Motley's Crew

For the heavy metal band, see Mötley Crüe.

Motley's Crew
Author(s)	Ben Templeton[1] Tom Forman[1] (deceased)
Current status / schedule	No longer in publication
Launch date	September 6, 1976[1]
End date	January 1, 2000[1]
Syndicate(s)	Tribune Media Services
Genre(s)	Humor Politics Real Life Marriage

Motley's Crew was an American newspaper comic strip by Ben Templeton and Tom Forman with satirical social commentary.^[1][2]

With readership spread among 250 newspapers in the United States alone, the comic strip acquired a highly devoted but relatively small group of fans during its 23 years of operation.^[2] The comic strip in general was about a blue-collar worker named Mike Motley and his wife Mabel Motley.^[2] Truman Motley (Mike and Mabel's son) eventually fell in love and married a woman named Tacoma. From that marriage came two sons. Mabel's older brother Abel was often collaborating with his wife Buffy.^[1] Her role in creating a rivalry between Abel and his brother-in-law Mike is muted by the fact that he respected Abel and his wife just a little bit. As a part of his wife's family unit, Mike had to face Abel and Buffy whether he liked it or not.

According to a 1997 comics poll conducted by the New York Daily News, Motley's Crew was elected as the 28th most favorite comic strip among readers and visitors to the official Internet site.^[3] The comic strip was considered to be more popular than B.C. (still in publication) but less popular than Broom-Hilda (still in publication).^[3] However, it also voted as the 30th least favorite comic strip in the same poll; indicating that more people liked the Motley's Crew comic strip than hated it.^[3] Templeton and Forman created the comic in 1976.^[4] It was first syndicated by what is known today as Tribune Media Services on September 6 of that year. Templeton and Forman were working together on it until Forman's death in 1996. After Forman's death, Templeton continued alone.^[4] It continued until January 1, 2000.^[5]

The final week's strips dealt with the cast trying to cope with the possible effects of the Y2K bug.^[6] Earl had the computers in the factory "bug proofed" but for the year 3000.^[6] Mike had to fix the computers so they were ready for the year 2000 instead.^[6] On the first day of the year 2000, the final comic strip ever to be printed presented long-time fans and casual readers with a sign with the words "This space for rent."^[5] This concept was similar to Sam Malone closing the Cheers bar permanently after the final episode of Cheers.

Since then, Motley's Crew comic strips have been sought by collectors of contemporary comic strips. Archived comic strips can be viewed at on Google News Archives by simply typing in the name of the comic strip.^[7] However, not all issues of the Motley's Crew comic strip are available to view on the Google News archives yet.

Cast of characters

Main article: List of Motley's Crew characters

The Mike Motley family

Mabel Motley

Mabel Motley
Born	1944?
Died	2000 (aged 55–56)
Cause of death	Termination of comic strip
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Homemaker
Known for	Being the leading lady in the Motley's Crew comic strip series.

In the comic strip Motley's Crew, Mabel Motley (maiden name: unknown^[1]) was a stay-at-home mother.

Her primary task in the family was to cook and clean while her husband was working and providing a paycheck for the family unit. Eventually, she became a grandmother later in the lifetime of the comic strip. Mabel revealed some of the aspects of her personality during her time as a wife and a mother. She would frequently complained about her husband spending his weekend afternoons doing nothing but watching sports on the television. With all the masculine elements that the comic strip portrayed, having Mike Motley married to her provided a feminine balance to the comic strip.

Setting her husband straight was always one of Mabel's things that kept her occupied. After Mike tried to bend the rules for certain situations, she would get upset with him. Strong criticism is often a part of being around her husband Mike. For example, a situation occurred where Mike refused to wear a necktie to a wedding service. Mabel even forced her husband put on a formal outfit that wasn't exactly perfect in order to create an illusion of dignity for Mabel's side of the family.^[1][8] White tie outfits tend to be very fragile due to their delicate fabrics used in their manufacturing. The incredible rush to get her husband to switch from a casual tee shirt and boxer short ensemble to an ultra formal ensemble (jacket, bow tie, vest, tuxedo shirt, formal trousers, socks, and shoes) caused Mike Motley to cause an inevitable flaw (something that affected the delicate wool fabric) to appear on an outfit meant for ultra formal evening occasions.^[8] Notice that the character development of Mike Motley suggested that he wore boxer shorts while resting inside his house and briefs when he was outside the home. This was not meant to be a consistency error because some men prefer the support that briefs provide when away from home and the more comfortable fit of boxer shorts as outer clothing when relaxing at home.

