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| Beetle Bailey | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Author(s) | Mort Walker (scripts, 1950-198?) Mort Walker (art, 1950-present), Brian, & Greg Walker (scripts, 198?-present) |
| Current status / schedule | Running |
| Launch date | September 4, 1950 |
| Syndicate(s) | King Features Syndicate |
| Genre(s) | Humor |
Beetle Bailey (begun on September 4, 1950[1]) is an American comic strip set in a United States Army military post, created by Mort Walker. It is among the oldest comic strips still being produced by the original creator.
Contents |
The strip
Most of the humor revolves around the inept characters stationed at Camp Swampy, inspired by Camp Crowder, where Walker had once been stationed while in the Army. Private Bailey is a lazy sort who usually naps and avoids work, and thus is often the subject of verbal and physical chastising from his supervisor, Sergeant Snorkel. During the strip's first year, Beetle Bailey was a college student until he quit school and enlisted in the U.S. Army on 13 March 1951.
The comic strip . The characters in Beetle Bailey never see combat themselves, with the exception of mock battles and combat drills. In fact, they seem to be in their own version of stereotypical comic strip purgatory (initially basic training, they now appear to be stuck in time in a regular infantry division). The uniforms of Beetle Bailey are still the uniforms of the 1950s Army, with green fatigues and baseball caps as the basic uniform, and the open jeep as the basic military vehicle. Sergeant First Class Snorkel wears a green dress uniform with heavily wrinkled garrison cap; the officers wear M1 helmet liners painted with their insignia. While Beetle Bailey's unit is Company A, one running gag is that the characters are variously seen in different branches of the Army, such as artillery, armor, infantry, and paratroops.
Beetle's sister is Lois Flagston of the comic strip Hi and Lois, a spinoff that debuted in 1954[citation needed].
Beetle is always seen with a hat or helmet over his head, forehead, and eyes. Even on leave, his "civies" include a pork pie hat worn in the same style. He was only seen without it once in the original strip when he was still a college student; the strip never ran in any newspaper and is only seen in various books on its history. In a Mad Magazine parody in the April 1969 issue, Beetle's hat is removed and on his forehead is written "Get out of Vietnam". One daily strip had Sarge scare Beetle's hat off, but Beetle was wearing sunglasses.
A running gag is of Sergeant Snorkel hanging helplessly to a small tree after having fallen off a cliff. While he is never shown falling off, or even walking close to the edge of a cliff, he always seems to hold on to that tree, yelling for help.
Over the years, Mort Walker has been assisted by (among others) Jerry Dumas, Bob Gustafson, Frank Johnson, and his sons Neal, Brian and Greg Walker; the latter is credited on the strips today.
Beetle and Sarge guest-starred in the 75th anniversary party of Blondie and Dagwood in 2005.
In Hogan's Alley #12 Walker described in an interview the international success of Bailey, including a long running comic book series in Scandinavia that often publishes material unseen in America which Walker self-censored or felt was not good enough for the strip. He also described his experience doing two Beetle graphic novels in 1984 for Dargaud's brief American publishing unit, titled "Friends" and "Too Many Sergeants", and his involvement with the various Beetle American comic book series over the years.
Cast
Beetle Bailey is unusual in having one of the largest and most varied permanent casts of any comic strip. While many of the older characters are rarely seen, almost none have been completely retired.
- Private Beetle Bailey — the main character, known for his chronic laziness. He always has a hat over his eyes, because he is always sleeping.
- Sergeant 1st Class Orville P. Snorkel (Sarge) — Beetle's nemesis; known to frequently beat up Beetle for any excuse he can think of; overeater, introduced in 1951. In a recent strip, it is revealed he is related to Beetle.
- Otto — Sgt. Snorkel's anthropomorphic dog, whom Sarge dresses up the same as himself.
- Brigadier General Amos T. Halftrack — the inept, semi-alcoholic commander of Camp Swampy; introduced in 1951. Loves to golf but hates when he misses.
- Martha Halftrack — the General's domineering wife.
- Miss Buxley — Halftrack's beautiful, blonde, buxom, civilian secretary, and occasional soldier's date (as well as a constant distraction for Halftrack). She used to live in Amarillo, Texas.[2] She appears in every Wednesday strip, for no discernible reason (With the exception of Wednesday, November 4, 2009). Has an apparent interest in Beetle and is constantly pursued by Killer.
- Private Blips — Halftrack's competent, not at all buxom, secretary ("blips" are small points of light on a radar screen). Resents Halftrack's constant ogling of Miss Buxley.
- Bunny (originally "Buzz"?) — Beetle's rarely seen girlfriend.
- Private "Killer" Diller — the ladies man, introduced in 1951.
- Private Zero — the buck-toothed, village idiot boy who takes everything literally and misunderstands practically everything.
