Eventually ever' man gotta face the problem of tryin'to figger if it's worthwhile to prove that he is himself
January 24, 2007 6:44 PM Subscribe
I Go Pogo! I'll let Walt Kelly, the creator of the remarkable comic strip Pogo, introduce himself because he is far more clever than I am.
Your FPP... it's... it's... PERFECT!!!! :)
posted by The Deej at 6:56 PM on January 24, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by The Deej at 6:56 PM on January 24, 2007 [1 favorite]
My dad recently gave me the family copy of Ten Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Years With Pogo, the one I learned to read with. With it I hope to begin my daughter's classical education, once she's done taking markers to every flat surface available. To this end I have amassed collections of Krazy Kat, Pogo, and Calvin & Hobbes.
Is Pogo the best comic strip ever?
I'd have to say that's a three-way tie.
posted by lekvar at 7:10 PM on January 24, 2007
Is Pogo the best comic strip ever?
I'd have to say that's a three-way tie.
posted by lekvar at 7:10 PM on January 24, 2007
Really? He was born in Philadelphia and raised in Connecticut? Not some creation of the bayous and swamps with a land-grant education and a big-city dream?
Nice post. I became a Pogo fan when the characters reappeared in the 80s with a new writing/drawing team. The 'swamp-speak' was great, and in the 80s strip they would occasionally offer send-away deals, in which I eagerly participated. I still have the swamp-critter Christmas decoration and I Go Pogo election button I got from them. I wear the button every election day. That later incarnation of Pogo was a good thing, but it was still only a portal to the Walt Kelly motherlode.
posted by Miko at 7:15 PM on January 24, 2007
Nice post. I became a Pogo fan when the characters reappeared in the 80s with a new writing/drawing team. The 'swamp-speak' was great, and in the 80s strip they would occasionally offer send-away deals, in which I eagerly participated. I still have the swamp-critter Christmas decoration and I Go Pogo election button I got from them. I wear the button every election day. That later incarnation of Pogo was a good thing, but it was still only a portal to the Walt Kelly motherlode.
posted by Miko at 7:15 PM on January 24, 2007
Me, I think Kelly's best quality was his inimitability.
Check out Alan Moore's take on the Pogo gang in Saga of the Swamp Thing #32. Like the best of Moore's work, it's a moving and funny story and a great tribute to Kelly's creations.
Nice post!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:09 PM on January 24, 2007
Check out Alan Moore's take on the Pogo gang in Saga of the Swamp Thing #32. Like the best of Moore's work, it's a moving and funny story and a great tribute to Kelly's creations.
Nice post!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:09 PM on January 24, 2007
Best ever-lovin' blue-eyed post of the day, as well as the best use of Metatalk as a 'teaser'. But G500, I hope you always use your viral promotion skills for good, not evil.
Pogo set a standard for comic strips that few have come close to achieving and many have dared not even try. And we do need to be reminded of that from time to time, if only to shut up the young punks who think it all started with Achewood.
posted by wendell at 8:33 PM on January 24, 2007
Pogo set a standard for comic strips that few have come close to achieving and many have dared not even try. And we do need to be reminded of that from time to time, if only to shut up the young punks who think it all started with Achewood.
posted by wendell at 8:33 PM on January 24, 2007
Yes Santa Claus, there is still a Virginia.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:19 PM on January 24, 2007
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:19 PM on January 24, 2007
*applauds*
posted by pyramid termite at 10:20 PM on January 24, 2007
posted by pyramid termite at 10:20 PM on January 24, 2007
jes' fine.
posted by flabdablet at 11:18 PM on January 24, 2007
posted by flabdablet at 11:18 PM on January 24, 2007
Want? I'd kill a busload of nuns and orphans for a chance to study just one of his completed pages.
posted by lekvar at 11:46 PM on January 24, 2007
posted by lekvar at 11:46 PM on January 24, 2007
whoops, didn't realize i was relinking. I think that place is the same one I dealt with about a decade ago in a cancelled quest to obtain an original for my dad. The quest is now renewed!
posted by mwhybark at 12:13 AM on January 25, 2007
posted by mwhybark at 12:13 AM on January 25, 2007
Awesome Awesome Awesome! I only wish your MeTa question hadn't delayed this so that I only saw it today. Thanks so much!
I GO POGO!
posted by OmieWise at 6:04 AM on January 25, 2007
I GO POGO!
posted by OmieWise at 6:04 AM on January 25, 2007
When I was about eight years old, my grandmother (who was a huge Pogo fan) gave me a copy of Pogo Even Better, one of the large-format collections. I didn't know what it was, and so I'm not sure that I had even opened the book until many years later, when I was in high school. At that point, of course, I was instantly hooked.
The sad part is that my grandmother died a couple of years after she gave me that book, and my parents (not knowing that I'd eventually fall in love with Pogo) took her entire collection — which was quite large, from what I'm told — and sold it to some lucky person somewhere. I've managed to score a few more of the old books in the intervening years, but I do wish I had known what I was missing back when my grandmother gave me that first book.
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:27 AM on January 25, 2007
The sad part is that my grandmother died a couple of years after she gave me that book, and my parents (not knowing that I'd eventually fall in love with Pogo) took her entire collection — which was quite large, from what I'm told — and sold it to some lucky person somewhere. I've managed to score a few more of the old books in the intervening years, but I do wish I had known what I was missing back when my grandmother gave me that first book.
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:27 AM on January 25, 2007
Chooly Wummys: They're gristle to your mill! As is this fine post. Much obliged, GFH.
posted by languagehat at 6:48 AM on January 25, 2007
posted by languagehat at 6:48 AM on January 25, 2007
Deck the halls with Boston Charlie!!
