American animator and cartoonist best known for the classic funny animal comic strip, Pogo. He won the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award in 1951 for Cartoonist of the Year, and their Silver T-Square Award in 1972, given to persons having "demonstrated outstanding dedication or service to the Society or the profession."
Lovely collection of Pogo from the tail end of the Fifties, when the Cold War loomed overhead. Walt Kelly treats those "alien" Russians--seals who arrive in a kind of outerspace beachball, and a Khrushchevian Bear--with a sardonic humor that bounces right back at our all-American denizens of the swamp.
I don’t know if this was particularly good or if it’s just growing on me, but I’m now getting a new appreciation for Pogo. It’s super cute and super funny.
Beau Pogo is a collection of Walt Kelly daily Pogo strips from 1959-60 with some extra illustrations and embellishments by Kelly. More silliness (and seriousness) from the Okeefenoke Swamp with a special appearance by Nikita Khrushchev in the form of a bear (doesn’t he show up later in the form of a pig). Kelly’s humor, wordplay and gorgeous art holds up well after all these years. Highly recommended.