Legendary cartoonist Walt Kelly has a new collection arriving soon from Hermes Press, and if you only know him from Pogo, this looks to be exciting and new! The Adventures of Peter Wheat was a 16-page comic book that was offered as a giveaway at bakeries, as a promotion for Peter Wheat bread.

The protagonist, Peter Wheat, is a tiny elf boy who lives in a tree by a field of wheat, and has small-scale fairytale adventures, involving characters like Dragonel, Queen of the Hornets.

I admit, this is the first I've heard of The Adventures of Peter Wheat, which probably has something to do with the fact that I wasn't frequenting bakers between 1948 and 1951, on account of having not yet been born. But Pogo is one of the best comics of all time, and this looks to be very different from that, while still displaying Walt Kelly's unparalleled artistic ability, so it's definitely worth a look.

Also I'm guessing that's Dragonel the Queen of the Hornets on the left side of the cover abve, and she looks amazing.

 

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Here's the official word from Hermes Press:

Walt Kelly's Peter Wheat the Complete Series: Volume One; ISBN 978-1-61345-124-3; $34.99; paperback 272 pages; all color; All art and script by Walt Kelly; reprints the first 16 complete Peter Wheat comic books; in-depth essay by comics historian and Walt Kelly expert Dr. Thomas Andrae; afterword by Trina Robbins.  Special "by order only" Diamond edition, hardcover with endpapers, printed laminated cover and dust jacket, to fit into your library with Hermes Press' Walt Kelly's Pogo The Complete Dell Comics Collection; ISBN 978-1-61345-125-0;  $60.

The Limited Edition "by order only" will only be available to order through Hermes Press and Diamond until January 15, 2017.

 

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