Review of The Pogo Party

Walt Kelly, 1956, The Pogo Party, Simon and Schuster. This was the first Pogo book I read, my mother's copy, which I now have. This is an election-themed book, this one about the 1956 presidential election. In I Go Pogo, about the 1952 election, some of the characters had not yet acquired their final physical appearance or personality. By the time this book was published, they all had.<br><br>

I have not mentioned this yet, I believe, but one of the signature aspects of the Pogo strip is the skiffs that the characters are constantly poling about in and fishing from. The skiffs usually have names on them, and these are names of editors or other people that Kelly knew. But the most noteworthy thing about them is that from panel to panel the names frequently change. They're not the only things in the strips that change, but they are the most obvious. The scenery: trees, rocks, tufts of grass, etc., also morph from panel to panel. Another thing that changes is the pants worn by the three bats. They usually wear the same three patterns, but if you look closely every time you see them, every now and then one or more of the patterns will be different from the usual.<br><br>

Anyway, this book begins with various characters asking Pogo if he's going to run for president again. This is something he never actually did in 1952, but most people didn't notice. The Pogo Party features the three bats (Bewitched, Bothered, and Bemildred) in their most prominent role. They begin by deciding to go into politics. All three plan to run for president.<br><br>

Of course a book can't be all politics from end to end. As is often the case, Churchy is revising the calendar, and Grundoon the groundhog child talks to fish.<br><br>

Later on, we almost find out what owl-flavored cake would be like. The consensus is that it wouldn't be good. Next, people try to convince Ma'm'selle Hepzibah that she should marry Pogo and become first lady. Various things happen, mostly silly things, but then the political fervor in the swamp begins to heat up. Howland and Sam determine that Churchy is the most typical of voters, and so they decide to poll his opinions to indicate how Pogo should behave while running. <br><br>

A reporter and photographer are sent by Newslife magazine to the swamp to interview Pogo. They arrive burdened with false information and leave with even less. These two show up in one of the other books, there representing the magazine Dogs Life. They behave in just the same way and are burdened with the same kinds of misinformation. <br><br>

All the foofaraw about Pogo running for president and marrying Hepzibah finally pushes the two of them, as well as Porkypine, to run off in disguise.

061526

their gods outnumber worshippers keeps 'em busy

061426

incorporation isn't easy New world, new gravity, new chemistry I've learned to start with the head hard to get my footing otherwise The left foot comes last I'm right-handed and right-footed somehow, adults never notice small children do Where's your foot mister? Here it is, see? they tend to follow me around for a bit but they get bored I never visit one place twice or if I do it's been so long I don't recognize it spreading the word it's never worked yet but I have faith it's easy to have faith when you know something is up there when you know you have a charge that is irrevocable I envy those who wonder, who believe, who question and will never know in frustrates them but it beats the alternative

061326

Tweak a few genes and the octopus no longer needs immersion. Tweak a few more and it lives long enough to learn to communicate with us. Takes us a bit longer to go the other way but with all those arms this mutant mollusk is far more than a sex toy or doer of clever tricks; four times as capable as a human engineer typing four times as fast as a graduate student, and the compact creatures crew the first starships with aplomb. Flashing the colors of their skin the crew write poetry about the sea their ancestors lived in memory. Poems glow in chatoyant energy under the streaming stars.

061226

one claw in the pudding forked tongue taste

Review of Positively Pogo

Walt Kelly,  Positively Pogo, Simon and Schuster. The book starts off with singing TV commercials, dog lessons, and practice drowning. This is followed in rapid succession by judo lessons, edible money, other money-making schemes, like the drive-in self-service funeral parlor, and the nature of true friendship. Later, we learn how to talk to fish. One of the interesting things about this comic strip is that people talk to fish, and sometimes play with them, but they also eat them. Frequently. This is pretty close to cannibalism, and it happens in many if not most of the books. We also discover an inexpensive but unpopular way to get from New Jersey to the Okefenokee. Travel is all well and good, but there's no place like home, especially if somebody noticed you were gone. We also encounter a rabbit-powered clock and a sea serpent, which is the strong silent type.<br><br>

Mr Pig, who bears a striking resemblance to Nikita Khrushchev, poles his way into the swamp on a raft. Things do not go well.<br><br>

Next, Pogo and Mouse inadvertently visit Australia just in time for the Olympics. When they finally get back to the swamp, it's time for carol practice. This quickly devolves into a semantic analysis of The 12 Days of Christmas, with a discussion of the nature of love on the side.<br><br>

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And happy birthday to one of my two favorite sisters!

Review of Pogo Puce Stamp Catalog

Walt Kelly, 1963, Pogo Puce Stamp Catalog, Simon and Schuster. This is a Pogo book that is dualistic in a way different from most of the others. Most of the books have a theme, which affects part of the book, and the rest of the book is made up of various kinds of silly nonsense. In this case, the theme is the Pogo puce stamp catalog, which is mentioned in at least one other book. This book actually came with a page of puce stamps. However, the books with the stamps cost so much more than the books without stamps, used, when I was looking for one, I got the book without stamps. I bought these books to read, not as an investment, so I didn't need the stamps. It is possible to find them with the stamps if you want to. This is why I didn't try to buy every edition of each book.<br><br>

In another way this book does have two parts. The first part is a breathtaking hard sell for the benefits of puce stamps. Even though they are worthless, this is explained in excruciating detail. In this sense they are a lot like other kinds of trading stamps. The second part is the history of the rise and fall of puce trading stamps.<br><br>

The story begins with a thousand-year-old egg, and the chick that hatched from it. Actually, the egg was only a thousand days old, but that's not bad for a chick. After some nonsensical doings, the trading stamps are conceived as a way to save time for housewives and other customers who, because the stamps are worthless, don't have to save them. Various things happen, or don't happen in the case of the dramatic TV debut of Churchy's trading stamp jingles, and in the end all the stamps are used up. The end, more or less.<br><br> 

Kelly has pointed out the ridiculousness of trading stamps, but this is not one of my favorite Pogo books. It has a lot of good gags, but the subject of trading stamps doesn't have as much comic potential as the things he usually wrote about. It's still funny and worth reading, just not as much so.<br><br>