Ahh, the Holy Trinity of 80s comic strips. Far Side was the best, followed by C&H, then Bloom County, which was the most topical and hence now the most dated. My old collections read like a chronicle of the 80s.
- Calvin and Hobbes
- Far Side
…
…
…
…
… - Bloom County
In 1981 and 1982, Bloom County was the best comic strip in the universe. But by 1983, he was already starting to lose some of the zip from his fastball. And by 1986 and later…gaaack. The characters who brought so much intensity to the strip in 1981 were either retired from the strip (the Major, and for the most part Milo), or had become depressed and apathetic (Opus, Binkley, Bill the Cat, Steve Dallas). The strip evolved…downhill, unfortunately.
Yes.
Absolutely Freakin BLOOM COUNTY!
But I do have to admit that the last couple years were downright painful… and I can’t read it when I am depressed for some reason… I get downright suicidal…
Doonesbury on the other hand cheers me up every time. Duke is just to honest to be ignored:D
Yes.
I think a lot of his strident tone on animal rights was due to the fact he married a vegan around that time. I remember reading this in an interview he gave to a vegetarian magazine.
And don’t get me started on “Outland.” It’s Example #1 of why it’s usually not good to come back after you quit when you’re on top.
I’d say C&H, BC and FS in that order. Though I’d also put Doonesbury up there with BC.
I was very pleasantly surprised several weeks ago to find that my friends’ 7 year old daughter was reading a huge C&H book for pleasure. And it’s a treat to be read TO by a child instead of the other way around.
Far side.
Then a two way tie for second with Calvin & Hobbs and Bloom County.
Perhaps a sleight edge to C& H.
I did enjoy the earlier Bloom County as opposed to the later years.
As much as I miss them all dearly, I’m glad that they had a (relatively) decent sense of when to bow out of the game. Some strips should have been retired ages ago. (Garfield much?)
Yikes! Bloom County, don’t get me started. Take some of the lesser Doonesbury strips and vomit them up into a warm pool of smug, ill-written chunks, and that still isn’t as bad as Bloom County. Good riddance to that richly fricative cat turd in the road of comic-strip history, and may a similar fate await it’s even worse demon-bastard-assfuck spinoff, Liberty Meadows.
Kudos to the other 2 strips though!
The Far Side all the way.
The Far Side.
I’ve read very few C&H strips, and none that terribly impressed me, and I’ve never seen Bloom County at all.
But the Far Side would be my overall favourite comic strip out of all of those I’ve ever seen anyway!
Hey, LIBERTY MEADOWS at least has the virtue of being beautifully drawn!
Bloom County, Calvin and Hobbes, Far Side - in that order.
I accept that you do have to make allowances for the passage of time with Bloom County, but it is still my favourite. Every so often I reread all the books - and then reread all the Calvin and Hobbes books! I have all the Far Side books too, but don’t read them as often.
I read Doonesbury on a daily basis, but probably wouldn’t if it weren’t for Duke!
Well, I haven’t posted here in months and months now. But I found a thread worthy of posting to. Clearly there is some mistaken belief out there that Bloom County was of any quality after the initial inspiration had run its course. Nothing can be further from the truth.
And for those that point to its ill fated “passage of time” downfall. Let me point out that Calvin and Hobbes also made several poignant, even political views that are not only still applicable today. But subtle enough and said in such a way that the strip is still funny and relevant.
The Far Side always made me laugh like a madman though. So, I guess if you’re going on pure laughter, The Far Side would be tops. Overall, Calvin and Hobbes was probably a better comic though.
Bloom County, Calvin and Hobbes, Far Side.
Bloom County did what Doonesbury tried and failed horribly to do: Make political/topical jokes FUNNY. It’s not like topical humor is difficult to pull off, but Doonesbury (with the exception of some of the old Duke lines a la his zombie days) was never funny, still isn’t funny and should have been retired in the late 70s.
Doonesbury is retreated baby boomer drek that uses the same schtick over and over while just changing headlines. Bloom County was a chronicle of its time. While I miss it, I’m glad it’s gone because it was so thoroughly an 80s thing that I think it would have held up even worse than Doonesbury if BB had kept going.
Calvin and Hobbes was a beautiful comic. It put me in mind of the little kid in the Warner Bros. cartoon whose imagination was always getting him in trouble in class and also showed one of the sweetest relationships ever put into a comic (super-dark disfunctional outbursts aside, or included, take your pick).
Far Side was smart, and when it was funny it was hilarious, but it was a little too hit or miss to make it a lifetime favorite. Still, “Bummer of a birthmark, Hal” made it into my friends’ and my lexicon and is still used in response to a particularly harsh bit of bad luck.
Calvin and Hobbers, then Bloom, and unfortuantly I’ve never heard of or read any Far Side.
Oh, Wearia, I am so jealous of you! I would love the opportunity to read Far Side for the first time. I’ve read all the books so many times that I don’t laugh my head off anymore; it’s more like, “Oh, I love that one!”
My vote: Calvin and Hobbes, then Far Side, then the early years of Bloom County.
Who wouldn’t crack up at Calvin’s snowmen? Or his dad’s explanation of bridge weight limits? (something like, "they drive bigger and bigger trucks over it until it breaks, then they rebuild it and post the weight limit).
-Another Primate
CALVIN & HOBBES
BLOOM COUNTY
THE FAR SIDE
All were good, but I’d order them this way.
Right now, the only two strips really worth following are:
GET FUZZY
ARLO & JANIS
(I like strips with cats in them.)
Ditto!