While her husband was losing his brown hair, Mabel's hair was always blond throughout the entire comic strip series. The blond hair also serves a stereotype for females with a relatively low level of intelligence. Mabel liked to wear her hair in a traditionally feminine style, like a typical housewife. This femininity was extended to her wardrobe, her personality, and how she responds to life in general. Frequently seen in delicate dresses and almost never seen in trousers, Mabel was like a poster model for the 1950s lady. Mabel got married as a virgin and believes that a woman's place was home being the wife. There was never any mention of Mabel having any college education prior to marrying her husband Mike.

Mike Motley

Mike Motley
Born	1941
Died	2000 (aged 58–59)
Cause of death	Termination of comic strip
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Factory worker (earlier strips) Webmaster (later strips)
Known for	Being the main character of the Motley's Crew comic strip series.

In the comic strip Motley's Crew, Michael "Mike" Motley was a middle aged unskilled factory worker (later being promoted to webmaster).^[1]

He worked for his employer Mister Drudge and was married to his equally middle aged wife Mabel. When not working, he was often caught spending most of his Sundays watching football on television. The occasional moments that he spent outside his factory workplace and his home was considered to be spent on creating masculine humor to the readers of the comic strip that he played the starring role in. During his working days, he often wore a hard hat because his blue collar job was considered to be dangerous work. While his character was in development during the early days of the comic strip, he and his wife took care of their son Truman. Eventually, the son grew up and got married because the comic strip had a story arc like a soap opera instead of a floating timeline like a Saturday morning cartoon. Even with his busy schedule of work, family, and bar life, Mike still had time to travel the world.

Unlike Homer Simpson and similar to Red Forman on That '70s Show, his lack of hair was caused by advanced age. It was never claimed to be caused by the dangerous chemicals that Mike was forced to deal every day in his job description. If Mike would have maintained all of his hair, his hairstyle would have closely followed that of a crew cut; a typical hairstyle used by young middle class men starting in the 1950s. According to the chronology of the story, Mike Motley would have been born around the year 1941. Although his life prior to 1976 was never shown on the comic strip, he was shown as a younger man in the year 1977 when he joined the "working class poor." Mike can be seen in the comic strips as the equivalent to Archie Bunker without the prejudice that dominated the character.

Mabel Motley's side of the family

Abel and Buffy

Abel and Buffy ?
Born	1940s
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Homemaker? (Buffy) Unknown (Abel)
Known for	Being Mabel Motley's brother and sister-in-law.

Mabel: 'What are earth do you think you're doing? Abel and Buffy should be here any moment.' / Mike (in his tee shirt and boxer shorts): 'This's as dressed up as I'm getting.' / Mike (in a white tie outfit that looks torn apart in certain places): 'Hi ya Abel Buffy.'

—Mike and Mabel Motley before and after Abel and Buffy arrived at their house

Abel and Buffy (last name unknown; as it would be the maiden name of Mabel Motley) provided comic relief when Mabel coerced her husband into embarrassing situations. This fact was especially revealed in a comic strip that was published around July 22, 1997. Abel is in a normal business suit and Buffy is in a cocktail dress.^[8] They enter Mabel and Mike Motley's house to see their embarrassed brother-in-law Mike Motley being forced to dress up in a white tie outfit that was completely inappropriate for the afternoon visit.^[1][8] While in a state of confusion caused by Mabel shaving her husband's facial hair to the point of making his face bleed, Mike Motley opens the door to greet a couple of his wife's family members unaware of his face having injuries from his shaving wounds.^[8] His bald spot was now considered to be more clearly shown because his wife lacked the proper knowledge in how to comb a man's hair (this shallow attempt at being perfect was taken by Mabel because she didn't want her brother and his wife to think that her husband is going bald). Mike gave his wife's relatives a score of 2 out of 10 (20%) while his wife Mabel gave her family a mathematically illogical score of 12 out of 10 (120%).^[8]

The white underwear that was slightly revealed through the noticeable rip in the formal trousers was an attempt to capitalize America's newly found obsession with underwear oriented humor during that era. Most comic strips (and eventually other forms of popular culture) would eventually incorporate the use of underwear outside its expected role of underneath a person's trousers. This would find a use in humorous situations regardless of the age group being targeted.^[9] As long as the underwear was depicted in a form that was not considered to be sexual, it would be allowed on any media form in Western civilization. Mabel's relatives were always a thorn in his side to her husband Mike; especially Abel and Buffy. Even though Abel and Buffy secretly liked him, Mike never liked them for some reason or another.

