Gasoline Alley (comic strip)

Gasoline Alley is a comic strip created by Frank King and distributed by Tribune Content Agency. It follows the lives of patriarch Walt Wallet, his family, and the residents of Gasoline Alley, with storylines reflecting traditional American values. The strip debuted on November 24, 1918, and, as of now, it is the longest-running active comic strip in the United States, and the second-longest-running comic strip of all time in the country, after The Katzenjammer Kids (which ran for 109 years, from 1897 to 2006).

Gasoline Alley is widely recognized for its significant innovations in the comic strip medium. In addition to experimenting with color and page design, King introduced real-time continuity by depicting his characters aging over generations, a groundbreaking concept that set the strip apart from others at the time.

Early years

Young Walt Wallet (r.), 1920

The Gasoline Alley comic strip originated on the Chicago Tribune’s black-and-white Sunday page, The Rectangle, where various staff artists contributed one-shot panels, often continuing plots or themes. One corner of The Rectangle featured King’s Gasoline Alley, where characters Walt, Doc, Avery, and Bill would engage in weekly conversations about automobiles. This segment gradually gained recognition, leading to the debut of the daily comic strip on August 24, 1919, in the New York Daily News.

Some of the early characters were based on real people whom Frank King knew. Skeezix, for example, was based on King’s own son, Robert Drew King. Walt was inspired by Walter W. Drew, a “jolly” overweight bachelor and Western Union traffic engineer with “a wisp of unruly hair.” Bill and Amy were modeled after William D. Gannon, a locomotive engineer, and his wife Gertrude. Doc was based on Dr. Hughie Johnson.

Skeezix arrives

The early years of Gasoline Alley were focused on the character of Walt Wallet. Tribune editor Joseph Patterson wanted to attract female readers, so he introduced a baby, despite Walt not being married. This issue was creatively resolved when Walt found a baby left on his doorstep, leading to Skeezix’s introduction. Comics historian Don Markstein explains that Skeezix called Walt “Uncle Walt,” a unique twist since unlike most comic strip children, he didn’t remain a baby or stay a little boy for long. Skeezix grew up in real time, marking the first major comic strip to depict real-time aging over generations. By the time the United States entered World War II, Skeezix had become an adult, courting Nina Clock, enlisting in the armed forces in 1942, and later marrying Nina and having children. In the 1970s and 1980s, under Dick Moores, the characters stopped aging, but when Jim Scancarelli took over the strip, aging was reinstated.

Sunday Strips

The Sunday strip began on October 24, 1920. The 1930s Sunday pages stood out by not always relying on traditional gags, instead offering a gentle view of nature, daydreaming with expressive art, and naturalistic depictions of small-town life. Comics critic Steve Duin, reviewing Sundays with Walt and Skeezix (Sunday Press Books, 2007), quoted writer Jeet Heer, highlighting the unique tone of the strips. Over time, several “toppers” (short supplementary features) were included, such as:

• That Phoney Nickel (Dec 14, 1930 – Sept 17, 1933)
• Puny Puns (Feb 5 – Sept 17, 1933)
• Corky (Aug 18, 1935 – 1945)
• Little Brother Hugo aka Wilmer’s Little Brother Hugo (Jan 30, 1944 – 1973)

21st Century

As of the 21st century, Gasoline Alley continues to be published in newspapers. Walt Wallet, now well over a century old (124 as of February 2024), remains a central figure in the strip. Skeezix, too, has become a centenarian. In the April 26, 2004, strip, Walt’s wife Phyllis, aged about 105, passed away, leaving him a widower after nearly eight decades of marriage.

On Gasoline Alley’s 90th anniversary, several famous comic strip characters, including Blondie, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, and Snuffy Smith, acknowledged the occasion. Snuffy Smith presented a special crossover, inviting Walt into his house for the anniversary celebration. In May 2013, at the cartoon retirement home, Walt attended a dinner where Maggie’s pearl brooch was stolen, and Fearless Fosdick tried unsuccessfully to catch the thief. This event saw appearances from retired comic characters like Lil’ Abner, Smokey Stover, Pogo, and Albert, as well as Rex Morgan, M.D., a contemporary comic strip character.

Characters

First-Generation Characters of Gasoline Alley

Walt Wallet

Full name: Walter Weatherby Wallet. Walt is the patriarch of the family and a World War I veteran. For many years, he ran a successful furniture company, Wicker and Wallet. He has been retired for years.

Phyllis Corkleigh Blossom Wallet

Walt’s wife. Phyllis was widowed before marrying Walt; Corkleigh was her maiden name before marrying Blossom. Walt and Phyllis married on June 24, 1926. Phyllis passed away on April 26, 2004.

Avery

Walt’s cranky neighbor, who drove an old car that required a crank to start long after everyone else had switched to cars with starters. He died “off-stage.”

Bill

Another character who also died “off-stage.”

Doc

Doc retired with a young woman at his side, going off to a well-deserved retirement community. Like Avery and Bill, he died “off-stage.”

Uriah Pert

A rich and miserly man who was often the villain in many of the stories. After his death, his reputation was rehabilitated to show a better character than his nephew, Senator Bobble.

Timeless characters

These characters break the strip's rule about aging with the calendar.

Joel

A trashman who drives a wagon drawn by a mule named Betsy. His full name, Joseph L. Smith, was mentioned on June 4, 1965.

Rufus

A “good-for-not-much” character who frequently accompanies Joel. Rufus always has a “kitty” hanging from the crook of his arm and lives in a shack.

Magnus

Rufus’ no-good brother, who is usually in jail.

Melba Rose

The forever mayor of the city. A strip from June 15, 2022, shows her as the current mayor.

Second-generation characters

Allison “Skeezix” Wallet

After Walt, Skeezix is the central character of the strip. He was left on Walt’s doorstep on February 14, 1921, and was born on February 9, 1921. He married Nina Clock on June 28, 1944. For years, he ran the Gasoline Alley Garage, and he occasionally minds it when Clovia and Slim are away.

Nina Clock Wallet

Skeezix’s wife.

Sarge (Sgt. Bloney)

A WWII veteran who fought in Africa, Italy, and Yugoslavia alongside Skeezix. He later worked as a handyman and mechanic for him.

Hack

Another WWII veteran who worked for Skeezix as a mechanic. Hack’s automotive repair skills helped the Wallet & Bobble Co. branch into automotive repairs, which led to the establishment of the Gasoline Alley Garage.

Corkleigh “Corky” Wallet

Walt and Phyllis’ son, born May 2, 1928, named after Phyllis’s maiden name. He married Hope Hassel on October 1, 1949, and runs a diner in a standalone building.

Hope Hassel Wallet

Corky’s wife.

Judy Wallet Grubb

Left in Walt’s car on February 28, 1935. She married Gideon Grubb on May 4, 1961.

Senator Wilmer Bobble

Uriah Pert’s nephew. Originally an office coworker with Skeezix at Wumple & Co. in Detropolis, Bobble also met Skeezix as a fellow soldier in WWII. After the war, he partnered with Skeezix to form the Wallet and Bobble Co., which later branched into automotive repairs and established the Gasoline Alley Garage. Senator Bobble became a self-serving politician and is often seen as a villain in current storylines, disliked by other characters.

Principal characters of subsequent generations

Clovia Wallet Skinner

Third generation

• Skeezix and Nina’s daughter, born May 15, 1949.
• Married to Slim Skinner and manages the business side of the Gasoline Alley Garage.

Slim Skinner

Third generation

• Married Clovia.
• Overweight, perceived as a slacker, Slim works as the principal mechanic at the Gasoline Alley Garage.
• His family includes his manipulative, greedy mother, Lil, and cousin Chubby, whom Clovia views as troublesome, especially Lil, who often causes issues and shifts blame onto others.

Thomas Walter “Chipper” Wallet

Third generation

• Skeezix and Nina’s son, born April 1, 1945.
• Chipper went to college, joined the Navy, and served as a medic in the Vietnam War. After his service, he became a Physician Assistant.

Phylip Figg “Nubbin” Wallet

Third generation

Corky and Hope’s first child, born January 1, 1954.

Adam Wallet

Third generation

• Corky’s son, born April 21, 1960.
• After working with the Peace Corps in the South Pacific, Adam and his wife took over the old Clock farm in the country.

Eve Wallet

Third generation

• Corky’s daughter, born April 21, 1960 (twin sister to Adam).
• Eve was briefly a caregiver for Walt after Phyllis’ death, but her actions led to a chaotic situation with the police, and she was last seen in jail.

Teeka Tok Wallet

Third generation

• A South Pacific native who married Adam while he worked in the area.
• Teeka and Adam had a daughter, Ada Clock, born on August 8, 1988, and later adopted a girl named Amanda Lynn.

Rover Bump -> Skinner

Fourth generation

A neglected child adopted by Clovia and Slim.

Gretchen Skinner

Fourth generation

Born April 13, 1978, daughter of Clovia and Slim. She grew up as a childhood companion of Rover and had distinctive eye features (drawn without pupils).

Hoogy Boogle

Fourth generation

Another neglected child who occasionally stayed with Clovia and Slim. She eventually married Rover.

Boog Skinner

Fifth generation

The son of Rover and Hoogy, born offscreen in the September 8, 2004, strip.

Aubee Rose Skinner

Fifth generation

The daughter of Rover and Hoogy, delivered by Chipper Wallet in the September 10, 2016, strip.

