HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Pogo'' was a daily
comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
that was created by cartoonist
Walt Kelly Walter Crawford Kelly Jr. (August 25, 1913 – October 18, 1973), commonly known as Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip '' Pogo''. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contr ...
and syndicated to American newspapers from 1948 until 1975. Set in the Okefenokee Swamp in the
Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern ...
, ''Pogo'' followed the adventures of its
anthropomorphic animal Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
characters, including the title character, an
opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North ...
. The strip was written for both children and adults, with layers of social and political satire targeted to the latter. ''Pogo'' was distributed by the Post-Hall Syndicate. The strip earned Kelly a Reuben Award in 1951.


History

Walter Crawford Kelly Jr. was born in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sin ...
on August 25, 1913. His family moved to
Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonn ...
, when he was only two. He went to California at age 22 to work on ''
Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic American Pekin, white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shi ...
''
cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of image ...
at Walt Disney Studios in 1935. He stayed until the animators' strike in 1941 as an animator on ''
The Nifty Nineties ''The Nifty Nineties'' is an animated short film produced in Technicolor by Walt Disney Productions and released to theaters on June 20, 1941 by RKO Radio Pictures. The animated short was directed by Riley Thomson and animated by Ward Kimball, Wa ...
'', '' The Little Whirlwind'', ''
Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
, Fantasia,
Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, an ...
'' and '' The Reluctant Dragon''. Kelly then worked for
Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"W ...
, a division of
Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was a Racine, Wisconsin, firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also produced children's books an ...
of
Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...
.


Dell Comics

Kelly created the characters of Pogo the possum and Albert the alligator in 1941 for issue No. 1 of Dell's ''Animal Comics'' in the story "Albert Takes the Cake". Both were comic foils for a young black character named Bumbazine (a corruption of bombazine, a fabric that was usually dyed black and used largely for mourning wear), who lived in the swamp. Bumbazine was retired early, since Kelly found it hard to write for a human child. He eventually phased humans out of the comics entirely, preferring to use the animal characters for their comic potential. Kelly said he used animals—nature's creatures, or "nature's screechers" as he called them—"largely because you can do more with animals. They don't hurt as easily, and it's possible to make them more believable in an exaggerated pose." Pogo, formerly a " spear carrier" according to Kelly, quickly took center stage, assuming the straight man role that Bumbazine had occupied.


''New York Star''

In his 1954 autobiography for the Hall Syndicate, Kelly said he "fooled around with the Foreign Language Unit of the Army during World War II, illustrating grunts and groans, and made friends in the newspaper and publishing business." In 1948 he was hired to draw
political cartoons A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine ...
for the editorial page of the short-lived ''New York Star''; he decided to do a daily comic strip featuring the characters from ''Animal Comics''. The first comic series to make the permanent transition to newspapers, ''Pogo'' debuted on October 4, 1948, and ran continuously until the paper folded on January 28, 1949.


Syndication

On May 16, 1949, ''Pogo'' was picked up for national distribution by the Post-Hall Syndicate. George Ward and Henry Shikuma were among Kelly's assistants on the strip. It ran continuously until (and past) Kelly's death from complications of
diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...
on October 18, 1973. According to Walt Kelly's widow Selby Kelly, Walt Kelly fell ill in 1972 and was unable to continue the strip. At first, reprints, mostly with minor rewording in the word balloons, from the 1950s and 1960s were used, starting Sunday, June 4, 1972. Kelly returned for just eight Sunday pages, from October 8 to November 26, 1972, but according to Selby was unable to draw the characters as large as he customarily did. The reprints with minor rewording returned, continuing until Kelly's death. Other artists, notably Don Morgan, worked on the strip. Selby Kelly began to draw the strip with the Christmas strip from 1973 from scripts by Walt's son Stephen. The strip ended July 20, 1975. Selby Kelly said in a 1982 interview that she decided to discontinue the strip because newspapers had shrunk the size of strips to the point where people could not easily read it.


1989–1993 revival

Starting on January 8, 1989, the ''Los Angeles Times'' Syndicate revived the strip under the title ''Walt Kelly's Pogo'', written by Larry Doyle and drawn by Neal Sternecky. Doyle left the strip as of February 24, 1991, and Sternecky took over as both writer and artist until March 22, 1992. After Sternecky left, Kelly's son Peter and daughter Carolyn continued to produce the strip until October 2, 1993, but interest waned. The strip continued to run for a couple months with reprints of Doyle and Sternecky's work, and came to an end on November 28, 1993.


Setting

''Pogo'' is set in the
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to th ...
section of the Okefenokee Swamp; Fort Mudge and Waycross are occasionally mentioned. The characters live, for the most part, in hollow trees amidst lushly rendered backdrops of North American wetlands, bayous, lagoons and backwoods. Fictitious local landmarks—such as "Miggle's General Store and Emporium" (a.k.a. "Miggle's Miracle Mart") and the "Fort Mudge Memorial Dump", etc.—are occasionally featured. The landscape is fluid and vividly detailed, with a dense variety of (often caricatured) flora and fauna. The richly textured trees and marshlands frequently change from panel to panel within the same strip. Like the
Coconino County Coconino County is a county in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff. The county takes its name from ''Cohonino'', a name applied to the Havasupai ...
depicted in '' Krazy Kat'' and the
Dogpatch Dogpatch was the fictional setting of cartoonist Al Capp's classic comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' (1934–1977). ''Li'l Abner'' comic strip The inhabitants of Dogpatch were mostly lazy hillbillies, who usually wanted nothing to do with progress. ...
of '' Li'l Abner'', the distinctive cartoon landscape of Kelly's Okefenokee Swamp became as strongly identified with the strip as any of its characters. There are occasional forays into exotic locations as well, including at least two visits to Australia (during the
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metr ...
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
in 1956, and again in 1961). The Aussie natives include a
bandicoot Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipelag ...
, a lady
wallaby A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and ...
, and a mustachioed, aviator
kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gr ...
named "Basher". In 1967, Pogo, Albert and Churchy visit primeval "Pandemonia"—a vivid, "prehysterical" place of Kelly's imagination, complete with mythical beasts (including
dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted ...
and a zebra-striped
unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicor ...
), primitive humans, arks, volcanoes, saber-toothed cats,
pterodactyl Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 ...
s and dinosaurs. Kelly also frequently parodied
Mother Goose The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. As a character, she appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. This, howeve ...
nursery rhymes and fairy tales featuring the characters in period costume: "Cinderola", "Goldie Lox and the Fore-bears", "Handle and Gristle", etc. These offbeat sequences, usually presented as a staged play or a
story within a story A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes ...
related by one of the characters, seem to take place in the
fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...
dreamscapes of children's literature, with European storybook-style cottages and forests, etc.—rather than in the swamp, per se.


