LevyÕs Law brought workplace situation comedy elements into a daily comic strip. It centered on Ann Levy, a young, single woman beginning her career as a police officer. Ann was the cool center of a solar system orbited by an unconventional cast of supporting characters:
Sarge OÕBrian, who gave a new meaning to ÒBlack Irish;Ó
Pookie, her best pal and aspiring writer;
Alan Gold, lawyer and AnnÕs on-again off-again boyfriend and natureÕs most perfect victim;
Harv Ditko, AnnÕs neighbor and delusional ladies man;
Rob Levy, AnnÕs Korean rabbi brother; and lest we forget,
AnnÕs Fairy GodmotherÑletÕs just say sheÕs never going to be employee of the month.
Setting LevyÕs Law apart from other strips was the use of character back stories. Almost every criminal, and most of their victims, had a story. This added depth to the daily gag comic strip genre.
Commentary includes the tale of the attempts to turn LevyÕs Law into a live action sitcomÑwithout Ann, any of the stripÕs characters or even the title. What were they thinking?!
THE GREAT ATOMIC AFTERMATH AND FRESH FRUIT FESTIVAL
It wasnÕt your everyday science fiction comic strip. Sure, Buck Rogers had rockets and ray guns, but TGAA&FFF had sex!
The premise was simple: a nuclear holocaust wipes out all of humanity except for Fred, the meek man who inherits the Earth. Next, thereÕs Hadley, the second-to -last man on Earth, an IRS agent there to collect the inheritance tax. Completing the core cast was the last woman on Earth, Sister Maria Theresa.
Added to that, there were giant mutated fruits and vegetables. FinallyÑbecause the strip didnÕt last that longÑthere were the remnants of the U.S. government, bureaucrats whose minds stuck into robot bodies that lacked a certain something due to a tiny design flaw. (Okay, the government was castrated; do we really have to spell it out for you?)
As an added bonus, this collection includes the original, unedited versions of strips that the syndicate changed. LetÕs just say that most of the changes were not for the better.
TGAA&FFF was also where the author started using identifiable Jewish charactersÑsomething that he continued with his next syndicated strip.
But wait, thereÕs more! Volume two contains the original college version of TGAA&FFF. And if that isnÕt enough, the second volume also presents samples from the authorÕs unsold strips.