I have both volumes but only have read volume 1 so far. It was a fun read for the most part. The cartooning is excellent as can be assumed with Kelly. Bobpfef tells me the stories get better as the run goes ... I guess I'm due to read volume 2 and report here about my findings ... As for the quality of production, the editors decided to maintain the comic book look which in intent is fun but in actuality leads to poor reproduction at times if the source material was off-register. Still, having these stories in color in an attractive small format is a blessing.
Yeah, what he said
The later stories are serials, from 2 issues to upto about 6 issues in length. The characters grow up and some move away during the course of the series. Some newcomers arrive, either by moving into town or graduating from someone's little tag-along brother or sister to more full fledged participants. The the issues in the 20's none of the original characters are left. It was as if Kelly had to use the Our Gang kids for the films, but tired of them and wanted to create his own characters. I find it interesting to see how the whole series evolves, and there is a real sense of time, not something you often find in kids comics. The stories are of the kid gang type, but they often shocked me with a sense of real danger the kids were often in. Lots of guns, knifeplay, kidnapping, dirty-dealing, etc.