# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/81 "2010-06-10T05:56:17Z")
Dammit, I switched between The Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes about five times. Life is not fair. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/82 "2010-06-10T07:52:11Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > I am completely mystified by what anyone sees in Pogo or Krazy Kat. In reading _Pogo_, it helps to have a fairly good working knowledge of the people, events, and political issues of the 1950s and 1960s. Walt Kelly was essentially a satirist with more than a touch of the whimsical about him and a lot of his story arcs were lampoons of the headlines of the day. In its way it’s as dated as _Bloom County_ but much, much more wonderfully drawn and written (and I say this as a fan of both); even if much of the topical humor is lost on readers two or more generations removed from his original audience, re-reading Kelly’s books always reveals something to admire in his artwork. _Krazy Kat_, on the other hand, is surrealist humor at (I would argue) its best. A few story arcs here and there, and the occasional touch of politics (beaning Kaiser Wilhelm with a brick) but for the most part just zanily drawn fun focused on a triangle of unrequited love, brick pilfering, and mangled English. ---
**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 10, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/83 "2010-06-10T11:40:44Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > I am completely mystified by what anyone sees in \*Pogo \*or _Krazy Kat_. I know they have a lot of fans and that’s cool, but both strips go right over my head. I just don’t think they’re interesting/funny at all. Pogo is sometimes funny in a silly way. I’m less keen on the political and/or sentimental stuff. Krazy Kat is just not my cup of tea. I’ve never laughed once at it. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/84 "2010-06-10T12:39:32Z")
Another vote for _Calvin and Hobbes_. Not much to say about it that hasn’t already been said. I think it benefits from having ended when it did. I’m enjoying the old _Peanuts_ they’re running now, and appreciate it more than when I was a kid, but Schulz kept it going at least a decade too long (maybe two), and the final few years were just terrible. One of my current favorites that hasn’t been mentioned here is [_Scary Gary_](http://www.creators.com/comics/scary-gary.html), about a suburban-dwelling vampire and his malcontent henchman Leopold. It’s sometimes bizarre and often sick – right up my alley – and usually very funny. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/85 "2010-06-10T12:46:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Krazy Kat is just not my cup of tea. I’ve never laughed once at it. Same here. Some years back, I received one of the bound Krazy Kat collections as a gift. I read through it without once cracking a smile, much less laughing. Herriman’s work is as inaccessible to me as that of R. Crumb. I’m just not seeing what other people find so wonderful about their work. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/86 "2010-06-10T13:44:10Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Was it supposed to be funny? > > The only reason I read it (and I read it as often as I could) was that childhood became bearable knowing that there was a far bigger loser than yourself in Charlie Brown. > > But, Snoopy had some memorable story arcs. My favorite was Snoopy vs the Cat Next Door (particularly the time he thought the cat had woodstock,) or any time he fought the Red Baron in his Sopwith camel, or whenever they did the running gag about his doghouse having multiple floors (like the time all the kids were streaming into the doghouse, except Charlie Brown, because he wasn’t invited.) A great example of **Peanuts** at its best (both worldly wise _and_, yes, funny) is the series of strips wherein Charlie Brown starts waking up every morning and seeing the rising sun as a giant baseball. Eventually, he develops a rash on his head in the pattern of baseball stitching, and then he heads off to camp. I wish to god I had a cite, but I don’t feel like searching through the decades of archives over at [snoopy.com](http://comics.com/peanuts/). Other good examples of **Peanuts** bringing the funny: - When Snoopy goes back to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm to give a Fourth of July speech, only to get caught in the midst of a riot stemming from a Vietnam War protest. - When Peppermint Patty decides to drop out of her current school and cluelessly enrolls in an obedience school. - The series wherein Peppermint Patty takes up figure skating with Snoopy as her coach. