Beetle Bailey - Sarge's Last Stand

Beetle Bailey, which started as a college-themed strip in 1950, debuted inauspiciously in 12 newspapers. After six months, it had signed on only 25 clients, and King Features Syndicate considered dropping it. The Korean War was heating up at that time, so Mort Walker decided to have Beetle enlist in the Army. He quickly picked up 100 newspapers. Mort redesigned the cast and a Sunday page was added in 1952. After the Korean War was over, Army brass wanted to tighten up discipline and felt that Beetle Bailey encouraged disrespect for officers. The strip was banned in the Tokyo Stars and Stripes, and the sympathetic publicity rocketed Beetle's circulation another 100 papers. When Mort won the National Cartoonist Society's award as the best cartoonist of the year for 1953, Beetle Bailey had become a certified success, with licensed products and a growing list of clients. From 1954 to 1968, the circulation of Beetle Bailey grew from 200 newspapers to 1,100, and many new characters were added to the cast. Today, after more than six decades, Mort Walker's creation is still one of the most popular comic strips in the world.
       
      
       
PFC (Join to see)  COL Mikel J. Burroughs
SSG Jessica Bautista  PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
CSM Charles Hayden  SPC Margaret Higgins

CPT Jack Durish  SFC (Join to see)
SPC Jeff Daley, PhD  SN Mel Roberts
SFC Chad Sowash  SSgt (Join to see)
Capt Seid Waddell  MSgt George Cater
CSM Richard StCyr  SSG Buddy Kemper
Steve Durgin  CPL Dave Hoover