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Beetle Bailey: The Daily & Sunday Strips #1
Beetle Bailey: The Daily & Sunday Strips, 1965
This lavish collection contains a whole year's worth of daily and Sunday strips starring Mort Walker's loveable slacker Pvt. Beetle Bailey. Set on the fictional Camp Swampy base, the strip follows the Beetle as he attempts to nap his way through his time at in the US Army and the everyday highs and lows of military life. Featuring inept officers, a punchy Sergeant (and his identikit dog), and a host of other hilarious characters that capture all of Walker's keenly observed wit and illustrate why the strip has remained immensely popular for over sixty years.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published September 28, 2010
13 people want to read
About the author
Mort Walker
405 books18 followersAddison Morton Walker, more popularly known as Mort Walker, was an American comic artist, best known for creating the newspaper comic strips Beetle Bailey in 1950 and Hi and Lois in 1954.
Born in El Dorado, Kansas, he grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. He had his first comic published at the age of 11, and sold his first cartoon at 12. At 15 he worked as a comic-strip artist for a daily newspaper and by 18 he became chief editorial designer at Hall Brothers. After graduating from Northeast High School in the Kansas City, Missouri School District, he attended the University of Missouri, where a life size bronze statue of Beetle Bailey sits in front of the alumni center.
In 1943 he was drafted into the United States Army where he spent time in Europe during World War II. He was discharged as a First Lieutenant four years later. After military service and graduation from University of Missouri in 1948, where he was president of the local Kappa Sigma chapter[1], he went to New York to pursue his cartooning career. His first 200 cartoons were rejected, but he was slowly gaining recognition among the editors for his talent. His big break came with Beetle Bailey and another success followed with Hi and Lois. Other noteworthy cartoons he has created include Boner's Ark, Gamin & Patches, Mrs. Fitz's Flats, The Evermores, Sam's Strip and Sam & Silo (the last two with Jerry Dumas).
After more than 50 years in the business, Mort Walker still supervises the daily work at his studio, which also employs 6 of his children.
In 1974 he founded The National Cartoon Museum, and in 1989 he was inducted into the Museum of Cartoon Art Hall of Fame. He received the Reuben Award of 1953 for Beetle Bailey, the National Cartoonist Society Humor Strip Award for 1966 and 1969, the Gold T-Square Award in 1999, the Elzie Segar Award for 1977 and 1999, and numerous other awards for his work and dedication to the art.
In his book The Lexicon of Comicana (1980), written as a satirical look at the devices cartoonists use in their craft, Walker invented a cartoon vocabulary called Symbolia. For example, Walker coined the term "squeans" to describe the starbusts and little circles that appear around a cartoon's head to indicate intoxication. The typographical symbols that stand for profanities, which appear in dialogue balloons in the place of actual dialogue, Walker called "grawlixes."
Born in El Dorado, Kansas, he grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. He had his first comic published at the age of 11, and sold his first cartoon at 12. At 15 he worked as a comic-strip artist for a daily newspaper and by 18 he became chief editorial designer at Hall Brothers. After graduating from Northeast High School in the Kansas City, Missouri School District, he attended the University of Missouri, where a life size bronze statue of Beetle Bailey sits in front of the alumni center.
In 1943 he was drafted into the United States Army where he spent time in Europe during World War II. He was discharged as a First Lieutenant four years later. After military service and graduation from University of Missouri in 1948, where he was president of the local Kappa Sigma chapter[1], he went to New York to pursue his cartooning career. His first 200 cartoons were rejected, but he was slowly gaining recognition among the editors for his talent. His big break came with Beetle Bailey and another success followed with Hi and Lois. Other noteworthy cartoons he has created include Boner's Ark, Gamin & Patches, Mrs. Fitz's Flats, The Evermores, Sam's Strip and Sam & Silo (the last two with Jerry Dumas).
After more than 50 years in the business, Mort Walker still supervises the daily work at his studio, which also employs 6 of his children.
In 1974 he founded The National Cartoon Museum, and in 1989 he was inducted into the Museum of Cartoon Art Hall of Fame. He received the Reuben Award of 1953 for Beetle Bailey, the National Cartoonist Society Humor Strip Award for 1966 and 1969, the Gold T-Square Award in 1999, the Elzie Segar Award for 1977 and 1999, and numerous other awards for his work and dedication to the art.
In his book The Lexicon of Comicana (1980), written as a satirical look at the devices cartoonists use in their craft, Walker invented a cartoon vocabulary called Symbolia. For example, Walker coined the term "squeans" to describe the starbusts and little circles that appear around a cartoon's head to indicate intoxication. The typographical symbols that stand for profanities, which appear in dialogue balloons in the place of actual dialogue, Walker called "grawlixes."
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 17, 2014
This was an impulse buy a for me a few months ago. Lucky for me, I enjoyed it tremendously. The humor holds up remarkably well despite its age. My favorite parts were the "epic", weeks-long sequence where Beetle, Sarge and the rest of the gang travel to Beetle's home for the holidays. Good fun (and slightly subversive too if you think about it, making fun of inept military officers)!
September 26, 2018
I'll always have a soft spot for Beetle. Most of the humor holds up.
May 15, 2019
Beetle Bailey is a soldier with a hankering for some good napping places who, along with the rest of the gang, spend their days training under the stern rules of Sergeant while trying to get a decent meal and date with the gals back home. Walker provides fans and newcomers with an entire year of witty, charming and chuckle-worthy comics sure to stick on shelves for years to come. What sort of antics can Beetle get himself out of in time for bed?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews