4. Maybe a combination of 2 and 3, weaving back and forth.
Now here's the biggest question I need help on: If I keep going, should I continue on this site, maybe changing the title appropriately? Or should I start a new 'blog, maybe dedicated to Kelly work, Pogo and Non-Pogo, and leave this site stand as-is, just dedicated to Pandemonia?
I don't mean to put myself up as THE expert on Kelly, but I am a (long) life-long fan and collector of all things Kelly. Some of what I would post might have been posted elsewhere, but you know I love large clean scans. Eventually I would run out of stuff, but it would take awhile.
Or again, I could just stop, cuz boy this is a lot of work and I'm not in this for money or glory. I just love Kelly's work. And, of course we'll have the Fantagraphics series coming out (I hope) sometime, so maybe what I'm doing here ain't necessary.
Help me out, let me know what you think. I know you're out there, I can hear you breathing.
I watched Kelly draw this drawing in January of '66, when Pandemonia was just hatching in his mind. He whipped it out, impromptu, with marker on newsprint. I have other original drawings of his, even better, that I'll post some time, some where. 
I'll be the first, even if I haven't exactly been one of the silent majority. I would love to see this (or an equivalent) of a Pogo blog continue. It's not just the beautiful panels, many of which I had not seen before, even in all the books I had growing up, but your comments give the blog an nice extra touch to give additional context. So, as long as it continues to be a happy activity for you, my vote is for keepin' on.
ReplyDeleteNicely said, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing this! I'd say, continue on a new blog, linked prominently from here. I like that this is Pandemonium-centered, with all the extra goodies. It might get hard to find that story in a general-purpose blog...so unless you're up for putting together your own site so you can organize things to your liking, a new blog would make the most sense. Just my two cents.
ReplyDelete(Pandemonia-centered, I mean.)
ReplyDeleteGreg, yes, I see what you're saying. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI'm for posting as many Sunday tabs as possible, and you can call it whatever you want to. I'm not saying I don't love the dailies, but they've been reprinted time & again, in the books, and in the FORT MUDGE MOST.
ReplyDeleteWhat nobody's done, 'til YOU started to on your original blog & now here, is showcase the Sundays IN COLOR. I dunno what/where/when Fantagraphics will get to, and (VERY importantly to ME) whether they'll shoot & reprint printed strips or (I HOPE NOT) do some stupid bleach & recolor thing like Marvel & DC do.
SOOOOOO----I say focus on color Sundays, and YES--"special material". THAT would be of most interest to me, and would be a great niche for you. The "official" Pogo site offers nothing, and the Fan Club site not much either. You HAVE. Proceed any way you wish, I'll come no matter what--but there's my two cents.
(And any way you go, you can have access to my stack of tearsheets...)
Thanks Jim, good points. And I might be comparing notes with you on tearsheets.
ReplyDeleteI think the color Sunday pages are great, rare and the most fun to see. Unless you have supplemental material/dailies for the other books, folks should just pick those up on eBay for $8 (most are much more readily available than Pandemonia). But, really, whatever you feel motivated to do, I'll be happy to read!
ReplyDeleteLet me correct that...I like seeing all the newspaper stuff and very happy that you included the Pandemonia book. I mean that for future stuff, I'm more into seeing newspaper stuff than further books unless you also have the accompanying newspaper runs - I found that very interesting, to see what was cut, etc.
ReplyDeleteThanks Greg. I just went over to look to see what was available over on eBay. Some of those have no bids on em at all. Amazing. I remember trekking weekend after weekend to the old bookstores, and when I was lucky enough to find one, paying pretty high prices. What a whirled.
ReplyDeleteHey Thomas,
ReplyDeleteYes, more color Sunday strips from the next two years along with any special material you have would be great! Also, if at some point you would like to share with us how Kelly worked and what role his assistants played, that would be fascinating as well. Thanks so much again for this wonderful blog.
Thanks Mark. I'm pulling in my resources.
ReplyDeleteThis has been (and is) a great blog. The people behind the "official" Pogo blog should be hanging their collective heads in shame. You have showcased this strip in a manner that they have not.
ReplyDeletePersonally I like option four, but I know that this has been a very time and labor intensive project for you. I'll leave it up to you as to what direction you choose for this. Again, thank you.
