Politics of the Funnies Part 2

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01/20/22 • 31 min

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Once upon a time, the funnies or the comics pages dominated newspapers – back when newspapers were the main source of information for most Americans. In those days, Walt Kelly and Al Capp were titans of the funnies. Their strips Pogo and Li’l Abner were cultural sensations. Both artists were groundbreaking in the way they incorporated satire into their fantastical worlds, back when the comics page was supposed to be an apolitical neutral zone. Even though their strips are not front and center in pop culture today, we are still feeling the ripple effects of what they accomplished. In part two, I talk with BYU professor Kerry Soper and comic book publisher and author Denis Kitchen about how Al Capp became a hero to the left and the right, while questioning who should be the subject of satire.

Link to Denis Kitchen's book, "Al Capp: A Life to the Contrary"

Link to Kerry Soper's book, "We Go Pogo"

This episode is sponsored by Brooklinen. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here.

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Link to Denis Kitchen's book, "Al Capp: A Life to the Contrary"

Link to Kerry Soper's book, "We Go Pogo"

This episode is sponsored by Brooklinen. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Previous Episode

Politics of the Funnies Part 1

Once upon a time, the funnies or the comics pages dominated newspapers – back when newspapers were the main source of information for most Americans. In those days, Walt Kelly and Al Capp were titans of the funnies. Their strips Pogo and Li’l Abner were cultural sensations. Both artists were groundbreaking in the way they incorporated satire into their fantastical worlds, back when the comics page was supposed to be an apolitical neutral zone. Even though their strips are not front and center in pop culture today, we are still feeling the ripple effects of what they accomplished. In part one, I talk with Mercer University professor Jay Black, BYU professor Kerry Soper and Harper College professor Brian Cremins about how Pogo met the enemy, and why he is us.

Link to Jay Black's book, "Walt Kelly and Pogo: The Art of the Political Swamp"

Link to Kerry Soper's book, "We Go Pogo"

Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Next Episode

Headcanon Fodder

Have you ever watched a movie or show, gotten sucked into a mystery and come up with your own idea of what is going to be revealed – only to find out that you’re wrong? Do you accept what’s now established as canon, or do you get attached to your own “headcanon?” We are living in the golden age of headcanon, especially in sci-fi fantasy, where many storytellers are following the template of J.J. Abrams and his Mystery Box approach. So, we did a call out to our listeners, to find out what headcanons they came up with or heard about, and why they think those headcanons work better than what ended up on screen, or on the page. Featuring Larry Brenner, Mark White, Josh Sawyer, Doug Tricarico, Chris Landon, and Judd Winick, who had the opportunity to turn his headcanon into canon.

There aren’t major spoilers in this episode, but we discuss plot points in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Mandalorian, the first Matrix, Iron Man 2, Hawkeye, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Inspector Gadget, Citizen Kane, and Batman comics.

This episode is sponsored by Inked Gaming and Realm. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices