We hope you've enjoyed our sneak peek at our Fall 2009 - Winter 2010 schedule of releases! Today's final excerpt from our latest book distributor's catalog, taking you through March of next year, includes Temperance, Cathy Malkasian's follow-up to the acclaimed Percy Gloom; The Search for Smilin' Ed by Kim Deitch; and Our Gang Vol. 4, continuing to collect Walt Kelly's 1940s kids' comic. (Note that all the info in this catalog is subject to change along the way to the books' release, including release dates, prices, cover art, book specs, etc.) Click here to download the PDF!

"In my opinion, Walt Kelly had only two peers in the pantheon department, Winsor McKay and George Herriman." - Garry Trudeau

Walt Kelly's Pogo
Original Strips 1948-1972

Friday, February 6, 5-8pm
Exhibition reception in conjunction with White River Junction's First Friday

CCS is proud to exhibit work by one of the greatest cartoonists of the 20th century. With Pogo, Walt Kelly (1913-1973) combined unparalleled brushwork, honed from years as a Disney animator, with superb storytelling acted out by an endearing cast of characters. Borrowing from various dialectical sources and his own fertile imagination, Kelly invented a unique and charming backwoods-patois to fit his cartoon swampland. Although Pogo stands on its own as a superbly-realized cartoon strip for the ages, it was perhaps Kelly's interjection of political and social satire into the work that was its greatest pioneering accomplishment - such commentary was simply not done in the genre of dailies in Kelly's time.

Many thanks to Garry Trudeau for his generous support for this exhibition and to The Herb Block Foundation.

The Center for Cartoon Studies
94 South Main Street, White River Junction, Vermont

• Interview: On the Comicon.com message boards, Jennifer M. Contino gets all the Usagi Yojimbo scoop from Stan Sakai

• Things to see: The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog re-runs a great article on Walt Kelly

• Things to see: A hilarious doodle by Steven Weissman

• Things to see: A page from Doug Wolk's con sketchbook by Jordan Crane

• Things to see: On the Covered blog, Richard Sala takes on Batman #197

Got some extra links from Eric today:

• The Village Voice looks at Petey & Pussy by John Kerschbaum and The Lagoon by Lilli Carré

• Dr. K calls Petey & Pussy "vile and wrong" in the nicest way possible

• CMJ and the Philadelphia City Paper both feature Town of Mirrors by Robert Pollard

• The Gosh! Comics Blog blurbs Krazy & Ignatz 1925-1934 and 1935-1944

• Dark Worlds enjoys our collections of Walt Kelly's Our Gang

• Rip Post presents a bunch of Dave Cooper's recent artwork

• At Comicon.com, Jennifer M. Contino interviews Kevin Huizenga

Our Gang Vol. 3
By Walt Kelly

Walt Kelly created dozens of Our Gang stories by the end of its 59-issue run in 1949, the year he quit comic books to switch careers a final time — as syndicated artist/writer on the immortal newspaper strip, Pogo.

In Our Gang’s third volume, Kelly begins to hit his stride by relying more on original ideas than following trite MGM scripts which had lacked in charm since the departure of producer Hal Roach in 1938. Keeping alive the wit that had been absent from the film series, this volume contains eight adventures of the mainstay offbeat personas as well as other whimsical characters, from mad scientists to eccentric animals. Suitable for adults and children alike, the work has been lovingly restored from the original comic books, giving Kelly’s art a renewed four-color splendor. With an all-new cover by Jeff Smith (Bone).

96-page full-color 7" x 10" softcover • $14.99
Add to Cart • Read More...

Our third preview of the day is of Our Gang Vol. 3 by Walt Kelly. This book is due in July and is now available for pre-order! Watch the video above and click here for a gallery of preview photos.