Rest in peace, Mort.
Posted on 01/27/2018 5:37:28 PM PST by markomalley
Comic strip artist Mort Walker, a World War II veteran who satirized the Army and tickled millions of newspaper readers with the antics of the lazy private "Beetle Bailey," died Saturday. He was 94.
Walker died at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, said Greg Walker, his eldest son and a collaborator. His father's advanced age was the cause of death, he said.
Walker began publishing cartoons at age 11 and was involved with more than a half-dozen comic strips in his career, including "Hi and Lois," ''Boner's Ark" and "Sam & Silo." But he found his greatest success drawing slacker Beetle, his hot-tempered sergeant and the rest of the gang at fictional Camp Swampy for nearly 70 years.
The character that was to become Beetle Bailey made his debut as Spider in Walker's cartoons published by the Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. Walker changed Spider's name and launched "Beetle Bailey" as a college humor strip in 1950.
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Rest in peace, Mort.
Another person I never figured was still alive.
That’s finesse, a great reminder with a touch of humor. May God comfort his loved ones.
R.I.P. Mort Walker. Always liked your work.
Miss Buxley was hot.
RIP, Mort Walker. I loved reading Beetle Bailey comics, looked forward to reading it on Sunday mornings when it was nearly a full page in color on the Sunday newspaper. Young kids now don’t know what they are missing. A time when the newspaper was several inches thick, and the front 8 or 10 pages was full color comics. Beetle Bailey was on the front. That was a time when our military was respected and honored, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s. Then the liberals ruined it all and the comics pages disappeared giving way to politicized crap that no one wanted to read and newspapers soon shriveled away to thin garbage.
What a great contributor to the old fashioned Sunday funnies.
His kids have subtly inserted liberal politics into Hi and Lois. I don’t remember that from Mort.
Never heard of Boner’s Ark before.
RIP Mort Walker. I can’t help but think he had a fun life. Reminds me of my beloved grandfather.
Thank you for the decades of smiles, Mort.
His kids have subtly inserted liberal politics into Hi and Lois.
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That’s a shame. The Libs ruin everything they touch.
Takes me back 60 years, sitting on my dad’s lap at the kitchen table every Sunday after church when he would read the comic strips to me. Dick Tracy, Peanuts, Hi and Lois, Blondie and Dagwood, Beetle Bailey, Gasoline Alley, Katzenjammer Kids, Prince Valiant... so many more.
My father used to read the comics to me. It was a moment.
a sad day
One of my all time favorite comic strips.
You will be missed Mr. Walker.
Sigh. Nowadays, the General chasing the secretary running joke would land Mort in a gulag.
Maybe we’ll get back to sanity where we aren’t forced to be pretending that things are the way they ain’t.
I read Boner’s Ark. It was pretty forgettable. Jokes as generic as lame long-lived comics like Mamma, Tiger and Priscilla’s Pop. Artwork was similar. Boner was a captain on an ark that was loaded with animals, Noah style. Backstorey was never given when I read it as a youngster.
Comic strips are the most conservative art form. It’s why Jiggs wore spats to the end, and Mutt and Jeff wore there old-fashioned suits. It’s why Alice goes with her classic long black skirt and white blouse. Nancy still wears the short dotted skirt, and Sluggo wears his depression era hat. The Jeeps in Beetle Bailey.
If you could only come up with one or two comic strips for the 50’s, Beetle Bailey would HAVE to be one of them. Arguably the other would be Peanuts, but that really hit its stride in the ‘60s.
Originally, Beetle wasn’t even in the army. When he joined up, the interest in the script spiked. He’s been there ever since.
I used to read the comics every Sunday with my Dad. I liked |Beetle Bailey”; but I hadn’t remembered that the same artist did ‘Hi and Lois’.
(I always remember Trixie in the Sunbeam, when I see my cats seeking out same...)
RIP.
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