Friday, December 31, 2010

Let Nothing You Dismay!

WOOF! Happy New Year!

I ain't got no license to do this, but sharing Kelly's creations throughout the year has been a joy. I'm grateful that I had the presence of mind to archive as much as I did and be able to share the joy with so many people.

Thank you to all the folk who have left comments and sent emails throughout the year, and especially this last week or so. I am inspired to continue what I've been doing here, thanks to the cyber-friends of this blog.

Again, HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all and 'Let nothing you dismay . . . '


Thursday, December 30, 2010

A Year Gone By

Many of you are familiar with the page below, but many of you aren't. Either way it's a worthy entry at this time.

It's maybe my all-time favorite lyric of Kelly's.


Tuesday, December 28, 2010

I Go Pogo

Well, I had hoped for a larger consensus of opinion, but those of you who commented are passionate in your need for more Kelly and especially for the denizens of the Okefenokee, and have spoken up for what I'm assuming is a silent majority.

Many thanks to those who weighed in, and it seems that all are of the unanimous opinion expressed here:

. . . and so (yay)
we shall continue on our merry way
with the
Whirled of Kelly!

Below is a beautiful wallpaper creation by an early and steadfast friend of this blog, Jim Engel. He created a couple of others that I'll post sometime in January. Thanks Jim!

Onward to a new year!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Catching for the Fry Sure Wearies a Man

Well, this is the end of the current arc. The Sunday strip after this one is the first of the Pandemonia saga that I've posted long ago over at Pogo in Pandemonia.

From here I need to think out where to go. I've still got lots of Pogo and other great Kelly stuff, but I'm seeing other scans of some of it showing up here and there on the internet. I feel that my scans are lovingly prepared, at a decent resolution, compared to some others I've seen. I'd like to continue on with some really great arcs, but once again I need to hear if there's any encouragement for that. My stat counter shows lots and lots of visitors, but I get so few encouraging comments (Hi charlie, and thanks!) that I feel like maybe the bottom has dropped out of the Kelly market.

Please let me know if you are enjoying the Sunday strips, or I may feel that my time should be spent elsewhere. Lovingly prepared scans are very time consuming, as many of you know.

I'll soon be posting a rare and interesting piece of Kelly history, courtesy of our friend OtherEric of the Digital Comic Museum. No, not Peter Wheat this time, but another rarity. OtherEric sent it over quite a while ago and has been patient, waiting for me to prepare it. You'll see it hopefully some time next week.

In the meantime, Happy Sunday, Kelly Sunday with this slightly post-Christmas strip from 45 years ago today:


Peace on Earth

Well, the best laid plans, huh? I was going to post this lyrical looking daily on Christmas day, but I couldn't find it until just now, day after Christmas. You don't mind if'n I post it now, do you? I don't want to wait another 364 days. I'd prolly REALly lose it by then.

Alright then.


Saturday, December 25, 2010

Greetings

God rest ye merrie gentle men and women!


Friday, December 24, 2010

"Tell Us a Story," Cried Saucy Susie

There is lots of Walt Kelly Christmas stuff floating around the internet, which is great. Here's a bit more, bless Kelly's soul.









The Odds an' Ends of the Bygone

Wow, Kelly punts a political punchline for Christmas eve of '61!


Thursday, December 23, 2010

Diddle Diddle Dumpling

The time of year for magical snooze dreaming . . .


Sunday, December 19, 2010

Eleflamp Removal

This may be where Humbert gets his Peanie Brickle nickname, in some Kellyesque way.


Monday, December 13, 2010

Well, If It Isn't the Baby Mouse —

Yay, another tale of The Adventures of Peter Wheat, by Walt Kelly! These scans, from issue #32 are generously provided by OtherEric of the Digital Comic Museum, with clean-up editing by me. If you enjoy it, and why wouldn't you, please let OtherEric know, via the comments. If you do let him know, he'll be more inclined to search out for more Peter Wheats and share with us.

Kelly's renditions of mice are the best in the business.

















Sunday, December 12, 2010

I Ain't Welcome?

Well, if I was tired of all the yellow backgrounds on a lot of the Sunday strips, I'd welcome them now — over the dishwater backgrounds of this week's strip. I love the strips where the colors are festive, but oh well, who am I to complain?

