Line #21 ComicStrip/GasolineAlley


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gasoline_alley_family_tree.jpeg]]
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3	''Gasoline Alley'' is an American NewspaperComic strip created by Frank King, currently distributed by Creator/TribuneMediaServices. Debuting on November 24, 1918 and starting out as a Sunday-only panel before becoming a daily strip in 1919, it's had the second-longest continuous run in American comic strip history (after ''ComicStrip/TheKatzenjammerKids'') and has earned numerous critical accolades for its influential innovations. Along with his inventive concepts in color and page layout, King introduced real-time continuity to newspaper comics by showing his characters as they grew to maturity and aged through the generations.
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5	The strip originally depicted young, bachelor garage owner Walt Wallet and his friends in automobile-related situations (hence the title), but starting in 1921 it began to chronicle Walt's home life after he discovered an abandoned baby on his doorstep, whom he adopted and named "Skeezix" (common slang of the period for a motherless calf). Five years later, Walt married Phyllis Blossom, with whom he had a son named Corky. The family was completed in 1935 when a baby called Judy was left in Walt's car. All three eventually grew up, got married and had children of their own. In later years, the strip has mostly centered around Skeezix and his wife Nina Clock, as well as their daughter Clovia and her husband Slim Skinner, who now manages the garage. Rustic garbage collectors Joel and Rufus stand out among the non-Wallet characters.
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7	King was replaced by Bill Perry in 1951 (Sundays) and Dick Moores in 1959 (dailies) after both had assisted him for years. Moores became the sole artist in 1975. Jim Scancarelli took over following Moores' death in 1986 and has drawn the strip ever since.
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9	Not to be confused with the Music/RodStewart album/song of the same name.
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12	!!This ComicStrip contains examples of:
13	* AlliterativeName: Walt Wallet, Gideon Grubb, Hope Hassel, Slim Skinner
14	* ArtifactTitle: The strip began as a part of "The Rectangle", where each of the ''Chicago Tribune'''s four staff artists drew a panel. In Frank King's panel, four characters named Walt, Doc, Avery and Bill (the last three being long dead by now) talked about cars, hence the name. It became popular enough to be spun off as a strip in 1919, with more characters who talk about a lot of other things besides cars. Even by the 1950s, ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' was doing parodies noting that the strip seemed to have nothing to do with gasoline.
15	* BigEater: Slim.
16	* BunnyEarsLawyer: Melba, one of the least intelligent characters in the strip, was elected mayor in the 1980s and supposedly still has the job.
17	* TheBusCameBack: Rover's birth mother in 1995. Hoogy in 1997. Lil Skinner in 1999. Eve in 2004. Gretchen in 2013. Chipper in 2016.
18	* BusCrash: Walt's friends Avery, Doc and Bill were phased out as the strip began to focus on Skeezix's family. They were mentioned years later, all having died "off-stage". Happened to Mr. Pert and Hoogy's father as well.
19	* ButtMonkey: Slim. Rufus.
20	* CanonDiscontinuity: This strip is usually very good about maintaining continuity. However, one story in 1995 features Rover's birth mother telling him the back story about his father, which is completely different from the story that was told when these characters were introduced in 1981.
21	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: A large number of the Wallet family members have been phased out over the years.
22	* CorruptPolitician: Senator Bobble, nephew of Pert, who served a similar role in earlier years.
23	* CrazyCatLady: Rufus borders on being a male version.
24	* CrossOver: A few ones with ''ComicStrip/DickTracy''.
25	* DiscoDan: Avery, Walt's original neighbor, was this half a century before disco even took off; his defining trait was that he still used a crank car long after everyone else had moved on to cars with starters.
26	* DoorstopBaby: That's how Walt found Skeezix in 1921, and Judy in 1935.
27	** In 2012, recurring "ne'er-do-well" characters Joel and Rufus were giving away kittens, and one of them was given to Walt, who had deja vu before reminiscing about the time in 1921 when he found Skeezix.
28	* EyeObscuringHat: Both Joel and Rufus wear these.
29	* FatIdiot: Slim Skinner
30	* TheGamblingAddict: Lil Skinner.
31	* HalfWittedHillbilly: Joel and Rufus.
32	* {{Jerkass}}: Mr. Pert. Wilmer Bobble. The snooty salesman who seems to work in every store Skeezix visits.
33	* KilledOffForReal: Several of the original strip's minor characters [[BusCrash offscreen]], [[LongRunner as would be expected]], along with major character Phyllis in 2004.
34	* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: Throughout the 2000s, the strip seems to have deviated more and more from its long-time premise. For three generations, it was a semi-realistic depiction of small-town family life. Lately, it features a lot more slapstick comedy, absurdist humor, a heavier focus on characters outside of the Wallet Family, not to mention talking animals and [[LittleGreenMen little green space aliens]].
35	* LongRunners: How many newspaper strips can you say are still going after ''a century''?
