Mort Walker, whose 'Beetle Bailey' was a comic-page staple for decades, dies at 94

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post


Mort Walker with characters from his “Beetle Bailey” comic strip at the Pentagon in 1990. (Bob Daugherty/Associated Press)

By Ali Bahrampour January 27 at 3:53 PM

Mort Walker, whose “Beetle Bailey” comic strip followed the exploits of a lazy G.I. and his inept cohorts at the dysfunctional Camp Swampy, and whose dedication to his art form led him to found the first museum devoted to the history of cartooning, died Jan.?27 at his home in Stamford, Conn. He was 94.

Bill Morrison, president of the National Cartoonists Society, confirmed the death. The cause was pneumonia.

In contrast with the work-shirking soldier he immortalized, Mr.?Walker was a man of considerable drive and ambition. He drew his daily comic strip for 68 years, longer than any other U.S. artist in the history of the medium.

Debuting in 1950, “Beetle Bailey” was distributed by King Features Syndicate and eventually reached 200?million readers in 1,800 newspapers in more than 50 countries. Beetle and company appeared in comic books, television cartoons, games and toys and were also featured in a musical with the book by Mr.?Walker, as well as on a U.S. Postal Service stamp in 2010.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/mort-walker-whose-beetle-bailey-was-a-comic-page-staple-for-decades-dies-at-94/2018/01/27/bcd374ec-039e-11e8-bb03-722769454f82_story.html

[Aristus]

1. Thank you for the many years of laughs, Mr. Walker.

Anyone who has served in the military will tell you that the strip was exaggerated a little, but still featured innumerable hilarious things about life in the Army.

[benld74]

2. Thanks Mr Walker

For giving me 50+ years of enjoying your comic.
Hopefully your work will be moved forward
By those who care

[Weed Man]

3. I loved his work in MAD

He will be missed.

[Dave Starsky]

8. I think you're thinking of Mort Drucker.

Mr. Drucker, fortunately, is still with us. One of the all-time greats.

RIP, Mr. Walker. I remember when he actually responded to complaints from feminists that his secretary character was showing too much cleavage. From then on, he drew her more modestly.

[kimbutgar]

4. I used to like the Hi and Lois strip

Thank MR. Walker for many smiles and laughs.

[monmouth4]

5. I loved that strip, always read it first...n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Wow.

Didn't know the guy was still around. Used to love reading that strip years ago and it was pretty iconic.

R.I.P. and condolences to his family!

[FSogol]

11. His kids, Brian and Greg took over the strip by the 90s. Mort was mostly retired. n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

12. I used to read that

and Hi & Lois (among others) back in the '70s, full color in the Sunday paper (Philly Inquirer)... First thing I'd pull out of the gigantic newspaper - the funnies.

[PCIntern]

13. Inquirer had Rotogravure comics

Bulletin’s were ordinary.

But both had gorgeous bright colors. Now the color is very pastel. Sad!

[mahannah]

7. Loved that over the years it became more anti war.

[Girard442]

9. When I was a little kid, I used to think that "Sarge" was based on my uncle.

He was a sergeant in the Missouri National Guard right up to mandatory retirement. A little, I still feel that way.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

10. Really sweet guy

I interviewed him about a decade ago and he loaded me down with sketches and memorabilia before we parted

If you're ever in Columbus, check out the cartoon museum at Ohio state. It's built largely from his massive collection he donated, dating back to he correspondence and collecting with artists as a kid in the 30s. He was also able to convince quite a few editors and syndicates to give him original art from those years that they had intended to trash after publication. He did yeoman's work in saving a lot of early comics history before he even started his own strip.