For some incomprehensible reason, Amazon.com lists the first volume of the recently reprinted Pogo compendium as suitable for ages 9 to 12. From the proto-environmentalist sentiment of "we have met the enemy and he is us" to Kelly's skewering of Senator McCarthy as "Simple J. Malarkey," Pogo is perhaps the most sophisticated comic strip of all time, acknowledged by Trudeau, Pfeiffer, and Berkeley Breathed as a primary influence. Read it and weep for the sorry state of syndicated comics today. (SC)

Steve Champeon