Of all the strips which I’ve seen, Bloom County, Calvin and Hobbes, and The Far Side were easily the most enjoyable. Sadly, Berke Breathed, Bill Waterson (sp?), and Gary Larson have all ceased the daily production of their signature works. I’m not sure of their order of becoming nationally syndicated, but Bloom County was the first to grab my attention.
I miss them all dearly, but perhaps the travails of Milo, Opus, Bill the Cat, et al. a tiny bit more (like a first love), with C&H 1b and TFS 1c.
No, no, no…what am I thinking? It has got to be TFS with its humorous take on sciences, talking cows, and the Midvale school for the gifted.
Wait a minute. How can I forget the fertile imagination of Calvin, displaying his advanced vocabulary with the school bully one minute, and creeping out Susie Derkins with his anti-social behavior the next? Definitely C & H!
AAARRGH! I can’t decide.
I love all of these guys, but if I had to rate them, my favorite has to be The Far Side, then Bloom County, then Calvin and Hobbes.
Bloom County, Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side: which was your favorite?
Yes.
What, you mean I have to choose?
Sorry, impossible.
I absolutely agree - the best of American cartoons over the last feew decades, and iloved them all when they first came out.
I think they should be judged by how they stand the test of time.
I have all the Bloom County books (actually, “had”, since I split them with my ex). Looking back on them now, they’re not actually that funny.
My Larson books don’t make me smile anymore.
But I still find Calvin & Hobbes wonderfully complex and amusing.
So there’s my winner.
Yes, all the above, and of course Matt Groening’s Life is Hell.
The Far Side comes in first, followed closely by Calvin and Hobbes. I never really got into Bloom County.
Bloom County
Calvin and Hobbes
Far Side
Bloom County, however, doesn’t age well. It was absolutely hilarious in context, but a lot of the jokes are political or social in nature, and they’re not as funny 20 years later. I can remember, though, how on the money they were at the time, and therefore BC is still #1 in my book.
Calvin and Hobbes, then The Far Side. I could take Bloom County or leave it.
ack!
That’s a Bloom County reference, folks.
For me, it’s Calvin & Hobbes, Far Side, and then Bloom County.
I don’t have any Bloom County books, but I have all the C&H and Far Side books.
Bloom County! But you do have to know a lot of the political referneces. There are some really funny moments though
“Meese Shmeese!”
“Hell hath no fury like a Spurned Kirkpatrick.”
“When I get depressed thinking I’m in a job with no value, and my opinion is not asked or wanted… I just think of ole Smiling George”
(A kick at then Vice president Gerorge Bush)
Iaccoca… there is never enough.
Bloom County was the best of those three, but Doonesbury was far better before the first Bloom County appeared, was better all the way through Bloom County’s (and Outland’s [ick]) tenure and still reigns as the king today. Hot, topical, brilliant, and funny for over 30 years – no other strip in history has ever done what Doonesbury has.
BLOOM COUNTY isn’t in the same class as CALVIN & HOBBES or THE FAR SIDE. CALVIN was the last of the really funny, beautifully-drawn strips. FAR SIDE could make you bust out laughing without knowing precisely why. BLOOM COUNTY was just a reheated version of older, better strips. R. Fiore of THE COMICS JOURNAL dissed Berke Breathed by saying that complimenting his style is like complimenting a shoplifter for being a snappy dresser.
I finally figured out the formula for THE FAR SIDE and it didn’t diminish my enjoymemt of it one bit. Most of the time, he got laughs by showing humans engaged in animal behavior or animals engaged in human behavior; somehow, it’s the humans who always came off looking bad.
Calvin, Far Side, then Bloom County.
I’d pine for a trio that funny (and somehow meaningful) in the papers today, except that all the best stuff is online.
In the rags, they’re still printing Peanuts, fer chrissake! Move on, move on, and save Tat from being an urban rebel by buying whoops!
Note : Bad URL deleted. - E.
Whoops that’s the wrong link. It should be www.sinfest.net
ALthough I like them all. My favorite has to be Calvin and Hobbes. When reading a book of them, I ending laughing so hard I hurt.
I was just thinking about Bloom County again recently. I have great memories of that strip. The political humor was sublime, but it could also be just plain silly with the best of 'em.
Toward the end I was disapointed in how Breathed got a little militant about animal rights. Took the fun out of the strip.
A few highlights that stick out in my mind after all these years:
- Binkley’s anxiety closet. Especially the time when they showed him anxieties that were in his future!
- Opus the mime-killer.
- The seldom seen character Luther H. Putgrass.
- The scenes when Cutter John and the various animals would play “Star Trek” on his wheelchair.
THPPT!!!
holy he11, let me fix that up.
Although I like all of them, my favorite has to be Calvin and Hobbes. When reading a book of them, I always end up laughing so hard I hurt.
Far Side, no question about it. It was my introduction to graveyard humor, and the cartoons still make me laugh.