Review of Ten Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Years with Pogo

Walt Kelly, 1959, Ten Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Years With Pogo, Fireside books and Simon and Schuster. I have two copies. A paperback given to me by my grandfather and step grandmother, when I was in high school, and a hardback, signed by the author, which I picked up for a dollar at a church rummage sale. I call that a bargain, the best I ever had. <br><br>

Poco was born in 1943 as a comic book character, and the comic books are only mentioned in passing here. A few more words are devoted to the 8-month lifespan of the New York Star, in which Pogo found work as a newspaper comic strip character. <br><br>

Simon and Schuster has a little icon near the front of most of their books, a fellow sowing seeds in a field from a bag he carries over his shoulder. In books about Pogo, this character is Pogo, but in this book he's in a hot air balloon, and it is not seeds, but footprints, that he is sowing. <br><br>

After a humorous autobiographical introduction, the book segues into some choice examples of strips from the early years of syndication (volumetrically, this is the most important part of the book). These cartoons are accompanied by pithy explanations where necessary. If you haven't met Pogo before, this is a good way to do it. <br><br>

The subjects range from nuclear weapons to pirates, with a generous helping of slapstick for all. Nonsense verse was always a part of the Pogo strip, especially at Christmas time, but really anytime. This book has a lot of it. Then, in 1952, politics discovered Pogo. Pogo was the ultimate candidate who  didn't want to run. This was perfectly in line with his personality, as was the attitude of his friends that of course he should run, selflessly, for them! <br><br

Even though I have read all of the original Pogo books that contributed to this 10-year odyssey, I can enjoy reading the strips again here because Walt Kelly's commentary is funny and informative. Plus, the book contains classic stories, such as who stole the tarts, a parody of Lewis Carroll featuring a parody of Joe McCarthy, and the world famous thinking contest between Albert and Beauregard. If that was not enough, there is Mother Goose, hard boiled eggs, I mean detectives, and nursery rhymes, all played by the Okefenokee thespians. <br><br>

Of course there was a lot more Pogo after 1959, and Kelly never put out another 10-year retrospective, but this one will give you a very good start.<br><br>