I'm sure my parents knew of Droodles, as they are children of the '50s and this is totally their humor, but I'd never heard of them until I picked up this book courtesy of Netgalley! And boy was I in for a treat! I laughed out loud at the first page, and from then I was hooked. The minimalist drawings are usually nothing without the witty - and frankly, genius - captions describing them. I appreciated the occasional explanation of by-gone references, and I definitely appreciated the section that carried the warning that those contained within were a product of their time and perhaps no longer deemed appropriate (true, although I didn't think they were all that bad!) I feel like Roger Price - also co-creator of Mad Libs - is the most famous person I'd never heard of.

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this one. It was a lot of fun. My full review appears on weekend notes.

I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had no idea what Droodles were when I requested this book, but it looked interesting and I’m always up for a good chuckle. This compilation of droodles, or a single comic, is entertaining to say the least. There’s multiple different ways to interpret each rendering and I think Price was ahead of his time. His explanations after certain droodles explain the social or political situation and add a bit of flair.
Included as well, is a concise history of Price’s life, his career and his love of a certain actress.
It was cute and entertaining.

A great look back at the witty, irreverent cartoon/mind puzzles from the sixties and seventies. Along with an irreverent "lemony-snickett" type narrative, footnotes explain references to popular culture making this a fun glimpse at a time-capsule of history. A great way to discuss the time period with younger generations, while bringing back great memories.

Droodles appear to be an artifact of a comedic zeitgeist before my time. Roger Price, co-creator of Mad Libs, constructed a system of small cartoons using disparate geometric images and odd frames of reference to encapsulate a joke. Most famous is the cover droodle, “Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch,” which found its way into pop culture and even functioned as an album cover.
Droodles in small number have the potential to be quirky, inducing a small smirk rather than an out-and-out guffaw. Droodles in large numbers quickly become tedious. This especially becomes the case when you read past the “classic” droodles, and get to some of the deeper cuts that weren’t the big hits for a reason.
I am sure that for some, the importance of creating a historical reference for American comedy might be of greater value than the enjoyment of individual content by the lay-reader, but as a casual reader picking this book up because I like to laugh and I like graphic storytelling, it was a let down.
Of particular note, the occasional long-winded explanation of the joke by Price really drug on, and I found myself dreading those pages when they cropped up. Also, the inclusion of “croodles,” droodles that are of a more offensive nature, was an odd choice, as the racist undertones (occasionally overtones) in that section did not improve my opinion of the content.
The one highlight were the annotations by Holznagel. The annotations demonstrated a level of wit and glee I did not find in the actual content itself.
I recommend this volume for people interested in the history of cartoon comedy as an artifact of historical significance, but for readers seeking an easily enjoyable collection, I would guide you elsewhere.

Review will be available at the provided link on 3/14/19.

When I was ten or eleven years old I found a book of brainteasers that had belonged to my mom when she was about that age. The most interesting things in it were these strange “guess what this is” line drawings called droodles. Most of them were pretty much unguessable and made you groan when you read the answer. They were basically visual dad jokes. The most famous droodle is “ship arriving too late to save a drowning witch” which was used as an album cover by Frank Zappa (Google it!).

It turns out these things were somewhat of a fad back in the 50’s and 60’s. I’m a child of the 80’s and having only encountered them once before by chance, I had no idea they were such a big deal until running across this book on NetGalley. This large collection provides plenty of laughs/groans depending on your sense of humor…my wife and daughters inform me that they’re mostly stupid, but they think the same thing about my (dad) jokes.

Aside from the absurdist humor, it is entertaining to see the little stories and slices of life that Robert Price could conjure with a few simple lines, squiggles, and shapes…and frequently added to with meandering tangential footnotes. His mind certainly worked in strange ways. That said, I didn’t find the biographical section at the end terribly interesting. However, I’m not usually much into biographies of pop culture icons, so that’s just my own personal taste.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this collection of visual dad jokes and would highly recommend it to fans of absurdist humor and/or minimalist art and creativity.

I don’t think these have stood the test of time.

I mean, I chuckled at a few…but was mostly bored by this tome.

Some of these “droodles” were quite creative and amusing…but mostly they weren’t.

And nearly 300 pages of this was a tad yawn-inducing.

Given that I wasn’t over-enamored with the main content of the book, I only skimmed the essay in the back about Roger Price.

Your mileage may vary, I’m sure.

(Though I did find it interesting that he (with a friend) invented with Mad Libs! Which I’ve enjoyed for several hours in my life.)

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Tallfellow Press for a copy in return for an honest review.</i>

The Ultimate Droodles Compendium: The Absurdly Complete Collection of Roger Price's Classic Zany Creations by Roger Price is a book I requested and the review is voluntary.
I didn't know what Droodles were until I read this and I loved them! Where have I been! The shows a great collection of them. I giggled and giggled at these witty and clever drawing that are labeled so zany! This man and his partner both came up with Mad Libs! I can image that!
This is a fun read!!!

I didn't recognize Roger Price by name, but I did recognize his artwork. Expect plenty of eye rolling and chuckles when perusing this collection.

Thank you to Tallfellow Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Droodles - "...the new, IMPROVED way to waste time." (Roger Price, 1952)

This is an interesting book mostly because it works on a number of levels. If you remember Droodles, or if you're new to them, you can leaf through the book and admire the wit and clever absurdist artwork. (The book includes every published Droodle, some left over work in progress, and even Droodles used in various ad campaigns.)

If you are a Roger Price fan, there's a lot here in terms of biographical sketches, reminiscences, insider stories, and memorabilia to satisfy your curiosity/devotion. If you wonder what was "funny" in the 50's and 60's, this is a mild but amusing look back at radio, TV, and print humor. Price was also the co-creator of Mad-Libs, so he certainly had his finger on what the public found funny.

So, sure, Droodles were a "fad"; but they were worthy and had some staying power, and they're good for an admiring chuckle now.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)