Review of Pogo volume 6

Walt Kelly, March 1997, Pogo volume 6, Fantagraphics. This book contains the daily comics originally published from April 30th to October 13th of 1951.<br><br>

RC Harvey begins his introduction with a review of the early history and prehistory of Pogo, by which I mean some of the things Kelly did before he started drawing the syndicated Pogo comics. He worked in the Mouse Factory for a few years and then got involved in drawing stories for quite a number of comic books. It was in one of these that the swamp characters first appeared.<br><br>

This book includes the famous poetry writing contest between a literary worm and Albert the alligator. May the best poem win, even though the judge, a turtle, somehow got his head stuck inside his shell and can't remember how to get it out. PT Bridgeport comes to the swamp looking for talent for his circus. The amazing turtle, no head but not dead, is just the ticket. PT Bridgeport is a large and self-important bear, clearly based on PT Barnum, who, like Kelly, was from Bridgeport Connecticut.<br><br>

The only act remaining in the circus, besides the rabbit who plays the drums (I believe this is Bun Rabbit, tho I could be wrong), is Tammanany tiger. He plays a lion. One of the most interesting things about the rabbit is that every single time PT speaks to him, he calls him by a different name. The rabbit never says anything about this. Later, the tiger and a small group of friends run away from home. Long about evening time, they realize they forgot to bring any food, and someone makes the observation that when you starve with a tiger, the tiger starves last.<br><br>

Review of Pogo Volume 7

Walt Kelly, June 1997, Pogo volume 7, Fantagraphics. The comics included in this volume were originally published between October 15th, 1951 and April 10th, 1952. This volume encompasses an important time in the history of the comic strip, because it includes much of the transition from Vaudeville to political satire. A good bit of the first part is the attempt by Wiley Catt, Seminole Sam, and Sarcophagus MacAbre to cook and eat Churchy Lafemme the turtle. This is a thinly veiled poke at the anti-communist witch hunts that were sweeping the country at that time. Of course the book features plenty of the silly kind of material that readers of the strip were used to. Bun Rabbit celebrating a year's worth of holidays as quickly as possible, several of the men vying for the attention of Ma'm'selle Hepzibah, and the legendary card games of the three bats. One of the most noteworthy things about these strips is the evidence of Kelly's successful struggle to wrench copyright out of the hands of the Post-Hall syndicate. For more than a month he refused to sign the strip, and instead used a series of nonsense names, a few of which are unfortunately illegible. Beginning in 1952 the strip includes a copyright statement with his name, and a separate statement indicating the strip is distributed by the syndicate. He was the first comic strip writer to ever succeed in regaining copyright.<br><br>

One of my favorite lines is here: "When you go to sleep an' wakes up, does you fergit ever'thing?" You might be surprised at how many occasions there are to quote this one.<br><br>

080726

the surf keeps coming

seaside cottages float up 

and ground against the hills

080626

pigs

broken out in rashers 

light my fire

Review of Pogo volume 1

Walt Kelly, July 1992, volume 1, Fantagraphics. Back in the 1990s the comics publisher Fantagraphics decided to reprint all of the daily syndicated Pogo newspaper strips. This did not include the Sunday strips, which were published in color. 11 books were published. Each book encompassed a little bit less than half a year, and since Walt Kelly wrote and drew Pogo from 1948 to 1973, they didn't get very far. These books are large format paperbacks. About 10 years ago Fantagraphics tried again, but this time they are including the Sunday color strips and the books are hardbacks. They plan to publish 12, covering the whole run of Pogo by Walt Kelly, and so far eight of them have already been published. Number nine is supposed to come out sometime next year. Pogo continued into the 1990s, written and illustrated by half a dozen people who were not Walt Kelly and, alas, were not geniuses. They did a pretty decent job, but nowhere near as good as the original. I am pretty sure that Fantagraphics is not planning to reprint these. Many of them were reprinted in the fanzine published by the Pogo Fan Club, entitled The Fort Mudge Most, which was published during the 1980s and 90s (copies of some issues are available used). The Fantagraphics books also don't include the many Pogo books that were not based on the newspaper strips. Some of these were reprinted in the 1970s.<br><br> 

This book begins with the strips that were published in the New York Star, beginning with October 4th 1948 and ending with January 28th 1949. These are followed by the first syndicated strips, beginning with May 16th 1949 and ending with June 25th of the same year. These included reworked versions of some of the gags used in the Star. Breaking the fourth wall was a type of gag that Kelly used frequently. He began in the New York star in 1948, with, for example, word balloons projecting from one panel to another, hats and heads projecting out of panels, and a bird flying from the space between panels into one of the panels. Also, Pogo refers to himself as a comic strip character. The first examples might not be truly breaking the fourth wall, but the last certainly is. <br><br>

In these early strips, Kelly stuck strictly to Vaudeville and slapstick. He realized a couple of years later that the human condition was the only source of comedy he needed, and he really got into political satire leading up to the 1952 presidential election. Those strips appear in the next 10 volumes in this series. There is a lot more beyond that of course, both in the new series, and in the original books published by Kelly at the rate of one or two a year. Most of those are still available at reasonable prices for used books.<br><br> 

Review of The Fort Mudge most 36

The Pogo Fan Club, November 1993, The Fort Mudge Most 36. A photo of Selby Kelly adorns the cover. This edition of the magazine reports the sad news that the continuation of Pogo after the death of Walt Kelly had terminated. The issue contains a report (with photos) on Pogofest 1993, which took place in Waycross, and an index to the first 36 issues of the magazine. Also, reprints of many daily and Sunday strips from the post Walt Kelly days, photos of an art exhibition, and a comic reprinted from Santa Claus Funnies. I have to say that I think this comic is horrific. Why would a fir tree be happy about being cut down and later sawed apart and burned?<br><br>

080326

we are alone 

among carbon-based life forms 

in our system