about it," but others, such as Chris Mautner of Comic Book Resources, have expressed doubts that it "can bear the weight of such a theory." "If there’s a core to Cole’s work," wrote Noah Berlatsky, "it’s his refusal to show . . . anything of himself. ... Whether working on genre comics, Playboy gag cartoons, or a family syndicated strip, Cole produced a superior product with wit, charm, and formal mastery, but without anything that could be called personal investment." Collection In 2007, Fantagraphics Books released a softcover collection of Betsy and Me that claimed to be a complete reprinting of the strip. However, a considerable amount of Dwight Parks' continuation is missing, from the start of November through the third week of December, when the series was ended. Even worse for Cole fans, eight of his Sunday strips—including the first month—are omitted. And, of the Sundays that made it in, the only two in color are the incomplete third-page versions. P. Ryan Anthony concluded in his Amazon review that the book "will only be indispensable to Jack Cole completists and those interested in the last work of an unqualified comic genius." According to Publishers Weekly, the collection only exists because "we're living in the Golden Age of comic reprints . . . and we still don't know exactly why author Cole killed himself." R. C. Harvey's "excellent, informative" 21-page introduction includes a generously illustrated biographical sketch of Jack Cole the veratile artist, and it also explores the mystery of his suicide. The Comics Reporter called this a "must-have book" while The Onion A.V. Club gave it a grade of A−. References External links American comic strips 1958 comics debuts 1958 comics endings Gag-a-day comics Slice of life comics