Number 66


Walt Kelly's Search For Santa


This is the third of five Sunday Pappy's leading up to Christmas Eve.

Even before the fantastic success of his comic strip, Pogo, Walt Kelly was a celebrated cartoonist. At least he was celebrated amongst those who paid attention to such things as funny animal and children's comic books, that is. There are a lot of adults who were buying comics like Dell's Four Color #90, Christmas With Mother Goose, in 1945, not just for their kids, but for themselves.

Kelly did his artwork on this book quickly, but skillfully. I think hardly anyone ever rose to Kelly's artistic heights of composition, penciling, lettering and inking, even when he hurried. He's in almost every Golden Age comic book fan's Top 5 of all-time greats for good reason.

The story, "Search For Santa," is a 5-page Christmas story using the Mother Goose characters, Little Miss Muffet and Peter Pumpkineater on a quest to find Santa. They encounter other Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme characters along the way, but also some fairy tale characters in The Three Bears. Throw in Santa Claus and some of Kelly's whimsy and even though the story is quite slight, it is all Kelly and well worth reading.