As a parody of Beau Geste, created by Brant Parker and Bill Rechin in 1975, Crock mined the humor to be found in a lonely fort of the French Foreign Legion, much in the vein of daily gag strips like Hagar the Horrible, B.C., and Parker's own The Wizard of Id. Commanded by the cynical, acerbic Vermin P. Crock, the outpost included the cowardly Captain Poulet, the vain Captain Preppie, simple minded Maggot, camp follower Grossie, and Quench the camel, not to mention the Lost Patrol, forever finding their way back to the fort, and the local raiders, with their snarky stone idol Nebookanezzer.