Thank you so much for the compliment. I'm grateful that blogging allows 'showcasing'. Personally, I'm leaning toward option four myself. Onward.
ReplyDeleteI love the Sunday scans, and am anxious to see more of them. I like the idea of keeping Pandemonia here and starting a new Kelly blog with an emphasis on Pogo. Also love the scans you've been getting of the originals. Not sure how to get more of those but if you can that'd be a huge plus.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jake, I'll do my best.
ReplyDeleteSunday color here and at the pictorial arts are 2 of my favorite visits. more color Sundays--YES more dailies when you can also charlie
ReplyDeleteOK Charlie, thanks!
ReplyDeleteThomas,
ReplyDeleteI think continuing the continuity, both Sundays and whatever dailies you have available would be wonderful. If you chose to also include other Kelly material, that would be icing on an already delicious cake!
This blog has become an essential destination that I always anticipate, and that I'm never disappointed by. Well... just a little, when you haven't made a comment... so, do keep that feature, too!
I don't have strong feelings one way or the other as far as starting a new Kelly blog, or continuing here.. I do strongly want to see you continue, though! Pogo is such a high point in American popular culture, Kelly was such a brilliant artist, and the original Sundays in high quality scans are such an unexpected treasure to see after all of these years... A tip of that to you, sir, I am deeply indebted!
Glen
Glen, thank you, very nice to hear such stuff.
ReplyDeleteY'know, it's kind of amazing that my Sundays have survived all these years (for the most part). I've had a fairly active life and moved around a lot, and lost a number of other things.
A tip of the hat to you and the others that appreciate Kelly.
Thomas, have you told Fantagraphics what stuff you have collected? I know they're far away from the late '60s right now, but it sounds like they've been having trouble getting some material.
ReplyDeleteAnything Kelly-related would be much appreciated. He's one of those special pioneers, like Tove Jansson, Hayao Miyazaki, and John Lasseter, whose work combines the fresh wonder of childhood with sharp adult intelligence. What you do here really matters.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see the continuation of the Pogo strip, with similar analysis to what you've provided so far regarding art and historical context. It's not only entertaining, it's also a time capsule -- a link to the past for readers like myself who didn't live through the original run.
ReplyDeleteporc-épic, you've hit on something relevant to my perspective, "what you do here really matters". That's very important for me to justify what I do at this time of my life. As well, you made a direct hit on a major philosophy of my life, "fresh wonder/sharp intelligence". Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWonkey the Monkey--the time capsule concept is very important to me as well. Thank you.
Greg, I don't know about Fantagraphics. The copies I have may not be good enough for their needs. They would need a lot of touch-up.
Thomas, you're right...they were looking for originals and high-quality reproductions. So if anyone reading has originals...
ReplyDeleteOf course that's a scary thing that they're looking for originals, meaning they would be re-colored with modern techniques. They may surprise us with quality color, but, well...we'll see, won't we?
ReplyDeleteWell, I think the call for originals is as much for the dailies as the Sundays... I suspect that, based on that call, they'll print the Sundays in black and white line art like the Peanuts books. I could be wrong - they might do color, like the Popeye books. It would be nice to see the color, but high-quality line art is good too. I wonder if the thinking is that with earlier strips like Thimble Theatre, more care was taken with coloring, whereas with later strips, it's a bit more careless. We'll see what they come up with.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I like seeing them in color. That is, after all, how they were originally presented. Maybe a separate book of selected color Sunday pages to piggyback with the B&W books, if they go with line art? Hey, Sunday Press Books, you out there?
ReplyDeleteThomas
ReplyDeletePlease keep going. I'm one of the silent ones till now. I have always loved Kelly's art. Some of the weirdness is a bit too weird, some of the allusions to your obscure politicians don't help but the art always holds my attention.
Keep going with any Kelly art - leave the title - iut helps those who are not too savvy to find a different titled blogs!
Best wishes
Norman
Thank you Norman, I appreciate your breaking the silence. One way or the other there will be lots of Kelly art. When you refer to "your obscure politicians", it sounds like you might be from across the pond?
ReplyDeletePlease continue, i just love this strip and I try to send any and all over from my site to read your posts. The more scans out there the better the fan base becomes.
ReplyDelete