Betrayed a Public Trust

1971, Kelly still had his drawing abilities, but the characters had evolved a slightly different look to them — perhaps akin to aging, like we human beans tend to do. Pogo looks 'off' in a couple of panels here, and in those days Pogo didn't have much to say or do, not really adding much to Kelly's burlesque, even as a straight-man. Albert emoted a lot of histrionics, and had some angular features. I detect some possible art assistance here...perhaps Selby? Yet for us Pogo fans, each strip was still worth it's weight in newsprint.

January 17, 1971

How Far is "Up"?

Ayup, here's a nice rendering of Miggle's Market. The colors are pleasantly muted and almost registered. Altogether, a nice looking Sunday strip. Happy Sunday, Kelly Sunday!

April 23, 1972

A Triple Star Darb

April 16, 1972

I hate to admit ignorance on anything, but right up front I can tell you I had no idea what a darb is, or was. Doing a quick google, though, gave me this:

darb is an Americanism probably nearly obsolete today, a slang word from the 1920s meaning "something or someone very handsome, valuable, attractive, or otherwise excellent." Synonyms of darb: amazing, bizarre, boss, curious, exceptional, fab, fantastic, flash, gnarly, heavy, inconceivable, incredible, marvelous, odd, outstanding, particular, peculiar, phenomenal, primo, rare, remarkable, singular, special, strange, stupendous, surprising, terrific, uncommon, unfamiliar, unheard-of, unimaginable, unique, unprecedented, unthinkable, unusual, weird, wicked, wonderful, zero cool.

Who knew?

I can just imagine the young Kelly using the word and then saving it for 40 some years to drop into this strip.

And ayep, Howland actually got one over on Miggle.

Being' A Bonafide U.S. Gentleman

A lesson for all us ugly Americans.

Happy Sunday, Kelly Sunday!

November 29, 1970

Ding! Dang! Aaaargh!

This particular page had a lot of color bleed-thru from the other side, and I was able to get rid of some of it, but I ran out of time to do the whole cleanup. Still, it doesn't look too bad.

November 22, 1970

Ain't Only One Frog in the World, Y'Know

I'm pret-ty darn busy, but not so much as to miss a Sunday, Kelly Sunday greeting to you all. I've got a lot to share soon's I can.

July 7, 1971

Run Like a Summerin' Finch

I have to post the Pogo Sunday strip tonight, Saturday nite, cuz I won't be available on Sunday morning. I know how some of you beat it over here on Sunday morns, and I would hate to disappoint anyone.

Besides the usual love of Kelly's art and his characters' shenanigans, I love how the Pogo logo is nestled in the middle of that summer grass. Not many cartoonists of that era took the time to do things like that.

Happy Sunday, Kelly Sunday!

In Durance Vile

I've heard from some few of you, passionately no less, to keep flinging these posts up to the 'net, but there's so many folks not heard from. Really? You don't mind if these full-color Kelly wonders go away? Oh, I'll finish up this arc, no matter what, but after that . . . well, I need to know that more than a few followers are really following. Peter Wheat? You're not gonna miss more Peter Wheats?

Fire-House Five Minus Three

Yes, still part of the same, long, on-going arc, a Kelly phee-nomanon!

Actually, now that I look at this closely, I wonder if it was a mistake in the next to last panel that Howland has the firehat on and is doling out water—that should have been Bun Rab! Perhaps Kelly was daydreaming and didn't notice or care what he was doing. And who woulda had the dagnab bluster to call him on it. Ding ding.

Justice At All Costs

Well, we skipped a Sunday here, cuz it was already posted back to'ard the end of July, cuz it had nothin' to do with this storyline, as this storyline races ahead with A-bandon.

All Kinds Laws

Yep, the story is still amblin' and ramblin' on. Keep toonin' in.

A Indentured Servant

A old tried, true and tested joke for Kelly, at least once performed with a egg, back in the strip's younger days.

Shootin' Dice an' Smokin' Mary-Wanna

I feel just awful in telling you that I seem to be missing the Sunday strip between this one and the last post. I really think I have it somewhere, but it is so mislaid. Argh and rowrbazzle, sorry about that.

A Bonafide Steal

From week to week, my newspaper would change formats on all the comics. You'd never know whether it'd be tabloid, 3 tier, or sometimes 2 tier, knocking off the whole top row. With this format, at least you got an extra panel than otherwise. In this case the one of Beauregard and Miggle striding along.

Color notes:

Now the brown of Howland and Beauregard is washed out.

Churchy is green again, but a different shade than all his years before.

Blue and green are dominant, not very harmoniously.

But, you know, everythin' startin' to come back to normalcy of sorts.

Miggle's Used Cow Lot

Looking at this strip, you might think that our arc is done. But no, we're sorta on a detour, sorta drivin' along without a map. 'At's okay, Kelly can take us wheremever he wants.

Color notes:

Well, it's lookin' a li'l more normal, but what the heck with Mr. Miggle's green gillfeathers and hands? Somebody's making executive decisions here.

Again, there's just so little harmony in the overall color palette.

The art is still really good—those cows are a hoot.

A Quick Dexterable Lunge

Kelly's losing interest in the Oldest Man in the World Contest by now, though we're not completely done with it, as you'll see next post. In the meantime . . .

3,500 Bees to a Pound

Kelly's storylines could get distracted from six ways to yonder.

Piddy Piddy Piddy

Okay, now things are startin' to get lively . . .

Yep, piddy lively.

Sorry About That, Chief

What's so rare as a day in June? Mr. Miggle not coming out on top of the situation.

One of the catch phrases of this period of time was "Sorry about that, Chief," which of course was from the hit TV show Get Smart.

Tread water for a bit, the action is just over the horizon.

Rocketin' On to 250

It's starting out a bit slow, but believe me, this arc will get funnier.