Buckles

Infobox Comic strip
title=Buckles


caption=
creator=David Gilbert
current=
status=Running
syndicate=King Features Syndicate
publisher= Plan 9 Publishing (2002-2005)
comictype=print
genre=Humor
first=March 25, 1996
last=

Buckles is a comic strip by David Gilbert about the misadventures of a anthropomorphic naïve dog. "Buckles" debuted on March 25, 1996.

King Feature's Syndicate: "More of an only child with canine instincts than he is the family pet. Buckles can display all the charm...of a small child discovering how to find his way through life."

Characters

Buckles

Buckles is an guileless and innocent dog, and is the strip's main protagonist. He was born on March 25, 1996 (The same day the first strip was published). Most of the storylines of the Buckles comic series involve moral issues within Buckles himself. Of course since he is a puppy, issues are more to the point of whether or not to get in the garbage, roll in the mud, or chew up a valuable piece of clothing. Buckles also fears cats. One of Buckles' favorite things to chew up seems to be the remote control to the TV, often ending in a strict lecture from Paul (his owner). The other is what he attacks and kills Paul's vacuum cleaners. And of course most of his misadventures end either with a praise and a treat, or a quick "No! Bad Dog!"/"Buckles, You Bad Dog!"

Paul and Jill

Buckles' owners who are authoritative and kind. They look like some sort of mixture of Jon Arbuckle from "Garfield" (because Paul and Jill are Buckles' owners like Jon is Garfield's owner; Paul and Jill's "Buckles, you bad dog!" is like Jon's "GARFIELD!"; Paul and Jill are also as authoritative as Jon) and Calvin's parents from "Calvin and Hobbes" (Paul and Jill are like Calvin's parents and were as authoritative and kind as Calvin's parents).

Paul and Jill love Buckles. When he did something bad, they often scold him and put him in the garage.

Paul, or Jill, often says/yells "BUCKLES, YOU BAD DOG!!!!" (which is their catch phrase) when they are annoyed with their furry son, because Buckles is being disrespectful or doing something bad.

Christina

Jill's niece who puts dresses on Buckles and makes him attend her tea parties.

Flea

An unseen but heard presence who lives behind Buckles' right ear.

Arden

A bird whom Buckles often asks for advice. He likes worms, because they're for lunch.

Arden occasionally breaks the fourth wall, especially on [http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20070603&name=Buckles June 3, 2007] .

Lester

A dog who, because of hip dysplasia, has sort of wheelchair apparatus providing mobility instead of his hind legs.

Rusty

A streetwise stray whose freedom Buckles envies.

crappy

An annoying and antagonistic squirrel who lives in the backyard. He hates Buckles and Arden, and he always insult them and call them rude names.

Irene

The love interest of Buckles' life who is a fire hydrant.

Paperboy

A younger newspaper deliverer who often threw rolled-up newspapers at Buckles.

Recurring jokes

There were meta-humor in this strip, for example, the characters talk with their mouths closed. Their dialogue has many exclamation points when they talk quietly or nicely like the dialogue in "Peanuts". Also, in some strips, there were repeated drawings and lines (i.e. in the May 21, 2008 strip, Buckles steps back from the harmless garter snake horrified. He then hides behind Paul, who rolls his eyes and says "For crying out loud, Buckles! It's just a harmless garter snake!" After that, like Buckles, Paul steps back from the harmless garter snake horrified. Then he hides behind Jill, who was gardening but rolled her eyes saying "For crying out loud, Paul!..." like Paul did for Buckles.).

Books

There are three different comic collections published by Plan 9 Publishing:
*"Buckles Unleashed" (2002)
*"There's a Street Dog in All of Us!" (2003)
*"A Good Vacuum is a Deed Vacuum!" (2005)

Currently, the books went out of stock. David Gilbert left the publisher and will seek into another printing option for the current and future collections. Someday, Andrews McMeel Publishing will publish current and future collections.

References

External links

* [http://www.bucklescomic.com Official web site]