The Buckets

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The Buckets is a comic strip originally created by Scott Stantis. It has been syndicated since 1991, first by Tribune Media, and currently by United Feature Syndicates, Inc.. The comic centers on a suburban family of five; two parents, two boys, Toby, a moody adolescent and Eddie, a young boy, and their paternal grandfather. The Stantis family pet, Dogzilla, was the only character to keep his own name when Scott first created the strip based on his own family. The real world Dogzilla died in 2006 at the age of 17. Greg Cravens had sole responsibility of the strip at Dogzilla's death, and says Dogzilla will live on in the comic strip. His own dog is named Gi'Tli, which is Cherokee for 'Dog'.

Stantis left The Buckets completly to focus on politically-oriented Prickly City and The Buckets is currently being handled by Greg Cravens. Cravens was hired just after the tenth anniversary of the strip. He went from being the art assistant, to the credited art assistant, to the partner, and eventually the sole creator of the strip. His life (Wife,2 sons, dog, mortgage, etc.) matched closely enough to Scott's when he started The Buckets that the transition wasn't difficult. Greg's ability to mimic others' art styles was critical.

The two sons in the strip, Toby and Eddie, began as younger characters. Eddie was a toddler and Toby was a first grader or kindergartener. As the strip progressed, the children aged, but not at the same rate. For writing and humor purposes, Toby landed at age 15, and Eddie at age 6- those being the ages offering the broadest opportunities for humor based on life.