Dinomania: The Lost Art of Winsor McCay, The Secret Origins of King Kong, and the Urge to Destroy New York

Edition excerpt from Dinomania: The Lost Art of Winsor McCay, The Secret Origins of King Kong, and the Urge to Destroy New York (2015): This is a deluxe, oversize collection of Winsor McCay's (Little Nemo) "lost" comic strip. Winsor McCay, the creator of Little Nemo in Slumberland, is internationally renowned as a pioneer in comics and animation. But author Ulrich Merkl's dedicated sleuthing has unearthed a never-published strip by McCay that was lost following the artist's untimely death. Titled simply Dino, it opens a surprising new window into McCay's life and work and showcases his exquisitely beautiful and delicate delineations (exactingly reproduced from the original art). Merkl explores the influences McCay brought to the strip—including McCay's own Gertie the Dinosaur animated shorts, the animation in 1933's King Kong, and the growth of New York City from the Holland Tunnel to the Empire State Building —and traces our love of dinosaurs and monster movies down through the decades. Breathtakingly designed, each page of this deluxe oversize volume is overflowing with amazing imagery, with more than 650 photographs and illustrations (more than 250 in color) — most of them seen here for the first time in a century! An essential volume for everyone interested in the development of the comic strip — and our never-ending fascination with dinosaurs!