Mort Walker

 Mort Walker was a cartoonist, best known for creating Beetle Bailey and co-creating Hi and Lois. He had one of the longest careers in the business, publishing his first comic when he was 11, and continuing to make comics until his death at the age of 94.

Mort Walker was born on September 3rd, 1923 in El Dorado, Kansas. Walker was interested in comics from a young age, with his favorites being "Li'l Abner", "Blondie", and "Moon Mullins". His life wasn't very glamorous however; growing up, his family had no heat or plumbing, and the family never had much money. Despite his circumstances, Walker worked hard to accomplish his dream of being a successful cartoonist. When Walker was 11, he published his first comic in a Kansas City paper about produce attacking a cup of coffee, and by the time he was 14, his work could be seen in various children's magazines. In fact, his work was so profitable, he dropped out of school in the fifth grade. (He eventually returned after six months).  When he was 15, his first comic, "The Lime Juicers" was published in the Kansas City Journal, which despite its' success ended after the Kansas City Journal was cancelled. 

When Walker was 18, he became chief editorial designer at Hallmark Cards. Walker was able to make a huge change at Hallmark, convincing them to make comedic cards alongside the more traditional scenery cards. He even drew some of the cards himself. Walker went to the University of Missouri for Journalism in 1942, but in 1943 he was drafted, and was stationed as a private at a POW camp in Italy. There he was a supply officer, and investigated crimes at the camp. He also got to know Sergent Octavian Savou, who Walker described as "a big, burly guy. Always yelling at us. (...) But, he was
really sentimental. One day he left a poem at our bunks addressed to 'my boys'". Sayou would be an inspiration for Sgt. Snorkel in Beetle Bailey. He eventually returned and went to college, returning to the University of Missouri and later going to Washington University for Literature. His cartoons were published in the college, magazine Missouri Showme, and eventually became the editor and art director of Showme. He also worked on the Savitar, the yearbook and the humor magazine.

An early Beetle Bailey, when he was in college.

After graduating, Walker moved to New York City and began working as an editor on 1000 Jokes, ghostwriting for Bob Hope and Red Skelton. While there, he sold his cartoon Spider. Spider was a one
panel cartoon about a lazy university student, based on someone Walker knew from high school. The name "Spider" came from a story from college, where someone he knew drank so much that he had to
crawl home like a spider. The cartoon was published in the Saturday Evening Post, where it caught the attention of King Features Syndicate. King liked the strip, but wanted him to change the name of Spider. Walker first chose just Beetle, but then chose to add Bailey to the end, after Saturday Evening Post editor John Bailey. The rest of the cast from the Saturday Evening Post version was cut, and it went from one panel to a more standard multi-panel format. The last comic personally approved by William Randolph Hearst, Beetle Bailey was first published on September 4th, 1950 to middling popularity. Despite being syndicated by the mighty Hearst company, the strip only debuted in a dozen

Beetle Bailey gets drafted into the military

papers, and after six months that had only grown to 25. Few people had attended college at that time, and as such, nobody wanted to read about a kid in college. Additionally, Walker was growing tired of making college jokes. The Korean War was starting around this time, and the editor of the Philadelphia Bulletin suggested that Walker draft Beetle Bailey into the military. Walker did so in March of 1951, and immediately the strip became much more popular. Beetle Bailey has been at Camp Swampy ever since.

Riding high off the success of Beetle Bailey, Walker decided to create another strip. The Korean War was coming to an end, and Walker was worried people would lose interest in Beetle Bailey with it. He
also wanted more comics with a husband and wife who didn't always fight, so with future Hagar the Horrible creator Dik Browne created Hi & Lois, which debuted on October 18th, 1954. The strip would be just as successful, winning multiple awards over the years. Not as well known as either strip, despite running for 15 years, is Mrs. Fits' Flats. While Walker did not create the comic, he and his team wrote most of the gags for it. The strip would run from January 7th, 1957, before ending on October 28th, 1972. Even less successful was Sam's Strip. Sam's Strip had too many inside jokes for most people to find funny, and only lasted under 2 years. Other cartoons created by Walker include "Boner's Ark", "The Evermores", "Betty Boop and Felix", and "Gamin and Patches". Walker would continue making comics for decades to come, before dying from pneumonia complications on January 27th, 2018.

Besides making comics, Walker was also interested in preserving comics. He expanded the National Cartoonists' Society to what it is today, and wrote numerous books and essays about comics. After seeing Krazy Kat originals being used to plug leaks at King Features, he established the Museum of Cartoon Art in 1974. The museum hosted a large collection of comic originals, but had to move repeatedly, and closed in 2002 due to financial problems.

Sources

“Mort Walker.” Lambiek.net, https://www.lambiek.net/artists/w/walker.htm

“Mort Walker.” Find a Grave, 2021, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/186914166/mort-walker

“Mort Info.” MortWalker.com, http://www.mortwalker.com/mwinfo.html. 

Sanders, Richard R. “A Kansas Citian Makes a Start As a Gag Cartoonist.” The Kansas City Star, 27 Feb. 1949, p. 75.

Schwan, Gary. “50 Years of 'Beetle Bailey'.” The Palm Beach Post, 3 Sept. 2000, pp. 121–123.