Cast of characters


Permanent residents

* Pogo Possum: An amiable, humble, philosophical, personable,
everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...
opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North ...
. Kelly described Pogo as "the reasonable, patient, softhearted, naive, friendly person we all think we are" in a 1969 ''TV Guide'' interview. The wisest (and probably sanest) resident of the swamp, he is one of the few major characters with sense enough to avoid trouble. Though he prefers to spend his time fishing or
picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...
king, his kind nature often gets him reluctantly entangled in his neighbors' escapades. He is often the unwitting target of
matchmaking Matchmaking is the process of matching two or more people together, usually for the purpose of marriage, in which case the matchmaker is also known as a marriage broker. The word is also used in the context of sporting events such as boxing, i ...
by Miz Beaver (to the coquettish Ma'm'selle Hepzibah), and has repeatedly been forced by the swamp's residents to run for president, always against his will. He wears a simple red and black striped shirt and (sometimes) a crushed yellow fishing hat. His kitchen is well known around the swamp for being fully stocked, and many characters impose upon him for meals, taking advantage of his generous nature. * Albert Alligator: Exuberant, dimwitted, irascible, and egotistical, Albert is often the comic foil for Pogo, the rival of Beauregard and Barnstable, or the fall guy for Howland and Churchy. The cigar-chomping Albert is as extroverted and garrulous as Pogo is modest and unassuming, and their many sequences together tend to underscore their balanced, contrasting chemistry—like a seasoned comedy team. Albert's creation actually preceded Pogo's, and his brash, bombastic personality sometimes seems in danger of taking over the strip, as he once dominated the comic books. Having an alligator's voracious appetite, Albert often eats things indiscriminately, and is accused on more than one occasion of having eaten another character. Albert is the troop leader of Camp Siberia, the local den of the "Cheerful Charlies" (Kelly's version of the Boy Scouts), whose motto is "Cheerful to the Death!" Even though Albert has been known to take advantage of Pogo's generosity, he is ferociously loyal to Pogo and can, in quieter moments, be found scrubbing him in the tub or cutting his hair. Like all Kelly's characters, Albert looks great in costume. This sometimes leads to a classic Albert line (while admiring himself in a mirror): "Funny how a good-lookin' fella look handsome in anything he throw on!" * Howland Owl: The swamp's self-appointed leading authority, a self-proclaimed "expert" scientist, "perfessor", physician, explorer, astronomer, witch doctor, and anything else he thinks will generate respect for his knowledge. He wears horn-rimmed eyeglasses and, in his earliest appearances, a pointed wizard's cap festooned with stars and crescent moons (which also, fittingly, looks like a dunce cap in silhouette.) Thinking himself the most learned creature in the swamp, he once tried to open a school but had to close it for lack of interest. Actually, he is unable to tell the difference between learning, old wives' tales, and the use of big words. Most of the harebrained ideas characteristically come from the mind of Owl. His best pal is Churchy, although their friendship can be rocky at times, often given to whims and frequently volatile. * Churchill "Churchy" LaFemme: A mud turtle by trade; he enjoys composing songs and poems, often with ridiculous and abrasive lyrics and nonsense rhymes. His name is a play on the French phrase '' Cherchez la femme'', ("Look for the woman"). Perhaps the least sensible of the major players, Churchy is superstitious to a fault, for example, panicking when he discovers that Friday the 13th falls on a Wednesday that month. Churchy is usually an active partner in Howland's outlandish schemes, and prone to (sometimes physical) confrontation with him when they (inevitably) run afoul. Churchy first appeared as buccaneer in ''Animal Comics #13'' (Feb 1945), with a pirate's hat. He was sometimes referred to as "Cap'n LaFemme". This seems incongruous for the guileless Churchy, however, who is far more likely to play-act with Owl at being a
pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...
pirate than the genuine article. * Beauregard Bugleboy: A
hound A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey. Description Hounds can be contrasted with gun dogs that assist hunters by identifying prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs ...
dog of undetermined breed; scion of the Cat Bait fortune and occasional Keystone Cops-attired constable and Fire Brigade chief. He sees himself as a noble, romantic figure, often given to flights of oratory while narrating his own heroic deeds (in the third person). He periodically appears with "blunked out" eyes playing "Sandy"—alongside Pogo or Albert when they don a curly wig, impersonating "Li'l Arf an' Nonny", (a.k.a. "Lulu Arfin' Nanny", Kelly's recurring parody of ''
Little Orphan Annie ''Little Orphan Annie'' is a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem " Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and it made its debut on ...
''). Beauregard also occasionally dons a trench coat and
fedora A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both side ...
, and squints his eyes and juts out his jaw when impersonating a detective in the style of ''
Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the '' Detroit Mirror'', and it ...
.'' However, his more familiar attire is a simple dog collar—or in later strips, a striped turtleneck sweater and fez. His canine revision of Kelly's annual Christmas burlesque, ''Deck Us All with Boston Charlie'', emerges as "Bark Us All Bow-wows of Folly", although he can't get anyone else to sing it that way. Usually just called "Beauregard" or "ol' Houn' Dog", his full name is Beauregard Chaulmoogra Frontenac de Montmingle Bugleboy. * Porky Pine: A
porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethiz ...
, a misanthrope and cynic—prickly on the outside but with a heart of gold. The deadpan Porky never smiles in the strip (except once, allegedly, when the lights were out). Pogo's best friend, equally honest, reflective and introverted, and with a keen eye both for goodness and for human foibles. The swamp's version of Eeyore, Porkypine is grumpy and melancholy by nature, and sometimes speaks of his "annual suicide attempt". He wears an undersized, plaid
Pinky Lee Pincus Leff (May 2, 1907 – April 3, 1993), better known as Pinky Lee, was an American burlesque comic and host of the children's television program ''The Pinky Lee Show'' in the early 1950s. Biography Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Lee got hi ...
-type hat (with an incongruously tall crown and upturned brim) and a perpetual frown, and is rarely seen without both. Porky has two weaknesses: his infatuation for Miz Ma'm'selle Hepzibah and a complete inability to tell a joke. He unfailingly arrives on Pogo's doorstep with a flower every Christmas morning, although he's always as embarrassed by the sentiment as Pogo is touched. He has a nephew named Tacky and a look-alike relation (see Frequent visitors) named Uncle Baldwin. * Miz Mam'selle Hepzibah: A beautiful, coy French
skunk Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or gin ...
modeled after a woman who later became Kelly's second wife. Hepzibah has long been courted by Porky, Beauregard and others but rarely seems to notice. Sometimes she pines for Pogo, and isn't too shy about it. She speaks with a heavy burlesque French dialect and tends to be overdramatic. The unattached Hepzibah has a married sister with 35 youngsters, including a nephew named Humperdunk. She is captivatingly sweet, frequently baking pies or preparing picnic baskets for her many admirers, and has every fellow in the swamp in love with her at one time or another. She is usually attired in a dainty floral skirt and parasol, is flirty but proper, and enjoys attention. * Miz
Beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ...
: A no-nonsense, corncob pipe-smoking washerwoman; a traditional mother (she is frequently seen minding a perambulator, her pet fish, or a
tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...
in a jar) and " widder" (she occasionally speaks of "the Mister", always in the
past tense The past tense is a grammatical tense whose function is to place an action or situation in the past. Examples of verbs in the past tense include the English verbs ''sang'', ''went'' and ''washed''. Most languages have a past tense, with some hav ...
), clad in a country bonnet and apron. Uneducated but with homespun good sense, she "takes nothin' from nobody", and can be daunting when riled. She is Hepzibah's best friend and occasional matchmaker, although she disapproves of menfolk as a general rule. Her trademark line is: "''Why'' is all you mens such critturs of ''dee-ceit?''" * Deacon Mushrat: A
muskrat The muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over a wide range of climates and hab ...
and the local man of the cloth, the
Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
speaks in ancient
blackletter Blackletter (sometimes black letter), also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th century. It continued to be commonly used for the Danish, Norwe ...
text or Gothic script, and his views are just as modern. He is typically seen haranguing others for their undisciplined ways, attempting to lead the Bats in some wholesome activity (which they inevitably subvert), or reluctantly entangled in the crusades of Mole and his even shadier allies—in either role he is the straight man and often winds up on the receiving end of whatever scheme he is involved in. Kelly described him as the closest thing to an evil character in the strip, calling him "about as far as I can go in showing what I think evil to be". * Bewitched, Bothered, and Bemildred: A trio of grubby, unshaven bats—hobos, gamblers, good-natured but innocent of any temptation to honesty. They admit nothing. Soon after arriving in the swamp they are recruited by Deacon Mushrat into the "Audible Boy Bird Watchers Society", (a seemingly innocent play on the Audubon Society, but really a front for Mole's covert surveillance syndicate.) They wear identical black derby hats and perpetual 5 o'clock shadows. Their names, a play on the song title "
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered "Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered)" is a show tune and popular song from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical '' Pal Joey''. It is part of the Great American Songbook. The song was introduced by Vivienne Segal on December 25, 1940, in the Bro ...
", are rarely mentioned. Often even they cannot say for sure which brother is which. They tell each other apart, if at all, by the patterns of their trousers—striped, checkered or plaid. (According to one of the bats, "Whichever pair of trousers you puts on in the morning, that's who you are for that partic'lar day.") * Barnstable Bear: A simple-minded, henpecked "grizzle bear" who often plays second-fiddle to many of Albert's plots. He wears a pair of pants held up with a single suspender, and often a checkered cloth cap. Frequently short-tempered (and married to an even shorter-tempered "missus", the formidable Miz Bear), he bellows ''"Rowrbazzle!"'' when his anger comes to a boil. Barnstable even tried to start his own rival comic strip in 1958, which he entitled "Little Orphan Abner" (with a wink to Kelly's pal, fellow cartoonist
Al Capp Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (wi ...
), just to spite Albert. Curiously, he can write but he can't read. * Mister Miggle: A bespectacled
stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...
or crane, and proprietor of the local general store, a frequent swamp hangout. He dresses like an old-fashioned "country" clerk—with apron, starched collar, suspenders,
sleeve garter A sleeve garter is a garter worn on the sleeve of a shirt. It came into wide use, especially in the US, in the latter half of the 19th century when men's ready-made shirts came in a single (extra long) sleeve length. Sleeve garters allow individua ...
s, and a
straw boater __NOTOC__ A boater (also straw boater, basher, skimmer, The English Panama, cady, katie, canotier, somer, sennit hat, or in Japan, can-can hat, suruken) is a semi-formal summer hat for men, which was popularised in the late 19th century and ea ...
or a
bookkeeping Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions, and is part of the process of accounting in business and other organizations. It involves preparing source documents for all transactions, operations, and other events of a business. Tr ...
visor A visor (also spelled vizor) is a surface that protects the eyes, such as shading them from the sun or other bright light or protecting them from objects. Nowadays many visors are transparent, but before strong transparent substances such a ...
. Miggle's carries just about every undesirable product imaginable, such as "salt fish in chocolate sauce" and "day-old ice, 25¢ per gallon", along with "Aunt Granny's Bitter Brittle Root"—a local favorite beverage (after
sassafras ''Sassafras'' is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.Wolfe, Jack A. & Wehr, Wesley C. 1987. The sassafras is an ornamental tree. "Middle ...
tea), and cure-all for the "cold robbies" and the "whim-whams". * Bun Rab: An enthusiastic white rabbit with a drum and drum-major hat who often accompanies P. T. Bridgeport and likes to broadcast news in the manner of a
town crier A town crier, also called a bellman, is an officer of a royal court or public authority who makes public pronouncements as required. Duties and functions The town crier was used to make public announcements in the streets. Criers often dress ...
. He lives in a
grandfather clock A grandfather clock (also a longcase clock, tall-case clock, grandfather's clock, or floor clock) is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower or waist of the case. Clocks of this style are common ...
, and frequently appears as a fireman in the swamp's clownish Fire Brigade—where he serves as official hose carrier. * Rackety Coon Chile: One of the swamp "sprats"—a group of youngsters who seem to be the only rational creatures present, other than Pogo and Porky. A talkative, precocious
raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...
, he mainly pesters his "uncle" Pogo, along with his pal Alabaster. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Rackety Coon, are a bickering couple occasionally featured. The father ("Pa") owns a
still A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been use ...
, and is generally suspicious of Ma's going through his overalls pockets while he sleeps. * Alabaster Alligator: Not much is known about Alabaster except that he is considerably brighter than his Uncle Albert. Genial, inquisitive and only occasionally mischievous, he follows the cartoon tradition of the look-alike nephew (see Huey, Dewey, and Louie) whose mysterious parental lineage is never made specific. * Grundoon: A diapered baby
groundhog The groundhog (''Marmota monax''), also known as a woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. The groundhog is a lowland creature of North America; it is found through ...
(or "woodchunk" in swamp-speak). An infant toddler, Grundoon speaks only
gibberish Gibberish, also called jibber-jabber or gobbledygook, is speech that is (or appears to be) nonsense. It may include speech sounds that are not actual words, pseudowords, or language games and specialized jargon that seems nonsensical to out ...
, represented by strings of random consonants like "Bzfgt", "ktpv", "mnpx", "gpss", "twzkd", or "znp". ("Grs" appears to attract fish.) Eventually, Grundoon learns to say two things: "Bye" and "Bye-bye". He also has a baby sister called Honey Bunny Ducky Downy Sweetie Chicken Pie Li'l Everlovin' Jelly Bean. * Pup Dog: An innocent "li'l dog chile" puppy. One of the very few characters who walks on all fours, he frequently wanders off and gets lost. Being, as Pogo puts it, "'jus' a li'l ol' shirt-tail baby-size dog what don't talk good yet", he says only "Wurf!" and "Wurf wurf!", although for a time he repeats the non-sequitur phrase "Poltergeists make up the principal type of spontaneous material manifestation."


