I loved the art but the southern hillbilly language made this almost impossible for me to read. I finally gave up 20 pages in.

The cartoons collected here simply don't hold up. I vaguely remember Pogo, my mother was a great fan, I even had a little plastic Pogo figurine when I was a child but I was expecting something more along the lines of Will Rogers - home spun witticism with pointed social commentary. Possibly because this collection focuses on a specific long-ago election season the references just fall flat.

Sorry to say I didn't enjoy this one at all.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Walt Kelly brought us Pogo to provide nonsense and rhyme that entertains years later. I Go Pogo brings together the strips from 1952 when Eisenhower was running for President and "I like Ike" was all the rage. Folks in the Okefenokee Swamp decided their perfect candidate would be Pogo, despite the stuff with the cowbirds. However, they never got a buy-in from the candidate himself! Politics aside, a very strange poetry contest occurs between the covers of this book and Churchy LeFemme, the turtle, manages to get his head stuck in his shell which almost lands him in the circus! A fun reprint from Dover!

Thanks, Netgalley, for the opportunity to review this title!

I was aware of Pogo previously. I might even have read a couple of pages of it before. I've always known it as one of those legendary comics. Something that helped pave the way for the truly amazing modern strips. So I was certainly intrigued by this book. The reality was somewhat less than i wanted it to be. I get it. Its all about animals acting more knowledgeable than they are. It as probably making some kind of statement about society and certain social groups.

3.5 but only because I find myself falling asleep to certain parts. When I found out about Pogo via Saga of the Swamp Thing, I had to see what made it so good for myself. Turns out despite the decades that separate eras, the past always has something to say. Whether it's prejudice or being taken advantage of, there's always something that comes up. The segments even shows a satirical play on the general elections. With everyone in the swamp having a few screws loose, it was natural for the everyman to be nominated for some kind of office. But when the nature of politics displaying themselves, people question whether anyone sane should even be in office. If anything, it's more of a gamble unlike everything else. Looking back, when weird dilemmas like a manhunt for Churchy the turtle get solved by absurd circumstances when some of those manhunters turn on each other, who can really blame Pogo? I guess despite how art styles change, some messages remain constant.

So antiquated and of its time and place, it might as well be in a foreign language. Might have been great if you were the right audience in the right place and time, but I'm not.