The immensely popular Buttercup beat Gasoline Alley'''s Skeezix into print by three months, but Skeezix beat Buttercup to adulthood by a much greater margin. In fact, while Skeezix was in the U.S. Army, fighting World War II, the Hawkins kid was finally getting into grammar school—which is about as old as he ever got. Like the era's quintessential domestic strip, The Gumps, the Hawkins family (the three humans, plus a dog named Spare-Ribs) got into continuing stories as the 1920s rolled on.
The immensely popular Buttercup outpaced Gasoline Alley's Skeezix by three months in print, but Skeezix surpassed Buttercup in reaching adulthood by a much larger margin. In fact, while Skeezix was serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, the Hawkins child was just starting elementary school—about as old as he ever got. Like the era's quintessential domestic strip, The Gumps, the Hawkins family (the three humans plus a dog named Spare-Ribs) continued their stories as the 1920s progressed.