him as much as anyone, but I'm not so sure he was good for Yellowstone. As a kid, riding through Yellowstone and Glacier Park, I thought nothing of people throwing doughnuts out of the windows to bears. Some would actually get out of their cars to get pictures! Were we ever stupid! Even today people are trying to get selfies with wild bison. This often does not turn out well for anyone, especially the photographer! It's just not a petting zoo.

The book reinforced my love and respect respect for this amazing place and I applaud both Krac and Bill Chapman for sharing this. Thumbs up, a hundred times over! Cheers, Bowers

[lyons]

Meant to wish everyone a Happy Easter in my last post. I didn't.  So, Happy Easter, everyone.

[The Australian Panther]

From the first time I saw Bill's work, it nagged at me that it reminded me of another Artist and another work. I finally remember who. It was William Messner-Loebs and the fine work he did on his independent comic, 'JOURNEY - The Adventures of Wolverine McAllister' which was about 19th-century Michigan frontier life.
Incidentally Messner-Loebs has fallen on hard times lately.
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/03/27/comics-william-messner-loebs-homeless/

[narfstar]

I hope it gets passed on to Bill how well received his work was. I don't think we had single person who did not like it.

[Morgus]

I hope somebody in a course uses this one to teach sequential art. This comic jewel  packs a lot of information in a very small amount of space and does it nearly perfectly. Almost all of the pointers that Eisner and Wally Wood used to keep stories interesting are shown. But there's one thing Bill puts across somehow
that you can't teach method-wise. He is able to share his love of that park and he is able to create enthusiasm for it. The comic book makes me wish I lived closer so I could see it. That is a special achievement. The art is wonderful and the stories made me feel like I was ten again, and could not wait to see what was on the next page.

[The Australian Panther]

Well said Morgus.