Forty Year with Mister Oswald HC (1968) Hardware comic books 1960-1969

Forty Years With Mr. Oswald, published in 1968, and written and illustrated by Russell "Russ" Johnson, chronicles wonderfully via a comic strip format one man's lifetime in the hardware business. Russ Johnson started drawing strips about daily life and trials of a hardware store owner around 1927 when he went to work in his fathers hardware store. Soon, the Hardware Retailer, a magazine geared towards hardware store owners and suppliers, found out about these strips and asked Johnson to begin submitting strips for each months issue. Johnson continued drawing Mister Oswald for the next 65 years. Johnson adds a nice anecdotal summary before each chapter. The attention to detail is impressive given how busy Johnson was as he was almost always working. The first few pages of the book look almost nothing like the rest because Johnsons style and sophistication as a comic artist and story teller grew at a very rapid rate. Johnsons characters are filled with life through masterful story telling, realistic settings, brilliant situations, and hilarious dialog. The writer who contributed to this review concludes, "Each page has me wishing I worked with these people and I cant stop wondering what it might have been like to know and work with the real Mr. Oswald." Black and white art, 286 pages, hardback.