I remember seeing some of this episode when I was kid, abbreviated in black and white, in one of the Simon & Shuster Sunday books, and jes' loving it. I never thought, then, that I'd ever be able to see the original, in full color, Sunday strips, and yet...⭐boing⭐...here they are! The internet has been very good to us comic geeks!
September 28, 1952
She sure is!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Thom
Hun
I'm so glad to see you hanging around here, Hun!
DeleteOh, good, the "Mars and/or Bust" sequence! I like comparing these strips with the books, and yes, the very first panel is abbreviated in the book by leaving out the tree. On the other hand, the book has a panel that isn't here -- I'm guessing it was in the 3-tier version? I'm sure you have the book, Thom, but for readers who don't: right after "all them saucers they is snuck at us" Churchy runs around in circles saying, "Whiz! Whiz! It's gittin' so a man can't go out without an' unless he get his hat knocked off." (His own hat stays on, though.)
ReplyDeleteLarry, I haven't had the time yet to do some comparing, but I will be before this episode is over. I have seen, in the past, that Kelly and/or his assistants created some extra panels for the books so they could summarize a couple of weeks continuity into one panel so as to bridge to the next guffaw. I will try to add some of those panels into upcoming posts.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this wonderful site! I first learned the word guffaw reading Walt Kelly's Pogo books in grade school. A near ritual during biannual visits of our respective parents (Thanksgiving, Easter), I still remember laughing so hard with my two sisters and "the twins" that my stomach muscles would ache an hour later.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, Pogo, his companions, and visitors to the swamp (!!!) also spoke of guffaws amongst themselves, no doubt signaling a subtle "funny" for those who religiously read between the lines of daily comics "back in the day" -- as I learned to do!
Walt Kelly's brilliance in portraying then current events, educating his readers about subjects not taught in school, becomes very clear upon re-reading his work today. For example, "We have met the enemy, and he is US.", not the "We, thePeople" us.
Alan Donelson alancdonelson@hughes.net