''Crock'' is an American

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

created by

Bill Rechin William J. Rechin (August 20, 1930 – May 21, 2011), better known as Bill Rechin, was an American cartoonist who created the comic strips ''Out of Bounds'' and '' Crock''. Born in Buffalo, New York, Rechin studied art at Buffalo's Albright Aca ...

and

Brant Parker Brant Julian Parker (August 26, 1920 – April 15, 2007) was an American cartoonist. He co-created and drew ''The Wizard of Id'' comic strip until passing the job on to his son, Jeff Parker, in 1997. Cartoonist Johnny Hart, his co-creator, ...

depicting the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

. Distributed by

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

, the strip began in 1975 and ended in May 2012. , it appeared in 250 newspapers in 14 countries. Don Wilder took over the writing duties in 1976 as Parker returned his focus to ''

The Wizard of Id ''The Wizard of Id'' is a daily newspaper comic strip created by American cartoonists Brant Parker and Johnny Hart. Beginning November 16, 1964, the strip follows the antics of a large cast of characters in a shabby medieval kingdom called "Id" ...

''. Following the death of Bill Rechin in May 2011, the strip was drawn by Kevin Rechin and written by Bob Morgan, who is Rechin's brother-in-law. Publication of new ''Crock'' strips ended with the May 20, 2012, Sunday comic, though reprints of older strips by Bill Rechin have continued to run.

Characters and story

King Features describes ''Crock'' as "the greatest and longest-running parody of the Foreign Legion classic, ''

Beau Geste ''Beau Geste'' is an adventure novel by British writer P. C. Wren, which details the adventures of three English brothers who enlist separately in the French Foreign Legion following the theft of a valuable jewel from the country house of a rel ...

''," written in 1924 by

P. C. Wren Percival Christopher Wren (1 November 187522 November 1941) was an English writer, mostly of adventure fiction. He is remembered best for ''Beau Geste'', a much-filmed book of 1924, involving the French Foreign Legion in North Africa. This was ...

and filmed several times. The comic strip is set in the middle of a barren desert at a desolate fort, where the tyrannical and corrupt Commandant Vermin P. Crock rules over a curious group of beleaguered legionnaires: * the cowardly Captain Poulet (French for chicken), * the simple-minded Maggot who digs and digs, * Figowitz (who just wants a kind word), * heavyweight camp follower Grossie (who now owns Le Cesspool, a favorite, yet dilapidated hangout for the characters, and is married to Maggot), * the narcissistic Preppie, * Mario the Bartender, * Jules Schmesse who is always about to be executed, * the Arab horde and their stone god Nebookanezzer, who resembles a

moai Moai or moʻai ( ; es, moái; rap, moʻai, , statue) are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island, Rapa Nui in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main mo ...

, * the ancient sage, never seen, who lives in a cave and dispenses wisdom and sarcasm, * the men of Outpost 5, * the Bookmobile, * the men being punished in the heat boxes, * Quench the ever-dry camel, * the Lost Patrol who have been wandering the desert for 20 years, trying to find their way back to the fort.

TV appearance

A live action ''Crock'' sketch was included in the special ''Mother's Day Sunday Funnies'' broadcast May 8, 1983 on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

.Television Specials: 5,336 Entertainment Programs, 1936-2012, 2d ed. by Vincent Terrace
/ref>

Theme park

''Crock'' is featured in the

Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Florida (also known as Universal Studios or USF) is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Primarily themed to movies, television and other aspects of the entertainment industry, the park opened to the public on June 7, 1990 ...

theme park

Islands of Adventure Universal's Islands of Adventure (also known as Islands of Adventure or IOA), originally called Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. It opened on May 28, 1999, along with CityWalk, as part of an ...

, where Crock's fort is part of Toon Extra in Toon Lagoon.

References

{{Beau Geste American comic strips Gag-a-day comics 1975 comics debuts 2012 comics endings French Foreign Legion in popular culture Military comics Parody comics Parodies of films Parodies of literature Comics set in Africa