December 19th, 2015

Fuzz, Chaplain, Rocky

by Mort Walker

Here are three other characters who made their debut in the 1950s and are still regulars in the strip today.

Beetle Bailey daily strip, March 27, 1956.

Mort Walker explained the creation of Lt. Sonny Fuzz in the Best of Beetle Bailey: “It is a humorous situation to have a young, eager, newly-minted lieutenant arrive and start bossing around the old grizzled incumbent first sergeant. I was twenty-one when I did it and I know who won…the sergeant!”

Beetle Bailey daily strip, October 8, 1958.

Mort went on to describe Chaplain Staneglass: “It’s also funny to see someone try to be a moral influence on a bunch of rambunctious young bucks who are away from home, horny and thirsty. Staneglass tries, but as the Chaplain’s magazine mourned, ‘He is ineffectual.’”

Beetle Bailey daily strip, April 16, 1958.

Mort then recollected how Rocky evolved: “At first he played a role as a young hood from a street gang but, as times changed, he became more anti-establishment, running the underground newspaper and agitating for any current cause.”

Stay tooned for more on the early history of Beetle Bailey.

– Brian Walker