As a child one of my delights was the daily comic strip Pogo by Walt Kelly. Fantagraphic Books is publishing a complete hardbound collection of the strips that ran from October 4, 1948 until 1972. Volume 1, Through the Wild Blue Wonder, covering 1949 and 1950, appeared in 2011. We are now up to volume 4: Under the Bamboozle Bush, treating the years 1955 and 1956. The editors expect to produce twelve volumes, trusting that the market will support that many pages of vernacular squabbling among the animal denizens of Okefenokee Swamp, Pogo Possum, Porky Pine, Albert Alligator, and the gang.
Explaining the appeal of a childhood favorite to someone who knew it not is no doubt fruitless. Kelly had a dark view of human nature but a gentle touch. His talking animals are as far away from
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