Red and Rover

Red and Rover (often styled Red & Rover) is a daily syndicated comic strip by Brian Basset that debuted in 2000.^[1] Autobiographical in nature, Red & Rover is a retro-feel comic strip about the unconditional love between a dog and his boy that captures the spirit and flavor of the early-1960s to mid-1970s.

Red and Rover has been nominated four times for Best Newspaper Comic Strip. In 2013, Red and Rover received the Reuben Award for Best Newspaper Comic Strip by the National Cartoonists Society.^{[citation needed]} On Sunday, May 7, 2000, Red and Rover appeared in newspapers for the first time.

Publication history[]

Basset had been producing the comic strip Adam (now known as Adam@home) since 1984. In 1998, he began thinking about producing a second comic strip that had a more childlike quality to it.

In 2009, after nearly 25 years of drawing Adam@home, Basset decided to focus squarely on Red and Rover and he handed over the illustration duties of the older strip to artist Rob Harrell.

Originally syndicated for the first ten years by The Washington Post Writers Group, Red and Rover is currently syndicated to over 200 papers by Andrews McMeel Syndication.

Characters and story[]

Red and Rover is usually set around the end of the 1960s or the beginning of the 1970s, although a strip from November 20, 2009, depicted a car which bears a striking resemblance to a mid-1970s Ford Country Squire station wagon,^[2] and in a Sunday strip from August 28, 2011 Red plays a parody of Jaws, a film from 1975.^[3]

Red (real name Russell McLean^[4]) is a ten-year-old with dreams of going into space one day. He enjoys baseball and model rocketry. He loves Rover, his dog. Red can understand what Rover is thinking. This trope is used famously, of course, in 's Peanuts, where the bird Woodstock and sometimes, even Charlie Brown can similarly read Snoopy's thoughts.

Rover is a dog with mostly Lab in him. Rover is usually cool, calm and collected, and is very loyal to Red. Red and Rover met when Rover rescued Red from being hit by a truck. Red took him home where he's stayed ever since. Rover, in turn, can understand what Red is thinking. In many strips Rover is shown chasing squirrels. On March 16, 2010, Rover revealed that his grandfather, "Merganser McIntire", was a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and his grandmother, "Codfish Kate", was part Portuguese Water Dog.^[5]

Martin is Red's 17-year-old brother, taken as a member of the "in-crowd." Martin's bedroom is in his basement, and he likes the Rolling Stones. He has bangs that cover his eyes most of the time. He has a girlfriend – Red can be seen either listening in on phone conversations or spying on Martin when she comes over. Martin seems to think of Red as a lower form of life, and frequently torments him.

Carol is Red's mother. She is a part-time community college administrator. She is known for her good fudge.

Charlie is Red's father. He is an aerospace engineer. He enjoys bowling and barbecuing. He had a brother named Jimmy who was killed in action. Red and Rover place a flag on his uncle Jimmy's grave on Memorial Day.

External links[]

• Official website
• Red & Rover Facebook Page

References[]