Art News

Sunday Funnies Characters Set to Brighten Letters

WASHINGTON (AP).- Will Beetle Bailey ever run out of hideouts where he can catch a nap? Will Sergeant Snorkel ever tire of tracking him down and putting him to work? “I hope not,” says Mort Walker, creator of the long-running comic strip. It’s a contest more than a half-century old and comic-strip fans still love it. Now even the post office has taken notice, with Sarge and Beetle featured on a new 44-cent stamp being released Friday. It part of a set of five “Sunday Funnies” stamps going on sale nationwide, with dedication ceremonies at the cartoon museum at Ohio State University. Joining Beetle and Sarge on new stamps will be: —Calvin and Hobbes, a strip that ran from 1985 to 1995 featuring an energetic 6-year-old and his tiger pal. —Archie, the perpetual teen shown sharing a chocolate shake with brunette Veronica Lodge on his right and blonde Betty Cooper.