The late Mort Walker, a Missouri native and U.S. Army veteran of World War II, was living in lackluster and meager accommodations in New York when he introduced the character of Spider as part of a comic strip set on a college campus. The strip fared poorly initially and "after six months it had signed only twenty-five clients," Walker wrote in the 2000 book "Mort Walker's Private Scrapbook."
With the advent of the Korean War, the suggestion was made that he place Spider in an Army uniform, beginning the transition to "Beetle Bailey" and the addition of a cast of soldiers who captured the hearts of generations of comic readers.
In recent years, Beetle has accrued multitudes of fans worldwide and has become a revered comic that continues through the vision and efforts of three of Walker's sons.
Prior to his passing in 2018, Walker explained many of his military experiences in Missouri inspired aspects of the humorous strip. In 1943, the brief time he served at Camp Crowder near Neosho resulted in the creation of "Camp Swampy." This was followed by his introduction to Sgt. Octavian Savou during an Army school at Washington University in St. Louis, leading to the character of "Sgt. Snorkel."
"I was born the same year as Beetle," said Walker's son, Greg, who continues to work on the strip. "What I think has led to its popularity is that it's about a bunch of people thrown together and they have to learn to work with one another."
He added, "People in many environments can connect to this - whether it is the military, a college dorm or an office."
While growing up, a young Greg Walker's preamble to cartooning came from looking over his father's shoulder as he worked on strips that he created or co-founded, including the popular "Hi and Lois."
Years later, when Greg attended Syracuse University, his father began to usher his son into his personal world of cartooning when he extended the opportunity to make some money by writing gags (punch lines) for the strip.
Chuckling, Greg explained, "I wrote a few gags for beer money and a little spending cash for my pocket and I kept doing it."
Graduating from college in 1968 with a dual major in English and photography, he began working for a film company in New York but soon received a proposal to write on the side for Gold Key Comics. Though fairly new to the world of comics, he was now writing for the "Dudley Do-Right" and "Rocky and Bullwinkle" series.
New prospects shone on the professional horizon when Frank Johnson, an East Coast cartoonist, was asked to draw a Flintstones comic book spinoff titled "Barney and Betty Rubble." When Johnson later declined the venture, Greg Walker hired some cartoonists and artists while completing the writing for the new series.
"Eventually, I was not only writing, but started drawing the comic as well," the younger Walker recalled. "But then Charlton Comics approached my dad and asked if he would be interested in doing a Beetle Bailey spinoff. My dad then asked if I would be interested in working on the project, and that's how I got my start drawing Beetle characters like Sgt. Snorkel."
Greg Walker's developing cartooning proficiencies resulted in his father eventually asking if he would like to come work with him on the daily Beetle strips he was writing and drawing.
He affirmed, "At that time I was married with kids, and the pay was much better that I had been making."
For several years, Mort Walker collaborated with famed cartoonist Dick Browne to create "Hi and Lois," but the writing for the strip was later handed over to Greg Walker while Brown's son, Robert "Chance," accepted the responsibility of drawing the characters. Greg's brother, Brian, was brought into the cartooning fold in 1980, when he began writing for both "Beetle Bailey" and "Hi and Lois."
Greg and Brian's younger brother, Neal, became the most recent addition to the family's cartooning legacy.
"It really is a family business since Brian does most of the writing and Neal assists me with the artwork," Greg Walker said. "I am the 'inker' and go over all the penciling and complete the finished artwork. We still have a lot of unused gags that were written by our father and, sometimes, if I come up with a gag, I letter, pencil and ink it all the way through."
Reflecting on the changes that have occurred in the studio environment since his father passed, Greg Walker mirthfully remarked, "I always have work to do, but when my father was still alive, I sure used to play a lot more golf."
There may be no way to predict the future of Beetle.
Walker acknowledged, "It's kind of scary I started doing this in 1968 and have been involved with it for more than 50 years."
Pausing, he added, "I'm getting old I'm now 70, the same age as Beetle!"
Demonstrating a genuineness reminiscent of his father, the younger Walker concluded, "The Beetle strip has a certain Midwestern sensibility that has been there since early on. And it's always nice to hear someone say that they remember and appreciate the humor of strip, especially in a world where there is so much competition for people's time and attention."
Jeremy P. mick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Families of America.