It was never officially explained when this rivalry between Mike, Abel, and Buffy began; the fact remained that any good intentions that Abel and Buffy had were quickly repulsed by Mike Motley at first glance. Mike always realized his hatred for Abel and Buffy when they arrived at a time when he wanted to be with his wife and not have to deal with her relatives on a social trip. Mabel always got him in the mood for all their visits because Abel and Buffy were a part of her family by birth (and Mike's by marriage). Mike always complains about either Abel or Buffy doing something wrong to him or his property at the end of their visits. Since Mabel has to be nice to her brother and his wife, she usually took his remarks with a grain of salt and have him look suitable for the occasion (whether it was a cordial visit on a summer afternoon or a family function where a necktie was required).

Strangers and acquaintances

Earl and Abigail Bird

Earl and Abigail Bird
Born	1940s
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Homemaker (Abigail) Factory worker (Earl)
Known for	Being the next door neighbors of Mabel and Mike Motley.

Earl Bird was the next-door neighbor of Mike and Mabel Motley and a fellow worker at Drudge Industries and they were seen working side by side. Earl usually had a cigar in his mouth and was the most incompetent person in the comic strip. When he was captured and forced to steer the ship, he took command of the ship until it collided with land in the middle of Kansas. The humor behind that scenario was that ships cannot land in Kansas; Earl was clearly an incompetent sailor and no clear explanation was given about the reason of giving him command of an entire ship.

During the earlier years of the comic strip, Earl complained about the white flight from metropolitan cities into more suburban areas due to rising crime in the inner sections of North American cities.^[10] Humor was added when Earl talked about the things that suburban people had (swimming pools, shade trees, lawns) and complained about not being able to afford to move out of an inner city environment to enjoy them.^[10] Eventually, the series moved to the suburban area after Truman Motley started to attend school for safety reasons. Earl Bird's character was similar to George Jefferson who briefly lived next door to the Archie Bunker family.

Abigail Bird (maiden name: unknown) was Earl's wife who had suffered for a long time with him. She played a similar role to the late Maude Flanders on The Simpsons, Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched, and Louise Jefferson on All in the Family and The Jeffersons. Similar to the role that Mabel Motley played, she was the good wife and simply overlooked most of her husband's schemes that did bad things to him. Her maiden name is unknown, similar to the way that Mabel Motley's maiden name is also unknown. Abigail's past was never revealed on the comic strip, giving her the intention of being a stock character. Her supportive nature is what helps Earl keep an even keel on life when he goes through one of his work-induced crises.

Mister Drudge

Mister Drudge
Born	1960s-1970s
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Factory manager[7]
Known for	Making Mike Motley's work life a living nightmare

In the comic strip, Mister Drudge was considered to be an autocratic factory manager.^[7]

He personally ran the fictional corporation Drudge Industries, Inc., which was a construction company. His signature was on every paycheck that Mike Motley and his other subordinates received after working. The coarse nature of his operations is what kept the workplace in perfect working condition. Traditional gender roles reigned supreme in his factory. In addition to all that, Mister Drudge also had an obedient female secretary that was always ready to take orders from him. His last name came from a word that means "labor" or "work." Very rarely did anyone receive a pay raise or a promotion in his construction company.

Mister Drudge was considered to be a very young person, with red hair, very young skin, and a white bow tie.^[7][11] He also appeared content in his successful life running a major corporation at his age.^[7]

Yuri

Yuri
Born	1940s
Nationality	Soviet Union
Occupation	Worker Casino owner[12]
Known for	Symbolizing Russia's transition from communism to capitalism within the confines of the comic strip

Yuri was Mike Motley's friend from Russia (which was part of the Soviet Union during most of the comic strip's production).

