As a short update to this post, I asked Fantagraphics again about their plans for George Herriman. This time around, they actually responded. They said that Stumble Inn was being shelved indefinitely. That's a real shame. It appears that it had a 4 year run as a Sunday strip and a six month run as a daily. That could probably all be contained in one mega-volume or a 2 volume set (with slip cover, naturally). It's hard to say from just a few on-line strips, but I think I'd enjoy it. I would certainly buy it if Fantagraphics or some other publisher puts it out. I think it is in the public domain at this point...
Fantagraphic did confirm that they are going to start in on the Krazy Kat dailies but not until 2023. I'll have to think long and hard about that, seeing how many volumes they anticipate, what the cost would be and just how much space it will take up!
I am such a completist that I probably don't want to start unless I am fairly sure Fantagraphics will commit to the whole thing. Anyway, it looks like I have some time to make up my mind...
Edit (4/26): I actually have two pretty decent examples of the dailies. The Pacific Comics Club put out a small book with all the 1921 dailies, and then IDW did a focused "Tiger Tea" volume with most of the dailies from 1936-37. The strips themselves have just the most basic plots, but the wordplay is sometimes quite unique, but what really stands out is that the backgrounds change from panel to panel (and in that sense the example above is not a good example at all). It might be a stretch to call this surreal, but it is unusual, and maybe I will try to pick up the dailies starting in 2023 after all. I did see that PCC issued two more volumes collecting 1922 and 1923. While not in stock in stores, I should be able to pick them up directly from the club.
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