Review of The Return of Pogo

Walt Kelly, 1965, The Return of Pogo, Simon and Schuster. 

This book begins with weather prediction and quickly segues into a swamp beauty contest. Kelly is making fun of this aspect of American culture, but it may seem a little close to the bone these days. Your mileage may vary. <br><br>

Mr Pig, Russian, but not the same Mr Pig who looks a lot like a well-known Russian politician of the day, arrives in a spaceship with a two-headed dog. He claims the dog wins the contest, because it was a contest for the greatest beauty in the whole cosmos. Pogo and Porky interview the dog for the Fort Mudge Moan newspaper, but they don't get much. Just enough to decide that there's no story because no one bit the dog. On their way home to write up the non-story for the paper they are accosted by a bunch of TV reporters. They insist on interviewing the two about the incident. Pogo and Porky run away, so the TV reporters begin to interview each other. Only one of the out-of-town reporters actually sees the two-headed dog, and it is for lack of trying on the part of the rest of them.<br><br>

I'm not going to describe all of the things that go on in this book, but it is more than just comedy. Kelly has a lot to say about our society, as it then was. In a lot of ways, problems very much like those of the 1960s continue to plague us, but have gotten worse. Disinformation on the internet is astronomically more harmful than shoddy reporting from the field.<br><br>

An amusing note. In this book there is a frog named Fenster Moop, who is apparently not the same as the frog by the same name who is a congressman from the Okefenokee in other Pogo books. Unless he lost the last election. Because the book has a different congressman frog named Jumphrey.<br><br>

1964 was a presidential election year, and there is talk about the Okefenokee fielding a candidate. As usual, many people think of Pogo, and he thinks of not running. The Newslife reporters show up again and are as ignorant as ever. What's different about this election, from the point of view of the Okefenokee, is that there's no agreement about who should run. Some folks want the Mets to run for president. They feel they would do much better as the chief executive then they did as a baseball team. Plus, they would have plenty of backups to serve as vice presidents, if necessary. Snavely the snake declines. He can't run at all, and how would it look if he crept into office? <br><br>