Friday, July 31, 2009

Gbnxt Vbq Pztbnd !


My spell-check just blew a fuse on that title. Do ya think the FBI got their code guys working on this one?

But He's a Chicken


Strange little story line.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

My Big Brother


Gonna Have a Fight


Which 1966-67 world leader is this little Prince of Pompadoodle with a Hi, L (heil) salute? He has a uniform similar to Marshal Tito, but that makes no sense. Seems like a big white horse ought to be a clue, but, I dunno. A lot of this phase of satire goes over my head. But my interest is more in Kelly's art, and boy, the art shore is purty.

Gadzoox! A Happy Kapootle!


Meanwhile, back home, business as usual. And not one yellow background!

Worst Thing in the World


Hy, L!

Okay, so now who is this little chicken? He appeared several times in Kelly pieces as the Prince of Pompadoodle, but here he appears to take on a semi-specific satirical guise. One clue is his use of the heil (Hy, L) sign, which he will do at least one more time. The German Chancellor at the time had some connection to the Nazi party during the war, but I don't know. Maybe a Soviet reference? I'm just not familiar with the source of this particular satire.  Anyone?

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

King Kanute is a Marvel


This Sunday strip demonstrates effectively the difference that coloration makes. 

First, the obvious, comparing it to the art, sans color, posted below. The black and white ink work is magnificent, but color breathes in  life and atmosphere.

Secondly, notice how the panel backgrounds have a variety of color, as opposed to many of the Sundays having the same bland yellow backgrounds. This strip has a feeling of richness and texture (and of course it helps that the whale is so beautifully rendered) and personally I love the SPLORSH panel.

I don't know what those little black dots are all over the color strip. They're part of the printing, but I don't see them as being registration marks, yet they are deliberate by some print directive.

Oh, and Jim, the dove appears to be a proper white. This strip seems more like Kelly had a hand in coloring, hmm?


You're Anything But Safe


Y'gotta really stretch your mind to understand what Kelly's referring to. Hmmm, gotta smell the winner's breath...hmm.

This was extra art for the book, it was not a daily strip. Notice how detail of the lion has subsided.

You Keep Being Warned

Monday, July 27, 2009

Aah... Baloney


This lion is an homage of sorts to T.S. Sullivant, one of Kelly's great early influences. Speaking of assessment, toward the end of the Pandemonia arc we'll do some assessing of this series, Kelly and his art and we'll showcase a bit of Sullivant.

HAW ! . . .


Outstanding line work, outstanding lion work. This beast is a beauty.

And I shudder to think where Churchy's been carrying that photo all this time.

The Wise Old Lion


Zowie again.

Does Not LOOK Like a Planet


Plinkety Plinkety Plangk!


In some ways, Kelly was just an old vaudevillian.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

All of Us Men are Brave and True


What this gorgeous Sunday may lack in cuteness, it more than makes up for in zowie-ness. Out of  20 years of Pogo Sundays, this was another of the very few that didn't have a tree or trees behind the logo.

Wow.

This'n Keep Comin' Back

Sometimes ya got to wonder what motivated or inspired Kelly to come up with the ideas for certain individual strips that get inserted in the midst of larger storylines.

Friday the 13th


Ain't in Tick? Not in the Rosey?


That airplane is so believably drawn.

A Ruddy Electric


Saturday, July 25, 2009

Eminent Aircraft Topsarge


How many cartoonists could or would draw complete airplanes, not just on one day's strip, but several, from different angles, in complete detail? And as far as I can tell, over the years, Steve Canyon's Milton Caniff was the 2nd most often referenced real person, Charles Schulz being the #1.

Lookin' Sure-Fire Foolish


Some Indefinable Minor Detail


Jim, I just know you want to take issue with the dove's coloration, but I think Kelly likes color and is just having fun?

Stiffen the Lizards


As the last post indicated, this portion of a strip was in the paper only, not in the book.

Middle of the Outback


This is actually one strip split into two posts. The reason being is that this half was printed in the paper and the book, and the 2nd half, in the next post, was printed in the paper only. They had to edit somewhere, y'know.

The Dinkum Drum


Thursday, July 23, 2009

The New Owlian Calendar


In just a few weeks of real-time, we've come around to one year of posts of Pogo in Pandemonia.

We're not done by any means, but ladies and gentlemen, we have started our descent—in preparation for landing, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. No, no, really, we still have a ways to go.

This is another nice 'back home' strip. I really like this calendar of Owl's, especially the six months of October. 

A Bamgok Silk Gem Tie


If Y'Wunta 'Schange It


New Year Ree-solution




Wednesday, July 22, 2009

A Fresh Set of Commandments?


Allus Was a Fore-Thinker


Muted Subtility and Deepity


Man, Kelly got mileage out of that carol this season.

Aw


In the midst of the Vietnam War and the Cold War, what mother wouldn't love a card like that?

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Lotsa Folks is Away


Our Christmas Card


One of Kelly's most famous panels. I think I remember seeing it reprinted in Time Magazine.

Help Him Find Hisself


What a perfect portrait of a kid's room.

A Upside Down Ant Hill


Monday, July 20, 2009

What is this Christmas You Talk About


This is one of my favorite daily Pandemonia strips. The unicorn looks great, the message is good, the last panel is so unusual for a Pogo strip, and look there--we see Doc without his topper--well, sorta.

Uncle Knobknut


Upside Down Sorta

Sorry, I got distracted. This is the extra panel that goes with the last post, courtesy of and thanks to Ger Apeldoorn.