''Buckles'' is a comic strip by David Gilbert about the misadventures of an anthropomorphic naïve

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

. ''Buckles'' debuted on March 25, 1996, and ended on March 21, 2021. According to King Features 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." GoComics began a repeat run of the strip effective May 10, 2021.

Characters

Buckles

Buckles is a guileless and

innocent Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack of experience. In relation ...

dog, and is the strip's 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 A puppy is a juvenile dog. Some puppies can weigh , while larger ones can weigh up to . All healthy puppies grow quickly after birth. A puppy's coat color may change as the puppy grows older, as is commonly seen in breeds such as the York ...

, 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

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

s. 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 to attack and kill Paul's

vacuum cleaners A vacuum cleaner, also known simply as a vacuum or a hoover, is a device that causes suction in order to remove dirt from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven. The dirt is collected by either a ...

. And of course most of his misadventures end either with praise and a treat or a quick "No! Bad Dog!"/"Buckles, You Bad Dog!"

Paul and Jill Haggerson

Buckles'

owners Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...

who are strict and kind. Paul and Jill love Buckles. When he does something bad, they often scold him and put him in the

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

. Paul, or Jill, often says/yells "BUCKLES, YOU BAD DOG!!!!" (which is their

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

) when annoyed with Buckles. In May 2006, it was revealed Paul previously had a dog named Shadow before he and Jill got married.

Christina

Jill's niece who puts

dress A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice (or a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment). It consists of a top piece that co ...

es on Buckles and makes him attend her tea parties.

Flea

An unseen but heard presence who lives behind Buckles' right

ear An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of ...

Arden

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

whom Buckles often asks for advice. He likes

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wo ...

s, because they're for

lunch Lunch is a meal eaten around the middle of the day. It is commonly the second meal of the day, after breakfast, and varies in size by culture and region. Etymology According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the etymology ...

. Arden occasionally breaks the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

, especially o
June 3, 2007

Lester

A dog who, because of hip

dysplasia Dysplasia is any of various types of abnormal growth or development of cells (microscopic scale) or organs ( macroscopic scale), and the abnormal histology or anatomical structure(s) resulting from such growth. Dysplasias on a mainly microscopi ...

, has a sort of

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

apparatus providing mobility instead of his hind legs.

Rusty

A streetwise stray whose freedom Buckles envies.

Scrappy

An annoying squirrel who lives in the backyard. He hates Buckles and Arden, frequently insulting them and calling them rude names like "slobber face" (Buckles) and "beak brain" (Arden). There are several stories involving Scrappy in the series. One example is him getting in a fight with a black squirrel. Another occasional story is where Scrappy breaks into Paul and Jill's attic and realizes he is lost.

Irene

The

love interest ''Gli Innamorati'' (, meaning "The Lovers") were stock characters within the theatre style known as commedia dell'arte, who appeared in 16th century Italy. In the plays, everything revolved around the Lovers in some regard. These dramatic and pos ...

of Buckles' life that is a

fire hydrant A fire hydrant, waterplug, or firecock (archaic) is a connection point by which firefighters can tap into a water supply. It is a component of active fire protection. Underground fire hydrants have been used in Europe and Asia since at least t ...

Paperboy

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

Other characters

*Charlie: A minor character in the comic series. He is a

goose A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the ...

and a rival of Buckles. Charlie refers to him as "mad dog", and occasionally "

Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...

". In some stories, Charlie and the other geese break into Paul's house and throw a "party" by destroying the house, but after Paul and Jill get home, they fly off. Paul and Jill are then mad at Buckles because they think he threw a party (Paul doesn't even allow parties at his house; he had one as a teenager). Another occasional story is where Charlie and the other geese ruin Paul's Corvette and Buckles scares them off by barking at them. *Sophie and Iris: Female

American Eskimo Dog The American Eskimo Dog is a breed of companion dog, originating in Germany. The American Eskimo Dog is a member of the Spitz family. It is considered an ancient dog breed due to its recent admixture with wolves. The breed's progenitors were Germ ...

and

bloodhound The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called, ...

respectively and two of Buckles' friends who argue over trying to talk to him. *The black squirrel, Scrappy's nemesis. *Paul's parents and brother from the summer vacation strips. *Jay: A blue bird who is Arden's assistant.

Recurring jokes

There is 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 ''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and infl ...

''. Also, in some strips, there are repeated drawings and lines (i.e. in the May 21, 2008 strip, Buckles steps back from a harmless

garter snake Garter snake is a common name for generally harmless, small to medium-sized snakes belonging to the genus ''Thamnophis'' in the family Colubridae. Native to North and Central America, species in the genus ''Thamnophis'' can be found from the ...

, 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 is

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

ing but rolls her eyes, saying, "For crying out loud, Paul!..." like Paul did with Buckles).

Books

There are three different comic collections published by

Plan 9 Publishing Plan Nine Publishing was a small press book publisher known for publishing webcomics in printed form. The first series published, and perhaps its most famous, was ''Kevin and Kell''. History Plan Nine Publishing was named after the Ed Wood film ' ...

: *''Buckles Unleashed'' (2002) *''There's a Street Dog in All of Us!'' (2003) *''A Good Vacuum is a Dead Vacuum!'' (2005) Currently, the books are out of stock. David Gilbert left the publisher and will seek into another printing option for the current and future collections.

References

External links

Official web site

''Buckles'' at King Features
{{King Features Syndicate Comics 1996 comics debuts Comics about dogs American comic strips Anthropomorphic dogs Gag-a-day comics Satirical comics Comics characters introduced in 1996 American comics characters 2021 comics endings