Category Archives: Best Comics Poll Top Ten

#8: Pogo, Walt Kelly

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Lenny Bruce will always get credit for having house-invaded the Fifties, but the satirists who threw the bricks through the front window and gadflied the powerful were saloon comics like Mort Sahl, folkies like the Kingston Trio and the Limelighters, that sublimest of television shows, Rocky and Bullwinkle (still state of the art “kids” teevee), and three cartoonists: Jules Feiffer, Herblock, and mainly Walt Kelly. Pogo was Doonesbury before the name. Kelly, who came to panel cartooning with a Disney pedigree (he worked on Pinocchio), understood that the only defense of humanism against the ideologues was irony. He went after Joe McCarthy unprotected and was prophetic in seeing that the problem was Tailgunner Joe. And so? The Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam, Watergate, Reagan and Irangate, the Savings and Loan fiasco, Iraq I and II, the Clinton Impeachment, the present economic crises, and the Tea Party—where is he when we need him?

J. T. Barbarese is an Associate Professor of English at Rutgers University.

Pogo, by Walt Kelly, received 24 votes.

The poll participants who included it in their top ten are: J. T. Barbarese, Robert Beerbohm, Alice Bentley, Kurt Busiek, Brian Codagnone, Dave Coverly, Francis DiMenno, Jackie Estrada, Andrew Farago, Larry Feign, Bob Fingerman, Larry Gonick, Diana Green, Sam Henderson, Kenneth Huey, John MacLeod, Eugenio Nittolo, Rick Norwood, Stephanie Piro, Kenneth Smith, Tom Stiglich, Ty Templeton, Jason Thompson, and Mark Tonra.

Walt Kelly’s Pogo began with the story “Albert Takes the Cake” in Animal Comics, published in 1942. The story introduced Pogo Possum and Albert Alligator. This was the beginning of a regular comic-book feature that continued in Animal Comics and other titles through 1948.

On October 4, 1948, Pogo was launched as a daily newspaper strip in the New York Star, a left-leaning newspaper for which Kelly worked as art director and provided editorial cartoons. This initial run continued until the newspaper stopped publishing on January 28, 1949. On May 16, 1949, the strip was relaunched under the auspices of the Post-Hall Syndicate.

During this time the comic-book feature continued in its own title, Pogo Possum, which began in 1949 and continued until 1954. With its end, Pogo became a newspaper-only comic. It continued for the next three decades.

In 1972, Walt Kelly became seriously ill. During this time, the strip was largely restricted to reprints. After he died on October 18, 1973, the strip was continued by his widow Selby Daley Kelly and others until its cancellation on July 20, 1975.

There have been dozens of Pogo collections and other books published over the years. None are in print at this time. The best one-volume introduction is probably Selby Daley Kelly and Steve A. Thompson’s Pogo Files for Pogophiles, published in 1992. It can be found in many public libraries.

–Robert Stanley Martin

Best Comics Poll Index

#9: MAD #1-28, Harvey Kurtzman & Will Elder, Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, et al.

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It’s a funny thing, but as with many of the great cartoonists, Harvey Kurtzman’s work is far better known than the artist who created it. His most famous creation, MAD, long ago transcended the medium that spawned it, becoming a fixture of American culture and among the most influential sources of comedic humor in the late twentieth century. Fittingly, MAD was both a way for Kurtzman to exercise his talents . . . and to make a buck. Frustrated that others in the EC Comics stable were earning more than he, Kurtzman approached his publisher, William Gaines, who offered the cartoonist the opportunity to come up with another comic book title. Kurtzman tapped into his own satiric streak and used this new forum first to send up the medium in which he worked, and then, in short order, the rest of American culture.

MAD mocked comic books, television programs, films, advertising, and everything else that populated the common consciousness. It was eventually upsized from a comic book to a magazine format, and all-too-soon, Kurtzman was out as editor after a business dispute with Gaines. Nearly six decades later, MAD is still in production and still carries the tone set by Kurtzman’s initial parodies. Kurtzman would go on to try his hand at additional humor magazines, but none came close to enjoying MAD’s success.

Kurtzman’s talents weren’t just limited to humor. He single-handedly redefined what war comics could be with his other two EC titles, Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat. Painstaking research brought to the comics page historically accurate accounts of conflicts ranging from gladiatorial bouts to aerial dogfights. However, the stories did not glorify the battles. Rather, Kurtzman’s realistic portrayals of the harsh realities of conflict offered sobering commentary on war’s folly.

Since I began to teach a course on comics several years ago, I’ve consistently included a selection of Kurtzman’s work among the “must read” assignments. Indeed, I feel I would be remiss to teach a course about the medium and not address the lasting contributions of this largely unsung but enormously influential cartoonist. Last year, I added to my required readings list a well-crafted book of biography and analysis, The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics. by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle. I recommend it for anyone who wants to learn more about Kurtzman and his contribution to American comics history.

Matthew J. Smith, Ph.D., is a professor of Communication at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, where he teaches courses in “Graphic Storytelling,” “The Graphic Novels of Alan Moore,” and “The Field Study at Comic-Con” (www.powerofcomics.com/fieldstudy). Along with Randy Duncan, he is co-author of The Power of Comics: History, Form and Culture (Continuum, 2009) and co-editor on the forthcoming Critical Approaches to Comics (Routledge, 2011).

NOTES

Harvey Kurtzman’s tenure on MAD received 23.5 votes.

