The Game Goes On!

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Last week I said I'd post up a bonus thing to make up for posting duplicate Sundays, but I just plain didn't have time. This post is also a duplicate, just to complete the arc we've been running. Then I just don't know how many more 'new' Sundays I have left. I'll have to check. But in the meantime I've got some nice dailies queuing up. Please bear with me.

October 12, 1969

Love that elephant in the 1st panel far background, 

put in there for no particular reason. 

Nossir! I Was the Hero! He Was the Ball!

Who else but Kelly would write those words for a comical strip? 

No one before, no one since.

LLK!

September 28, 1969

Corpse and Robbers

By popular demand (well, nine of you—but there were so many 'please please pleases' that counted for more), I give you Muckey Spleen's The Bloody Drip. Some of you may have seen this a millyum times (as I have), and still it's enjoyable. So, turn the lights low, cozy up to your computer and enjoy this publication of The New National Treasury of World Culture:

The Psychologiwockles of Marketin'

Say, y'all wouldn't be taking it for granite that Pogo Sunday strips are posted here regularly every Sunday morn, in consecutive order with color and pithy little comments 'n' everything? It's fine with me to make this an irregular monthly posting if it doesn't make any difference to anybody. I just need to know where yuh stands.

In all the Okefenokee, Churchy's histrionics are surpassed only by Albert.

The Squirrel Squats Low in the Hoorah Bush

This is the last page of the arc that's been playing out for weeks. Boom, it just ends here, and the following week a whole new arc started, just like that.

Kelly pays tribute to his fellow comic book cartoonist, Dan Noonan, one of Kelly's early style influences.

Knights of Lawn Order

Color notes:

A very buttery yellow abounds.

Howland is now a different shade of brown, sorta orangish. His beak is the same color as his body, but now his feet are deep orange, as opposed to white from last Sunday.

Churchy still has that two-tone face.

But it's cool that they're in costume!

Norment, the Invisible Weaver

Hey, sorry I'm not posting much lately, what with one of the hardest deadlines of my career. But this particular deadline wraps up this week and then I can deliver some more great Kelly stuff. But in the meantime I wasn't about to overlook Sunday, Kelly Sunday, and bring you the strip from exactly 45 years ago this minute.

Comical Books

The Pogo comical books are a treasure trove of Kelly wit and foolery, all in color and for a thin dime (well, nowadays more like a fat check). In this rushing headlong whirled, it's nice to smell the old newsprint and meditate on the slow and gentle life in the Okefenokee.

From the back cover of Pogo Possum #5, May-July 1951

Us Gotta Water the Fish

In 1954, Life magazine reported that the Okefenokee Swamp was drying up, and they asked Kelly what he was going to do about it.

According to the article, "Kelly first thought of moving to the Dismal Swamp, then decided to face the music. In the syndicated strip the swamp remains wet, and Kelly is praying for rain."

Below is the first of four 'daily' strips that Kelly supplied special to Life magazine.

Our Carol of Noble Tradition

Kelly got more mileage with 'Boston Charlie' over the years than anything else. Starting in 1948, every holiday season saw arguments erupt over the lyrics. But Kelly loved the season and helped brighten our seasons with his festive art.

Below is the 3 tier layout of this strip, with the 'extra' panel (middle panel, 2nd tier) that was dropped in the tabloid format. This black and white proof also demonstrates how color can make all the difference.