Sunday, January 13, 2019

Few Men is Built for Peace

I'm still confused as to Kelly's point.

January 13, 1962

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5 comments:

  1. Larry Kuenning1/13/19, 3:43 PM

    So am I. Maybe Kelly was too? Maybe Pogo and Porky meant it different ways?

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  2. Anonymous1/14/19, 5:08 AM

    Thom, Larry!

    consider the time this strip was drawn and note the name of the boat:
    Berlin crisis (of '61)and memories of Gen. Lucius D.Clay and his handling of the Berlin airlift (of '48/49)
    To me it seems that Kelly was rooting for a bit of stiffening of US opinion versus Khrushchev's intentions by calling to mind the positive results of Clay's hard stance earlier

    Hun

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    Replies
    1. Larry Kuenning1/17/19, 9:49 AM

      Wow, fascinating context, Hun. Maybe this supplies what I was groping for. The Berlin airlift, though I suppose it was carried out using military organization, didn't involve fighting in the literal military sense, but it could be called "fighting" metaphorically because it meant determined resistance to opposition, accomplished with a lot of effort. If that's what Porky is referring to (and the boat certainly seems to point that way), I suppose he means that there are times when only a determined effort of metaphorical fighting can prevent the later outbreak of literal fighting which gets people killed. This interpretation has the advantage of keeping Porky's guess at Pogo's meaning more or less consistent with Pogo's character.

      (I don't know the history of the times well enough to comment on whether this was good advice for the situation.)

      Delete
  3. Thomas Haller Buchanan1/14/19, 1:47 PM

    Wow, Hun, that's quite a loaded bomb bay for a little ol' comic strip, and quite a fine insight by you.

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  4. Anonymous1/15/19, 2:22 AM

    Kelly commented about the ongoing craziness of the times with strange language, cute, cuddly animal characters, and of course the ever present boat names. By using animals for characters he avoided the ire of groups of humans he would have encountered if his characters were nurses or policemen and such. There is no Fraternal Order of Possums or Beaver's Union to get upset.
    As Hun pointed out, the boat names were inside jokes, but pointed at times.

    What a master!

    oke

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