Captain Bucknell #2

Captain Bucknell #2. Originally published in 1996. Written and drawn by Mark Bussler.



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ARTIST COMMENTARY

Squirrels were a running theme throughout Captain Bucknell. Bucknell's campus is in beautiful central Pennsylvania. In Lewisburg to be exact, nestled on the shore of the mighty Susquehanna river about an hour north of Harrisburg. The campus was literally overrun with squirrels. You couldn't go five feet without nearly stepping on a squirrel.

40 is a number that was used frequently in Captain Bucknell... it might have had something to do with 40oz bottles of malt liquor, maybe. There is a subtle alcohol endorsing theme in Captain Bucknell from my college days. If you look hard you can see it. For instance the license plate on the Public Safety car reads Colt 45. Subtle indeed.

This story takes place in the "Terrace Room" which was a fancier version of the cafeteria. I'm not really sure what the deal was but it tended to be full of sorority girls. Hence the girl's t-shirt that says "My big loves me!" which refers to her having a "big" which was their mentor or something like that... it was written in puffy paint and colored chalk all over campus.

Note how there are always brand names all over the students like Gap, Polo and J-Crew. A definate nod towards Frank Miller and Geof Darrow's Hard Boiled. In all honesty though, I think Bucknell single handedly kept J-Crew in business.

Bagels are another running theme in Captain Bucknell because at the time it seemed like every girl there lived on bagels, lettuce and water. Whereas I lived on beer, coffee and pizza so I'm hardly knocking a bagel heavy diet. I may have been thinner if I ate more bagels...

Note the buckle on Captain Bucknell's utility belt. Ha. And then at the end he makes a funny about eating the squirrel instead of eating at the cafeteria. In hindsight I don't recall the "caf's" food actually being that bad but it was funny (at least in my mind). I do remember them having one of those waffle machines that I really liked.

Incidentally that email address no longer works.

Click to read the previous comic, CAPTAIN BUCKNELL #1.