' Beetle Bailey' cartoonist Mort Walker dies at 94
Beetle Bailey
Comic strip artist Mort Walker  a World War II veteran who satirized the Army and tickled millions of newspaper readers with the antics of the lazy private "Beetle Bailey " died Saturday.  He  was 94.
 Walker  died at  his  home in Stamford  Connecticut  said Greg Walker  his eldest son and a collaborator. His father's advanced age was the cause of death  he said.
 Walker  began publishing cartoons at age 11 and was involved with more than a half-dozen comic strips in  his  career  including "Hi and Lois " ''Boner's Ark" and "Sam & Silo." But  he  found  his  greatest success drawing slacker Beetle   his  hot-tempered sergeant and the rest of the gang at fictional Camp Swampy for nearly 70 years.
The character that was to become  Beetle Bailey  made  his  debut as Spider in  Walker 's cartoons published by the Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s.  Walker  changed Spider's name and launched  "Beetle Bailey"  as a college humor strip in 1950.
At first the strip failed to attract readers and King Features Syndicate considered dropping it after just six months   Walker  said in a 2000 interview with The Associated Press. The syndicate suggested  Beetle  join the Army after the start of the Korean War   Walker  said.
"I was kind of against it because after World War II  Bill Mauldin and Sad Sack were fading away " he said. But his misgivings were overcome and  Beetle  "enlisted" in 1951.
 Walker  attributed the success of the strip to Beetle's indolence and reluctance to follow authority.
"Most people are sort of against authority "  he  said. "Here's  Beetle  always challenging authority. I think people relate to it."
 "Beetle Bailey"  led to spin-off comic strip "Hi and Lois " which  he  created with Dik Browne  in 1954. The premise was that  Beetle  went home on furlough to visit  his  sister Lois and brother-in-law Hi.
Fellow cartoonists remembered  Walker  on Saturday as a pleasant man who adored his fans. Bill Morrison  president of the National Cartoonists Society  called  Walker  the definition of "cartoonist" in a post on the society's website.
" He  lived and breathed the art every day of  his  life.  He  will be sorely missed by  his  friends in the NCS and by a world of comic strip fans " Morrison said.
Fellow cartoonist Mark Evanier said on his website that  Walker  was "delightful to be around and always willing to draw  Beetle  or Sarge for any of his fans. He sure had a lot of them."
"Beetle Bailey " which appeared in as many as 1 800 newspapers  sometimes sparked controversy. The Tokyo editions of the military newspaper Stars & Stripes dropped it in 1954 for fear that it would encourage disrespect of its officers. But ensuing media coverage spurred more than 100 newspapers to add the strip.
Shortly after President Bill Clinton took office   Walker  drew a strip suggesting that the draft be retroactive in order to send Clinton to Vietnam.  Walker  said  he  received hundreds of angry letters from Clinton supporters.
For years   Walker  drew Camp Swampy's highest-ranking officer  Gen. Amos Halftrack  ogling his secretary  Miss Buxley. Feminist groups claimed the strip made light of sexual harassment  and  Walker  said the syndicate wanted  him  to write out the lecherous general.
That wasn't feasible because the general was such a fixture in the strip   Greg Walker  said Saturday.  His  father solved the problem in 1997 by sending Halftrack to sensitivity training.
Comic strip artist Mort Walker  a World War II veteran who satirized the Army and tickled millions of newspaper readers with the antics of the lazy private "Beetle Bailey " died Saturday.  He  was 94.
 Walker  died at  his  home in Stamford  Connecticut  said Greg Walker  his eldest son and a collaborator. His father's advanced age was the cause of death  he said.
 Walker  began publishing cartoons at age 11 and was involved with more than a half-dozen comic strips in  his  career  including "Hi and Lois " ''Boner's Ark" and "Sam & Silo." But  he  found  his  greatest success drawing slacker Beetle   his  hot-tempered sergeant and the rest of the gang at fictional Camp Swampy for nearly 70 years.
 [TGT] made   [TGT]   debut as Spider in  Walker 's cartoons published by the Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s.  Walker  changed Spider's name and launched  "Beetle Bailey"  as a college humor strip in 1950.
At first the strip failed to attract readers and King Features Syndicate considered dropping it after just six months   Walker  said in a 2000 interview with The Associated Press. The syndicate suggested  Beetle  join the Army after the start of the Korean War   Walker  said.
"I was kind of against it because after World War II  Bill Mauldin and Sad Sack were fading away " he said. But his misgivings were overcome and  Beetle  "enlisted" in 1951.
 Walker  attributed the success of the strip to Beetle's indolence and reluctance to follow authority.
"Most people are sort of against authority "  he  said. "Here's  Beetle  always challenging authority. I think people relate to it."
 "Beetle Bailey"  led to spin-off comic strip "Hi and Lois " which  he  created with Dik Browne  in 1954. The premise was that  Beetle  went home on furlough to visit  his  sister Lois and brother-in-law Hi.
Fellow cartoonists remembered  Walker  on Saturday as a pleasant man who adored his fans. Bill Morrison  president of the National Cartoonists Society  called  Walker  the definition of "cartoonist" in a post on the society's website.
" He  lived and breathed the art every day of  his  life.  He  will be sorely missed by  his  friends in the NCS and by a world of comic strip fans " Morrison said.
Fellow cartoonist Mark Evanier said on his website that  Walker  was "delightful to be around and always willing to draw  Beetle  or Sarge for any of his fans. He sure had a lot of them."
"Beetle Bailey " which appeared in as many as 1 800 newspapers  sometimes sparked controversy. The Tokyo editions of the military newspaper Stars & Stripes dropped it in 1954 for fear that it would encourage disrespect of its officers. But ensuing media coverage spurred more than 100 newspapers to add the strip.
Shortly after President Bill Clinton took office   Walker  drew a strip suggesting that the draft be retroactive in order to send Clinton to Vietnam.  Walker  said  he  received hundreds of angry letters from Clinton supporters.
For years   Walker  drew Camp Swampy's highest-ranking officer  Gen. Amos Halftrack  ogling his secretary  Miss Buxley. Feminist groups claimed the strip made light of sexual harassment  and  Walker  said the syndicate wanted  him  to write out the lecherous general.
That wasn't feasible because the general was such a fixture in the strip   Greg Walker  said Saturday.  His  father solved the problem in 1997 by sending Halftrack to sensitivity training.