Over the years, Mort Walker had been assisted by (among others) Jerry Dumas, Bob Gustafson . Click here for Part 1 of this week's legends. Beetle Bailey is a newspaper comic that started in 1950, by Mort Walker. In addition to Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois, Mort Walker has been involved in the creation of seven other comic strips. Four characters from the original cast (Bitter Bill, Diamond Jim, Freshman, and Sweatsock) made at least one appearance, in the January 5, 1963 strip. Beetle and Sgt. Learn more today. Gen. Halftrack's wife) , 6. Shop all Home & Garden. The opening credits included the sound of a bugle reveille, followed by a theme song specifically composed for the cartoon: Beetle was voiced by comic actor and director Howard Morris with Allen Melvin as the voice of Sarge. Beetle Bailey (begun on September 4, 1950) is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Mort Walker.Set in a fictional United States Army military post, it is among the oldest comic strips still being produced by the original creator. During the early 1950s, the strip was dropped from the Tokyo edition of Stars and Stripes because it allegedly encouraged disrespect for officers. Read our Cookie Policy. First animated in 1963 for a series by King Features, the character went on to appear in an insert on . Beetle Bailey #119 VG 4.0 1976 Dell/King/Gold Key/Charlton Stock Image Beetle Bailey creator Mort Walker dies at 94, grew up in KC | The Initially, Beetle Bailey was a college student when the strip debuted in 1950, but in 1951, Beetle dropped out of school and enlisted in the army, and he's been there ever since. [4] 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 senior NCO, Sergeant Snorkel. The entire cast, except for Beetle, of the early strip was set at Rockview University (although both incarnations of the strip include a spectacled intellectual named Plato). Who are the Characters in comic strip beetle bailey. The characters in that early strip were modeled after Walker's Kappa Sigma fraternity brothers at the University of Missouri. In Sweden, some of these strips were collected in the Alfapocket series. Turning off personalized advertising opts you out of these sales. Learn more in our Privacy Policy., Help Center, and Cookies & Similar Technologies Policy.