[2] Kevin Fagan created the strip in 1979 and remains the sole writer and artist.
The strip centers on the Drabble family, and is set in a fictionalized version of the greater Los Angeles area.
A grassroots effort, spearheaded by Robert S. Frisiello, Jr. convinced the paper to keep the strip running.
[citation needed] Ralph: The father of the family, he worked initially as a pro-wrestler, and later as the original mall cop.
Ralph has been working as a retirement village security guard[4] and in August 2011 began a job as a TSA screener[5] at Polecat International Airport.
She's shown to be a sci-fi fan and in one strip attended a Star Trek convention in costume.
She also likes to sing along with her iPod, which Ralph often mistakes for the cat yowling or the smoke alarm going off.
A bad case of arrested adolescence, he still sleeps on the top of a bunk bed with his younger brother Patrick and still asks his father to check the closet for monsters (though in one strip he managed to work up the courage to do it himself).
[4] Wally was introduced in Christmas 1998 when Norman gave Ralph a dog because he couldn't afford something.
To protect him from the Neighborhood Homeowners Association, Norman lies and tells everyone that Bob is a rare South-American parrot who takes on the characteristics of a duck for survival.
Echo: A young woman about Norman's age whom he always bumps into when he wishes he could meet the perfect girl.