Pogo (comic strip): Difference between revisions

 

 

 

[[Print Long Runners|Long-running]] (1948-1975, plus a brief late-1980s revival) newspaper comic starring Pogo Possum, Albert Alligator, Churchy La Femme, Miz Beaver and other [[Talking Animal|talking animals]] in Georgia's Okeefenokee Swamp. Starting from a fairy-tale-esque comic book and quickly moving to the newspapers, the strip became one of the all-time comic strip classics. Creator Walt Kelly, a former [[Disney]] animator, filled his strip with dozens, if not hundreds, of characters, all with distinct personalities, motivations and goals that would frequently collide. Kelly's ear for dialect and language, in addition to his skill with nonsense poetry, has been compared to [[Mark Twain]] and [[Ogden Nash]].

While superficially a silly comic about [[Funny Animal|funny animals]], the strip was also a satire -- subtle and, well, not -- about modern times, and frequently delved into politics -- so much so that ''Pogo'' often found itself the target of criticism and censorship. In such cases, Kelly often responded in kind; for instance, by placing a paper bag over the head of a controversial character (based on Senator Joseph McCarthy) when a newspaper said that they would drop the strip if his face ever appeared again. Later, he would write "fluffy bunny" versions of his Sunday strips, featuring rabbit characters engaging in simple slapstick, whose real purpose was to inform the readers that their local newspaper was censoring its comics page.

 

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[Art Evolution]]: Again, varies by the character, but the biggest changes occurred in the strip's ''New York Star'' run prior to national syndication.

* [[Cannot Tell a Joke]]: Porkypine.

* [[Carnivore Confusion]]: The animals swing between having a fairly relaxed attitude towards carnivorism and treating it as cannibalism. In the comic's earlier days, Albert would sometimes swallow other animals by mistake (they were usually saved at the end) or be accused of eating whoever was missing at the time. The villains of the strip were more obviously carnivorous.

* [[Cerebus Syndrome]]: The strip always had a satirical bent, but got a lot more political as time went on. By the end it was basically ''Doonesbury'' with talking animals.

* [[Characterization Marches On]]: In the early days, before the strip was nationally syndicated, Pogo was the stupidest cast member and was easily taken advantage of by the other characters.

* [[Cigar Chomper]]: Albert

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Most of the characters have their moments of this, but none more than Churchy La Femme.

* [[Cunning Like a Fox]]: Seminole Sam, generally a con-man.

* [[Deep South]]: The deepest.

* [[Humanlike Foot Anatomy]]

* [[Insane Troll Logic]]: Par for the course. For example, when Albert is on trial for eating Pup-Dog, Seminole Sam notes that Pup-Dog was fond of water, "jus' like a fish," and produces a fish skeleton that he claims is Pup-Dog's. Porkypine refutes him by noting that it's a ''cat''fish skeleton.

* [[Lighter and Softer]]: Kelly would occasionally produce alternate strips (which he called the "bunny strips") with "safer" gags that more timid newspaper editors could run when the regular strips got too political.

* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: Thousands.

* [[The Magic Poker Equation]]: Parodied with the three bats. Six aces tended to be a losing hand.

* [[Never Heard That One Before]]: One strip has a ladybug who's tired of always being told to "fly away home."

* [[Never Smile At a Crocodile]]: Averted with Albert.

* [[Only Sane Man]]: Pogo and Porkypine were frequently the only two sane characters in an environment where, e.g., a rabbit can be celebrating all known holidays at the start of the year to save time, an owl and a turtle might develop advertising slogans for dirt ("D as in dirt! I as in dirt! R as in dirt! T as in orange pekoe!") while, at the same time, an alligator is plotting to make his fortune and retire to the Sunny Bermoothies ("Land of the onion and the eel!") by ordering a million boxes of dirt with a penny-a-box discount, and then return the boxes. Sanity is very definitely an optional extra in the swamp.

* [[The Owl-Knowing One]]: Gloriously [[Subverted]] and parodied with Howland Owl, who ''thinks'' he's a genius and is repeatedly shown to be an enormous fool even by Okeefenokee standards.

* [[Punny Name]]: Oh so many. Starting with Churchy La Femme.

* [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent]]: A rare aversion. Albert Alligator, while generally lazy and having accidentally swallowed a cast member or two, and at times getting duped into working for any miscreants, is still generally a nice guy.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Newspaper Comics]]

[[Category:Print Long Runners]]

[[Category:Pogo]]