1968 Pogo Brilliance That Stands Strong Today

What can be said about Walt Kelly's "Pogo" that cannot already be said? Any collection of "Pogo" is worth its weight in gold and "Equal Time for Pogo" is no exception. It is one of the more thin collections, but at 128 pages, there is plenty of material.

This is one of Kelly's decidedly political collections, written for newspapers during the 1968 presidential primaries. As such, Kelly caricatures a number of politicians, including incumbent non-candidate Lyndon Johnson, Republican candidates Richard Nixon and George Romney, and Democratic candidates Hubert Humphrey and Robert Kennedy. These politicians are so well represented. What amazes me as a reader in 2016 is just how similar these politicians are to today's politicians. The policy changes slightly, but there are still the same old mechanics behind the scenes, hence Kelly's use of a train to represent the "same old party line," wind-up dolls to stand in for predictable politicians, and even a gallant knight in shining armor. We can find all these same caricatures in politics today. This makes Kelly's work timeless.

The art is brilliant. The swamps and forests are lush and verdant, the houses rickety, and the characters vivid. Because of the quality of the art, it is easy to read emotions and fun to look for emotional cues or sight gags in the backgrounds. This edition, like other similar editions from Simon and Schuster, is a good size.

If the art is brilliant, the writing is genius. Young readers will love the dialogue which is filled with wonderful accents and believable nonsense words. Older readers will love wordplay too, along with the numerous double meanings.

"Equal Time for Pogo" is a great collection, as are any of these older collections, whether used or new. ( )

This is primarily strips of a political turn, and introduces LBJ, this time as a Texas Longhorn, and all the rest of the 1968 candidates for President. The ending sequence has a particular hilarity and charm. ( )

A 1995 hardcover Collector's Edition reprint of the original paperback. ( )