Frequent visitors

* P. T. Bridgeport: A bear; a flamboyant impresario and traveling
circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyc ...
operator named after P. T. Barnum, the most famous resident of Kelly's boyhood home,
Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonn ...
. One of Kelly's most colorful characters, P. T. wears a
straw boater __NOTOC__ A boater (also straw boater, basher, skimmer, The English Panama, cady, katie, canotier, somer, sennit hat, or in Japan, can-can hat, suruken) is a semi-formal summer hat for men, which was popularised in the late 19th century and ea ...
, spats, vest,
ascot tie An ascot tie or ascot is a neckband with wide pointed wings, traditionally made of pale grey patterned silk. This wide tie is usually patterned, folded over, and fastened with a tie pin or tie clip. It is usually reserved for formal wear with ...
with
stickpin A tie pin (or tiepin, also known as a stick pin/stickpin) is a neckwear-controlling device, originally worn by wealthy English gentlemen to secure the folds of their cravats. History 19th century Tie pins were first popularized at the begin ...
and outlandish, fur-lined plaid overcoat reminiscent of W. C. Fields. There is also sometimes a marked physical resemblance to the Dutch cartoon character Oliver B. Bumble. An amiable blowhard and charlatan, his
speech balloon Speech balloons (also speech bubbles, dialogue balloons, or word balloons) are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comics, and cartoons to allow words (and much less often, pictures) to be understood as representing a charac ...
s resemble 19th-century circus posters, symbolizing both his theatrical speech pattern and his customary carnival barker's sales spiel. He usually visits the swamp during presidential election years, satirizing the
media circus Media circus is a colloquial metaphor, or idiom, describing a news event for which the level of media coverage—measured by such factors as the number of reporters at the scene and the amount of material broadcast or published—is perceived to ...
atmosphere of American
political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or refere ...
s. During the storyline in which Pogo was nominated as a presidential candidate, Bridgeport was his most vocal and enthusiastic supporter. * Tammananny Tiger: A political operator, named in allusion to
Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
, which was represented as a tiger in 19th-century editorial cartoons by
Thomas Nast Thomas Nast (; ; September 26, 1840December 7, 1902) was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist often considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was a critic of Democratic Representative "Boss" Tweed and ...
. He typically appears in election years to offer strategic advice to the reluctant candidate, Pogo. He first appears as a companion to P. T. Bridgeport, although more cynical and less self-aggrandizing than the latter, and is one of only a handful of animals not native to North America to frequent the swamp. * Mole (in his original appearance in 1952 named Mole MacCarony, in later years sometimes called Molester Mole, his name pronounced not " molester" but, in keeping with his political aspirations, to rhyme with "pollster"): A nearsighted and
xenophobic Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
grifter. Considers himself an astute observer, but walks into trees without seeing them. Obsessed with contagion both literal and figurative, he is a prime mover in numerous campaigns against "subversion", and in his first appearances has a
paranoid Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy conc ...
habit of spraying everything and everyone with a disinfectant that may have been liberally laced with tar. Modeled somewhat after Senator Pat McCarran of the McCarran–Walter Act. * Seminole Sam: A mercenary, carpetbagging fox and traveling huckster of the
snake oil Snake oil is a term used to describe deceptive marketing, health care fraud, or a scam. Similarly, "snake oil salesman" is a common expression used to describe someone who sells, promotes, or is a general proponent of some valueless or fraud ...
salesman variety. He often attempts to swindle Albert and others, for example by selling bottles of the "miracle fluid" H-two-and-O. Sam isn't really an out-and-out villain—more of an amoral opportunist, even though he occasionally allies with darker characters such as Mole and Wiley. Sam's
Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and ...
moniker probably refers, not to any native blood ties, but more likely to a presumed history of selling bogus patent medicine ("snake oil"). These "salesmen" hucksters often pretended their products were tested and proven, ancient Indian remedies. The Seminoles are an Indian tribe in the neighborhood of Okefenokee Swamp. *
Sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Gre ...
MacAbre: A buzzard and the local mortician. He lives in a creepy, ruined
mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
, and always wears a tall undertaker's stove pipe hat with a black veil hung from its side. Early strips show him speaking in square, black bordered speech balloons with ornate script lettering, in the style of Victorian funeral announcements. MacAbre begins as a stock villain, but in later years gradually softens into a somewhat befuddled comic foil. * The
Cowbird Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus ''Molothrus'' in the family Icteridae. They are of New World origin, and are obligate brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species. The genus was introduced by English naturalist ...
s: Two
beatnik Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle. History In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the underg ...
freeloaders, their gender(s) uncertain, who speak in
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
cant (albeit often in typical Okefenokee patois) and grift any food and valuables that cross their path. They associate with a pirate pig who resembles
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev ...
. Later they loudly renounce their former beliefs—without changing their behavior much. They typically address each other as Compeer and Confrere. It's unclear whether these are proper names or titles (synonyms of Comrade). * Wiley Catt: A wild-eyed, menacing,
hillbilly Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas wes ...
bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the ...
who smokes a corncob pipe, carries a shotgun, and lives alone in a dilapidated, '' Tobacco Road''-type shanty on the outskirts of the swamp. He frequently hangs out with Sarcophagus MacAbre, Mole and Seminole Sam, although none of them trusts him. All the swamp critters are rightly wary of him, and generally give him a wide path. During the "Red scare" era of the 1950s, he temporarily morphed into his "cousin" Simple J. Malarkey, a parody and caricature of Republican senator from Wisconsin,
Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...
(see Satire and politics). * Miss Sis Boombah: A matronly,
cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...
Rhode Island Red hen, who is a gym coach and fitness enthusiast—as well as a close friend of Miz Beaver—usually attired in tennis shoes and a pullover. Boombah arrives at the swamp to conduct a survey for "Dr. Whimsy" on "the sectional habits of U.S. mailmen", a neat parody of ''The
Kinsey Reports The Kinsey Reports are two scholarly books on human sexual behavior, ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'' (1948) and ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'' (1953), written by Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy, Clyde Martin, and (for ''Sexual Beh ...
.'' She also runs a
Feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...
organization (with Miz Beaver) called "F.O.O.F." (Female Order Of Freedom), to un-subjugate the swamp womenfolk. * Ol' Mouse: An otherwise unnamed, long-winded, worldly mouse with a
bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been wor ...
, cane and cigar who frequently pals around with Snavely, the Flea, Albert, or Pup Dog, the last of whom he was briefly imprisoned with in a cupboard and with whom he forged a bond as a fellow prisoner. He has a long and storied career as a rogue, in which he takes some pride, noting that the crimes he has been falsely accused of are far less interesting than the crimes he has actually committed. He is more often an observer and commentator than an actual participant in storylines. Something of a dandy, he sometimes takes the name "F. Olding Munny"—but only when Albert is posing as swami "El Fakir", (a take-off on Daddy Warbucks and his Indian manservant Punjab from ''Little Orphan Annie''). * Snavely: A chatty, inebriated snake (he is prone to biting himself, then dipping into a bottle of "snake bite remedy"). Snavely usually wears a battered
top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally ...
, and pals around with Ol' Mouse or a group of angleworms that he is training to be cobras or
rattlesnake Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small an ...
s. In classic cartoon tradition, his intoxicated state is portrayed by a prominent red nose surrounded by tiny, fizzing bubbles. Although limbless, he is able to salute. Pogo saw this and was amazed. Unfortunately this act was accomplished behind the log Pogo was looking over, and the reader's view was blocked. * Choo Choo Curtis (a.k.a. Chug Chug Curtis): A natural-born mail carrier duck. * Uncle Baldwin: Porky's doppelgänger and compulsive "kissing cousin", he wears a trenchcoat to hide his telltale bald backside. Uncle Baldwin usually tries to grab and kiss any female in the panel with him. Most of the females (and more than a few of the male characters) flee from the scene when Uncle Baldwin arrives. When assaulted by him, Hepzibah has hit him back. * Reggie and Alf: Two
Cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...
insects that wander around bickering and looking for
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by s ...
matches. Kelly loved definite personality types, and had these two show up occasionally, even though they had nothing to do with anything else. Kelly stated the aim of their appearance, "was to please nobody but me". * Flea (a.k.a. Miz Flea): An unnamed female
flea Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, ...
, so small she is usually only drawn in black silhouette. She falls in love with Beauregard, calls him "doll" and "sugar", and frequently gives him love nips on the nose or knee—much to his indignant irritation. (Flea: "Two can live as cheap as one, ''sugar''." Beauregard: "Not on ''me'', they can't!") Her gender was vaguely indeterminate for much of the run of the strip, but in a 1970 sequence with ex-husband Sam the spider, the Flea is finally and definitively established as a "girl". Thereafter, she is occasionally addressed as "Miz". In ''The Pogopedia'' (2001), this character is identified as "Ol' Flea". * Fremount the Boy Bug: The swamp's
dark horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...
candidate, whose limited vocabulary (all he can say is "Jes' fine") makes him suitable presidential timber, according to P. T. Bridgeport. * Bug Daddy and Chile: Daddy's indignant tag-line ("Destroy a son's faith in his father, will you?") invariably follows his being corrected by another character for an (inevitable) misunderstanding or erroneous explanation on his part. He wears a stove pipe hat and carries an umbrella, which he shakes threateningly at the slightest provocation. His child's name is ever-changing, even from panel to panel within the same strip: Hogblemish, Nortleberg, Flimplock, Osbert, Jerome, Merphant, Babnoggle, Custard, Lorenzo, etc. (''The Pogopedia'' identifies these characters as "Bug Daddy" and "Bug Child".) * Congersman Frog: An elected official, usually accompanied by his look-alike male secretary, with whose pay he lights his "seegars". He practices disavowing his candidature for the presidency—not very convincingly. His seldom-used first name is Jumphrey, and his secretary/sidekick was occasionally referred to by name: Fenster Moop. (Fenster apparently rose to Congress himself. In later years he's addressed as "Congersman", and attended by his own look-alike secretary, Feeble E. Merely.) * Solid MacHogany: A
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
-bound,
clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. ...
-playing pig in a
polka dot Red polka dots on a yellow background Girl wearing polka dot dress Polish ceramics German ceramics Polka dot is a pattern consisting of an array of large filled circles of the same size. Polka dots are commonly seen on children's clothing, ...
cap and striped necktie, headed to a paying gig in a "sho' nuff"
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
band on
Bourbon Street Bourbon Street (french: Rue Bourbon, es, Calle de Borbón) is a historic street in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans. Extending thirteen blocks from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue, Bourbon Street is famous for its many bars ...
. * Horrors Greeley: A freckled, westward-traveling cow (hence the reference to
Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressman from New York, ...
), who was sweet on Albert. (To Horrors, "west" being
Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...
.) * Uncle Antler: A disagreeable bullmoose, whom Albert insultingly addresses as "Hatrack". * Butch: A brick-throwing housecat. Like Tammananny, Butch is a direct homage to another cartoonist— George Herriman, whose '' Krazy Kat'' comic strip was greatly admired by Kelly. Butch feels compelled to hurl bricks at Beauregard, in honor of the traditional animus between dogs and cats. He always deliberately misses, however—and after his initial appearance as an antagonistic rival, proves to be something of a pussycat. * Basil MacTabolism: A door-to-door political pollster
polecat Polecat is a common name for several mustelid species in the order Carnivora and subfamilies Ictonychinae and Mustelinae. Polecats do not form a single taxonomic rank (i.e. clade). The name is applied to several species with broad similarit ...
and self-described "taker of the public pulse". * Roogey Batoon: A part-time snake oil salesman
pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents befor ...
in a
flat cap A flat cap is a rounded cap with a small stiff brim in front, originating in Britain and Ireland. The hat is known in Ireland as a paddy cap; in Scotland as a bunnet; in Wales as a Dai cap; and in the United States as an English cap, Iris ...
, who claims to have made the careers of the "Lou'siana
Perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...
es", (an underwater songstress trio named Flim, Flam and Flo). His name is a play on
Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counti ...
. *
Picayune A picayune was a Spanish coin, worth half a real or one sixteenth of a dollar. Its name derives from the French ''picaillon'', which is itself from the Provençal ''picaioun'', the name of an unrelated small copper coin from Savoy. By extensio ...
: A talkative frog that is a "free han' pree-dicter of all kinds weather an' other social events—sun, hail, moonshine or ty-phoonery". (An identical frog known as Moonshine Sonata also appears on occasion; it is unclear if these were intended to be the same character.)


