One of the main reasons I like the early years of Beetle Bailey so much (especially 1956 to 1962) is because around the middle of the sixties it seems as if the strip became more realistic and less silly. Probably a good decision, because from that point onward it became a huge worldwide success. But I always felt something missing, especially in the cartooning element of the strip. In the late sixties, Mort Walker found another outlet for that side of his character. Boner's Ark probably is his silliest and most charming strip. The first few years, Mort did everything by himself, writing the jokes with his regular team and pencilling and inking the gags. After a while, Frank Johnson took over the inking and from 1973 or so he took over the strip by himself. I was still a good strip, but nowhere near as magical as it was in those first five years. When I was at Mort's place we discussed the fact that it had been optioned for movie and television but never actually made. One of the largest hurdles these these actually is the title. A boner used to mean the same thing we now call a blooper. A strip about a lonely sailor at sea with a boat full of animals called Boner's Ark, is not acceptable anymore. I suggested they use the title the strip had in Holland: The Ark of Captain Zoo.
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