the infinitely shifting repetition of the patterns

November 15, 2017 9:31 PM

Umberto Eco in 1985, and Bill Watterson in 1989, discuss the poetry and artistry of Krazy Kat and Peanuts.
posted by J.K. Seazer (9 comments total)

From Watterson's essay:

First of all, we should keep in mind that newspapers and syndicates are by no means essential to the production of comics, There are all sorts of ways to publish cartoons, and if syndicates and newspapers won't hold up their end of the bargain, maybe there's an opportunity for a new kind of publisher let's start with eliminating both the syndicate and the newspaper. Consider for a moment that there may well be a market for comic books that has never been tapped simply because comic books have traditionally been an even sloppier; dumber, and more exploitive market than newspaper comics. But suppose someone published a quality cartoon magazine. Imagine full-color, big comics in a lush, glossy format. Why not? Just because cartoons have always been treated as schlock doesn't mean that sleazy packaging, cheap paper, poor color; bad writing, and crude art are what comics are all about. Imagine a publisher who recognizes that the way to attract readers is to give them quality cartoons... and that the way to get quality cartoons is to offer artists a quality format and artistic freedom. Is it inconceivable such a venture would work?

I wonder what his opinion might be today of the birth of webcomics, along with their personal production and distribution, and the success of comic book businesses like Fantagraphics, which continue to publish beautiful, thoughtful, artistic comics and seem to be successful in doing so.

However, I think he proved to himself that cartoons don't need sleazy packaging, cheap paper, and poor color, because the Calvin & Hobbes Complete Collection is a beautifully put together set of books. In short, it looks classy as hell.
posted by deadaluspark at 10:01 PM on November 15, 2017

Note: the Eco is originally from 1963, the translation is 1985. The Peanuts bit reads a bit less glib with that context, and the 'oriental' comment is slightly less eyebrow raising.
I wish he'd spent more time on Krazy Kat. Plated some good beans did that Umberto. On to the Watterson...
posted by threecheesetrees at 11:20 PM on November 15, 2017 [2 favorites]

And Pogo! When I was young, I found a stash of Pogo books at my grandparent's house and fell in love with them for the very same reasons Watterson describes so much better than I could. I would spend hours reading them every time we came to visit. When my grandfather passed away last year at the age of 98, the only thing of his I really was interested in having were those Pogo books.

They are sitting on a shelf at home right now. Some are in decent shape, but some are crumbling. My older daughter has already absorbed all of the other cartoon books of my childhood (Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side, Garfield) so I'm just going to leave those books on the shelf and hope when she decides to pick them up she looks past the crumbling covers, the dense dialect and invented language, the cultural references that are 70 years out of date and finds the gold in there.
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 7:24 AM on November 16, 2017 [3 favorites]

My memory of Pogo is hazy, except for 'Deck Us All With Boston Charlie' and 'We have met the enemy...'. I had forgotten the Deacon speaking in Gothic type.
I remember The Phantom and Prince Valliant. (It looks like there are indeed other ways to publish cartoons)
Peanuts, Li'l Abner and Dagwood were, like, meh, but I really liked Hart's B.C. and Wizard of Id.
B.C. was the first, and maybe only, one I tried to draw myself.
I'm actually surprised they're still out there.
posted by MtDewd at 7:27 AM on November 16, 2017

Fantagraphics has been working on a series collecting the complete Pogo dailies and Sundays for about a decade now, although the process has unfortunately been grindingly slow (due, apparently, to difficulty in procuring source materials).

The good news is that the fourth volume, covering 1955-56, is finally in print and ready to hit retail in January.
posted by non canadian guy at 8:41 AM on November 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

When I first encountered Krazy Kat as a college student, it went to my head like poetry. I immediately decided that it was my favorite love story. That is romanticizing abuse and indifference, of course, but I had had a succession of terrible boyfriends, and that is what I knew. Perhaps it is my favorite love story still.

Old Pogo collections made an enormous impact on me as a kid. It's how I learned politics (together with Bloom County) and poetry.
posted by Countess Elena at 8:46 AM on November 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

(I tell a lie, Shel Silverstein was how I learned poetry -- that and a lovely little illustrated anthology that I would gladly give to a child today, if I could remember its name.)
posted by Countess Elena at 8:46 AM on November 16, 2017

I have to say, my perceptions of Krazy Kat, Pogo, and Peanuts are much more like Watterson's than Eco's.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:10 AM on November 16, 2017

Those old Pogo paperback collections were printed on the cheapest of the cheap paper, and I'm reading them all for the last time, since they crumble in my fingers when I turn the page. Spent $100 on the complete Calvin & Hobbes, knowing that this beautiful paperback box set will not suffer the same fate.
posted by Modest House at 2:45 PM on November 16, 2017