- Lieutenant Sonny Fuzz — very young (with noticeably pointy eyebrows and very little facial hair), over-earnest, by the book, always trying to impress uninterested superiors (especially Halftrack), and rubbing it in with his subordinates, introduced 1956. Mort Walker said he modeled the character and personality of Lt. Fuzz on himself, having taken himself too seriously after completing Officer Training.[3]
- Private Rocky — Camp Swampy's long-haired resident rebel-without-a-cause, introduced 1958.
- Cookie — the mess sergeant, who smokes cigarettes while preparing the mess hall's questionable menu; except for the presence of cauliflower ears, bears a striking resemblance to SFC Snorkel and has also been known to occasionally beat up on Beetle. Like Sarge he also loves food.
- Private Plato — the intellectual (as Tom Lehrer might say, "brings a book to every meal"); named after Plato. Pvt. Plato is the only character other than Beetle to evolve from the years of the strip depicting Beetle's college experience.[3]
- Major Greenbrass — straight man and golf partner to Gen. Halftrack.
- Chaplain Staneglass — "He's praying... he's looking at the food... he's praying again!"
- Private Julius Plewer — fastidious fussbudget, who eventually became Halftrack's chauffeur.
- Private Cosmo — Camp Swampy's sunglass-wearing resident "shady entrepreneur"; almost forgotten in the 1980s.
- Lieutenant Jack Flap — the strip's first black character, introduced in 1970. Originally wore an afro hairstyle.
- Corporal Yo — the strip's first Asian character, introduced in 1990.
- Dr. Bonkus — Camp Swampy's staff psychiatrist, whose own sanity is questionable.
- Specialist Chip Gizmo — Camp Swampy's resident computer geek, was named by a write-in contest in 2002. The contest sponsored by Dell Computer Corp., received more than 84,000 entries. It raised more than $100,000 for the Fisher House Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides housing for families of patients at military and veterans hospitals.[4]
- Sergeant 1st Class Louise Lugg — hopes to be Sarge Snorkel's girlfriend, introduced in 1986.
- Bella — Sgt. Louise Lugg's female cat.
- Chigger — Beetle's younger brother (a chigger, like a beetle, is a kind of arthropod, and commonly mistaken for an insect).
- Beetle's unnamed parents.
- A camp doctor whose appearance is consistent, but who is apparently unnamed.
- An unnamed officers' club bartender, frequent intermediary between the Halftracks.
- An unnamed Secretary of Defence who has made numerous appearances.
Unseen
- Colonel Cohen, CEO
- Major Burk, CFO
- General Snead, CIO
- Captain Finn, COO
Retired
- Canteen (early 1950s) — always eating.
- Snake Eyes (early 1950s) — the barracks gambler, replaced by Cosmo, Rocky, and others.
- Big Blush (early 1950s) — tall, innocent, and a great attraction to the girls; many of his characteristics incorporated into both Sarge and Zero.
- Fireball (early 1950s) — neophyte who always seems to be in the way; forerunner of both Zero and Lt. Fuzz.
- Bammy (early 1950s) — the southern patriot who is still fighting the Civil war.
- Dawg (early 1950s) — the guy in every barracks who creates his own pollution.
- Ozone (late 1950s) — Zero's bigger, more naive friend.
- Moocher (early 1960s) — stingy and always borrowing things.
- Pop (1960s) — married private: gets yelled at by Sarge all day and goes home at night for more abuse from his wife.
- The entire cast, except for Beetle, of the early strip as set at Rockview University (although both incarnations of the strip include a spectacled intellectual named Plato). Four characters from the original cast (Bitter Bill, Diamond Jim, Freshman, and Sweatsock) made at least one appearance, in the January 5th 1963 strip.[5][6]
- Sergeant Webbing — variously described as being from either B Company or D Company. He somewhat resembles Snorkel, except that he lacks the trademark wrinkles in Snorkel's garrison cap, and has wavy hair and thick eyebrows. He has pointy teeth. On at least two separate occasions, Webbing engaged Sgt. Snorkel in a cussing duel.[7] He also attempted to one-up Snorkel in anthropomorphizing dogs, leading to Otto's first appearance in uniform, and was most recently seen (recognizably, but not mentioned by name) in 1983.[8]
- Rolf (early 1980s) — civilian tennis instructor, very popular with the female cast (including both Mrs. Halftrack and Miss Buxley, much to the General's consternation). Originally introduced in response to complaints about the constant ogling of Miss Buxley by the male characters. First appearance was in the September 9, 1982 strip, and he disappeared completely by the mid 1980s.[9]
Extras, one-shots, and walk-ons
Numerous one-shot characters have appeared over the years, mostly unnamed, including an inspector general who looks like Alfred E. Neuman[10], and various officers and civilians. Among the few to be given names is Julian, a nondescript chauffer eventually replaced by Julius.[11]
The strip Hi and Lois, also created by Mort Walker and distributed by King Features, is a spin-off from Beetle Bailey, with Beetle and Lois being brother and sister. Characters from one strip occasionally made guest appearances on the other.