Dialogue and "swamp-speak"

The strip was notable for its distinctive and whimsical use of language. Kelly, a native northeasterner, had a sharply perceptive ear for language and used it to great humorous effect. The predominant vernacular in ''Pogo'', sometimes referred to as "swamp-speak", is essentially a rural southern U.S. dialect laced with nonstop malapropisms, fractured grammar, "creative" spelling and mangled polysyllables such as "incredibobble," "hysteriwockle", and "redickledockle," plus invented words such as the exasperated exclamations "Bazz Fazz!", "Rowrbazzle!" and "Moomph!" Here is an example: Pogo has been engaged in his favorite pastime, fishing in the swamp from a flat-bottomed boat, and has hooked a small
catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species aliv ...
. "Ha!" he exclaims, "A small fry!" At this point Hoss-Head the Champeen Catfish, bigger than Pogo himself, rears out of the swamp and the following dialogue ensues: :Hoss-Head '' ith fins on hips and an angry scowl'' Chonk back that catfish chile, Pogo, afore I whops you! :Pogo: Yassuree, Champeen Hoss-Head, yassuh yassuh yassuh yassuh yassuh ... '' osses infant catfish back in water' :Pogo '' alks away, muttering discontentedly'' Things gettin' so humane 'round this swamp, us folks will have to take up eatin' MUD TURKLES! :Churchy (a turtle) '' avesdropping from behind a tree with Howland Owl'' Horroars! A cannibobble! '' asses out' :Howland '' olding the unconscious Churchy'' You say you gone eat mud turkles! Ol' Churchy is done overcame! :Pogo: It was a finger of speech—I apologize! Why, I LOVES yo', Churchy LaFemme! :Churchy '' uddenly recovered from his swoon'' With pot licker an' black-eye peas, you loves me, sir—''HA!'' Us is through, Pogo!


Satire and politics

Kelly used ''Pogo'' to comment on the human condition, and from time to time, this drifted into politics. "I finally came to understand that if I were looking for comic material, I would never have to look long," Kelly wrote. "The news of the day would be enough. Perhaps the complexion of the strip changed a little in that direction after 1951. After all, it is pretty hard to walk past an unguarded gold mine and remain empty-handed." Pogo was a reluctant "candidate" for President (although he never campaigned) in 1952 and 1956. (The phrase "I Go Pogo", originally a parody of
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
's iconic campaign slogan "I Like Ike", appeared on giveaway promotional lapel pins featuring Pogo, and was also used by Kelly as a book title.) A 1952 campaign rally at Harvard degenerated into chaos sufficient to be officially termed a riot, and police responded. The Pogo Riot was a significant event for the class of '52; for its 25th reunion, Pogo was the official mascot. Kelly's interest in keeping the strip topical meant that he sometimes worked closer to the deadline than the syndicate wanted. "The syndicates and the newspapers always like to stay about eight weeks in advance," Kelly said in a 1959 interview, "but because I like to stay as topical as I can and because I'm sure something will always come up that I'd like to comment on, I try to keep it somewhere between four and six weeks. Even then it gets rather difficult to forecast what is going to happen six weeks, four weeks, ahead of time. For example, I have a sequence coming on this moonshot that the Russians made. I was able to file it just by a month, but I wish I had known about it a little in advance because I could have hit it right on the nose."


Simple J. Malarkey

Perhaps the most famous example of the strip's satirical edge came into being on May 1, 1953, when Kelly introduced a friend of Mole's: a wildcat named "Simple J. Malarkey", an obvious
caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...
of Senator
Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...
. This showed significant courage on Kelly's part, considering the influence the politician wielded at the time and the possibility of scaring away subscribing newspapers. When '' The Providence Bulletin'' issued an ultimatum in 1954, threatening to drop the strip if Malarkey's face appeared in the strip again, Kelly had Malarkey throw a bag over his head as Miss "Sis" Boombah (a Rhode Island Red hen) approached, explaining "no one from Providence should see me!" Kelly thought Malarkey's new look was especially appropriate because the bag over his head resembled a Klansman's hood. (Kelly later attacked the Klan directly, in a comic nightmare
parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...
called "The Kluck Klams", included in ''The Pogo Poop Book'', 1966.) Malarkey appeared in the strip only once after that sequence ended, during Kelly's tenure, on October 15, 1955. Again his face was covered, this time by his speech balloons as he stood on a soapbox shouting to general uninterest. Kelly had planned to defy the threats made by the ''Bulletin'' and show Malarkey's face, but decided it was more fun to see how many people recognized the character and the man he lampooned by speech patterns alone. When Kelly got letters of complaint about kicking the senator when he was down (McCarthy had been censured by that time, and had lost most of his influence), Kelly responded, "They identified him, I didn't." Malarkey reappeared on April 1, 1989, when the strip had been resurrected by Larry Doyle and Neal Sternecky. It was hinted that he was a ghost. (A gag used several times in the original strip, for both Wiley Catt and Simple J Malarkey, was his unexpected reappearance to the Swamp with a frightened regular saying "I didn't know you was alive" - responded to with "Would you stop shakin' if I tole you...I AIN'T?!"


