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Post your Pogos / Walt Kelly Books!
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Started by 50YrsCollctngCmcs,

387 posts in this topic

AJD

AJD

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Notice with #9 they switch to 15 cents each. Now that was very pricey for the day so either the market could bear it because Kelly was selling well or Western was trying to make up for the licensing fees from Kelly. Wish I knew the answer. Lost in the discarded business files of Western Publishing.

 

The back story to this is told in a book on GA comics I bought recently. To avoid my memory getting it wrong, I'll dig it out when I get home and post it with #12.

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Duffman_Comics

Duffman_Comics

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I don't want to steal Andrew's thunder, but Dells had some very odd pricing back in the day, e.g. Walt Disney's Comics and Stories.

 

10c per 36pp issue up till #243

 

Then NO PRICE on #244

 

Then 15c until #261

 

Then 12c (?!) for #262 and #263 (end of the Dell run)

 

Gold Key kicks off at 12c for #264 until #332.

 

Then a 12c and 15c issue #333

 

Then back to 12c for #334 until #335

 

Then the long run at 15c from #336

 

I am guessing the buggering about with pricing early on was a result of the impending switch of publishers. Later on, I think Gold Key was testing "buyer resistance" to the 15c price.

 

My12c

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OtherEric

OtherEric

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On the Pogo series, issues 1-4 were 52 pages at 10 cents, 5-8 and 14-16 were 36 pages at 10 cents, and 9-13 were 52 pages at 15 cents. (I think those are the exact issues; I don't have the books at my side right this second.) So, while the pricing may in part be tied to Kelly's popularity, it's actually fairly understandable within the title itself. Dell pricing in general does get weird at points around here, though! (I think there are a fair number of issues from various titles known to have 15c variants in the late 50's; but they seem to be more than a little scarce. I have one issue of Looney Tunes that I didn't even notice the price oddity on for years)

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AJD

AJD

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Here's what Nicky Wright's book 'The classic era of American comics' has to say:

'After almost 14 years with Dell, Kelly decided to leave when he found that it had jacked the price of Pogo the Possum from 10 to 15 cents a copy, probably to capitalize on the character's nationwide popularity. The final straw was when Dell issued a 100 page "Giant" comic... to cash in on Pogo's popularity. [1] ... Then Dell tried to prevent a new series of paperback Pogo books, claiming only that company could produce them. Kelly won and Simon and Schuster published the books instead.

'Kelly closed the door on comic books in 1954 and the last issue of Pogo went on sale. He never returned to the comic industry'.

My thoughts:

[1] The inside cover of the Giant Pogo Parade has a letter from Kelly which, among other things, apologises for the southern dialect in the early stories from Animal Comics reprinted therein. This is consistent with him not being thrilled to see them marketed anew at a time when the strip was in 400 newspapers and had moved on to a more nationally palatable form.

[2] The relatively sudden end of the Pogo book is consistent with a falling out. Numbers 14 and 15 have subscription ads on the back cover, the first Pogo books to do so, while the series ended with #16.

Oh, and here's the 15c #12:

pogo_12.thumb.jpg.a3d4871669b9ed38e975c4f4a6cc3587.jpg

 

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AJD

AJD

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Bowled over as I was by the response to the information I posted yesterday, here's #13 for you ingrates. :baiting:

pogo_13.thumb.jpg.c3514d3d0ca375853a780b6679e91274.jpg

Edit: holy carp! I don't remember those bug chews being there before. :eek:

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50YrsCollctngCmcs

50YrsCollctngCmcs

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Here's what Nicky Wright's book 'The classic era of American comics' has to say:

 

'After almost 14 years with Dell, Kelly decided to leave when he found that it had jacked the price of Pogo the Possum from 10 to 15 cents a copy, probably to capitalize on the character's nationwide popularity. The final straw was when Dell issued a 100 page "Giant" comic... to cash in on Pogo's popularity. [1] ... Then Dell tried to prevent a new series of paperback Pogo books, claiming only that company could produce them. Kelly won and Simon and Schuster published the books instead.

 

'Kelly closed the door on comic books in 1954 and the last issue of Pogo went on sale. [2] He never returned to the comic industry'.

 

My thoughts:

 

[1] The inside cover of the Giant Pogo Parade has a letter from Kelly which, among other things, apologises for the southern dialect in the early stories from Animal Comics reprinted therein. This is consistent with him not being thrilled to see them marketed anew at a time when the strip was in 400 newspapers and had moved on to a more nationally palatable form.

 

[2] The relatively sudden end of the Pogo book is consistent with a falling out. Numbers 14 and 15 have subscription ads on the back cover, the first Pogo books to do so, while the series ended with #16.

 

Oh, and here's the 15c #12:

 

 

Andy,

 

Thanks for posting, very interesting. I will have to keep looking for more information on this story. Mr. Kelly must have been a good businessman and was probably wise to market Pogo the way he did. I will need to pull my Pogo Parade to read his note and will try to get a photo on here this weekend if I can find the time.

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AJD

AJD

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For something different, here's Walt Kelly testifying to the Senate about comic books, juvenile delinquency and crime/horror stories.

Here's an excerpt:

Senator KEFAUVER. Now, this picture here of the woman with her head cut off seems to be by Johnny Craig. Do you know him?

Mr. KELLY. I don't know him, sir.

Senator KEFAUVER. Do you think these may be assumed names?

Mr. KELLY. I would doubt it. There are so many markets for our work that it takes a man who is interested in that sort of thing to pick up the job, I would say. None of our members need the work.

Senator KEFAUVER. None of your members do things of this kind?

Mr. KELLY. I haven't examined all their work, and I can't truthfully swear they don't, but I will be surprised and we will take action if they do.

Senator KEFAUVER. What would you do if you found they did?

Mr. KELLY. They would violate our code.

Senator KEFAUVER. What would you do about it?

Mr. KELLY. I don't know. Maybe invite them outside. :sumo:

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AtlasT

AtlasT

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I know it's not from the correct time period but I thought I would share my Walt Kelly Pogo Daily Original from July 3, 1965 that arrived today. I had been looking for a great example for a while and I think I finally found it. :)

July 3, 1965

waltkellypogojuly31965f.jpg

 

Classic Kelly! Very nice piece!

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