Animal Comics
Dell · 1942–1948 · 30 issues
About the series
From 1942 to 1948, Dell Publishing’s Animal Comics brought a gentle, whimsical menagerie to newsstands over 30 issues, blending lighthearted animal antics with the folksy charm that would later define its most famous contributor, Walt Kelly. While the series featured stories by Howard R. Garis and Gaylord Du Bois, and art from H. R. McBride and Morris Gollub, it was Kelly’s early work here—both writing and drawing—that began to shape the playful, anthropomorphic world he would soon expand. This title matters as a formative playground for Kelly’s storytelling voice, setting the stage for his beloved creation Pogo while offering a warm, all-ages escape during the war years.