Ensign Bafflestir
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Ensign Bafflestir is a cartoon strip created by the artist Ron Marlett during his enlistment in the United States Coast Guard. The cartoon ran from 1971 to 1974 in the US Coast Guard publication Pacific Shield, and featured a tongue-in-cheek look at daily life in the Coast Guard, as expressed through the exploits of a fictional ensign.
As a teenager, Marlett's sense of humor was influenced by Mad magazine, especially the one-page cartoon strips contributed by Don Martin. In 1970, Ron joined the Coast Guard and was stationed aboard the 255-foot cutter Winnebago, homeported at Honolulu, Hawaii. The following year, the Coast Guard District Office was in need of a driver who would also serve as a representative in their Public Relations office. Ron was chosen for the position, and within a couple of weeks was spending most of his time answering the public relations phone and working on a monthly news magazine called Pacific Shield. The public relations officer Lt Gary Boyer came up with the idea of having Ron create a small cartoon strip that would run every month in Pacific Shield. Ron drew a four-panel strip, and JO1 (Journalist 1st Class) Jim Gilman wrote the dialogue for the characters. Gilman named the tall, skinny ensign in the strip "Ensign Bafflestir;" Ron liked the name so much that the next issue of Pacific Shield saw the strip christened Ensign Bafflestir. Ron took over the responsibility of writing his own storyboard, and the strip eventually became a full-page piece. Ensign Bafflestir became famous within the Coast Guard, and Ron enjoyed an unusual working relationship with the commissioned officers. After Ron's discharge from active service in 1974, he pursued a career in the fine arts, and Ensign Bafflestir was shelved.
Setting
The adventures of Ensign Bafflestir take place in the 14th Coast Guard District, which encompasses the Hawaiian Islands, Guam, and American Samoa in the early 1970s. The main characters were assigned not to one station, but to different stations, depending upon how the location served the storyboard. The locations included cutters stationed at the Coast Guard Base on Sand Island, Honolulu, Hawaii, and various aircraft at Barbers Point Air Station. Other locations are imaginary, such as the Chung Wong's Polynesian Restaurant and the Coast Guard One Man Station.
Characters
Ensign Bafflestir is a tall and skinny ensign with an adult-child demeanor. Bafflestir's devotion to the Coast Guard is equally matched by his extreme enthusiasm to perform every task in his life to the extreme. His motto might have been "if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing."
Captain Doinkadilly is a captain who has adopted a short-fused temper and uncontrolled rage to compensate for his small physical statue. Like Bafflestir, Doinkadilly takes his life too seriously and becomes easily disappointed in his experiences.
Chief Barnflower is a large, overweight chief boatswain's mate who is constantly eating while overseeing the deck department. He dislikes officers, and expresses his frustrations by tormenting the sailors under his command.
Seaman is a curly-haired, small young seaman who becomes the innocent victim of Ensign Bafflestir, Captain Doinkadilly, and Chief Barnflower's predicaments. His youthful appearance represents the contrast in age between new recruits and older career personnel.
