History, art, humor, story-telling... On August 30, 1995 the first comic strip in The St. Marystown Saga appeared on the back page of the Saturday edition of The Daily Press newspaper in St. Marys, Pennsylvania. St. Marys, a small city in The Pennsylvania Wilds, once known as The Great Buffalo Swamp and The Wildcat District, was founded in 1842, originally as an experiment in communal living by Redemptorist fathers from Bavaria. The Utopian ideal of the German Catholic Brotherhood did not last, but the small community did. Though the area was rugged and virtually inaccessible, it was rich in natural resources-timber, coal, clay, and abundant wildlife. That is where this story begins. The format of this remarkable book is the brainchild of artist/illustrator, historian, and story-teller Dick Dornisch, a St. Marys native. Using his comprehensive knowledge of history-local, national, and global-and employing his skill as an illustrator, Dornisch filled his "comic strips" with information and drawings that profiled not only the village of St. Marys in its first century, but the important people and events, nationally and internationally, that were major influences on the community, its citizens, and their world. In nearly 400 comic strips-all hand-drawn and lettered- Dornisch has created a work of art filled with history, humor, charming details, and first-class story-telling. This is the story of one community that has universal appeal. It stands as a tribute to the bravery of those men and women who undertook the formidable task of going into the wilderness, carving out a place of their own, and working to make their dreams come true.