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ow many limes have you come to class tired and cranky after having stayed up all night studying? And how many times have you been in that foul mood when you picked up the latest issue of the Argonaut and flipped through it - and suddenly were laughing and snickering over the latest exploits of the Ul's own comic strip hero- Macklin? Macklin, one of the Ul's " permanent students," and his friends Roscoe Gibbons and Glori Mason live in an abandoned Nike-Hercules missile base which is "slightly north and a little bit east of Moscow." Why do they live in a missile base? Well, according to Mike Mundt, the creator of Macklin, " there really is an abandoned missile base somewhere out in the Palouse wheat fields ." Essentially, Macklin is the cartoon embodiment of Mundt. Macklin stumbles and staggers through problems and situations that have occurred in Mundt's everyday life. Macklin's two basemates are Roscoe Gibbons, whose character is based on an old roommate of Mundt's, and Glori Mason, who, contrary to popular belief, is not based on Mundt's wife. Despite all his dangerous adventures, Macklin has been able to keep his unique sense of humor and use it as his weapon, taking shots at everything. For
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Mundt-Macklin there are no "sacred cows;" he will criticize anything, including dormies, Greeks, and even the administration. Most of those who fall victim to Mundt's humor enjoy the kidding and notoriety they receive after their appearances in the strip. The faculty members mentioned in the strip don't mind the knocks they take; in fact, Mundt reminisced about the first time he met President Gibb (Dr. Goob) and Terry Armstrong (Gort). " It was at a Faculty and Staff Dinner-Dance and I was kind of nervous because I wasn't sure how they felt about being the bad guys in Macklin," says Mundt. "I was standing behind Terry Armstrong waiting to talk to him when someone asked
him, 'Did you know that Mike Mundt is standing behind you?' Terry turned around and covered the distance between us in a single bound. 'So this is Mike Mundt,' he exclaimed and shook my hand. I led Terry over to where my wife was so I could introduce them. Then, President Gibb elbowed through the crowd and stopped in front of me. 'Somebody told me Mike Mundt was over here.' He broke into a grin and shook my hand, saying, 'Glad to meet you.' " Freedom is one of the main things that keeps Mundt's cartoon alive at the Ul. He said that at other universities when the administration is criticized they come down hard on that person, but fortunately, it's different here. Mundt really enjoys and appreciates the
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freedom he's give'n in working with Macklin. Besides giving life to Macklin, Mundt is a broadcast engineer at KUID-TV and teaches a class In broadcast engineering. As far as Macklin's popularity is concerned Mundt said, "It's all very flattering but I don't understand it ... I've had a Jot of fun with It; It's a gas, and as long as it continues to be fun I'll continue to draw it." Although many of us get a good chuckle out of Macklin, Mundt said it wasn't always meant to be funny. "Macklin gives me an outlet to let off some steam." However, not only does Macklin provide an excellent opportunity for Mundt to express himself artistically, it "provides a tremendous vehicle for revenge."
Julie Reagan[]
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Macklin