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/87 "2010-06-10T14:34:35Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Why is ‘Bloom County’ so adored? Is it the penguin (and I myself own a stuffed Opus)? This strip has not aged well, it’s as dated as gold neck chains and pornstaches…My refrigerator has ‘Get Fuzzy’ and ‘Mutts’ strips plastered all over it, when these two strips are done well, they are great…I myself vote for ‘Peanuts’. I’m amazed reading the re-runs in the paper, there are so many I’ve never seen before. For me, the reasons I love Bloom County are that it came out right around the time I was in college, and was really the first “subversive” comic strip I ever read (I never read Doonesbury–it wasn’t in my local paper). The characters were amusing, the jokes were funny, and…most importantly…the political and social humor was rather gentle. It didn’t seem so at the time, sure, but looking back on it now I really appreciate Breathed’s ability to skewer the things he wanted to skewer without resorting to meanness, crudeness, and the general nastiness that dominates political humor today. “Impeach the peach!” was a lot funnier to me than the mean-spirited crap (sorry, fans, but that’s my opinion) that appears in strips like “This Modern World.” I’m by no means a conservative (I’m a weird bird–completely liberal on things like gay rights and reproductive choice, but a lot more conservative on things like welfare reform) but strips like that just annoy me because I don’t like meanness in my comics page. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/88 "2010-06-10T16:21:50Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Wow. > I mean, you’re pretty cool, generally. > But, Wow. > > 🙂 I honestly can’t explain it. For those that don’t find Peanuts funny, I am stunned. It was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/89 "2010-06-10T16:48:12Z")
[Found a link to the beginning of the beloved rising-sun-as-baseball storyline](http://comics.com/peanuts/?DateAfter=1973-06-01&DateBefore=1973-06-30&Order=d.DateStrip+ASC&PerPage=10&x=14&y=7&Search=&Page=2). Enjoy it. I know I’m going to! ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/90 "2010-06-10T16:54:02Z")
> [@Wolverine](#): > > I almost went with _Little Nemo_ to give it some love, but then I realized _Calvin & Hobbes_ just did everything exceedingly well. It had a human touch like _Peanuts_. It was painfully funny like _Far Side_. And it did the surreal and imaginative like _Little Nemo_. I get what you’re saying here, but I want to point out that _Peanuts_ doesn’t get props for being surreal, but it was. It was just quietly surreal - it didn’t hit you over the head with it. If we’d never had _Peanuts_, and about the time of _Calvin and Hobbes_ somebody introduced a strip with a bunch of kids - never any adults - and one of them ran a psychiatric booth like a lemonade stand, and another played complete piano concertos on a toy piano, and the dog had involved fantasies where he flew a Sopwith Camel against the Red Baron in WWI, and flew his doghouse to the moon, I think people would agree its surreal elements would rival _Calvin and Hobbes_. It’s just most of us grew up with _Peanuts_, so it all seemed so normal we never questioned it. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/91 "2010-06-10T17:02:51Z")
Extremely well put, **bup**! Those are good damned points all! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/92 "2010-06-10T17:21:08Z")
Quoth **winterhawk11** : > [@](#): > > One I didn’t see on the list but that I think will be on a lot of people’s lists if it keeps up for a few more years, is Frazz. Smart, literate–almost Calvin and Hobbes 2.0 but with its own individual style. Love it! I think that _Frazz_ is the best comic strip currently running, but it’s got a ways to go to catch up with _Calvin and Hobbes_. Certainly, though, there are enough similarities in style that anyone who appreciates _C&H_ will likely also appreciate _Frazz_. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/93 "2010-06-10T17:27:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **winterhawk11** :I think that _Frazz_ is the best comic strip currently running, but it’s got a ways to go to catch up with _Calvin and Hobbes_. Certainly, though, there are enough similarities in style that anyone who appreciates _C&H_ will likely also appreciate _Frazz_. Agreed. Seriously, who can look at Frazz and not see Calvin “all grown up”? It’s almost like he grew up and became Hobbes, serving as the wise, loving, but somewhat gently sarcastic mentor of a whole new crop of too-smart-for-the-room kids. It’s one of the few comic strips I read regularly anymore. