BEETLE BAILEY - Vintage Comic Strip Army Art Collectible Wrist Watch

Beetle Bailey is unusual in having one of the largest and most varied permanent casts of any comic strip. While many of the older characters are rarely seen, almost none have been completely retired.

Main characters

• Private Beetle Bailey—the main character and strip's namesake; a feckless, shirking, perpetual goof-off and straggler known for his chronic laziness and generally insubordinate attitude. Slack, hapless, lanky and freckled, Beetle's eyes are always concealed, whether by headgear or, in the rare instance of not wearing any, by his hair. In early strips, it was revealed that he is the brother of Lois Flagston (from the Hi and Lois cartoon, which Mort Walker also draws).
• Sergeant 1st Class Orville P. Snorkel—Beetle's nemesis; introduced in 1951. Sarge is known to frequently beat up Beetle for any excuse he can think of, leaving Beetle a shapeless pulp (one of the most iconic images in the strip). Once, in the February 2, 1971 strip, he even shoved Beetle through a knothole in the floor board. Sarge is too lovable to be a villain, however. Obese, snaggle-toothed and volatile, Sarge can be alternately short-tempered and sentimental. He and Beetle seem to have a mutual love/hate relationship; much of the time there's an implied truce between them. They share an uneasy alliance that sometimes borders on genuine (albeit unequal) friendship. He's from Pork Corners, Kansas.
• Private "Killer" Diller—the notorious ladies' man, and Beetle's frequent crony—introduced in 1951.
• Otto—Sgt. Snorkel's anthropomorphic, look-alike bulldog whom Sarge dresses up the same as himself, in an army uniform. Otto is fiercely protective of Sarge, and seems to have a particular antipathy towards Beetle. Originally he was a regular dog who walked on all fours, but Mort Walker finally decided to make him more human-like. As Walker put it, "I guess he's funnier that way." As Sarge is often found hanging on a branch protruding from a cliff face, so once was Otto.
• Cookie Jowls—the mess sergeant, who smokes cigarettes while preparing the mess hall's questionable menu (infamous for rubbery meatballs and tough-as-rawhide steaks). Except for the presence of cauliflower ears, a prominent heart tattoo, hairy shoulders and perpetual beard stubble, bears a striking resemblance to SFC Snorkel—and has also been known to occasionally beat up on Beetle. Like Sarge, he also loves food.
• Brigadier General Amos T. Halftrack—the inept, frustrated, semi-alcoholic commander of Camp Swampy; introduced in 1951. Loves to golf, much to his wife Martha's dismay. He's 78 years old, from Kenner, Louisiana—though according to Capt. Scabbard he was born in China (April 28, 1971).
• Miss (Sheila) Buxley—Halftrack's beautiful, blonde, buxom civilian secretary—and occasional soldier's date (as well as a constant distraction for Halftrack). She used to live in Amarillo, Texas.^[3] She appears in every Wednesday strip, with the exception of November 4, 2009; February 16, 2011; March 2, 2011; and April 6, 2011; why on Wednesdays is unknown. (However, a possible prototype for Miss Buxley, a very similar-looking "new stenographer" for General Halftrack, appeared on January 22, 1970—a Thursday.) Miss Buxley has an apparent interest in Beetle, later becomes his girlfriend, but is constantly pursued by Killer.
• Private Blips—Halftrack's competent, jaded, feministic/Chauvinistic, not-at-all-buxom secretary ("blips" are small points of light on a radar screen). Resents Halftrack's constant ogling of Miss Buxley.
• Lieutenant Sonny Fuzz—very young (with noticeably pointy eyebrows and very little facial hair), overly earnest, anal-retentive and "by the book", and highly susceptible to squeaky furniture. The apple-polishing Fuzz is always trying to impress uninterested superiors (especially Halftrack), and "rub it in the noses" of his subordinates. He was introduced in 1956. Mort Walker said he modeled the character and personality of Lt. Fuzz on himself, having taken himself too seriously after completing Officer Training.
• Lieutenant Jackson Flap—the strip's first black character, often touchy and suspicious—but effortlessly cool, introduced in 1970. Originally wore an afro hairstyle.
• Private Zero—the buck-toothed, naïve farm boy who takes commands literally, and misunderstands practically everything. Despite all that, Zero is a surprisingly knowledgeable coin collector. In one strip, an anonymous soldier seemingly pulls a prank on Zero by selling him a penny for about ten dollars. Zero has the last laugh by revealing to the reader that it is, in fact, a rare coin worth many times that amount.
• Private Plato—the Camp's resident intellectual (as Tom Lehrer might say, "brings a book to every meal"); bespectacled, given to scrawling long-winded, analytical, often philosophical graffiti. Named after Plato but reportedly based on Walker's pal, fellow cartoonist Dik Browne. Plato is the only character other than Beetle to evolve from the early "college" months of the strip.^[4]
• Chaplain Staneglass—"He's praying... he's looking at the food... he's praying again!" According to Mort Walker's Private Scrapbook, Walker based the chaplain on Irish actor Barry Fitzgerald's priest character, from Going My Way (1944).