Buckles
Encyclopedia
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."
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 to attack and kill 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!"
who are strict and kind. 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 catchphrase) when they are annoyed with Buckles.
On May 2006, it is revealed that Paul has a previous dog named Shadow before he and Jill got married.
es on Buckles and makes him attend her tea parties.
whom Buckles often asks for advice. He likes worm
s, because they're for lunch.
Arden occasionally breaks the fourth wall
, especially on June 3, 2007.
, has sort of wheelchair
apparatus providing mobility instead of his hind legs.
who lives in the backyard. He hates Buckles and Arden, and he always insults them and calls them rude names, like "slobber face" (Buckles) and "beak brain" (Arden).
There are several stories involving Scrappy in the series. A couple of examples are him getting in a fight with another squirrel: a black one. One occasional story is where Scrappy broke into Paul and Jill's attic
and realized he was lost.
. 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
, 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
ing but rolls her eyes, saying, "For crying out loud, Paul!..." like Paul did with Buckles).
:
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.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
by David Gilbert about the misadventures of a anthropomorphic naïve dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
. 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."
Buckles
Buckles is a guileless and innocentInnocence
Innocence is a term used to indicate a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, sin, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence refers to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime.-Symbolism:...
dog, and is the strip's main protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
. 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
Puppy
A puppy is a juvenile dog. Some puppies may 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 Yorkshire Terrier...
, 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 to attack and kill 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' ownersOwnership
Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over property, which may be an object, land/real estate or intellectual property. Ownership involves multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different parties. The concept of ownership has...
who are strict and kind. Paul and Jill love Buckles. When he did something bad, they often scold him and put him in the garage
Garage (house)
A residential garage is part of a home, or an associated building, designed or used for storing a vehicle or vehicles. In some places the term is used synonymously with "carport", though that term normally describes a structure that is not completely enclosed.- British residential garages:Those...
.
Paul, or Jill, often says/yells "BUCKLES, YOU BAD DOG!!!!" (which is their catchphrase) when they are annoyed with Buckles.
On May 2006, it is revealed that Paul has a previous dog named Shadow before he and Jill got married.
Christina
Jill's niece who puts dressDress
A dress is a garment consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice or with a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment.Dress may also refer to:*Clothing in general*Costume, fancy dress...
es on Buckles and makes him attend her tea parties.
Arden
A birdBird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
whom Buckles often asks for advice. He likes worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
s, because they're for lunch.
Arden occasionally breaks the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
, especially on June 3, 2007.
Lester
A dog who, because of hip dysplasiaDysplasia
Dysplasia , is a term used in pathology to refer to an abnormality of development. This generally consists of an expansion of immature cells, with a corresponding decrease in the number and location of mature cells. Dysplasia is often indicative of an early neoplastic process...
, has sort of wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
apparatus providing mobility instead of his hind legs.
Scrappy
An annoying squirrelSquirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
who lives in the backyard. He hates Buckles and Arden, and he always insults them and calls them rude names, like "slobber face" (Buckles) and "beak brain" (Arden).
There are several stories involving Scrappy in the series. A couple of examples are him getting in a fight with another squirrel: a black one. One occasional story is where Scrappy broke into Paul and Jill's attic
Attic
An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building . Attic is generally the American/Canadian reference to it...
and realized he was lost.
Other characters
- Charlie: A minor character in the comic series. He is a gooseGooseThe word goose is the English name for a group of waterfowl, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
who is a rival of Buckles. He refers to him as "mad dog", and occasionally "Mary PoppinsMary PoppinsMary Poppins is a series of children's books written by P. L. Travers and originally illustrated by Mary Shepard. The books centre on a magical English nanny, Mary Poppins. She is blown by the East wind to Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane, London and into the Banks' household to care for their...
". In an occasional story Charlie and the other geese break into Paul's house and throw a "party" by destroying the house, but after Paul and Jill were home, they flew off. Paul and Jill are then mad at Buckles because they thought it was him who threw a party (Paul doesn't even allow parties at his house, only he has one as a teenager). Another occasional story is where Charlie and the other geese ruin Paul's CorvetteChevrolet CorvetteThe Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car by the Chevrolet division of General Motors that has been produced in six generations. The first model, a convertible, was designed by Harley Earl and introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after...
and Buckles scares them off by barking at them. - Sophie and Iris: A female bloodhoundBloodhoundThe Bloodhound is a large breed of dog which, while originally bred to hunt deer and wild boar, was later bred specifically to track human beings. It is a scenthound, tracking by smell, as opposed to a sighthound, which tracks using vision. It is famed for its ability to discern human odors even...
and American Eskimo DogAmerican Eskimo DogThe American Eskimo Dog is a breed of companion dog originating in Germany. The American Eskimo is a member of the Spitz family. Despite its name and appearance, the American Eskimo dog is not from Alaska; the dog's heritage is traced back to Northern Europe...
respectively and two of Buckles' friends who argue over trying to talk to him. - The black squirrel, Scrappy's nemesis
- Paul's parents from the summer vacation strips
- 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 PeanutsPeanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
. 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
The Garter snake is a Colubrid snake genus common across North America, ranging from Alaska and Canada to Central America. It is the single most widely distributed genus of reptile in North America. The garter snake is also the Massachusettsstate reptile.There is no real consensus on 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
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
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 PublishingPlan 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....
:
- Buckles Unleashed (2002)
- There's a Street Dog in All of Us! (2003)
- A Good Vacuum is a Dead 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.