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/94 "2010-06-10T17:36:10Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > You, Sir, have obviously not seen [Aunt Fritzi](http://www.mirandallambert.com/aunt-fritzi2.jpg) lately. Yowza. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/95 "2010-06-10T17:58:20Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > Agreed. Seriously, who can look at Frazz and not see Calvin “all grown up”? It’s almost like he grew up and became Hobbes, serving as the wise, loving, but somewhat gently sarcastic mentor of a whole new crop of too-smart-for-the-room kids. It’s one of the few comic strips I read regularly anymore. I’ve never heard of Frazz before, but I took a look just now and have to agree. That could have been drawn and written by Watterson himself, although the writing seems slightly more adult than Watterson would write. That said, I don’t get today’s strip. I backed up and read the other comics from this week, which puts it in context, but I still don’t understand what’s happening. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/96 "2010-06-10T18:15:33Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I’ve never heard of Frazz before, but I took a look just now and have to agree. That could have been drawn and written by Watterson himself, although the writing seems slightly more adult than Watterson would write. > > That said, I don’t get today’s strip. I backed up and read the other comics from this week, which puts it in context, but I still don’t understand what’s happening. Yeah, this is a really bad time to start reading the strip–even those of us who’ve been reading it for years aren’t quite sure what’s going on. Best guess is that Caulfield (the boy) enlisted the help of Miss Plainwell (the cool young teacher) to steal and copy the summer reading list from Mrs. Olsen (the crusty old teacher) and then read all the books ahead of time. But nobody’s sure yet. And there’s evidence that Mrs. Olsen might be in on the whole thing. If you’re interested in the strip, I really suggest finding some of the older ones (there are archives online) and not judging it by this sequence. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/97 "2010-06-10T18:17:25Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > If you’re interested in the strip, I really suggest finding some of the older ones (there are archives online) and not judging it by this sequence. 🙂 Heck, last week’s “You can make _bread_ out of _beer_? :eek:” sold me on it already. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/98 "2010-06-10T18:32:04Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I get what you’re saying here, but I want to point out that _Peanuts_ doesn’t get props for being surreal, but it was. It was just quietly surreal - it didn’t hit you over the head with it. > > If we’d never had _Peanuts_, and about the time of _Calvin and Hobbes_ somebody introduced a strip with a bunch of kids - never any adults - and one of them ran a psychiatric booth like a lemonade stand, and another played complete piano concertos on a toy piano, and the dog had involved fantasies where he flew a Sopwith Camel against the Red Baron in WWI, and flew his doghouse to the moon, I think people would agree its surreal elements would rival _Calvin and Hobbes_. It’s just most of us grew up with _Peanuts_, so it all seemed so normal we never questioned it. Good points. I only knew Peanuts when it had grown hoary with age and familiarity. Seems likely that the creator of Calvin & Hobbes ended the strip to avoid that. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/99 "2010-06-10T18:40:27Z")
I had to vote for _Calvin and Hobbes_ but _Bloom County_ was a close second. Peanuts was great and my childhood favorite but C&H was the best. Doonesbury was another great one but it peaked a long time ago and just kept going on with far less quality than the Peanuts. So a higher peak but lower overall run. It is amazing to see how much _Calvin and Hobbes_ is winning by. There is not much that dopers usually agree on this much. Far Side is another good one and one online Comic I really enjoyed is User Friendly which is on hiatus. A cartoonist inspired by Bloom County at least. ---
**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 10, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529/100 "2010-06-10T18:53:24Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Seems likely that the creator of Calvin & Hobbes ended the strip to avoid that. Well, that and the fact that he got mega-rich from selling all of those truck decals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comic-strip-of-all-time/542529.md?page=6)