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Finished the 5th volume (covering 1957-1958) of Pogo newspaper strips from fantagraphics.com: Mind-bogglingly awesome. A huge number of these strips never made it into the books, including many Sunday (color) strips. You can't see these anywhere else. (All previous Pogo books are out of print and expensive.) Large hardback, high-quality paper, excellent reproduction, illuminating front- and back matter. Best syndicated cartoon until The Far Side.

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Got my 2016 birthday present today, which I pre-ordered Worth the wait! Walt Kelly's Pogo v. 4, Under the Bamboozle Bush, with foreword by Neil Gaiman. Nothing less than the greatest newspaper comic strip there ever was. These strips from the mid-1950s include the best slapstick ever in a comic (possibly equaled by Calvin and Hobbes). This volume includes the Great Thinking Contest! Printed large in a handsome hardback. Go to fantagraphics.com and order it right now!

http://www.fantagraphics.com/pogo4/?sef_rewrite=1 

I am glorying in the marvel that is this book. From the days before political caricatures were prevalent in Pogo, though it does include Pogo's 2nd presidential campaign.  The drawing is absolutely incredible, and when it's printed at this size I see things I never noticed before.

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Rereading "Beau Pogo," a book I bought in the late 70s. Still crunchy & good! Waiting for Fantagraphics' long-overdue 4th reprint vol. w ill-concealed impatience.

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One of the most wonderful things about comic strips is that the author/artist can put all sorts of subtext and additional material in the background. For instance, in the "Pogo" comic, by Walt Kelly, almost all of the characters live in hollow trees. Most of them have their names nailed to boards over the door. Albert alligator has a sign that says "Albert" over his door. Except, in one strip it says "Atbler." Why? I have no idea. Albert is illiterate, as are most of the denizens of the swamp. It seems random, but likely isn't. Any Pogo fans have an idea about this?

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Fantagraphics.com is reprinting all of the original Pogo newspaper strips from the beginning in large and very well produced hardback volumes. Three are out so far, and the fourth is due out in a few months. The strips are reproduced in a much larger size than they have been in two previous attempts to reprint Pogo comic strips that I know about and it really is beautiful. Wajt Kelly combined slapstick and politics the way almost no other humorist ever has and if you like comics or politics you have got to see these. Plus, I want you to buy the books so that Fantagraphics will be able to afford to keep printing them. No attempt to reprint all of Pogo has ever been successful, and I believe the reason is that the publishers haven't sold enough copies. So help me out here! This is a national treasure.

Evidence to the contrary

One of the best Christmas presents ever, the third in fantagraphics' massive hardcover reprints of the greatest comic there ever was: Pogo, by Walt Kelly. This is not the first time that someone has tried to reprint Pogo, but it is by far the best. It was the best political satire available in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. Herblock was good, he was very good, but his single-panel cartoons were no match for the Okefenokee Swamp. Not only was the political wit incisive, the slapstick was just unbelievable, and even now, in what I believe to be the golden age of independent comics, no one does drawing better. So, by this book. Buy multiple copies and give some away. I need fantagraphics to persist until they have done every Pogo strip the newspapers. I think it lasted for 23 years, and so far they have done approximately the first four of them. So much goodness is still to come!

Walt Kelly was almost the only one with the courage to go up against Sen. Joe McCarthy. The wildcat Simple J Malarkey is an uncanny parody. It's all in this book.


http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/pogo-the-complete-syndicated-comic-strips-vol-3-evidence-to-the-contrary-.html

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large Pogo
book is money in the bank
on page Ha

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Yesterday I got from Fantagraphics "Pogo: Through the wild blue wonder," an inch-thick hb of the original newspaper strips. Plus nice intros, etc. It's really nicely done.

Pogo

Walt Kelly was a pioneering cartoonist and "Pogo" was by far the best cartoon of its day. Artistically, it has rarely been challenged. There are some good comic strips being drawn today that mix politics and fun. Pogo did it first, in the early 1950s. Anyway, Fantagraphics is putting out a 360 page compilation of the early newspaper strips, which is due out in November. Pre-orders are $40. The last time somebody reissued Pogo, also Fantagraphics, was more than 10 years ago, and those are long out of print. I have two bookshelves full of Pogo, but there is room for one more. Oh yes.