He provided Cold War humor from the perspective of what Americans were conditioned to believe to be the "enemy" during the Cold War years. This character was used the most often during the Mikhail Gorbachev administration. While Yuri was visited by his friend Mike Motley in the then-current Soviet Union, Yuri rarely traveled to America. The reason for Yuri's lack of visits to the United States was that financial and security reasons prevented citizens from the Soviet Union from entering Western Bloc countries during that time. During the 1980s when the Soviets were warming relations with the United States, Mike (representing the United States of America and his capitalist employer) had fewer financial and security restrictions upon entering the Soviet Union.

One of Yuri's recent roles in the comic strip came on the week of March 28, 1994 when he was a proprietor of a casino in Moscow. Ben Templeton has a strong interest in the former Soviet Union and has made a novel about the country called The Last Decathlon; which is a thriller novel that takes place in the 1980s.^[12]

Mike and Mabel Motley's community

Mike and Mabel Motley were home owners during the course of the entire comic strip. They lived in the suburbs of an industrial city somewhere within the lower 48 states of the U.S.. While Mabel did the housework (cooking, cleaning, washing dishes), Mike did all the yard work (raking leaves, cutting the grass, etc.) Even though Mike and Mabel Motley decided that only Mike needed to earn income for the household, Mike and Mabel Motley attempted to keep up with the times and with the changing needs of Middle America to their best of their ability.

Mike Motley's employment status

Mike Motley was employed in the construction industry and was employed under the manager of Drudge Industries, Inc., Mister Drudge himself. Due to the fact that he was an unskilled laborer, he and his wife lived a menial lower middle class existence. Because Motley's Crew was intended to be a humorous comic strip on everyday life, certain strips would show Mike Motley wearing his underwear outside of his pants. Unfortunately, due to the cancellation of the comic strip, Mike Motley never got to retire from his workplace. Had the comic strip been published for a longer period of time, Mike Motley would have retired around the late 2000s.

Politics and conservatism

Despite other comic strips changing completely with the times to suit a younger audience, older fans of the comic strip wanted to keep traditional gender roles present in the comic strip as much as possible. Therefore, any changes to the main characters were seen as temporary and made to look as foolish as possible in order to create a laughter effect. Like the other suburban residents, Mike owned a car in which he used to travel to work and play. In addition to factories, houses, and office buildings, the neighborhood also had a bar, a health clinic, a church, a beach, and other fine places where Mike, his friends and family all worked and played at. Humor was found in the least expected places like a reception area in a hospital being confused for a place where footballs are caught in an American football field for a touchdown.

Rarely were any of the characters were seen walking, jogging, or using any form of mass transit on Motley's Crew as the characters never saw anything else but automobile travel as a priority for the characters. Also, the lack of hybrid vehicles during the comic strip run made it inevitable for people to use vehicles that ran on fossil fuels. Environmentalists were still seen as the "potential destroyers of the country" because Mike didn't want to fix his faucet for $30 ($79.96 in today's money) instead of buying a new one for $10 ($26.65 in today's money).^[13]

Home computers and microprocessors were dealt with as processors of bills and income (as opposed to electronic video games) in a comic strip back in 1982.^[14] Political issues (such as the mistakes made by the Department of Defense in the late 1980s) were dealt with in a conservative but humorous manner.^[15] Conservatism could also be seen with stereotypical images of young people graduating from college. The newly graduated student joins the real world with his philosophy degree and ends up becoming a shepherd.^[16] At the end of that comic strip, the sheep were thinking "How come we always get stuck with the philosophy majors?^[16]"

From 1994 to 1999 (which served as the final five years of the comic strip's publication), the comic strip focused on entertaining its established audience with issues that they could relate to instead of dealing with the "problems of the young generation." It was possible that a second generation of Motley's Crew readers were starting to develop from young adults; the type of humor that keeps a person laughing frequently changes with age. However, they would receive a rude awakening by not being able to understand most of the issues that comic strip portrayed. Most of the issues in the comic strip series dealt more with the middle aged people and the elderly as opposed to the climate change that society was forcing them to deal with on an everyday basis.

