Newspapers have lower circulation now, but at one time they were extremely popular. Part of the reason was the cartoon strip, which included everything from Prince Valiant to the Far Side. Do you have a favorite comic strip?
Share why if you wish.
Asking — and answering — life's interesting questions
Newspapers have lower circulation now, but at one time they were extremely popular. Part of the reason was the cartoon strip, which included everything from Prince Valiant to the Far Side. Do you have a favorite comic strip?
Share why if you wish.
Online comics are where I go. Questionable Content is my favorite. It has robots & AI, 20/30-something relationship drama, and coffee
Back when I still looked at print comics, Big Nate was where it’s at.
In pre-historic times, of course it was Calvin & Hobbs
Calvin and Hobbes is, of course, a classic.
I don’t follow too many web comics, although I often enjoy xkcd, which also seems similarly nerdy (although decidedly lacking in personal drama).
This story comes courtesy of a teacher friend of mine:
One day, before class, he noticed a student reading a Calvin and Hobbes collection. Knowing that it has been a while since that strip appeared in newspapers, he said, “That’s a good strip. How do you know about it?”
The student replied, “My grandfather told me about it.”
This is an answer to another question asked recently: What makes you feel old?
I didn’t really pay attention to comics. But I do remember this one gem from the Far Side:
Imagine Moses as a child eating breakfast at the kitchen table while his mom is washing dishes. In what seems to be practice for a future episode, Moses parts his arms and the milk and cereal in his bowl goes to one side of the bowl or the other (some spilling out). A dry “pathway” at the bottom of the bowl opens up.
Love it!
Calvin and Hobbes. As a kid, I was a Calvin, and I really relate to the whole imaginary friend thing.
I think of Calvin and Hobbes as a strip about philosophy, which makes it an immediate favorite of Intellectual Roundtable. It served as a template for other popular works about philosophy, like the TV show The Good Place.
I can also see how Bill Waterson’s remarkable decision to never license out the characters — so no TV specials, no Calvin t-shirts, no Hobbes stuffed toy — is a great launching point to discuss one of our older questions: Should we be concerned with legacy?
Of strips that are still going, I’ve long been a fan of FoxTrot. I own all the collections, and I read and re-read them regularly.
I’m like strips in general. I have some collections of older strips, like Barney Google, or the original Thimble Theater strips where Popeye the Sailor first appeared. I recently read the fist few years of the Dennis the Menace cartoons, as well as some old Mickey Mouse strips, back before he became the corporate icon he is today. I also own several books collecting Dick Tracy strips, and even more featuring James Bond newspaper strips from the UK.
From my youth, I have the complete Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes collections, and I was a big fan of some more obscure strips like One Big Happy, Rose is Rose, and Robotman (which became Monty).
For absurdist humor, other than The Far Side, I liked Mister Boffo. And being a science geek, I liked You Can With Beakman and Jax as a strip, and I also enjoyed the accompanying 90s kids science show Beakman’s World.
Long story short: I’m a huge fan of comic strips in general.