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.