Illustrated History of Union County

A newspaper series unseen for over half a century comes vibrantly alive again.Frank Thorne is one of the most respected and accomplished comic artists of his generation. He began drawing comic in the 1950s and quickly established himself as a supremely competent draftsman and storyteller. Before he made a name for himself drawing Red Sonja for Marvel Comics, before he appeared in Heavy Metal and Playboy, and even before he put in his time on Flash Gordon, Green Hornet, and Perry Mason, a fresh-out-of-Art-Career-School Frank Thorne worked on an historical strip called The Illustrated History of Union County. Spanning the entire history of a New Jersey county important to the formation of these United States, this book illustrates, with the influence of Harold Foster (Prince Valiant) and Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon), scholarly episodes with a strong youthful vigor. The proceeds from the sale of this book will go towards the restoration of an 18th century house in Union County, New Jersey.

Publishers Weekly

Serialized in the early 1950s, this account of New Jersey's Union County begins 60 million years in the past, complete with glaciers and dinosaurs, and proceeds to jump through history like a time traveler on hallucinogens. With a mostly nonlinear format, the series careens from Henry Hudson's meeting Algonquian Indian tribes while on a mission for the East India Company to the Dutch settling in the area decades prior to his arrival and so on. The tale includes massacres of the indigenous population; hardships endured by Christian puritans; an interminable recounting of the Revolutionary War; a look at the state's slave trade; the amusingly named Spanktown (so dubbed because a Quaker allegedly spanked his unruly wife in public); and stirring depictions of the "corn-huskin' bee," "apple-pickin' bee" and "thrashin' bee. Artist Thorne was later famous for Marvel Comics' saucy Red Sonja, but this volume wears its hard work and research on its sleeve. No amount of good intentions can save the piece from getting mired in its narrow focus, which will appeal primarily to New Jersey residents. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Frank Thorne has had an extensive career in comics including working on Red Sonja for Marvel Comics and creating Ghita of Alizar. Thorne's work has also appeared in Heavy Metal and Playboy. He lives in South Plains, New Jersey with his wife.