Liberty Meadows
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Liberty Meadows is a comic strip and comic book created, written and illustrated by Frank Cho. It relates the comedic activities of the staff and denizens of the titular animal sanctuary/rehabilitation clinic.
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[edit] History
Liberty Meadows is the evolution of University² (University Squared), a strip Cho wrote during his college years for The Diamondback, the student newspaper at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Originally, it was syndicated and appeared in many newspapers, while also being collected in comic books produced by Insight Studios. At the end of 2001, Cho ceased syndication, partly because editors kept censoring it, and has since published it directly in comic book format.
Image Comics took over publication with issue #27. The comic book went on a hiatus in early 2004, after issue #36, and resumed publication with issue #37 in June, 2006. Frank Cho announced he would be "trying to have couple of issues of Liberty Meadows out per year" [1].
[edit] Style
Cho freely mixes visual styles in the strip, drawing the majority of the cast like Walt Kelly's anthropomorphic animals, borrowing Dave Stevens's pin-up look for Brandy, and routinely throwing in savage musclemen, apes and dinosaurs in an elaborate homage to multiple illustrators, including Frank Frazetta and Barry Windsor-Smith's work on Conan the Barbarian. He also uses frequent literary and visual references from sources ranging from Michelangelo to the movie Deliverance to commercials for Crest toothpaste.
Cho also makes references to other comic strip characters. The Liberty Meadows denizens have found themselves sharing their strip with Calvin & Hobbes, Lil Abner, Hagar the Horrible, Dilbert, and Cathy, among others.
[edit] Characters
[edit] The humans
- Brandy Carter - A beautiful animal psychiatrist.
- Frank Mellish - A nerdy veterinarian. Frank is in love with Brandy but afraid to tell her.
- Tony - An accident prone maintenance man.
- Julius - Owner of Liberty Meadows animal sanctuary and an avid fisherman.
- Jen - Brandy's roommate. A sexy rocket scientist who enjoys toying with men.
- Al - Owner of the local bar where many of the other characters hang out. An educated man who believes in numerous conspiracies.
- Roger - Brandy's ex-fiancé who's trying to win her back.
- Barbara Carter - Brandy's controlling, malevolent mother. Hates Frank. Schemes constantly to fix Brandy up with Roger.
- John Carter - Brandy's doting father. The complete opposite of Brandy's mother.
- Evil Brandy - Brandy's evil twin from a mirror universe. A megalomaniacal criminal mastermind.
- Alternate Frank / "Ace" - Frank's super-studly twin from a mirror universe. The most feared lawman in the world and Evil Brandy's arch-nemesis.
A Liberty Meadows gallery |
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| Tony | Ralph | Dean | Julius | Leslie | Jen | Truman | Oscar |
[edit] The animals
- Ralph - A midget circus bear with a perpetual squint and a penchant for inventing dangerous gadgets.
- Dean - A sexist pig with a drinking problem and an addiction to cigarettes. He's supposed to be in for detox but keeps breaking the 'no smoking' rule.
- Leslie - A dim-witted frog with hypochondria.
- Truman - A cute and naive young duck.
- Oscar - Truman's pet dachshund. The only animal in the strip who acts (more or less) like an animal.
- The Cow - A psychotic villain. Suffers from Mad Cow Disease.
- Khan - The Biggest Catfish in the Tri-State Area, and Julius' constant nemesis.
- Mike - A raccoon with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
- Sheldon - A turtle who mostly serves as a filler character.
[edit] The author
- Frank Cho, aka "Monkey Boy" - Creator of the strip. Appears in the strip as a chimp to break the fourth wall.
[edit] Collected editions
The comics collecting the daily strips have themselves been collected into a series of books:
| ISG Hardcover | Collects | Deluxe Signed | Unsigned Trade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty Meadows: Big Book of Love | # 1– 5 | ISBN 1-889317-15-2 | ISBN 1-889317-14-4 |
| Image Comics | Collects | Hardcover | Softcover |
| Liberty Meadows Book 1: Eden | # 1– 9 | ISBN 1-58240-301-5 | ISBN 1-58240-390-2 |
| Liberty Meadows Book 2: Creature Comforts | #10–18 | ISBN 1-58240-333-3 | ISBN 1-58240-432-1 |
| Liberty Meadows Book 3: Summer of Love | #19–27 | ISBN 1-58240-401-1 | ISBN 1-58240-534-4 |
| Liberty Meadows Book 4: Cold, Cold Heart | #28–36 | ISBN 1-58240-502-6 | ISBN 1-58240-720-7 |
Big Book of Love included an all new introduction piece and the Sunday strips, both in colour.
Eden also included the intro piece (in black and white), but did not include the Sunday strips.
[edit] Awards
Frank Cho has won many awards, including: the prestigious National Cartoonist Society’s Awards for Best Comic Book and Book Illustration, the Eagle Award, the Charles M. Schulz Award for Excellence in Cartooning, Scripps-Howard Award for Best College Cartoonist, College Media Association for Cartooning, and Germany’s highest award, Max & Moritz Medal, for Best International Comic Strip. He was also nominated for the coveted Harvey and Eisner Awards.
