King Aroo

"King Aroo" was a comic strip written and drawn by Jack Kent from 1950 until 1965. The strip was distributed through the McClure Newspaper Syndicate. ["Nemo, the Classic Comics Library", #21, August 1986, pp. 5-6] The strip's central character, King Aroo, is the monarch of the mythical Myopia. Supporting characters included Yupyop, Lord High Almost Everything; scientific expert Professor Yorgle; Mr. Pennipost, the kangaroo mailman with an astounding pocket capacity; Mr. Elephant, so forgetful he doesn't recall himself; nosy court poet Dipody Distich and Wanda Witch, a bird who pushes a cart marked with "Spells and Curses, 5¢" signage.

Often compared to Walt Kelly's "Pogo", Kent's strip abounded in sophisticated puns and wordplay. The strip was described in "The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics"::"King Aroo" is one of the most celebrated strips of the recent past in the comics, but celebrated largely among devotees of comics, and appealing largely to the members of the readership that loved "Krazy Kat", "Barnaby", "Pogo" and "Little Nemo". The King was the creation of Jack Kent, born in Burlington, Iowa, in 1920. It was probably Kent's lack of formal art training that led to a loose-lined art style, with panels full of characters and activity. It was surely his innate artistic ability that kept those panels from looking cluttered. The strip began in 1950 in national syndication but was discontinued after a few years. It was kept on in limited syndication until 1965 by Stanleigh Arnold's small Golden Gate Features. ["The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics"]

The early strips were collected in a 192-page book, "King Aroo", published by Doubleday in 1953. Priced at $1.00, the collection had an introduction by Gilbert Seldes. The Library of Congress Catalog card number is 52-11005.

Kent and his wife June Kent named their home on the banks of the San Antonio river "King Aroo's Castle."

References

External links

* [http://www.iblist.com/book18887.htm Internet Book List: "King Aroo"]
* [http://special.lib.umn.edu/findaid/html/clrc/clrc0150.html Jack Kent Papers, University of Minnesota]