The quality of the press runs at this time were somewhat spotty (literally), so I'm spending a bit more time than usual trying to get the cleanest scans I can. In my opinion, this era marks the beginning of the decline of quality that newspapers suffered, lasting to this day—40 years later.
Panel 6 (next-to-last) is vastly more amusing for Kelly having pushed the slapstick into the distance, with characters presented in the foreground as if they are principal.
ReplyDeleteYour mention of the age of these strips reminds me of an episode of Zits, in which Walt (the father) begins to talk about missing Calvin and Hobbes, and Jeremy (the teenage son) notes that Calvin and Hobbes ended before he could have any memory of it. And here we are, discussing Pogo not as we would Little Nemo, but remembering it, missing it.
I never saw a Walt Kelly Pogo in the original run, since I was born in 1971. I do remember the revival strip, mostly because it sent me to the local library to see if I could find the original series. They had a couple books- I remember the omnibus with Jack Acid and Pogo Poop book- and that led over the past decades to Walt Kelly being one of my two all-time favorite comic artists. (Sheldon Mayer is the other.)
ReplyDeleteI think having come late to the game is one of the reasons I enjoy being able to share the Peter Wheat material I've found. It amazes me that I've been able to share something rare with people who have been Kelly fans longer than I've been alive, and I like contributing something to the joy we share in his work.
Very true Daniel. Pogo was first-run for me for 10 years. DAILY, for nearly 10 years I would read and clip the strip, file it, read it again, admire the art, learn from it. Collect the books, meet the man, hear from him in the mail. By the time I was in the army, hearing of Kelly's death in boot camp, it had all fallen away and felt unimportant for years to come. Yet, the last couple of years has been, as you said, a time of remembering it and missing it. Looking at the art, again, close-up in these scans has made me fall for it all again. Sure I see the flaws, but the genius of the body of work is astounding.
ReplyDeleteEric, exactly so regarding the contribution you are making with your sharing of Peter Wheat. For years and years I was vaguely aware that Kelly drew such art, having seen only black and white isolated panels and only seeing stories for the first time with your scans on GAC. It's a facet of Kelly's work that I just assumed was not accessible. I'm looking forward to posting more of your Peter Wheat material.