Of all the comic strips that dominated the landscape in the mid century, Pogo stood head and shoulders above them. Not only was it extremely popular, but Walt Kelly’s influence on everything from Doonesbury to Alan Moore (issue #32 of Saga of the Swamp Thing was an amazing homage to Pogo) can not be over emphasized. Kelly was truly a giant on the comics scene with the language, characters and political commentary. So, it is with great excitement that I purchased the Volume 1 of  Pogo: The Complete Daily & Sunday Strips. For anyone who loves comic strips, this is easily the book of the year. Let’s check in why.

Not only do you get the first (almost) two years of Pogo, the book (edited by R. C. Harvey) also has a short biography of Walk Kelly by Steve Thompson, Harvey talks about some of the cultural references behind some of the strips (for those of us who are a little too young to know them) and a nice forward by Jimmy Breslin. But, the real prize of the book is the beginning of Pogo. From the beginning, we have the huge cast of characters, the swamp language that made Pogo famous and the fun stories. The political satire really didn’t start in Pogo until the Simple J Malarky series in 1953, but the social satire was there from the beginning.

We have Pogo the Possum, Albert the Alligator, Seminole Sam, Beauregard Bugleboy, Churchy LaFemme and Howland Owl among others.The strips have several one off funny strips and a few longer running storylines (such as the kidnapping of Pogo). Kelly’s use of language, misunderstanding and art make for a beautiful package.

Looking at the art, you can see it’s a beautiful mixture of whimsey and action drawn exquisitely. You can easily “read” the strip without looking at any of the dialogue. The action shown of Howland Owl and Churchy LaFemme in panels 4 and 5 are amazing as you can easily see what they are doing while their inherent silly manner is still evident.

I’m excited to have this, the first of 12 (yes 12) books in the series. It’s going to get a bit pricey, but with Pogo, I’m willing to spend a little. This book shows a great beginning for a classic strip. Highly Recommended.