Friday, December 10, 2010

Don't Stray Too Far Away

I want to give you a heads up that we have another wonderful Peter Wheat adventure coming up early next week, thanks again to the generosity of OtherEric of the Digital Comic Museum.

Below, a sneak preview of a couple of panels:


Thursday, December 9, 2010

Banbury Cross

From Christmas with Mother Goose #201 — 1948


Kelly adapted many a rhyme from folk lore and nursery rhymes for use in the Mother Goose holiday comic books, many from the Mother Goose cannon itself. Below is an interpretation of the ditty, pulled from Wiki. I would add that Kelly's final line about Christmas day may have been his own, to tie it in to the theme of Christmas with Mother Goose. Or it could just be from a different version.


Further below, for comparison, are graphics by WW Denslow, he of Oz book fame, from 1901.


The instability of the early recorded lyrics has not prevented considerable speculation about the meaning of the rhyme.

A medieval date had been argued for the rhyme on the grounds that the bells worn on the lady's toes refer to the fashion of wearing bells on the end of shoes in the fifteenth century, but given their absence from so many early versions, this identification is speculative. Similarly, the main Banbury Cross was taken down around 1600, but other crosses were present in the town and, as is often the case, the place may have retained the name, so it is difficult to argue for the antiquity of the rhyme from this fact.

A "Cock Horse" can mean a high-spirited horse, and the additional horse to assist pulling a cart or carriage up a hill. From the mid-sixteenth century it also meant a pretend Hobby horse or an adult's knee.

Despite not being present or significantly different in many early versions, the fine lady has been associated with Queen Elizabeth I, Lady Godiva, and Celia Fiennes, whose brother was William Fiennes, 3rd Viscount Saye and Sele (c. 1641-1698) of Broughton Castle, Banbury, on the grounds that the line should be 'To see a Fiennes lady'. There is no corroborative evidence to support any of these cases.


above & below: William Wallace Denslow — 1901

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Going Up Pippin Hill to a Christmas Party

Kelly's holiday ditties are timeless treats, as merry now as they were in the late 1940s comic books—all part of his fairy tale oeuvre.


Sunday, December 5, 2010

Black Magic!

Kelly keeps on keepin' on with the story line, not progressin' it much, but havin' his fun.

In the top panel is a critter that's a bit unusual, at least up to this time. Just a few months down the road, Kelly takes us to Pandemonia—where this critter would fit right in. Methinks Kelly was gearin' up and countin' down for the blastoff to 'Mars'.

detail of top panel

Sunday, November 28, 2010

A Handful of Nomenclateral Apocrypha

What other comic strip would bring in reference to cartographer Martin Waldseemuller's 1507 naming of the Americas?

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Thoughts for Thanks and Giving

Here's a nice Thanksgiving promo from Kelly.

If you feel inclined to contribute to the MS associations, check for current address and phone number, as it's likely to have changed since 19 and 58 : )

HAPPY Thanksgiving to everyone! Come back on Sunday.


Sunday, November 21, 2010

Sunday, November 14, 2010

A Unconformulate Nonesuch

There have been a number of you Kelly fans that have contacted me with some really nice Kelly material that I plan on posting on this blog. But I have to apologize that it's taking me so long to do so, as I need to organize the stuff into proper order to tell a proper story, and not only is my time short, but so is my attention span and focus. I keep jumping from project to project and back again, that I'm just plain dizzy. Busy and dizzy . . . geez, aren't we all?

Anyway, it really could be awhile afore I can think straight. 'Til then at least I can scan and post the consecutive Sundays, and that's sumthin', ain't it?

Still not sure who or what that furry critter is. And man, this strip is chock full of Kellyesque wordisms.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Behole!

Wot can I do? Wot can I say? Somebody is paying attention enough that they're hooked and want to read ahead. Kip wants to see the next panel with Peanie, to see who knocketh, and Kip used a pleasepleaseplease on me. So behole, I giveth in . . .

Check in on Sunday for the rest of the strip.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

A Geologiwockle Field Trip

Here it is, Sunday Kelly Sunday again! I miss posting more often, but gad it's been busy around here. At least I make time for these nice Sundays every Sunday.

This is a fun sequence with Peanie Brickle the elephant and these other critters. I have no idea who this little brown furry guy is—he scowls like Porky, but is an unnamed character. We just know he ain't no blinkin' bunny.