The poll participants who included it in their top ten are: J. T. Barbarese, Terry Beatty, Alex Buchet, Francis DiMenno, Jackie Estrada, Andrew Farago, Larry Feign, Shaenon K. Garrity, Richard Gehr, Larry Gonick, Steve Greenberg, Danny Hellman, Sam Henderson, Carol Lay, Jay Lynch, Scott Marshall, Pat Moriarity, John L. Roberson, Johnny Ryan, Kevin Scalzo, Shannon Blake Skelton, Matthew J. Smith, Ryan Standfest, Ty Templeton, Mike Vosburg, and Karl Wills.

Steve Greenberg voted for the material illustrated by Jack Davis.

J. T. Barbarese, Richard Gehr, Larry Gonick, Kevin Scalzo, and Karl Wills voted for the material illustrated by Will Elder.

John L. Roberson voted for the material illustrated by Will Elder or Wallace Wood.

Larry Feign and Ty Templeton voted for the story “Superduperman,” by Harvey Kurtzman and Wallace Wood.

Carol Lay voted for the EC Comics edited by Harvey Kurtzman, which resulted in a 0.5 vote for Kurtzman’s MAD.

Danny Hellman and Pat Moriarity both voted for illustrator Wallace Wood’s work for EC Comics, which resulted in a 0.333 vote each for MAD under Kurtzman.

Johnny Ryan voted for MAD by “UGoI” [the Usual Gang of Idiots]. This covers MAD’s entire run, resulting in a 0.333 vote for Kurtzman’s tenure.

Harvey Kurtzman’s work on MAD as writer, layout artist, editor, and art director encompasses the first 28 issues of the publication. Issue #1 is cover-dated October-November 1952, and #28’s date is July 1956. (The first 23 issues were in the comic-book pamphlet format; #24-28 were published as full-size magazines.) Apart from an out-of-print four-volume hardcover reprinting in 1985, and a magazine-format reprint in the late 1990s (both of only the first 23 issues), Kurtzman’s work on the title has never been collected in one place. However, the material has been widely reprinted in MAD book collections alongside efforts postdating Kurtzman’s tenure. Many MAD books contain at least some Kurtzman material. The easiest way to see if a reprinted MAD story is from Kurtzman’s time is to look at the story byline. If Kurtzman’s name is there, you are looking at work that contributed to this ranking in the poll.

The most widely available book featuring material from Kurtzman’s MAD is The Smithsonian Book of Comic Book Comics, which can be found in many public libraries. The anthology includes “Superduperman,” Kurtzman and Wallace Wood’s famous parody of Superman, and “Howdy Dooit,” Kurtzman and Will Elder’s lampoon of the Howdy Doody TV show and commercial children’s television programming.

–Robert Stanley Martin

Best Comics Poll Index

#10: The Fantastic Four, by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, with Joe Sinnott, et al.

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On the cover of the third issue of The Fantastic Four, published in early 1962, Marvel proclaimed it “The Greatest Comic Magazine in the World!!” That’s a bold statement, but, as Dizzy Dean once told reporters, “It ain’t bragging if you can back it up.”

Stan Lee wasn’t bragging. By the end of the first issue, cover dated November 1961, we’d been introduced to Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Girl, The Thing, and The Human Torch, a semi-dysfunctional superhero family for the Atomic Age. And the Mole Man and Monster Island were along for that initial adventure, too. Within a year, Lee and Kirby had laid the foundation for an entire universe. By the end of their fifth year, they’d created dozens of characters who are still at the heart of the Marvel Universe five decades later. No superhero comic before or since has approached the level of innovation these two managed on a monthly basis. Of course, you might argue that Jack Kirby’s Fourth World at DC or Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man came pretty close. But heck, those are still Lee and Kirby projects, so they still come out on top.

Lee and Kirby’s The Fantastic Four had adventure. It had humor. It had romance. Pathos. Wit. Charm. And frequently all within the same story. The Fantastic Four #51, “This Man, This Monster,” is probably the single greatest Marvel comic of all time. Which follows one of the great three-part stories of all-time, “The Galactus Trilogy.” Which really benefits from reading the Inhumans story that leads into it. And it would be a shame not to keep reading forward with the two-parter that introduces The Black Panther. And for gosh sakes, that’s only a stone’s throw from the ultimate Silver Surfer vs. Doctor Doom battle. There’s a good 20-issue run of nothing but high points once Joe Sinnott starts inking, too, although there’s a fun, anything goes atmosphere to the first issues, right out of the gate.

You know, they weren’t fooling around when they called this “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine,” after all.

Andrew Farago is the curator of the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, California.

NOTES

The Fantastic Four by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby received 22.333 votes.

The poll participants who included it in their top ten are: Terry Beatty, Kim Deitch, Randy Duncan, Andrew Farago, Craig Fischer, Richard Gehr, Larry Gonick, Geoff Grogan, Greg Hatcher, Danny Hellman, Sean Kleefeld, Larry Marder, Ben Marra, Scott Marshall, Gary Spencer Millidge, Tim O’Neil, Michael Pemberton, Martin Rebas, Hans Rickheit, Kevin Scalzo, Val Semeiks, Scott Shaw!, and Matthew J. Smith.

Craig Fischer specifically voted for The Fantastic Four story “…And One Shall Save Him!”.

Kim Deitch specifically voted for the Marvel Universe stories drawn by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Bill Everett. This resulted in a 0.333 vote for Lee & Kirby’s The Fantastic Four.

Stan Lee & Jack Kirby’s run on The Fantastic Four was originally featured in issues #1-102 of the newsstand comics magazine. The cover dates are from November 1961 to September 1970. The most convenient place to read the stories today is the first five volumes of Marvel’s Essential Fantastic Four trade paperback series. Almost all of the stories Andrew Farago refers to above appear in volumes 3 and 4.

–Robert Stanley Martin

Best Comics Poll Index