The "Beetle Bailey" comic strip faced censorship on three separate occasions. The first incidence occurred in 1962 because, shock of all shocks, that strip showed a belly button. Yikes!

The second manifestation of censorship happened in 2006 when the description of Rocky's criminal past was replaced with a non-criminal past. Introduced in 1958, the "rebel-without-a-clue" known as Rocky, was Camp Swampy's long-haired, disgruntled, former bike gang member. Rocky also had a side hustle as a shady used car salesman, and was the editor of the "Camp Swampy Muckateer" publication.

Mort Walker's self-censoring was the third installment of the actions previously mentioned above. Sometimes, Walker drew strips with raunchy subject matters for self-amusement. Drawn in the sketch stage, these strips were not meant for US publication.

They were, however, published in Scandinavia with translations underneath the strips. In addition, they appeared in the Norwegian version of the "Beetle Bailey" comic book entitled Billy. The covers of these comics were marked to indicate they contained censored materials. They were published in the middle of the 1990's by scrambling the strips. A de-scrambling plastic card was required in order to view these comics. Not long afterwards, the strips were no longer scrambled before being printed.

In regards to these censorships Donald David Markstein was quoted as stating, "For the most part, Walker's relationship with the real-life US Army has been cordial. But not always. [For instance,] During the early 1950's the strip ("Beetle Bailey") was dropped from the Tokyo edition of Stars and Stripes because it allegedly encouraged disrespect for officers. The civilian press made a huge joke of that, and the ensuing publicity gave the young strip its first big boost in circulation."

Donald David Markstein was the writer and editor of the go-to online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animations. With a subtitle of A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge, this publication was originally known as Don's Cartoon Encyclopedia. Markstein changed its name to Don Markstein's Toonopedia.

According to Markstein, his online encyclopedia was "The world's first hypertext encyclopedia of toons." Markstein defined his encyclopedia's intent as "The basic idea is to cover the entire spectrum of cartoonery."

Markstein's encyclopedia gained a reputation of being a vast warehouse of information about comics. Additionally, the encyclopedia provided information on almost any comic strip.

Some of Markstein's other writing projects included:

-being on staff of the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper

-the Feature story writer for that newspaper's Sunday magazine

-weekly restaurant review writer for the Phoenix Business Journal

Markstein edited, designed and produced several publications including:

-Arizona Living
-Arizona Women's Voice
-Comics Interview
-Comics Review
-Phoenix Resources
-Louisiana Weekly Employer
-Scottsdale
-Sun Tennis

Markstein also penned the books A Prince Valiant Companion and Hot Tips From Top Comics Creators.

In 1988, a musical based on the "Beetle Bailey" comic strip premiered at the Candlewood Playhouse in New Fairfield, Connecticut. Neil and Gretchen Gould wrote the music and lyrics for the musical. The plot involved a wayward computer that promoted Beetle Bailey to the rank of a three-star General.

Co-written by Mort Walker and the Emmy-winning television writer Hank Saroyan, in 1989, a thirty minute animated television Special for CBS was produced of the "Beetle Bailey" comic strip. This Special, and the 1960's "Beetle Bailey" comic strips, have been released on DVD.

In 1963, an animated television Series consisting of fifty six-minute Cartoon Shorts were produced by the King Features Syndicate. These Shorts were animated by Paramount Cartoon Studios in the United States, and by Artransa Film Studios in Sdyney, Australia.

On October 7, 1972, Beetle Bailey and Sergeant Snorkel were prominently featured in the animated television film Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter. This was an episode of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. General Halftrack and Lieutenant Flap appeared in the movie's Chinese Restaurant scene.

"Beetle Bailey" characters have been licensed over the years for many things ranging from dolls to telephones, handpuppets, lunchboxes, paperback books, bobbleheads, greeting cards, and several other trinkets.

In 1964, the Multiple Plastics Corporation manufactured a Camp Swampy playset.

Dark Horse Comics issued collectible figurines of Beetle Bailey and Sergeant Snorkel in 2000. To commemorate "Beetle Bailey's" fiftieth anniversary, they produced a boxed PVC figurine set of Beetle Bailey, Sergeant Snorkle, Miss Buxley, General Halftrack, Otto, Lieutenant Flap, and Cookie.

As part of their animated All-Stars series, BCI Eclipse released twenty episodes of "Beetle Bailey" on a two-DVD set. Rhino Home Video released another ten episodes on a DVD. In 2007, Beetle Bailey: The Complete Collection was released on DVD. This included an un-aired 1989 television Special.

Bloomingdales, and fashion designer Dr. X, released a limited edition retro/punk rock style clothing line that involved Beetle Bailey-themed Chuck Taylor sneakers, t-shirts, and leather jackets. These came out in 2010.

In 2012, Rolex, and Bamford Watch, released a Beetle Bailey Rolex watch.


Next Time: "Hagar The Horrible's" Christopher Browne