Fantagraphics rocked everyone’s world yesterday by announcing that they’re going to release volumes of Walt Kelly’s classic strop, Pogo!
Fantagraphics Books is pleased to announce that it has acquired the rights to publish a comprehensive series comprising Walt Kelly’s classic POGO comic strip. The first volume of Fantagraphics’ POGO will appear in October, 2007, and the series will run approximately 12 volumes, reproducing roughly two years of dailies and Sundays per volume.
This is excellent news for me, as I have only ever read Pogo in drips and drabs, whenever I was able to get my hands on small quantities of it. I will most certainly be getting these.
Recently I read a book about Herriman’s Krazy Kat, and what struck me there (as well as with Pogo) is how much these early strips play with language and dialect. (Include Popeye in there, also being collected by Fantagraphics.) Add that to the artistic experimentation of Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo and you get a level of sophistication and creativity that has barely been seen since.
This is quality stuff, and it’s so nice for it to be collected and in print. I can’t wait.
When I was a wee bairn I had a set of Pogo bath toys. Mind you, I don’t know if they were supposed to be bath toys, but they were hollow plastic figures that were waterproof. Oh wait – they talk about them here:
http://www.pogopossum.com/faq.htm
I was born in 1969, so I can only assume my Mom got them with the detergent and let me play with them. Had the whole set though. Very fond memories of pulling their heads off and filling their bodies with bathwater and pouring them back out. I was too young to know where they were from. I have no idea what happened to them, but I guess I can get a set fairly easily on ebay if I want to.
I’m also interested in this Fantagraphics collection as an adult, but I find it amusing that my introduction to Pogo was at bathtime.
My hometown was too far north to get a newspaper with Pogo in it, but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen. This would be on my list under Complete Peanuts but above Calvin and Hobbes (read the whole print run the first time through, anyway).
Did Fantagraphics ever get out of that financial hole they were in?
I remember the strip but for some reason I can remember a claymation TV show also. It was like a one episode thing though, in the late 70s or early 80s. Does anyone remember that?
I missed it, but Wikipedia agrees with you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogo#Animation
“In 1980, the motion picture I Go Pogo was released. Directed by Marc Paul Chinoy, this stop motion animation (or “Claymation”) picture featured the voices of Skip Hinnant as Pogo; Ruth Buzzi as Miz Beaver and Miss Mam’sell; Stan Freberg as Albert; Arnold Stang as Churchy; Jonathan Winters as Porky, Mole, and Wiley Catt; and Vincent Price as the Deacon. While some fans have embraced the movie, others have dismissed it (as with the Birthday Special) for lacking Kelly’s wit and charm.”
Pingback: Dave Ex Machina – A Thousand Points of Articulation » Let’s All Pogo!