Later politics

As the 1960s loomed, even foreign "gummint" figures found themselves caricatured in the pages of ''Pogo'', including in 1962
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
leaders
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
, who appeared as an agitator goat named Fido, and
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev ...
, who emerged as both an unnamed Russian bear and a pig. Other Soviet characters include a pair of
cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally ...
seals who arrive at the swamp in 1959 via Sputnik, initiating a topical spoof of the
Space Race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the t ...
. In 1964, the strip spoofed the presidential election with wind-up dolls that looked like
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
,
Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of ...
and George W. Romney. The wind-up caricatures of
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
,
Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of ...
, George W. Romney, Lyndon B. Johnson,
Eugene McCarthy Eugene Joseph McCarthy (March 29, 1916December 10, 2005) was an American politician, writer, and academic from Minnesota. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the United States Senate from 1959 to 1971. ...
and
Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...
appeared in 1968, during the presidential election. Because some newspapers were wary of printing political satire on the comics page, Kelly sometimes drew two strips for the same day — the regular satirical Pogo strip, and a less-pointed version that he called the "Bunny Rabbit" strips. The 1982 book ''The Best of Pogo'' reprinted some of the alternate strips from the presidential election years of 1964 and 1968. In the early 1970s, Kelly used a collection of characters he called "the Bulldogs" to mock the secrecy and paranoia of the
Nixon administration Richard Nixon's tenure as the 37th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974, in the face of almost certain impeachment because of the Watergate Scanda ...
. The Bulldogs included caricatures of J. Edgar Hoover (dressed in an overcoat and fedora, and directing a covert bureau of identical frog operatives),
Spiro Agnew Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second vice president to resign the position, the other being John ...
(portrayed as an unnamed hyena festooned in ornate military regalia, a parody of the ridiculous uniforms supplied to the White House guards), and John Mitchell (portrayed as a pipe-smoking eaglet wearing high-top sneakers.)


Nonsense verse and song parodies

Kelly was an accomplished poet and frequently added pages of original comic
verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry * Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict ...
to his ''Pogo'' reprint books, complete with cartoon illustrations. The odd song parody or nonsense poem also occasionally appeared in the newspaper strip. In 1956, Kelly published ''Songs of the Pogo'', an illustrated collection of his original songs, with lyrics by Kelly and music by Kelly and Norman Monath. The tunes were also issued on a
vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
LP, with Kelly himself contributing to the vocals. The most well-known of Kelly's nonsense verses is "Deck Us All with Boston Charlie", the swamp creatures' interpretation of the
Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French o ...
"
Deck the Halls "Deck the Hall” is a traditional Christmas carol. The melody is Welsh, dating back to the sixteenth century, and belongs to a winter carol, "Nos Galan", while the English lyrics, written by the Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant, date to 1862 ...
". Each year at Christmas time, it was traditional for the strip to publish at least the first stanza: :Deck us all with Boston Charlie, :Walla Walla Wash., and Kalamazoo! :Nora's freezin' on the trolley :Swaller dollar cauliflower alleygaroo :Don't we know archaic barrel :Lullaby, lilla boy, Louisville Lou :Trolley Molly don't love Harold :Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo Some years also included other verses and versions: for example, the dog Beauregard knew it as "Bark us all bow-wows of folly, Polly wolly cracker 'n' too-da-loo!"


Personal references

Walt Kelly frequently had his characters poling around the swamp in a flat-bottomed skiff. Invariably, it had a name on the side that was a personal reference of Kelly's: the name of a friend, a political figure, a fellow cartoonist, or the name of a newspaper, its editor or publisher. The name changed from one day to the next, and even from panel to panel in the same strip, but it was usually a tribute to a real-life person Kelly wished to salute in print.


Awards and recognition

The creator and series have received a great deal of recognition over the years. Walt Kelly has been compared to everyone from
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
and
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...
, to Aesop and Joel Chandler Harris (''
Uncle Remus Uncle Remus is the fictional title character and narrator of a collection of African American folktales compiled and adapted by Joel Chandler Harris and published in book form in 1881. Harris was a journalist in post-Reconstruction era Atlanta, ...
''). His skills as a humorous illustrator of animals has been celebrated alongside those of
John Tenniel Sir John Tenniel (; 28 February 182025 February 1914)Johnson, Lewis (2003), "Tenniel, John", ''Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online'', Oxford University Press. Web. Retrieved 12 December 2016. was an English illustrator, graphic humorist and pol ...
, A. B. Frost, T. S. Sullivant, Heinrich Kley and Lawson Wood. In his essay "The Decline of the Comics" ('' Canadian Forum'', January 1954), literary critic Hugh MacLean classified American comic strips into four types: daily gag, adventure, soap opera and "an almost lost comic ideal: the disinterested comment on life's pattern and meaning." In the fourth type, according to MacLean, there were only two: ''Pogo'' and '' Li'l Abner.'' When the first ''Pogo'' collection was published in 1951,
Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio dr ...
and J. Francis McComas declared that "nothing comparable has happened in the history of the comic strip since George Herriman's ''Krazy Kat''." " Carl Sandburg said that many comics were too sad, but, 'I Go Pogo.' Francis Taylor, Director of the
Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, said before the ''Herald Tribune'' Forum: 'Pogo has not yet supplanted
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
or the
King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
of the Bible in our schools.' " Kelly was elected president of the
National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...
in 1954, serving until 1956. He was the first strip cartoonist invited to contribute originals to the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the '' de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...
. * Kelly received the National Cartoonists Society's Billy DeBeck Memorial Award for Cartoonist of the Year in 1951. (When the award name was changed in 1954, Kelly also retroactively received a Reuben statuette.) * The prestigious Silver T-Square is awarded, by unanimous vote of the NCS board of directors, to persons who have demonstrated outstanding dedication or service to the Society or the profession; Kelly received one in 1972. * The
Comic-Con International San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual conv ...
was given to Kelly posthumously in 1989. * Kelly is one of only 31 artists elected to the Hall of Fame of the National Cartoon Museum (formerly the International Museum of Cartoon Art). * Kelly was also inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1995. * The Fantagraphics ''Pogo'' collections were a top vote-getter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Album for 1998.


