Rarebit Fiend :: Kelly, Walt

Pogo 1951-09-30

Artist: Walt Kelly (All)

4 Comments - 4,670 Views - 1 Like

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strange signature

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Artwork Details

Title:	Pogo 1951-09-30
Artist:	Walt Kelly (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Comic Strip
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	4,670
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Comments:	4
Added to Site:	4/27/2010
Comic Art Archive:

Description

1951 (= second year) Sundays are beyond rare, and this must be one of the earliest Pogo Sundays in existence. No assistant�s work here.

At first sight, the signature in the second-to-last panel is quite unspectacular. But if you look closer, you can read something like �Willy Fliegus�, instead of �Walt Kelly�.

In early September 1951, Kelly�s signature had shown up less and less often, and on September 23, it disappeared altogether in favor of a string of wholly fanciful names: Kalt Welly, Wart Kerky, Hurty Gurdee, Orville Yonder, Gung Dinsmore, Motley Crewcutt, Tuppens Happeny, Dasty Bindle, Smead Fronty, and other laughable fabrications.

Kelly, in effect, refused to sign the strip as a way of protesting the Post Hall Syndicate�s ownership of the feature. Understandably, Kelly felt he should own his creation.

The artist knew that the disappearance of his familiar signature would make trouble for the syndicate. Almost at once, a flood of querulous mail from Pogo fans descended on the offices of the syndicate and the papers in which the strip appeared. The customers wanted to know what had happened to Walt Kelly? Why wasn�t he doing Pogo anymore? Who was Bipple Gooter?

Kelly�s plot was succesful. From January 1952 on, we can see the result of his clever lobbying as the Pogo strip now carries the artist�s own copyright.

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About the Owner

	Rarebit Fiend Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	February 2005
Last Login:	September 2025
Ebay Id:	rarebit-fiend
Country:	GERMANY
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Comments on this Artwork

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Miguel Marques
Member Since 2006

Posted on 5/4/2010

great strip :)

Jeff Singh
Member Since 2004

Posted on 11/3/2013

Very cool. I hadn't known about the signature until you posted it. That is a very interesting piece of history and adds another whole layer of greatness to this magnificent piece. I wouldn't go as far as putting Kelly on par with Herriman but he certainly was no slouch:) Great piece and thank you for the neat information about the signatures.

William B.
Member Since 2004

Posted on 12/20/2017

This is a wonderful one!

Davide G.
Member Since 2009

Posted on 1/27/2021

Nothing compares to Kelly and the fairy world he created with Pogo. Wonderful example!

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