TV version
A TV version, in shorts by King Features Syndicate, aired in 1963. The introduction included the sound of a reveille, followed by a song specifically made for the cartoon. Beetle was voiced by comic actor and director Howard Morris.
DVDs
BCI Eclipse has released 20 Episodes as part of
Animated All Stars 2 DVD BCI 46952
- Everything's Ducky
- Leap No More My Lady
- "V" for Visitors
- Son of a Gun of a Gun
- Halftrack's Navy
- Hoss Laffs
- Geronimo
- For Officers Only
- Shutterbugged
- Bye Bye Young Lovers
- Breaking the Leash
- 60...Count 'Em...60
- Sweet Sunday
- The Spy
- Sgt. Snorkle's Longest Day
- The Sergeant's Master
- Cosmo's Naught
- Operation Butler
- We Love You Sgt. Snorkle
- Welsh Rabbit
Rhino Home Video also released a DVD containing 10 skits along with a couple of Hagar the Horrible and Betty Boop skits:
- Camp Invisible
- Lucky Beetle
- Grab Your Socks
- Is This Drip Necessary
- The Diet
- Et Tu Otto
- The Jinx
- Courage Encourager
- Go Yeast, Young Man
- Psychological Training
In 2007 Beetle Bailey: The Complete Collection was released with all 50 shorts grouped into 13 episodes plus a previously un-aired 1989 special.
Parodies
On July 6, 2007, in the comic strip Pearls Before Swine, Beetle and Zero are talking to Pig when Beetle informs Pig that Zero will be going away for a while. When Zero is about to leave, Beetle gives Zero a hug and tells him to take care of himself. Unknown to them, Rat takes a picture of the two hugging and places in his tabloid newspaper with the caption "Don't Ask Don't Tell?" as if to indicate Beetle and Zero were homosexual lovers. Sarge's photo is seen on the front page of the newspaper saying, "I'm not pleased."[12]
Mad magazine once predicted that all cartoonists would eventually adopt the single-panel format used by "The Far Side." They have an example "Beetle Side" cartoon of Beetle Bailey cleaning a blackboard full of calculations, just before a scientist approaches to show a colleague his formula for a fool-proof defense system. In the "signature," Mort Walker's name is parodied as "Wart Maker"[citation needed].
Humorously, other comic(s) like Blondie parodied Beetle's chronic laziness by showing how Beetle surpassed-Blondie's titular character-Dagwood Bumstead's "legendary" laziness himself [13].
References
- ^ Walker, Mort (2008). Thorsjö, Alf. ed. Beetle Bailey 1950-1952. Egmont Kärnan AB/Checker Book Publishing Group. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-933160-71-9. OCLC 191244495.
- ^ Walker, Mort. Beetle Bailey. Houston Chronicle. 2008-04-02. King Features Syndicate. [1]
- ^ a b Champion Ed. The Bat Segundo Show Interview. 2008-05-21. [2]
- ^ a b "Here’s Chip Gizmo". Government Computer News. http://www.gcn.com/print/21_17/19173-1.html?topic=coop_telework. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
- ^ Quotations and documentation of characters from: Mort Walker, The Best of Beetle Bailey (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1984)
- ^ Walker, Mort (2008). Alf Thorsjö. ed (in Norwegian). Billy. Den komplette samlingen striper og søndagssider. 1963-1964 (1 ed.). Egmont Serieforlaget. pp. 12. ISBN 987-82-429-3693-6.
- ^ February 17, 1957 Sunday strip, reprinted in Walker, The Best of Beetle Bailey, February 10, 1963 Sunday strip, reprinted in Walker, At Ease, Beetle Bailey (New York: Grosset & Dunlap/Tempo, 1970).
- ^ June 26, 1958 and December 19, 1983 strips, reproduced in Walker, The Best of Beetle Bailey.
- ^ Various strips reproduced in ibid.
- ^ March 27, 1967 strip, reprinted in Walker, I Don't Want to be Out Here Any More Than You Do, Beetle Bailey (New York: Grosset & Dunlap/Tempo, 1970). ISBN 0448122561
- ^ July 5, 1964 Sunday strip, reprinted in Walker, At Ease, Beetle Bailey (New York: Grosset & Dunlap/Tempo, 1970).ISBN 0448122553
- ^ Pastis, Stephan. Pearls Before Swine. Houston Chronicle. 2007-07-06. United Feature Syndicate. [3]
- ^ http://www.arcamax.com/newspics/9/993/99360.gif
External links
- Beetle Bailey at King Features
- BeetleBailey.com
- Mort Walker's website
- Toonopedia
- NCS Awards
- The TV version at IMDB
- Beetle Bailey gallery
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