Last week, we published the first of four installments featuring The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck, which is recognized as the earliest American comic book. This material has recently been reprinted in Italy in a limited edition of 1,000. The original comic dates to 1842 and was created by artist Rodolphe Töpffer.

Comics dealer and historian Robert Beerbohm, who brought Obadiah's exploits to modern fame, has received 300 copies of the limited and is making them available to interested collectors.

Those interested in purchasing a copy may contact him at the following address:

Robert Beerbohm Comic Art
P.O. Box 507
Fremont, NE 68026
Telephone (402) 727-4071

While many of the earliest comics are hard to recognize as what we would today consider to be a comic book, as we pointed out last time, this example is far different. With panel-to-panel storytelling that integrates words and pictures to achieve a greater degree of storytelling possible than with either component on their own, The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck is an impressive indication of what can be done with the medium. That it was done so long ago, though, may redefine for many the history of the art form.

Next week, we'll include Beerbohm's reflections on Obadiah's place in comic book history.

In this edition of Scoop, we begin where we left off last time, with one of Obadiah's numerous suicide attempts....

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