I was involved with two comic art books that are out this month. One features the work of Walt Kelly in his prime. The other features the work of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. At the funeral of Jack's wife Roz, I introduced my friend Carolyn (daughter of Walt) to Lisa Kirby (daughter of Jack) and I couldn't help but think I was witnessing a moment. The DNA of the greatest "funny animal" comic artist was meeting the DNA of the greatest "adventure" comic artist. If you could have somehow merged the two, you could have grown a new Wally Wood.
I'll tell you more about the Simon-Kirby book tomorrow. Right now, I'm just noting for the record that Volume 3 of The Complete Pogo, the one that's just been released, is on the top of the New York Times list for its category. Long before I met Carolyn, I thought Mr. Kelly's Pogo was the best newspaper strip ever done — a viewpoint that is hardly unique to me.
We're reprinting it chronologically and in this volume, we get to the years when Walt Kelly really hit his stride. I don't think he got any better than what's in this book because you really couldn't. But he did maintain that standard until his health gave out many, many years later. If you haven't ordered a copy yet, here's an Amazon link. Comics don't get any better than this.