36	* {{Malaproper}}: Joel, who overall seems to be the smarter of the two trash collectors ([[DamnedByFaintPraise which isn't saying much]], especially since he NeverLearnedToRead), nonetheless has at least one malaprop in nearly every sentence he speaks.
37	* MassiveMultiplayerCrossover: An October-November 2015 storyline had Walt visiting an "old comics' home" to attend [[ComicStrip/MuttAndJeff Jeff's funeral]], only to find out that Jeff was actually alive and well (much to the surprise of everyone else). Apart from Mutt and Jeff themselves, many other comics characters appeared in this arc, including "Smokey Stover" and even the "Yellow Kid". They visit it again for the strip's centennial celebration, in an arc running through the latter half of 2018.
38	* MethuselahSyndrome: [[PlotArmor By virtue of being the main character]], Walt at 124 would not only be the oldest living person in the world if he were actually alive, but the oldest person to have ''ever'' lived[[note]]The actual oldest living person is more than six years younger than Walt; moreover, no person has ''ever'' been verified as living past 122.[[/note]], and he's likely not going away anytime soon. Canonically, having been a doughboy in WWI, he is usually acknowledged on Memorial Day or Veterans' Day as also being the last surviving Great War vet on Earth. The current writer of the strip has stated that he does have plans for this issue; ''what'' plans, however, he isn't saying.
39	* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Averted. Walt is 124 years old (Phyllis was 105 when she passed away in 2004) and Skeezix is now over 100. While some characters have, the most popular and important characters will probably never get around to actually dying, but characters who were young in the RoaringTwenties are ancient now and characters who were introduced as children have families of their own.
40	** Played straight with a few characters, specially with Joel and Rufus.
41	** Also played straight in general when Dick Moores helmed the strip in the 1970s and '80s.
42	* OlderThanTheyLook: Many long-time characters, such as Clovia, Slim and Chipper, are supposed to be in their 70s but are still drawn to look much younger.
43	* OnceASeason: Skeezix's birthday was noted every year, complete with a reference to his age. This tradition was eventually discontinued, likely because Skeezix's current age makes no sense within the context of the current stories.
44	* OverlyLongGag: Joel's frequent "shortcuts" across the decaying old bridge have been done to death. More recently are the frequent encounters between Skeezix and the snooty salesman. It's to the point where this is all Skeezix does anymore.
45	* ParentalAbandonment: A recurring motif in how characters have entered the strip. In addition to [[DoorstopBaby Doorstop Babies]] Skeezix and Judy, Rover was taken in as a toddler by Slim and Clovia after his parents abandoned him.
46	* PrintLongRunners: It has run every day since 1920, and it was printed weekly in the two years beforehand.
47	* PuppyLove: Boog and Charlotte from the fifth generation.
48	** Boog's parents were Slim and Clovia's foster son Rover and his childhood friend Hoogy.
49	* TheQuietOne: As a small child, Gretchen refused to speak. When Hoogy was first introduced, she only spoke one word at a time.
50	* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: Both Walt Wallet and Mr. Pert had storylines where other characters believed them to be dead, but they turned out not to be. The audience was misled both times.
51	* SameCharacterButDifferent: Corky's daughter Eve reappeared in the mid 2000s for the first time since the 1970s. Despite her supposed age being near 40, she was presented as a reckless teenager type who couldn't care less about her aging grandfather. There were absolutely no consequences for her behavior (that we saw, anyway), and she hasn't been back since.
52	** Can also apply to Slim's mom, Lil Skinner. Throughout the 1980s, she was a slightly overbearing grandmother who lived across the hall and helped take care of the kids. After a decade-long absence, she returned in 1999 as a shrewish old lady who hated Clovia (the feeling was mutual) and seemed not to care for anyone but herself.
53	* TheScrooge: Mr. Pert.
54	* ShipTease: Rufus and Melba. They dated on and off for decades. When they finally planned to get married, it ended up being a giant fake-out by the writer.
55	* ShoutOut: Beginning around 2016, the characters often find themselves dealing with a sarcastic salesman directly based on Frank Nelson, of ''Radio/TheJackBennyProgram'' fame.
56	* ThoseTwoGuys: Joel and Rufus. Hack and Sarge.
57	* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII: Skeezix served in the Army in the 1940s.
58	* VagueAge:
59	** Joel, Rufus, and Melba don't seem to age the way everyone else does. Other characters, like Clovia and Slim, seemed to stop aging once they got to be in their 50s. In fact, the main characters' ages are rarely mentioned anymore, as the strip becomes less and less realistic.
60	** Boog was born in September 2004 so by the rules of the strip he should be around 19, yet he often looks and acts more like a 6-year-old kid.
61	* WringEveryLastDropOutOfHim: Walt, who in order to keep up with the strip's real-time aging, has hung around to be over 120 years old, and ever more decrepit each year. An occasionally-stated fact is that he's the last surviving World War I vet in America (the real one, Frank Buckles, died in 2011 at 110).
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Context ComicStrip / GasolineAlley