Influence and legacy

Walt Kelly's work has influenced a number of prominent comic artists: * From 1951 to 1954,
Famous Studios Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contro ...
animator Irv Spector drew the syndicated ''Coogy'' strip, which was heavily influenced by Kelly's work, for the ''
New York Herald-Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
''. * In the ''Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book'', cartoonist
Bill Watterson William Boyd Watterson II (born July 5, 1958) is a retired American cartoonist and the author of the comic strip ''Calvin and Hobbes'', which was syndicated from 1985 to 1995. Watterson stopped drawing ''Calvin and Hobbes'' at the end of 1995, w ...
listed ''Pogo'' as one of the three greatest influences on ''
Calvin and Hobbes ''Calvin and Hobbes'' is a daily American comic strip created by cartoonist Bill Watterson that was Print syndication, syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995. Commonly cited as "the last great newspaper comic", ''Calvin and Hobb ...
'', along with ''
Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and in ...
'' and '' Krazy Kat''. * ''Pogo'' has been cited as an influence by
Jeff MacNelly Jeffrey Kenneth "Jeff" MacNelly (September 17, 1947 – June 8, 2000) was an American editorial cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip '' Shoe''. After ''Shoe'' had been established in papers, MacNelly created the single-panel strip '' Pl ...
(''
Shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...
''), Garry Trudeau ('' Doonesbury''), Bill Holbrook (''
Kevin and Kell ''Kevin and Kell'' is a furry comedy webcomic strip by syndicated cartoonist Bill Holbrook. The strip began on September 3, 1995, and is one of the oldest continuously running webcomics. The comic's website states it is "The World's Longest Ru ...
'' ) and Mark O'Hare ('' Citizen Dog''), among others. MacNelly also gave a speech praising the strip and all of Walt Kelly's work that was published in the book ''Outrageously Pogo'', which was a collection of praise of the strip. * René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo were both admirers of ''Pogo'', and many of Walt Kelly's visual devices resurfaced in '' Astérix''. For example, the
Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europ ...
speak in Olde English
blackletter Blackletter (sometimes black letter), also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th century. It continued to be commonly used for the Danish, Norwe ...
text, and a Roman tax-collector speaks in bureaucratic forms. *
Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) a ...
acknowledged Kelly as a major influence on his sense of humor, and based some early Muppet designs on Kelly drawings. One episode of '' The Muppet Show's'' first season included a performance of "Don't Sugar Me" from ''Songs of the Pogo.'' *
Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...
cites ''Pogo'' as an influence on ''Animal Town'', an early series of comic strips he drew with his brother
Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...
that later formed the basis for R. Crumb's '' Fritz the Cat''. *
Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book '' Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ''Little Ann ...
parodied ''Pogo'' as "Gopo Gossum" for the comic book '' Mad'' No. 23, published by
EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-195 ...
in 1955. It was the first of many ''Mad'' references to ''Pogo'', most of them drawn by
Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...
. According to ''The Best of Pogo'' (1982), "Walt Kelly was well aware of the ''Mad'' parodies, and loved them." Kelly directly acknowledged Wally Wood, and even had Albert spell out his name in ''Pogo Extra: Election Special'' (1960). * Writer
Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', '' V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...
and artist
Shawn McManus Shawn McManus (born June 30, 1958) is an American artist who has worked extensively over three decades for DC Comics and other companies, notably for DC's Vertigo imprint including the ''Fables'' series. Comics Born in Brookline, Massachusett ...
made the January 1985 issue (#32) of '' Saga of the Swamp Thing'' a tribute to ''Pogo'' (titled "Pog"), with Kellyesque wordplay and artwork. * Jeff Smith acknowledged that his '' Bone'' comic book series was strongly influenced by Walt Kelly's work. Smith and Peter Kelly contributed artwork of the cast of ''Bone'' meeting Pogo and Albert for the 1998 "Pogofest" celebration. * In the
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. Its ...
animated series, ''
The Loud House ''The Loud House'' is an American animated television series created by Chris Savino that premiered on Nickelodeon on May 2, 2016. The series revolves around the chaotic everyday life of a boy named Lincoln Loud, who is the middle child and only s ...
'', which draws heavy inspiration from comic strips, features a bird named after Kelly, Walt. Of course, he could also have been named for
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film pr ...
, for whom Kelly worked for a spell...or maybe even
Walter Lantz Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animation Lantz wa ...
, the creator of
Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by Lan ...
. * Thacher Hurd's book, ''Mama Don't Allow'', may possibly have been influenced in some small part by the Pogo comic; Miles Possum and his family live in a swampland in the South and bear something of a resemblance to Pogo; plus the convenient coincidence that Thacher Hurd was born in the same year Pogo officially debuted, 1949. * ''
Kissyfur ''Kissyfur'' is an American animated children's television series which aired on NBC. It was produced by Jean Chalopin and Andy Heyward and created by Phil Mendez for DIC Animation City. The series was based on a half-hour NBC special called '' ...
'' seems to have been influenced in some way by the Pogo comic strip, albeit devoid of any political innuendo or references to pop culture. * Jonathan Lemon cites Pogo as an inspiration or more as a "hero" for his comic strip "Rabbits Against Magic" *American rock band
Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when vie ...
released a song named "Lulu Arfin Nanny" on their 1970 album "Bernice". *
Alan Arkin Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an American actor, director and screenwriter known for his performances on stage and screen. Throughout his career spanning over six decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award ...
in the 1980 film "Simon" is brainwashed to think he is an alien living on Earth and pirates the TV broadcast airwaves to talk to the people. In a field with his girlfriend he muses "I give em my best stuff too. Shakespeare, Pogo, the prophets."


''Pogo'' in other media

At its peak, Walt Kelly's possum appeared in nearly 500 newspapers in 14 countries. Pogo's exploits were collected into more than four dozen books, which collectively sold close to 30 million copies. ''Pogo'' already had had a successful life in comic books, previous to syndication. The increased visibility of the newspaper strip and popular trade paperback titles allowed Kelly's characters to branch into other media, such as television, children's records, and even a theatrical film. In addition, Walt Kelly appeared as himself on television at least twice. He was interviewed live by
Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe ...
for the CBS program ''
Person to Person ''Person to Person'' is a popular television program in the United States that originally ran from 1953 to 1961, with two episodes of an attempted revival airing in 2012. Edward R. Murrow hosted the original series from its inception in 1953 unt ...
'', in an episode originally broadcast on January 14, 1954. Kelly can also be seen briefly in the 1970 NBC special ''This Is
Al Capp Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (wi ...
'' talking candidly about his friend, the creator of ''Li'l Abner''.


Comic books and periodicals

All comic book titles are published by Dell Publishing Company, unless otherwise noted: * ''Albert the Alligator and Pogo Possum'' (1945–1946) Dell Four Color issues #105 and 148 * ''Animal Comics'' (1947) issues #17, 23–25 * ''Pogo Possum'' (1949–1954) issues #1–16 * "Pogo's Papa" by Murray Robinson, from ''
Collier's Weekly ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...
'' (March 8, 1952) * ''Pogo Parade'' (1953), a compilation of previously published Dell ''Pogo'' stories * ''Pogo Coloring Book'' (1953)
Whitman Publishing Whitman Publishing is an American book publishing company which started as a subsidiary of the Western Printing & Lithographing Company of Racine, Wisconsin. In about 1915, Western began printing and binding a line of juvenile books for the Hamm ...
* "Pogo: The Funnies are Getting Funny" from ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'' (June 21, 1954) ''Pogo'' cover painting by Kelly * "Pogo Meets a Possum" by Walt Kelly, from ''Collier's Weekly'' (April 29, 1955) * "Bright Christmas Land" from ''Newsweek'' (December 26, 1955) ''Pogo'' cover painting by Kelly * "Pogo Looks at the Abominable Snowman", from '' Saturday Review'' (August 30, 1958) ''Pogo'' cover illustration by Kelly * ''Pogo Primer for Parents: TV Division'' (1961), a
public services A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
giveaway booklet distributed by the US HEW * ''Pogo Coloring Book'' (1964) Treasure Books (different from the 1953 book of the same name) * ''Pogo: Welcome to the Beginning'' (1965), a public services giveaway pamphlet distributed by the Neighborhood Youth Corps * ''Pogo: Bienvenidos al Comienzo'' (1965), Spanish-language version of the above title * "The Pogofenokee Swamp" from ''
Jack and Jill "Jack and Jill" (sometimes "Jack and Gill", particularly in earlier versions) is a traditional English nursery rhyme. The Roud Folk Song Index classifies the commonest tune and its variations as number 10266, although it has been set to severa ...
'' (May 1969) * ''The Okefenokee Star'' (1977–1982), a privately published
fanzine A fanzine ( blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share ...
devoted to Walt Kelly and ''Pogo'' * ''
The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...
'' No. 140 (Feb. 1991) Special Walt Kelly Issue * "Al Capp and Walt Kelly: Pioneers of Political and Social Satire in the Comics" by Kalman Goldstein, from '' The Journal of Popular Culture;'' Vol. 25, Issue 4 (Spring 1992)


Music and recordings

* ''Songs of the Pogo'' (1956): A
vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
LP collecting 18 of Kelly's verses (most of which had previously appeared in ''Pogo'' books) set to music by both Kelly and orchestra leader Norman Monath. While professional singers (including
Bob McGrath Robert Emmett McGrath (June 13, 1932 – December 4, 2022) was an American actor, musician, and children's author best known for playing original human character and music teacher Bob Johnson on the long-running educational television series ' ...
, later famous as "Bob" on the children's television show ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) an ...
'') provided most of the vocals on the album, Kelly himself contributed lead vocals on "Go Go Pogo" (for which he also composed the music) and "Lines Upon a Tranquil Brow", as well as a spoken portion for "Man's Best Friend". Mike Stewart, who was later known for singing the theme song of ''
Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was born to ...
'', sang "Whence that Wince", "Evidence" and "Whither the Starling". * A "sampler" from ''Songs of the Pogo'' was issued on
vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
45 at the same time. The three-track record included "Go Go Pogo" and "Lines Upon a Tranquil Brow" sung by Walt Kelly, and "Don't Sugar Me" sung by Fia Karin with "orchestra and chorus under the direction of Jimmy Carroll". The recording was issued by Simon and Schuster, with only ASCAP 100A and B as recording numbers. * ''The Firehouse Five Plus 2 Goes South'' (1956): LP, with liner notes and back album sleeve illustration by Walt Kelly. (Good Time Jazz) * ''Jingle Bell Jazz'', (Columbia LP CS 8693, issued October 17, 1962, reissued as Harmony KH-32529 on September 28, 1973, with one substitution; The Harmony issue was reissued as Columbia Jazz Odyssey Stereo LP PC 36803), a collection of a dozen jazz Christmas songs by different performers, includes "Deck Us All with Boston Charlie" recorded on May 4, 1961, by Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross with the Ike Isaacs Trio. The recording features a center section of
Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and rep ...
scatting In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...
to the melody, with Kelly's lyrics sung as introduction and close. * ''NO! with Pogo'' (1969): 45 rpm record for children, narrated and sung by "P. T. Bridgeport" (Kelly) with The Carillon Singers; came with a color storybook illustrated by Kelly. (Columbia Book & Record Library/Lancelot Press) * ''CAN'T! with Pogo'' (1969): 45 rpm record for children, same credits as above. * ''The
Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...
Interview CD'' (2002): Contains 15–20-minute excerpts with five of the most influential cartoonists in the American comics industry:
Charles Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wid ...
,
Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...
, Walt Kelly (interviewed by
Gil Kane Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character. Kane co-created the modern-day vers ...
in 1969) and
R. Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...
. From the liner notes: "Hear these cartoonists in their own words, discussing the craft that made them famous" (Fantagraphics). * ''Songs of the Pogo'' was released on CD in 2004 by Reaction Records (
Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. As of the 2010 United States Census, Urbana is the 38th-most populous municipality in Illinois. It ...
), including previously unreleased material.