When i was a kid, it was Peanuts and Pogo. Philosophy and Social Satire, baby. This post does great good, thanks galaxyfivehundred!
I GO POGO in 08'!
posted by djrock3k at 6:53 AM on January 25, 2007
When i was a kid, it was Peanuts and Pogo. Philosophy and Social Satire, baby. This post does great good, thanks galaxyfivehundred!
I GO POGO in 08'!
posted by djrock3k at 6:53 AM on January 25, 2007
I treasure a cardboard cutout of the three card-playing bats, "Bewitched, Bothered and Bemildred" from some old Pogo-related game or mobile. Pogo was the best.
posted by Hobgoblin at 7:22 AM on January 25, 2007
posted by Hobgoblin at 7:22 AM on January 25, 2007
This is an excellent post. I've looked a bit more through the links, and it's just great to see all of the artwork again.
When I was you ~8 or so, I came across some Pogo omnibus on my Mom's bookshelf, and it blew me away. The ordinary comics were just fine, but there was a bunch of Jack Acid Society stuff, satires of Krushchev, McCarthy, Castro, etc, that I couldn't really understand. A lot of it made more sense when Reagan was first elected a couple of years later, but it was still mind blowing. As is frequently the way with these things, I no longer had access to the book by the time I could have really made better sense of it. Pogo has always lived as a kind of mystery to me since (although I now understand what was going on).
posted by OmieWise at 8:58 AM on January 25, 2007
When I was you ~8 or so, I came across some Pogo omnibus on my Mom's bookshelf, and it blew me away. The ordinary comics were just fine, but there was a bunch of Jack Acid Society stuff, satires of Krushchev, McCarthy, Castro, etc, that I couldn't really understand. A lot of it made more sense when Reagan was first elected a couple of years later, but it was still mind blowing. As is frequently the way with these things, I no longer had access to the book by the time I could have really made better sense of it. Pogo has always lived as a kind of mystery to me since (although I now understand what was going on).
posted by OmieWise at 8:58 AM on January 25, 2007
As a youth I virtually lived in Pogo books. Like XQUZYPHYR, a hefty stack of Pogo books are ensconced to this day, with pride of place, in my family room bookshelf. Dog-eared and cherished. My mother gave me a love of reading; my uncle gave me the gift of Pogo. Bless them both. This post makes me very happy. Thank you.
posted by cairnish at 10:06 AM on January 25, 2007
posted by cairnish at 10:06 AM on January 25, 2007
We have spoken of this before, a bit.
Nonetheless I will reiterate: IMHO Walt Kelly's Pogo is the finest comic ever to grace the pages of newspapers or books anywhere. The biting sarcasm, the pure sweetness, the artistic revolution, the genius of Kelly has never been matched. Doonesbury, Calvin and Hobbes, etc all owe a debt to the landmarks that Mr. Kelly set forth.
I have many Pogo books, some inherited, some acquired, and it is my hope that I may pass them on to a next generation to revel and enjoy. For those who would learn more, "Ten Everloving Blue-Eyed Years With Pogo" is a fine start, as mentioned before, if you can find it. It may be out of print.
posted by elendil71 at 10:52 AM on January 25, 2007
Nonetheless I will reiterate: IMHO Walt Kelly's Pogo is the finest comic ever to grace the pages of newspapers or books anywhere. The biting sarcasm, the pure sweetness, the artistic revolution, the genius of Kelly has never been matched. Doonesbury, Calvin and Hobbes, etc all owe a debt to the landmarks that Mr. Kelly set forth.
I have many Pogo books, some inherited, some acquired, and it is my hope that I may pass them on to a next generation to revel and enjoy. For those who would learn more, "Ten Everloving Blue-Eyed Years With Pogo" is a fine start, as mentioned before, if you can find it. It may be out of print.
posted by elendil71 at 10:52 AM on January 25, 2007
Okay that was a terrible link, sorry. Meant to link to this.
posted by elendil71 at 11:02 AM on January 25, 2007
posted by elendil71 at 11:02 AM on January 25, 2007
Hal Higdon on Pogo! (The "funniest animal comic" link). I have that guy's site bookmarked for his running and nutrition advice. Great work compiling these links.
posted by ibmcginty at 12:19 PM on January 25, 2007
posted by ibmcginty at 12:19 PM on January 25, 2007
We have spoken of this before, a bit.
Thanks for digging up that old thread elendil71. It was a good read.
posted by GalaxieFiveHundred at 12:39 PM on January 25, 2007
Thanks for digging up that old thread elendil71. It was a good read.
posted by GalaxieFiveHundred at 12:39 PM on January 25, 2007
Apparently they are sold out, hades. They bow to none in the worshipful fanboy dep't. at the feet of the master, but my understanding is that, alas, the market just ain't there. Kelly helped lay the tracks for Schulz, but, y'know, he died over thirty years ago. That original art site appears to have a direct-revenue relationship with Walt's widow Selby. More pubs annd more art sales would tend to help the widow, one thinks.
posted by mwhybark at 8:46 PM on January 25, 2007
posted by mwhybark at 8:46 PM on January 25, 2007
I have been loving the L'il Abner series, which is being republished on the web.
I would love to be able to read a Pogo a day in similar fashion.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:30 PM on January 25, 2007
I would love to be able to read a Pogo a day in similar fashion.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:30 PM on January 25, 2007
hades, have you seen this? I'm all sorts of excited.
posted by Nathaniel W at 9:19 PM on February 15, 2007
posted by Nathaniel W at 9:19 PM on February 15, 2007
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The songs of Pogo.
Pogo might not have the name recognition of Obama or Hillary but I say Pogo for President in '08!
posted by GalaxieFiveHundred at 6:44 PM on January 24, 2007