Comic Strips

Ok, who reads the comic strips in the newspapers? I think it's kind of a dying art form, but I still like them. The best ones make you laugh, occasionally think, sometimes cry, and make you love their characters. Not easy to do in the 2-dimensional world of comic strips.

I think I could write a pretty good strip, except for the fact that I can't draw. (Then again, for some of these strips, frankly, drawing ability doesn't seem to be necessary!) My two favorite strips are not written anymore...D'oh! Oh, well.

THE GOOD

The Far Side - Best written comic ever. Not bad, considering it was a single-panel comic. Try coming up with a good, solid punchline in ONE panel. It ain't easy! And cows are always funny. (No longer written...boo hoo!)

Calvin & Hobbes - Good characters, damn good writing. Nothing like a strip about a bratty six-year old and his tiger friend to make you smile. These strips used to make me laugh out loud. (No longer written...boo hoo!)

B.C. - I'm not sure if the guy who writes this one is Catholic or Christian or whatever, but he likes to write the occasional strip with a religious slant, and I have to say, he comes up with some cool little parables/messages. They're preachy, but not nearly as much as other strips. Plus, there are an endless list of funny possibilities in caveman days.

Shoe - Wierd title, wierd characters, but funny stuff.

Garfield - Always liked it when I was a kid, and I have to admit, it's still a good one. Good one-liners.


THE SO-SO

For Better or For Worse - Interesting strip in that the characters actually AGE! Pretty rare for a comic strip. Some good insights, some good humor.

Dilbert - Ocasionally can be hilarious, but the whole "Office Work sucks!" theme gets repetitive.

Crankshaft - My brother likes this one. Cranky bus driver who complains about the world. Too repetitive for me.

The Family Circus - Here's one the whole family can enjoy. Tends to be overly sappy. But you gotta like the "trail" ones, where one character follows a ridiculously long trail to get somewhere.

Peanuts - What's that, you say? Peanuts is "so-so"? To me, yeah. Was a good strip going back a few years, but in more modern times, just wasn't funny anymore. (Not written anymore since it's creator died.)

ADMISSION: But I do like the stage show "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"!


THE ONES I JUST DO NOT LIKE

The Born Loser - I've never seen a strip be so consistently not funny. Can see the jokes coming a mile away.

Brenda Starr - Does anyone read these "serial strips"? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Cathy - Mostly for all the men-haters out there. I've never found it all that funny.

Doonesbury - Too political. The knocks against Georoge Bush can be insightful, but not usually funny.

HONORABLE MENTION

Andy Capp - As Homer Simpson would say, "Oh, Andy Capp, you wife-beating drunk."

Ziggy - Again, as Homer Simpson would say, "Ziggy's gotten too preachy!"