Revitalization attempts

When the creators of Motley's Crew started to see older readers from the 1970s dying off, they introduced physical comedy in order to keep a younger audience interested. Things like underwear appearing in strange areas of the body (i.e., outside of a person's clothes, on a person's head, etc.) and Mabel getting revenge on her husband Mike by giving him a black eye once in a while were attempts to make the comic strip more relevant for the young generation. Items of dignity became objects of ridicule as a three-piece white tie outfit is partially shredded without any explanation other than visual due to the limitations of the comic strip medium. While the dinner jacket, tuxedo shirt, vest, and bow tie would remain relatively intact, the formal trousers were given a few shreds which revealed the white briefs (presumably cotton) of Mike Motley.

Pictures

Mike Motley is shown here playing baseball for his local bar. His team lost the game by a score of 37-0.   Mike Motley is shocked when one of his friends show up to work with his white briefs over top of his work pants.   Mike Motley's tee shirt and work pants are stolen by his two male grandchildren. During this era, it was often the style for teenage boys to wear pants and shirts several sizes larger than their body weight.   This is a vintage Motley's Crew comic strip from August 26, 1979. Mike Motley is attempting to pour a drink of beer while his friends cheer him on.

See also

Comics

• Arlo and Janis
• Betsy and Me
• Kudzu
• Moose & Molly
• Winnie Winkle

Television series

• All in the Family
• Married With Children
• The Honeymooners

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} "Complete summary of Motley's Crew". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. http://www.toonopedia.com/motley.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-04. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Tom Forman's obituary w/ comic strip information". Seattle Times. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19960525&slug=2331103. Retrieved 2008-06-19. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Comic strip poll results". New York Daily News. 1997-03-30. http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1997/03/30/1997-03-30__for_better__is_the_best_in_.html. Retrieved 2008-07-08. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Artist information". Lambiek. http://lambiek.net/artists/t/templeton_ben.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-04. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Motley's Crew Final Comic Strip". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2000-01-01. http://news.google.ca/newspapers?nid=gL9scSG3K_gC&dat=20000101&printsec=frontpage. Retrieved 2010-04-05. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} "Earl's Y3K Mistake (Motley's Crew)". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 1999-12-28. http://news.google.ca/newspapers?nid=gL9scSG3K_gC&dat=19991228&printsec=frontpage. Retrieved 2010-04-05. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Mister Drudge at Work". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 1995-06-20. http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=gOoNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kG4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3618,2506183&dq=motley's-crew&hl=en. Retrieved 2010-04-05. 
8. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Ben Templeton (w)Motley's Crew (circa July 22, 1997)
9. ^ "Mike Motley's Friend in Briefs". The Daily Gazette. 1997-07-11. http://news.google.ca/newspapers?nid=OtrppQHxQ5wC&dat=19970711&printsec=frontpage. Retrieved 2010-11-14. 
10. ^ ^{a b} "Self and the Community in the City - Chapter 1.5: Symbolic History and Self". Brooklyn Sociology. http://www.brooklynsoc.org/PLG/selfandcommunity/ch1-5.html. Retrieved 2008-09-10. 
11. ^ "Mister Drudge Information". The Daily Gazette. 1995-02-08. http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=SgwxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=F-AFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5849,1911840&dq=motley's-crew&hl=en. Retrieved 2010-04-05. 
12. ^ ^{a b} "Yuri's 1994 appearance". Editor and Publisher. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/article_brief/eandp/1/1149785. Retrieved 2008-05-15. 
13. ^ "$30 Faucet Repair vs $10 New Faucet". Reading Eagle. 1980-09-23. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MvYhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=k6IFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5953,2344478&dq=motley's+crew&hl=en. Retrieved 2010-06-16. 
14. ^ "The Impact of the Microprocessor". Malted Media. http://maltedmedia.com/books/papers/s2-renss.html. Retrieved 2008-07-11. 
15. ^ Fairhall, James (1987). "The case of the $435 Hammer". FindArticles.com. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_v18/ai_4619906. Retrieved 2008-07-11. 
16. ^ ^{a b} "The Philosophy Graduate and the Sheep". Rabbi Fleischmann. http://rabbifleischmann.blogspot.com/2007/01/some-parshat-shmot-thoughts.html. Retrieved 2008-10-10. 

External links

• Comic Strip Fan
• Reading Room Index