Hurdy McGurdy Hoofaraw

I just have to imagine that, all those years ago, Kelly had a grand time as he traipsed through each panel, being silly and sassy, writing and drawing as he pleased, making it up as he went.

June 8, 1952

Civic Culture Down the Drain

Hully gee, Kelly certainly had the boyish spirit.

Happy Sunday, Kelly Sunday.

Good morning Hun, LLK!

May 2, 1971

Celebrating Creativity

This is a reminder that this Sunday, August 25, is Walt Kelly's 100th Birthday, and our new zine, Delineated Life, will be rolling out its tribute issue, entirely dedicated to Kelly.

I say that so confidently and calmly, even though I only have a couple of days left to pull it all together and get it up online as I'm way working on other deadlines. Oy.

Pictorial Arts Journal is the papa publication of Delineated Life, so it's proudly presenting this promotional 'poster' to remind you to check in on Sunday.

"The friends I have are the best in all the world!"

Hi guys! This is a Sweet Saturday post of some guy's work that has ripped off Walt Kelly's style, for a children's book no less! I tell you me, what some people won't do!

I . . . what? What's that? You mean? Oh. Oh. Well. That's completely different . . . never mind . . .

It seems that this lovely children's book work IS by Walt Kelly, using the pseudonym Tony Maclay.

Foolishness aside here, I've been searching used bookstores for years for this legendary side-step by Kelly. Never did find it. I saw a few black and white reproductions in fanzines and thought I'd never ever have the chance to see the book in color.  Well, that's where Whirled of Kelly was one of the best obsessions I've ever taken on, because thanks to it, I (and you) have friends-in-Kelly who are willing to share their rare Kelly items, such as "The Downy Duck" by Tony Maclay (psst, Walt Kelly).

Thank you and many handshakes to Richard Davidson, he of great Kelly knowledge, who has been sending over some lovely items, of which this is one. I did a few color edits, but these are really nice scans. Everyone, shake hands with Richard and convey your thanks!

Happy Sweet Saturday!

 Walt Kelly as Tony Maclay — The Downy Duck — 1946

And You, You're Aces to Me, Jus' Aces

We can't post A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go without following up with The Account of the Wooful Frog. This is one of Kelly's sweetest little morsels of a story, as fun to me now as when I was 10. The little turtle tad is one of Kelly's many high-water marks for characterization.

Walt Kelly — The Wooful Frog — 1955

Heigh ho! says Anthony Rowley

A Pogo-ish rendition, an absolute delight of art.

A Rowley, Powley, Gammon and Spinach

By popular request (any one person showing interest in Kelly is very popular with me), we take a look-see at Walt Kelly's take on the old saw, A Frog He Would a Wooing Go. Kelly did several versions that I'm aware of (it IS such a lively ditty). He drew these up for the little folk, but it sounds suspiciously like an old drinking song to me — with some ribald verses, I can hear the quaffing and rowdy clinking of pints in the background.

The two pages below are one of Kelly's earliest versions and is not related to Pogo, but is from the nursery song book that he illustrated. I'll get the other versions up soon as I pin em down and scan em.

Thanks Bruce for the request!

Walt Kelly — Complete Nursery Song Book

Ree-Juvenated

Here we go, the first of some very early Pogo Sunday strips, courtesy of DJ David B., digging deep into his Kelly Kollection, sending over raw scans where I then jump in to give them a round of processing.

A note about that: David B. is supplying excellent high resolution scans, but they have to be in two pieces and are in raw condition. After stitching the two pieces together, I spend up to an hour on each strip, attempting to give them the look that I think Kelly intended them to have, knowing the limitations of newsprint printing. The colors should be bright and cheerful, but not garish or too contrasty—yet contrasted enough that the printing seems crisp and clean. I have removed obvious imperfections of the printing process, like blobs of ink, or too much mis-registration of colors, or bleed-through from the other side. I'm trying to keep the nature of the newsprint paper intact, as well as a few imperfections so that it feels like it's right out of the Sunday paper.

These first few strips will be familiar to any Kelly fan who has recently purchased the excellent Fantagraphics first volume of The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips, Pogo: Through the Wild Blue Wonder. But these that we're showing are scanned from the original strips, not from the book. Anyone who doesn't have the book, should go purchase it, and future volumes for your collection. But it's fun to see these newsprint versions and if all goes well, you'll see strips that will not be collected in the books for some time to come.

I'm very grateful to DJ David B. and I hope you are too. We'll still romp around in my collection as well, but these early gems will spice up our view of the Whirled of Kelly!

Oh, and later this week we'll have another Peter Wheat installment, courtesy of our friend OtherEric. Please tell friends to become followers here so that more Kelly fans can enjoy his cartooning genius, and spread the word even further.

June 18, 1950

I'm going to start dating strips so you can appreciate the context of its time

Above is a detail of a panel, so as to appreciate Kelly's cartooning technique, and likewise below from the original art as published in the Fantagraphics Volume 1 collection.

I See My Doody an' I Dood It

Here it is Sunday, and you know that on Sunday I like to post up a Pogo Sunday, cuz Sunday just don't seem right without a Sunday Pogo.

BUT, this week there tain't no color at all, and that's alright, cuz this is a special original Sunday drawing, from Kelly's prime time period of 1953. This detailed scan was sent over from Holland by a new friend, Gerben Valkema—a cartoonist of delightful work, who credits Kelly as an influence, having this art hanging over his drawing board!

I am especially delighted to see this artwork, because it just so happens that it's from my favorite sequence of Kelly's—with elf-like human beans, the Fountain of Youth, and some of the lushest brushwork to come out of the Okefenokee. This is from the fabulous arc reprinted in Pogo's Sunday Punch. I recommend that those of you who have that book to get it out and compare the panels to this strip and you'll see that, as is usual for the books, some of the Sunday panels were edited out—such as this one:

As I told Gerben, Pogo's Sunday Punch is one of the books that I had with me when I met Kelly, and I opened it to this page when we talked about the fairy tale aspect of Pogo. It was the page with this artwork that he held open as he refreshed his memory.

And now we can get close-up to see Kelly's lush brush, layered over his spontaneous blue penciling, and marvel at his comic art genius.

Thanks Gerben! What a treat!

Happy Sunday, Kelly Sunday!