Pogo by Walt Kelly

Here is a glimpse of a famous cartoon artist: Walt Kelly. I recently found three of his books when visiting an elderly man at his annual thrift sale in an old mostly empty mall here in Great Falls, Montana. I visit there once or twice a week to drop off mail at a satellite facility the post office has.

I fell in love with the Stepmother Goose book and the "A Report from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" Who Stole the Tarts? The illustrations of the rabbit are so dramatic and pictured here.






He was born in 1913 and his father believed that humans were "bad at talking, bad at remembering language, and bad at spelling; but we are just great at remembering pictures." One can imagine this having a lasting impression on young Walt. From 1935 to 1941, he worked for another famous Walt - Walt Disney. He was a story man and animator with credits on Pinocchio, Dumbo and Fantasia.



During 1935 and 1936, his work also appeared in the fledgling comic book medium working for the company that was to become DC Comics. However, it was in Dell's Animal Comics that Pogo was born in 1941. He was just a featured player in the "Albert the Alligator" strip, but assumed a larger, then starring role within a few years.



The Sixties and early Seventies (Kelly died in 1973) was a period of political struggle and polarization in this country. Kelly wore his politics on his strip and was often criticized and censored by more conservative newspapers. He didn't care. He was prepared to lose newspapers rather than his principles. Sometimes the "Pogo" strip would be more biting than the editorial cartoons, but somehow Kelly always managed to insert a joke or an insightful turn of a phrase at the end of each strip. His pen and wit were sharp and I think history has proven them to be dead on target. He is missed.