Beetle Mania
'If there is such a thing as being born into a profession, it happened to me'
Mort Walker Beetle Bailey was created by Mort Walker who was a compulsive creative cartoonist. The strip debuted on September 4, 1950. This comic strip is set in the United States Army, and is among the oldest comic strips that are still being created by the original creator. Mort Walker is also the creator of 'Hi and Lois', 'Boner's Ark' and 'Sam and Silo'. He also founded the International Museum of Cartoon Art and served as President of the National Cartoonist Society and the Newspaper Comics Council. The strip till today remains very popular and has a strong fan following. Walker received the Reuben Award for 1953, as well as the National Cartoonist Society Humor Strip Award for 1966 and 1969 for the strip. Beetle Bailey debuted inauspiciously in twelve newspapers on September 4, 1950, the day after Mort Walker's birthday. The comic strip got a boost in 1951 when Walker had Beetle Bailey enlisted in the Army and again in 1954 when the cartoon was censored by the army because they felt it encouraged disrespect for officers. After that the comic strip gained even more momentum and quickly became very popular, second only to 'Blondie'. This strip isn't only about the army; this setup could be identified by all Corporates in which incompetent bosses imposed pointless and redundant rules on those below them. Bailey was the classis ordinary man on the totem pole who resisted authority; he became the idol to all his readers. From Cookie the cook who prepares all his meals with a cigarette in his mouth, to the camp doctor who is unnamed the strip makes sure that most of the humor revolves around the incompetent characters located at Camp Swampy. This idea was inspired by Camp Crowder, where Walker had been dwelling while in served in the Army. The strip became the heart of a feminist hostility in the '90s because of Gen. Halftrack's uninhibited approach to women. Walker reacted to this almost immediately and put the General through a bit of sensitivity training and dressed Miss Buxley (well endowed secretary of General Halftract) more professionally. Beetle's sister is Lois Flagston of the comic strip 'Hi and Lois', is a spin-off which debuted in 1954. Beetle Bailey has been criticized for many for it political incorrectness (whose to decide'?) but Walker's strip has endured all the hardship along its long journey and its 50 anniversary was celebrated in 2000. It's certainly ironical but Mort Walker ?Cone of the hardest working and most successful of cartoonist created Beetle Baileythe laziest character in comic book history. Sometimes life's just like that! To know more about literature log on to http://www.abouttexts.com |
