# Best comic strip of all time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 9, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529 "2010-06-09T13:05:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/1 "2010-06-09T13:05:52Z")
What do you consider to be the absolute best comic strip of all time? Is it a classic from the newspapers? Or is it one of the newer, online comic strips? For me, it has to be Charles M. Schulz’s sublime, poignant **Peanuts** (though he famously hated that title). As good as **Calvin and Hobbes** and **Bloom County** are, they are forever in Sparky’s debt, as he created the simplest, most achingly _human_ comic strip ever. Opinions? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/2 "2010-06-09T13:34:45Z")
My heart says Calvin in Hobbes, but my brain says the Far Side. I went with the Far Side. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/3 "2010-06-09T13:45:28Z")
I have soft spots for _Jane_ (NSFW!) and _Tintin_, but the best currently published one has got to be [Alex](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/alex/). ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/4 "2010-06-09T13:50:40Z")
Wot no Dilbert? ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/5 "2010-06-09T13:58:39Z")
Blondie. Not even a contest so it’s understandable that you would forget. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/6 "2010-06-09T14:08:26Z")
I loved _Bloom County_ back in the day, along with _Calvin & Hobbes_ and _The Far Side_. But I’ve gotta go with my heart on this one, and vote for _Peanuts_. It wasn’t the edgiest, most bizarre, or most controversial, but I still enjoy reading reruns of it in my newspaper to this very day, 10 years after Charles Shulz died. And I know this question wasn’t asked, but my favorite currently running strip is _Pearls Before Swine_, no contest. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/7 "2010-06-09T14:12:14Z")
I’ll go with “Li’l Abner”; strips with a storyline are better than ones without, IMO. For ones that are currently published, I’d maybe go with “Tom the Dancing Bug”. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/8 "2010-06-09T14:14:54Z")
I voted for _Bloom County_. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/9 "2010-06-09T14:15:51Z")
_Calvin and Hobbes._ I voted for the winner. There must be some mistake. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/10 "2010-06-09T14:20:21Z")
_Calvin and Hobbes_ for me. And much like **carnivorousplant** I am disturbed that my choice was the most popular. My second choice was _Far Side_, and it appears to be number 2 in the standings as of 1020 on Wed 9 June 2010, so that is somewhat disturbing as well. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/11 "2010-06-09T14:24:33Z")
I fully expected **Calvin and Hobbes** and **The Far Side** to be the top two when I first posted the poll, as those are arguably the most geek-friendly strips listed. And the SDMB is nothing if not populated primarily by geeks (and I say that with all love and respect, as I am one myself). What’s kind of shocking me right now is that **Peanuts** is currently ahead of **Bloom County**. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/12 "2010-06-09T14:29:44Z")
Also interesting: that a site as geek-saturated and as in love with **The Simpsons** as this one has so far proffered no votes for Matt Groening’s **Life in Hell**. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/13 "2010-06-09T14:30:08Z")
(_Mad Magazine_ tiny cartoonist) Sergio Aragones said of Charles Schulz, “In a couple of centuries when people talk about American [comic strip] artists, he’ll be the one of the very few remembered, and when they talk about comic strips, probably his will be the only one ever mentioned.” I think that says it pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/14 "2010-06-09T14:31:54Z")
I’ve never seen a funny Peanuts. I find peoples love for it bizarre. Torn between Doonesbury, Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes. Doonesbury is one of the only comics that has managed a long run without becoming just a mechanical repetiton of itself. And when I was ten, I learned everything I know about all the current events I’d missed by not being born by reading through my dads Doonesbury collections. My internal conception of the Vietnam war is probably a lot funnier then the actual war was. Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes had much shorter runs then Doonesbury, but are also funnier. I’d give the edge to Calvin and Hobbes though, its funnier then Doonesbury but actually has characters and and story lines, as opposed to the Far Side. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/15 "2010-06-09T14:33:53Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > Also interesting: that a site as geek-saturated and as in love with **The Simpsons** as this one has so far proffered no votes for Matt Groening’s **Life in Hell**. That’s because it’s kinda crap IMO. Back in the heyday of the Simpsons, I eagerly grabbed up a book of Life in Hell, because hey, it’s Groening. It…didn’t grab me. For me, honestly, there’s no contest. Calvin & Hobbes. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/16 "2010-06-09T14:39:28Z")
Life in Hell = Calvin and Hobbes \> The Far Side = Doonesbury \> The Boondocks = This Modern World I voted _Life in hell_ cause it had less votes then _Calvin and Hobbes_ Someone needs to add _Foxtrot_ and the old _Robotman_ (pre-monty) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/17 "2010-06-09T14:40:14Z")
I went with the two faves. In today’s mostly unfunny comics, I would vote for _[Bizarro](http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/bizarro/about.htm)_, _Pearls Before Swine_, and _Get Fuzzy_. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/18 "2010-06-09T14:49:35Z")
I had to debate with myself between _Peanuts_ and _Calvin & Hobbes_, but finally went with the boy and his tiger. It was really a toss-up though, Peanuts is just simply iconic. ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/19 "2010-06-09T14:55:04Z")
I know Watterson credits Peanuts and Krazy Kat for his inspiration, but I think he took the surrealism of the latter and combined it with the general feeling of childhood from the former (and not necessarily a joyous feeling) to create the best comic strip ever. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/20 "2010-06-09T15:06:17Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I had to debate with myself between _Peanuts_ and _Calvin & Hobbes_, but finally went with the boy and his tiger. It was really a toss-up though, Peanuts is just simply iconic. I’ll admit that it’s a tough choice between the two. A case can certainly be made that, in addition to everything else great about it, **Calvin and Hobbes** ended at its peak, while **Peanuts** lasted far past its sell-by date. As for me, I like **Peanuts** just a _hair_ more than I like C&H. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529.md?page=2)