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How did Pogo use animal characters to comment on social and political issues?

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King, Frank: Gasoline Alley — comic strip Thirteen panels from the comic strip *Gasoline Alley* by Frank King, 1921. It shows Walt Wallet feeding and then chasing the turkey that he and baby Skeezix have raised for Thanksgiving dinner.

Created by Walt Kelly, the comic strip Pogo utilized the inhabitants of the Okefenokee Swamp to deliver sophisticated political satire. While the strip began as gentle "funny animal" storytelling, it evolved into a platform for pointed social commentary.12

Kelly frequently designed animal characters that closely resembled prominent political figures of the era. By placing these caricatures within the swamp community, he could critique real-world power dynamics through the lens of the characters' interactions. Notable targets of his satire included:21

U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy and his communist-hunting campaigns.1
The ultra-conservative John Birch Society.1
Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.1

The protagonist, Pogo Possum, served as an Everyman figure, often acting as a straight man to the schemes of other residents like the intellectual Dr. Howland Owl or the cigar-smoking Albert Alligator. This blend of witty, literate dialogue and sharp political allegory allowed the strip to achieve significant critical acclaim.12