Animation and puppetry

Three animated cartoons were created to date based on ''Pogo'': * ''The Pogo Special Birthday Special'' was produced and directed by animator Chuck Jones in honor of the strip's 20th anniversary in 1969. It starred
June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American voice actress. She was best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney ...
as the voice of both Pogo and Hepzibah, with Kelly and Jones contributing voice work as well. The critical consensus is that the special, which first aired on
NBC-TV The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
on May 18, 1969, failed to capture the charm of the comic strip. Kelly was not pleased with the results, and it was generally disliked by critics and fans of the comic strip. * Walt and Selby Kelly themselves wrote and animated ''We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us'' in 1970, largely due to Kelly's dissatisfaction with the ''Birthday Special.'' The short, with its anti-pollution message, was animated and colored by hand. While the project went unfinished due to Kelly's ill health, the storyboards for the cartoon helped form the first half of the book of the same title. * The theatrical, feature-length motion picture ''I Go Pogo'' (a.k.a. ''Pogo for President'') was released in late August 1980. Directed by Marc Paul Chinoy, this
stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames ...
animated feature starred the voices of
Skip Hinnant Joseph Howard "Skip" Hinnant (born September 12, 1940) is an American actor, singer, voice actor and comedian. Career Skip Hinnant's first major role was as Cathy's boyfriend, Ted, on ''The Patty Duke Show'' from 1963 to 1965. In 1967, he pla ...
as Pogo;
Ruth Buzzi Ruth Ann Buzzi ( ; born July 24, 1936) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She has appeared on stage, in films, and on television. She is best known for her performances on the comedy-variety show ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' from 1968 ...
as Miz Beaver and Hepzibah;
Stan Freberg Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015) was an American actor, author, comedian, musician, radio personality, puppeteer and advertising creative director. His best-known works include " St. George and the Dragonet ...
as Albert;
Arnold Stang Arnold Sidney Stang (September 28, 1918 – December 20, 2009)
''
as Churchy;
Jonathan Winters Jonathan Harshman Winters III (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American comedian, actor, author, television host, and artist. Beginning in 1960, Winters recorded many classic comedy albums for the Verve Records label. He also h ...
as Porky, Mole, and Wiley Catt; Kelly's friend, New York journalist
Jimmy Breslin James Earle Breslin (October 17, 1928 – March 19, 2017) was an American journalist and author. Until the time of his death, he wrote a column for the New York ''Daily News'' Sunday edition.''Current Biography 1942'', pp. 648–51: "Patterson, ...
as P. T. Bridgeport; and
Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...
as the Deacon. The ''Birthday Special'' and ''I Go Pogo'' were released on home video throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The ''Birthday Special'' was released on VHS by MGM/UA Home Video in 1986 and they alongside
Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...
released it on VHS again on August 1, 1992. ''I Go Pogo'' was handled by
Fotomat Fotomat was an American retail chain of photo development drive-through kiosks located primarily in shopping center parking lots. Fotomat Corporation was founded by Preston Fleet in San Diego, California, in the 1960s, with the first kiosk o ...
for its original VHS and
Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...
release in September 1980.
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...
premiered a re-cut version of the film in October 1982, with added narration by Len Maxwell; this version would continue to air on HBO for some time, and then on other cable movie stations like
Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent ...
, TMC, and Showtime, until around February 1991.
Walt Disney Home Video Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, an ...
released a similar cut of the film in 1984, with some deleted scenes added/restored. This version of the film was released on VHS again on December 4, 1989, by
Walt Disney Home Video Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, an ...
and United American Video to the "sell through" home video market. As of 2019, there's still no word of Warner Archive planning to release ''Birthday Special'' on DVD. That special (along with ''I Go Pogo'') have never officially been made available on DVD. Selby Kelly had been selling specially packaged DVDs of ''We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us'' prior to her death, but it is unknown whether or not further copies will be available.


Licensing and promotion

''Pogo'' also branched out from the comic pages into consumer products—including TV sponsor tie-ins to the ''Birthday Special''—although not nearly to the degree of other contemporary comic strips, such as ''
Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and in ...
''. Selby Kelly has attributed the comparative paucity of licensed material to Kelly's pickiness about the quality of merchandise attached to his characters. * 1951: ''Special Delivery Pogo'', a 16-page promotional mailer from the Post-Hall Syndicate, designed to spark interest and boost circulation of the new strip. * 1952: "I Go Pogo" tin litho lapel pinback. Approx. 1 inch in diameter, with Pogo's face on a yellow background; issued as a promotional giveaway during the 1952 presidential election. * 1954: ''Walt Kelly's Pogo Mobile'' (issued by Simon and Schuster) was a 22-piece hanging mobile, die-cut from heavy cardboard in bright colors. Came unassembled, and included Pogo on a cow jumping over a crescent-shaped Swiss cheese moon, with Okefenokee characters sitting on the moon or in a filigreed frame. * 1959: Rare
porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
figurine of a sitting Pogo, with a bird in a nest atop his head; made in Ireland by
Wade Ceramics Wade Ceramics Ltd is a manufacturer of porcelain and earthenware, headquartered in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Its products include animal figures for its Collectors Club, whisky flagons, and a variety of industrial ceramics. In the 1950s, the W ...
Ltd. * 1968: Set of 30 celluloid pinback buttons, quite rare. Approx. 1.75 inches in diameter, issued during the 1968 presidential elections. * 1968: Set of 10 color character decals, very rare; coincided with the set of election pinbacks * 1968: Poynter Products of
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
issued a set of six plastic figures (now very rare) with glued-on artificial fur: Pogo, Albert, Beauregard, Churchy, Howland and Hepzibah. The figures displeased Kelly, but are highly sought-after by fans. * 1969: Six vinyl giveaway figures of Pogo, Albert, Beauregard, Churchy, Howland and Porkypine, packaged with
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...
soap products (Spic and Span, Top Job, etc.) as a tie-in with the ''Pogo'' animated TV special. Also known as the Oxydol figures, they are fairly common and easy to find. Walt Kelly was not satisfied with the initial sculpting, and—using plasticine clay—resculpted them himself. * 1969: Six plastic giveaway cups with full-color character decals of Pogo, Albert, Beauregard, Churchy, Howland and Porkypine, coincided with the Oxydol figures. * 1969: Pogo
Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observan ...
costume, manufactured by Ben Cooper. * 1980:
View-Master View-Master is the trademark name of a line of special-format stereoscopes and corresponding View-Master "reels", which are thin cardboard disks containing seven Stereoscopic 3-D pairs of small transparent color photographs on film.Mary Ann & Wo ...
''I Go Pogo'' set, 3 reels & booklet,
GAF GAF may refer to: Military * General of the Air Force, US * Ghana Armed Forces * Guardia alla Frontiera, Italy Other uses * Gaf, a Perso-Arabic letter * Gaf (Mandaeism), a demon of the Mandaean underworld * GAF Materials Corporation, an Ame ...
* 2002:
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...
issued two limited edition figures of Pogo and Albert as part of their line of Classic Comic Characters—statues No. 24 and No. 25, respectively.


Book collections and reprints


Simon & Schuster ''Pogo'' books

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...
published a long series of ''Pogo'' books beginning in 1951. S&S editor
Peter Schwed Peter Schwed (1911–2003) was an American editor and the editorial chairman and a trade book publisher for Simon & Schuster. Among the authors he edited were P.G. Wodehouse, Irving Wallace, Harold Robbins, David McCullough and Cornelius Ryan. Schw ...
writes, "The first collection of ''Pogo'' comic strips burst upon the world in 1951 as the result of ditorJack Goodman's insistence that there should be such a book for those who could not afford a daily newspaper, particularly since it was the only thing in the newspapers worth reading... ''Pogo'' was ''the'' comic strip of the nation and the many books that were published before Walt died each sold in the hundreds of thousands of copies." Simon & Schuster published 33 ''Pogo'' books between 1951 and 1972, often publishing two or three books a year. In addition to strip reprints, Kelly also published books of original material, including ''Uncle Pogo So-So Stories'', ''The Pogo Stepmother Goose'' and ''Songs of the Pogo''. All titles are by Walt Kelly: * ''Pogo'' (1951) * ''I Go Pogo'' (1952) * ''Uncle Pogo So-So Stories'' (1953) * ''The Pogo Papers'' (1953) * ''The Pogo Stepmother Goose'' (1954) * ''The Incompleat Pogo'' (1954) * ''The Pogo Peek-A-Book'' (1955) * ''Potluck Pogo'' (1955) * ''The Pogo Sunday Book'' (1956) * ''The Pogo Party'' (1956) * ''Songs of the Pogo'' (1956) * ''Pogo's Sunday Punch'' (1957) * ''Positively Pogo'' (1957) * ''The Pogo Sunday Parade'' (1958) * '' G.O. Fizzickle Pogo'' (1958) * ''Ten Ever-Lovin', Blue-Eyed Years with Pogo'' (1959) * ''The Pogo Sunday Brunch'' (1959) * ''Pogo Extra (Election Special)'' (1960) * ''Beau Pogo'' (1960) * ''Gone Pogo'' (1961) * ''Pogo à la Sundae'' (1961) * ''Instant Pogo'' (1962) * ''The Jack Acid Society Black Book'' (1962) * ''Pogo Puce Stamp Catalog'' (1963) * ''Deck Us All with Boston Charlie'' (1963) * ''The Return of Pogo'' (1965) * ''The Pogo Poop Book'' (1966) * ''Prehysterical Pogo (in Pandemonia)'' (1967) * ''Equal Time for Pogo'' (1968) * ''Pogo: Prisoner of Love'' (1969) * ''Impollutable Pogo'' (1970) * ''Pogo: We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us'' (1972) * ''Ten Ever Lovin' Blue Eyed Years with Pogo'' 1949-1959 (1972) * ''Pogo Revisited'' (1974), a compilation of ''Instant Pogo'', ''The Jack Acid Society Black Book'' and ''The Pogo Poop Book'' * ''Pogo Re-Runs'' (1974), a compilation of ''I Go Pogo'', ''The Pogo Party'' and ''Pogo Extra (Election Special)'' * ''Pogo Romances Recaptured'' (1975), a compilation of ''Pogo: Prisoner of Love'' and ''The Incompleat Pogo'' * ''Pogo's Bats and the Belles Free'' (1976) * ''Pogo's Body Politic'' (1976) * ''A Pogo Panorama'' (1977), a compilation of ''The Pogo Stepmother Goose'', ''The Pogo Peek-A-Book'' and ''Uncle Pogo So-So Stories'' * ''Pogo's Double Sundae'' (1978), a compilation of ''The Pogo Sunday Parade'' and ''The Pogo Sunday Brunch'' * ''Pogo's Will Be That Was'' (1979), a compilation of ''G.O. Fizzickle Pogo'' and ''Positively Pogo'' * ''The Best of Pogo'' (1982) * ''Pogo Even Better'' (1984) * ''Outrageously Pogo'' (1985) * ''Pluperfect Pogo'' (1987) * ''Phi Beta Pogo'' (1989)


''Pogo'' books released by other publishers

All titles are by Walt Kelly unless otherwise noted: * ''Pogo for President: Selections from I Go Pogo'' ( Crest Books, 1964) * ''The Pogo Candidature'' by Walt Kelly and Selby Kelly ( Sheed, Andrews & McMeel, 1976) * Ten S&S volumes were reprinted in hardcover (Gregg Press, 1977): ''Pogo, I Go Pogo, Uncle Pogo So-So Stories, The Pogo Papers, The Pogo Stepmother Goose, The Incompleat Pogo, The Pogo Peek-A-Book, Potluck Pogo, Gone Pogo'', and ''Pogo à la Sundae''. Bound in brown cloth, with the individual titles and an "I Go Pogo" logo stamped in gold. The dust jackets are facsimiles of the original Simon & Schuster covers, with an image of Walt Kelly reproduced on the back. * ''The Walt Kelly Collector's Guide'' by Steve Thompson (Spring Hollow Books, 1988) * ''The Complete Pogo Comics: Pogo & Albert'' (
Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market. It was ...
, 1989–1990) 4 volumes (reprints of pre-strip comic book stories, unfinished) * ''Pogo Files for Pogophiles'' by Selby Daly Kelly and Steve Thompson, eds. (Spring Hollow Books, 1992) * Ten more S&S volumes reprinted in hardcover (Jonas/Winter Inc., 1995): ''The Pogo Sunday Book, Pogo's Sunday Punch, Beau Pogo, Pogo Puce Stamp Catalog, Deck Us All with Boston Charlie, The Return of Pogo, Prehysterical Pogo (in Pandemonia), Equal Time for Pogo, Impollutable Pogo'', and ''Pogo: We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us''. Bound in navy blue cloth, with the individual titles and a "Pogo Collectors Edition" logo stamped in gold. Issued without dust jackets. * ''Pogo'' (
Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...
, 1994–2000) 11 volumes (reprints first 5½ years of daily strips) * ''The Pogopedia'' by Nik Lauer, et al. (Spring Hollow Books, 2001) * ''We Go Pogo: Walt Kelly, Politics, and American Satire'' by Kerry D. Soper (
University Press of Mississippi The University Press of Mississippi, founded in 1970, is a publisher that is sponsored by the eight state universities in Mississippi. Universities * Alcorn State University *Delta State University *Jackson State University *Mississippi State U ...
, 2012) * ''Much Ado: The POGOfenokee Trivia Book'', Mark Burstein, Eclipse Books, 1988, . * ''Walt Kelly's Pogo: The Complete Dell Comics'' (
Hermes Press Hermes Press is an American publisher of art books, comic books, and comic book reprints. The company was founded in 2000 and is best known for their archival reprints of classic comic book and strip series and art books. History Hermes Press was ...
, 2013–2018) 6 volumes (reprints of pre-strip comic book stories)


''Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips''

In February 2007,
Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...
announced the publication of a projected 12-volume hardcover series collecting the complete chronological run of daily and full-color Sunday syndicated ''Pogo'' strips. The series began in 2011 under the title: * '' Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips''.


References


Further reading

* ''The Complete Nursery Song Book'', Inez Bertail, ed. (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1947) illustrated by Walt Kelly * ''Strong Cigars and Lovely Women'' by John Lardner (Funk & Wagnalls, 1951) illustrated by Walt Kelly * ''The Pleasure Was All Mine'' by Fred Schwed, Jr. (Simon & Schuster, 1951) illustrated by Walt Kelly * ''The Glob'' by John O'Reilly (Viking, 1952) illustrated by Walt Kelly * ''The Tattooed Sailor and Other Cartoons from France'' by André François (Knopf, 1953) Introduction by Walt Kelly * ''I'd Rather Be President'' by John Ellis and Frank Weir (Simon & Schuster, 1956) illustrated by Walt Kelly * ''The World of John Lardner'',
Roger Kahn Roger Kahn (October 31, 1927 – February 6, 2020) was an American author, best known for his 1972 baseball book '' The Boys of Summer''. Biography Roger Kahn was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 31, 1927, to Olga (''née'' Rockow) and ...
, ed. (Simon & Schuster, 1961) Preface by Walt Kelly * ''Dear George'' by John Keasler (Simon & Schuster, 1962) illustrated by Walt Kelly * ''Five Boyhoods'', Martin Levin, ed. (Doubleday, 1962) Walt Kelly autobiography, pp. 79–116 * ''The Funnies: An American Idiom'', David Manning White and Robert H. Abel, eds. (Free Press, 1963) * ''Art Afterpieces'' by
Ward Kimball Ward Walrath Kimball (March 4, 1914 – July 8, 2002) was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honore ...
(Pocket Books, 1964) Foreword by Walt Kelly * ''The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art'' by
Jerry Robinson Sherrill David Robinson (January 1, 1922 – December 7, 2011), known as Jerry Robinson, was an American comic book artist known for his work on DC Comics' Batman line of comics during the 1940s. He is best known as the co-creator of Robin (comic ...
(G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1974) * ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics'' by
Maurice Horn Maurice Horn (born 1931) is a French-American comics historian, author, and editor, considered to be one of the first serious academics to study comics. He is the editor of ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics'', ''The World Encyclopedia of Cartoon ...
(Chelsea House, 1976; Avon, 1982) * ''The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics'',
Bill Blackbeard William Elsworth Blackbeard (April 28, 1926 – March 10, 2011), better known as Bill Blackbeard, was a writer-editor and the founder-director of the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art, a comprehensive collection of comic strips and cartoon art fr ...
, ed. (Smithsonian Inst. Press/Harry Abrams, 1977) * ''A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics'', Michael Barrier and Martin Williams, eds. (Smithsonian Inst. Press/Harry Abrams, 1982) * ''America's Great Comic Strip Artists'' by
Rick Marschall Richard "Rick" Marschall (born February 3, 1949) Miller, John Jackson"Comics Industry Birthdays" ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', June 10, 2005. Accessed January 10, 2011. . is a writer/editor and comic strip historian, described by ''Bostonia'' magazine ...
(Abbeville Press, 1989) * ''Walt Kelly's Our Gang'' (Fantagraphics, 2006–2010) 4 volumes * ''Comics and the U.S. South'', Brannon Costello and Qiana J. Whitted, eds., pp. 29–56 (Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2012) * ''We Go Pogo: Walt Kelly, Politics and American Satire'' by Kerry D. Soper (Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2012) * ''The Life and Times of Walt Kelly'' by Thomas Andrae and Carsten Laqua (Hermes Press, 2012) * ''Peanuts, Pogo, and Hobbes: A Newspaper Editor's Journey through the World of Comics'' by George Lockwood (Syracuse University Press, 2013) * ''Walt Kelly and Pogo: The Art of the Political Swamp'' by James Eric Black (McFarland, 2015)


External links


Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Whirled of Kelly

Okefenokee Swamp Park—''Pogo'' and the Walt Kelly Museum


* ttp://ead.ohiolink.edu/xtf-ead/view?docId=ead/OhCoUCR0013.xml The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum: Pogo Collection guide
Official home of Okefenokee Glee & Perloo, Inc. (OGPI), owners works of Walt Kelly, esp. Pogo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pogo (Comic Strip) 1948 comics debuts 1975 comics endings Adult comics Children's comics American comic strips American comics characters Comics about animals Comics characters introduced in 1941 Comics about dogs Comics about rabbits and hares Comics about mice and rats Comics about birds Comics set in forests Fictional crocodilians Fictional opossums Fictional owls Fictional porcupines Fictional skunks Fictional turtles Comics about politics Satirical comics American satire Comics set in the United States