Before the inspired nonsense of Monty Python, David Letterman and the Far Side, there were Droodles. With a few squiggles in a simple square, these clever drawings created absurd scenes like Ship arriving too late to save a drowning witch (used by Frank Zappa as an album cover), Octopus signaling for a left turn and Clam with buck teeth. And they were all the creation of one brilliant and unpredictable man: Roger Price.

At the height of their popularity in the mid-1950s, fans enjoyed the Droodles TV show, a Droodles daily newspaper column, Droodles magazine features, Droodles cocktail napkins, even Droodles in ads for Lucky Strike cigarettes. Like hula hoops, drive-in movies and UFOs, Droodles were one of the biggest fads of the 1950s.

Now Droodles make their triumphant return to delight a new generation that can use some laughs. The Ultimate Droodles Compendium includes every one of Roger Price’s 352 most famous Droodles in delightful new full-quality reproductions, with Price’s inspired text and quirky footnotes. There’s more: a Roger Price/Droodles reminiscence by beloved media critic Leonard Maltin, a full history of Roger Price and Droodles by Emmy-winning writer Fritz Holznagel, and comments from comedy legend Carl Reiner, Boing Boing’s Mark Frauenfelder and Carla Sinclair, and others.

Droodles are back in this handsome, hilarious, ultimate collection from Tallfellow Press. Droodles now. Droodles forever!