Geech (comic strip)

Geech is an American comic strip, drawn by Jerry Bittle. The strip showcases the eccentricities and foibles of people in small town America, represented by the fictional city of Grimace, TX.

Geech Dingum is the star of the strip. He is a lazy, unsuccessful, accident prone mechanic at a Merle's Service Station. He has a brother named 6 7/8, so named because every time a baby was born into the family, Geech's father would write down names and put them into a hat for his mother to pick one out, and she drew the hat size.

Merle Sisson is Geech's boss. He is the owner as well as a mechanic, and is always trying to put Geech to work. Neither Merle nor Geech are very mechanically inclined.

Ruby Moon, a red haired waitress at the local cafe, who is always looking for a man.

Nadine Puckett, Ruby's best friend, is an overweight woman who works as a hair dresser.

Erma Crosgrain is the unseen nemesis of Ruby and Nadine. Although they are always putting her down and calling her a tramp, they envy the fact that she is able to pick up a man at the bar.

Artie Beemer, a lazy heavy-set man with a recessed hairline and glasses, is frequently seen at the bar, and in scenes at home, trying to avoid dieting and housework. He has a wife named Vera and a son named Jake. Artie is often seen taking Jake for a walk, which always seems to end at the doughnut shop. Artie and his brother-in-law have a Christmas tradition of exchanging a fruitcake as a gift; unfortunately for both, it's the same fruitcake every year.

The Reverend J. C. Meeks is an older clergyman who is as smart-mouthed as everyone else in the comic strip. He is sometimes the target of Merle and Geech's misguided religious questions, such as asking about David and Delilah (a cross between biblical stories of David and Goliath and Samson and Delilah).

Rabbit T. Fester is a surly bartender, often shortchanging customers and not wanting to chat. He has an ex-wife named Monica, who left him after seven days, but still calls to harass him regularly. Rabbit hired on Raymond Flowers, a big bouncer type, to help out around the bar, who has a gentle disposition, especially compared with Rabbit's.

Homer Purvis runs the local barber shop. He is an elderly man (similar in appearance to the Reverend) who is always falling asleep in church, while driving, and even while cutting people's hair.

Weldon Ledbetter is an aspiring country-western singer, and one of Homer's frequent customers, who can never seem to get his sideburns cut evenly.

Geech, Weldon, and Artie belong to the Royal Order of Mystic Ducks, a lodge whose members wear a fez type hat with a duck bill in front. At meetings, they drink beer and throw the bottles, then they duck.

Production of the comic strip ended with the death of the artist in 2003. Reruns of the strip continue in some papers as "Geech Classics".

External links

• Geech at Comics.com
• Index to Comic Art Collection Michigan State University Libraries
• Geech: The Moosical with music by Angelo Badalamenti.