Writer-artist chronology

Daily:

• Frank King: Nov 24, 1918 – Dec 31, 1969
• Dick Moores: 1956 – Aug 23, 1986
• Jim Scancarelli: Aug 25, 1986 – present

Sunday:

• Frank King: Oct 24, 1920 – April 22, 1951
• Bill Perry: April 29, 1951 – Aug 17, 1975
• Dick Moores: Aug 25, 1975 – Aug 24, 1986
• Bob Zschiesche: 1976–1979
• Jim Scancarelli: ghosting 1979–1986, credited Aug 25, 1986 – present

King was succeeded by his former assistants, with Bill Perry taking responsibility for Sunday strips in 1951 and Dick Moores, first hired in 1956, becoming sole writer and artist for the daily strip in 1959. When Perry retired in 1975, Moores took over the Sunday strips, as well, combining the daily and Sunday stories into one continuity starting September 28, 1975. Moores died in 1986, and since then, Gasoline Alley has been written and drawn by Scancarelli, former assistant to Moores. Scancarelli returned to done-in-one separate situations for the Sunday strip.

Awards

The strip and King were recognized with the National Cartoonists Society's Humor Strip Award in 1957, 1973, 1980, 1981, 1982, and 1985. King received the 1958 Society's Reuben Award, and Moores received it in 1974. Scancarelli received the Society's Story Comic Strip Award in 1988. The strip received an NCS plaque for the year's best story strip in 1981, 1982 and 1983.

Reprint collections

Examples of the full page Sunday strip were printed in The Comic Strip Century (1995, reissued in 2004 as 100 Years of Comic Strips), edited by Bill Blackbeard, Dale Crain and James Vance. Moores' dailies and Sundays have appeared in Comics Revue monthly, as have the first Scancarelli strips. In 1995, the strip was one of 20 included in the Comic Strip Classics series of commemorative US postage stamps.

Frank King's Gasoline Alley Nostalgia Journal

In 2003, Spec Productions began a series of softcover collections, Frank King's Gasoline Alley Nostalgia Journal, reprinting the strip from the first Rectangle panel (November 24, 1918). To date, four volumes have appeared:

• Volume 1, November 24, 1918, to September 22, 1919
• Volume 2, September 23, 1919, to March 2, 1920
• Volume 3, March 3, 1920, to July 25, 1920
• Volume 4, July 26, 1920, to December 31, 1920

Walt and Skeezix

Template:Main In 2005, the first of a series of reprint books, Walt and Skeezix, was published by Drawn & Quarterly, edited by Chris Ware and included contributions by Jeet Heer. The first volume covers 1921–22, beginning several weeks before baby Skeezix appears. These reprint only the daily strips, with Sundays slated to appear in another series:

Sunday Press

In 2007, Sunday Press Books published Sundays with Walt and Skeezix, which collects early Sunday strips in the original size and color.

Dark Horse

In 2014, Dark Horse Comics published Gasoline Alley: The Complete Sundays Volume 1 1920–1922 and Gasoline Alley: The Complete Sundays Volume 2 1923–1925 in hardback.

Dick Moores

Moores' work on the strip was published in three different collections, all currently out of print, as well as being serialized in Comics Revue magazine:

• Gasoline Alley: Comic Art as Social Comment: Changing Life in America Over More Than Half a Century as Seen Through the Eyes of a Unique 'First Family', Avon/Flare, 1976. Introduction by Nat Hentoff, history of the strip with 1970s continuities.
• The Smoke from Gasoline Alley, Sheed and Ward, 1976.
• Rover from Gasoline Alley, Blackthorne, 1985. Collects the strips introducing Slim and Clovia's adopted son Rover.

On October 9, 2012, IDW Publishing's imprint The Library of American Comics published a hardback collection titled Gasoline Alley, Volume 1, collecting several years of the daily strip by Frank King and Dick Moores.

Radio

Several radio adaptations were made. Uncle Walt and Skeezix in 1931 starred Bill Idelson as Skeezix with Jean Gillespie as Nina Clock. Jimmy McCallion was Skeezix in the series that ran on NBC from February 17 to April 11, 1941, continuing on the Blue Network from April 28 to May 9 of that same year. The 15-minute series aired weekdays at 5:30 pm. Along with Nina (Janice Gilbert), the characters included Skeezix's boss Wumple (Cliff Soubier) and Ling Wee (Junius Matthews), a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. Charles Schenck directed the scripts by Kane Campbell.

The syndicated series of 1948–49 featured a cast of Bill Lipton, Mason Adams, and Robert Dryden. Sponsored by Autolite, the program used opening theme music by the Polka Dots, a harmonica group. The 15-minute episodes focused on Skeezix running a gas station and garage, the Wallet and Bobble Garage, with his partner, Wilmer Bobble. In New York, this series aired on WOR from July 16, 1948, to January 7, 1949.

Films

Gasoline Alley was adapted into two feature films, Gasoline Alley (1951) and Corky of Gasoline Alley (1951). The films starred Jimmy Lydon as Skeezix, known at that time for Life with Father (1947) and his earlier character of Henry Aldrich.

External links

• Gocomics.com
• History of the Gasoline Alley strip
• The first strip
• An Old Comic Strip About Modern Fatherhood
• The Three Faces of Walt
• TV Tropes in Gasoline Alley
• Gasoline Alley (1951) and IMDb: Corky of Gasoline Alley (1951) at IMDB.com