Pogo

Pogo was the title of a long-running daily comic strip created by Walt Kelly, as well as the name of its principal character. Pogo, set in the Georgia section of the Okefenokee Swamp, often engaged in social and political satire through the adventures of the strip's funny animals. The strip also used much slapstick physical humor; the same series of strips could often be enjoyed by young children and by savvy adults on different levels.

Satire and politics

Kelly always used Pogo to comment on the human condition, and from time to time, this drifted into politics. Pogo ran for President (or was forced to run by his friends, although he never actually campaigned) in 1952, 1956, and 1960. Kelly used these fake campaigns as excuses to hit the stump himself for voter registration campaigns, with the slogan "Pogo says: If you can't vote my way, vote anyway, but VOTE!"

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Perhaps the most famous example of the strip's satirical edge came in 1953, when Kelly introduced a polecat character named "Simple J. Malarkey" -- a caricature of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Comic historians noted that this move showed significant courage on Kelly's part considering the influence the politician wielded at that time, and the possibility of potentially scaring away subscribing newspapers.

Related Topics:
1953 - Caricature - Joseph McCarthy - Newspaper

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As time went on, other popular figures found themselves caricaturized in the pages of Pogo. By the time the 1968 Presidential Campaign rolled around, it seemed the entire Swamp was populated by P.T. Bridgeport's "wind-up candidates," including representations of George Romney, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace, and Robert F. Kennedy. When the strips from this time were collected in Equal Time For Pogo, the Publisher wanted to edit out the strips including Kennedy's doppleganger, but Kelly insisted on keeping them in to pay honor to the slain candidate.

Related Topics:
George Romney - Ronald Reagan - Richard Nixon - Hubert Humphrey - George Wallace - Robert F. Kennedy

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In the early 1970's, Kelly used a collection of characters called the Bulldogs to mock the secrecy and paranoia of the Nixon Administration. The Bulldogs included dopplegangers of J. Edgar Hoover, John Mitchell, and Spiro Agnew. Always referred to, but never seen, was "The Chief," who we are led to believe was Nixon himself.

Related Topics:
J. Edgar Hoover - John Mitchell - Spiro Agnew

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When the strip was revived in 1989, Doyle and Sternecky attempted to recreate this tradition with an old moose that looked like Ronald Reagan, and a jackrabbit resembling George H. W. Bush.

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