Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"We have met the enemy,and he is us.", June 19, 2006
In Brian Walker's book,"The Comics since 1945" ,the first thing said about Walt Kelly is,"One of the most versatile talents ever to work in the medium,Walt Kelly mastered all of the art form's tools and techniques. He was adept at flights of fantasy as well as biting political satire. He loved clever wordplay and penned lines of nonsense and thought-provoking philosophy. Intellectuals praised 'Pogo' for its literary content,and children delighted in the strip's visual slapstick and enchanting whimsy. With his facile brush, Kelly conjured up a world filled with talking animals and evocative scenery."
Kelly was born in 1913,graduated from High School in 1930,worked as a reporter and cartoonist for his hometown newspaper in Bridgeport,Conn. In 1935, he went west to seek his fortune in the animation business. 5 years at Walt Disney Studios working on 'Pinocchio,Fantasia,and Dumbo',honed his talents, and he went back east and worked on a number of strips,including,Our Gang,Raggedy Ann and Andy,and others.
Pogo first appeasred in 1942,published by Dell.This led to the creation of over 150 characters,each with names and personalities ,eventually populating Okefenokee Swamp.
Kelly continued the strip for the rest of his career,dying in 1973.Kelly once summed up life with these thought-provoking words;
"There is no need to sally forth,for it remains true that
those things which make us human are,curiously enough,always
close at hand. Resolve ,then, that on this very ground,
with small flags waving and tinny blasts on tiny
trumpets,we may meet the enemy...and not only may he be
ours,he may be us."
Along with the daily strips,Walt Kelly gave us many books.In the end,these books became very helpful for those to remember the stories and characters we followed over the many years. With some searching,these books can still be found and are a great way for anyone who did not " follow " the strips as they came out; to see what Pogo was all about.
This is a particularly good book because it consists of 3 books ,"Instant Pogo", "The Jack Acid Society Black Book", and "The Pogo Poop Book"; all in one.
If you're not familiar with Pogo;here's a taste;
"Doc,you better learn your old dogma a new trick..."
"We have tabacos..better than nothing...but in your country,
what you have? SHORTAGES! " Castro to Khruchev
"You forget prominent proverb! Very funny in Russian: The
shortage will be divided among the peasants." Khruchev to
Castro.
" To shoot,we learn, is not the question. To miss is the
problem."
"A toad by any other name would be a frog."
And how about this verse?
" I'll show you us armadillos sing:"
"MA BONNY LICE SODA DEVOTION!
MAY BONNEY LIFE SAVER D.C.!
MCBONIFACE ROVER COMMOTION
OH,BRICKBAT MAHONEY
TOOMEY"
Or how about this;
THE TROUBLE WITH PEOPLE IS PEOPLE
If we could climb
the highest steeple
And look around at
all the people,
And shoot the ones
not wholly good
As we, like noble
shooters,should,
Why,then there'd be
an only worry...
Who would there be left
to bury
us?
Boy, does this book ever bring back the days of the great Comic Strips!!
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13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pogo Revisited again and again, February 2, 2001
I started reading Walt Kelly's POGO books as a child. I thought they were funny then. As I grew to adulthood I realized the levels of humor that Kelly had built into his strips. He was a brilliant political cartoonist and I still enjoy reading his books and discovering the depth of his skewering of the political elite. They just keep getting better and better.
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by Walt Kelly
by Walt Kelly
by Walt Kelly
