# Comic Strips you love, and love to hate **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989 "2012-01-09T23:58:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/121 "2012-03-05T16:28:03Z")
I’m not even sure anyone actually _likes_ the current _Family Circus_ strip. That said, I’m glad it is there. Stability in an unstable world. Proudly un-edgy. We’ve lampooned it, jeered at it, sneered at it, and it is still friggin’ there. That’s got to count for something. It’s a part of our cultural family, whether we like it or not. Sort of like how my grandfather might have once been a great man, doing great things…but now he resides at home and tells the same stories over and over again. Too old to do anything else. But I’m glad he’s there, and I will miss him when he is gone. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/122 "2012-03-05T16:28:46Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > [Today](http://content.comicskingdom.net/Mary_Worth/Mary_Worth.20120305_large.gif) we have a pretty good example of the bizarre Mary Worth art **Eve** is talking about. I _guess_ that’s Nola’s hand, floating in front of Mary’s face there! And what the \*hell \*is with Mary’s terrifying hand in panel two? She has two thumbs! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/123 "2012-03-05T16:33:18Z")
> [@](#): > > At least \*\*Family Circus \*\*is not offensively _adowable_, like **Rose is Rose** , where the characters actually spew Lucky Charms from their heads in Overwhelming Cute Attacks. Unless they’ve been eating garlic, in which case they have Death Skulls circling their heads as an indication of bad breath. > [@](#): > > As an aside, for those who do dislike a lot of the current “safe” strips, getting to read the early versions can be eye-opening… Hi and Lois, Hagar the Horrible, Dennis the Menace. Not a fan of their current incarnations, but the first years of the strips were actually pretty darn good.[URL=“[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=14837477](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=14837477)”] And those first years are why the strips were picked up in the first place. Those strips weren’t always as sickly sweet bad cotton candy, they were actually edgy, rather than safe and bland. And they were usually at least somewhat funny. As I said earlier, Cathy used to be pretty funny, and the characters and situations in it were things that I could relate to. But the author dragged storylines out much too long (Cathy the character could very well have had grandchildren by now) and it’s like a cake that’s been sitting out for a few decades. It’s no longer delicious and moist. The thing is, the old bland strips will go to extremes in order to keep using the same jokes. In Blondie, for instance, Dagwood used to race for his commuter train every workday, because it would leave on time whether he was there or not. And he’d usually crash into the mailman, who would, you would think, learn to expect this and approach the Bumsteads’ house warily, if at all. Nope, Good Ol’ Dag simply cannot manage his time, and the mailman won’t alter his route or skip the house altogether, despite repeated assaults. I KNOW that if a house has a hazard, that the letter carrier is allowed to refuse to deliver the mail there. A while back, the commuter train was changed to a carpool, and Dagwood STILL has to rush out of the house every weekday morning. It’s like the strip’s current writer can’t imagine retiring this joke, so he must use any excuse for Dagwood to do this rush. Dag COULD open the door and NOT rush out for his carpool and check the porch for the mailman. But that would mean that the writer couldn’t use the joke any longer, and the writer can’t think up any new ones. I’m in the “older adult” category, in fact I’m going to be considered senior on my next birthday (55). I still like some of the strips about parenting and younger adults, though, as well as strips about other things. I think that people read the bland strips not for chuckles, but because they are comforting. It’s like plopping down in front of the TV and just watching the latest unfunny sitcom. Readers of the strips just want to have the same joke told to them, again and again, and they find it funny every time. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/124 "2012-03-05T16:35:34Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > And what the \*hell \*is with Mary’s terrifying hand in panel two? She has two thumbs! And it looks like Nola has a flat sixth finger folded behind her thumb in the first panel! ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/125 "2012-03-05T16:48:37Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I think that people read the bland strips not for chuckles, but because they are comforting. It’s like plopping down in front of the TV and just watching the latest unfunny sitcom. Readers of the strips just want to have the same joke told to them, again and again, and they find it funny every time. I don’t think the _Family Circus_ comforts people really. It’s something else I can’t quite put a finger on. To use the aging parent analogy again…remember that episode of _Seinfeld_ where Elaine’s boyfriend enjoyed spending time with Jerry’s parents and no one else could understand why. It’s kind of like that with some of these old strips. There’s something there, and its not about being funny…and not really, or so it seems to me, about comfort. Stability is the word I keep coming back to, but that’s not exactly it either. All I know is that when I read the comics page, I read _The Family Circus_…but I don’t read every comic on the page. And I like edgy as much as the next guy. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/126 "2012-03-05T19:02:08Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I actually have a lingering fondness for **Blondie** , though I cannot begin to explain why. I do, too, and it’s not just familiarity. Blondie is kind of unique in the way it’s drawn. There’s still a 1920’s (or is it 30’s) vibe. The tiny details - the embroidered tea cloth on their kitchen table, the little striped legs on every tabby cat in the strip. I find all the emphasis on modern technology the last year or so kind of disconcerting, but it’s good to move on and use new material whether it flies or not…When I was in high school I read a fiction novel about some Japanese kids after WWII and Blondie was (in this novel anyway) VERY very popular in Japan. (one thing - why do the mailman and next door neighbor Herb look alike??) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/127 "2012-03-05T19:18:14Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > (one thing - why do the mailman and next door neighbor Herb look alike??) And they \*both \*look like Dabney Coleman! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/128 "2012-03-05T20:45:42Z")
I read it as a kid-it seems to have disappeared. At any rate, why did the eyes on the people always lack pupils? And the old guy who origianll drew the strip-he seemed to always have quotations from obscure writers (like McCauly). Who draws the strip now? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/129 "2012-03-05T21:01:52Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > At least \*\*Family Circus \*\*is not offensively _adowable_, like **Rose is Rose** , where the characters actually spew Lucky Charms from their heads in Overwhelming Cute Attacks. Are you sure those aren’t bloody teeth? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/130 "2012-03-05T21:03:45Z")
My Top 5: UserFriendly Something Positive Irregular Webcomic Sinfest Questionable Content Honorable Mention: The Whiteboard I loved Queen of Wands while it was running. I still go back occasionally and read the archive. Anyone who can come up with a strip having the characters sing a song called [Vagina Dentata](http://www.queenofwands.net/d/20040121.html) is worth keeping. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/131 "2012-03-05T21:08:53Z")
[quote=“ralph124c, post:128, topic:608989”] I read it as a kid-it seems to have disappeared. At any rate, why did the eyes on the people always lack pupils? And the old guy who origianll drew the strip-he seemed to always have quotations from obscure writers (like McCauly). Who draws the strip now?[/QUOTE No one. It went kaput in 2010. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/132 "2012-03-05T21:14:11Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Are you sure those aren’t bloody teeth? They would be if \*I \*ever entered the Rose universe. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/133 "2012-03-06T08:01:05Z")
“Edgy”? Maybe that’s a better word anyhow. I agree that the choice of comic strips varies from reader to reader. But I guess my objection is based mostly on the scorn connoted by the criticism, as if the critic is chiding the Family Circus reader: “You read Family Circus? That’s vapid! You should read South Park instead.” If this is **not** the gist of the critics’ message, fine. It’s probably better if there’s stuff to appeal to all, or nearly all, comic-strip readers. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/134 "2012-03-06T12:02:53Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > And what the \*hell \*is with Mary’s terrifying hand in panel two? She has two thumbs! Never mind her hands - look at her face. I think she’s having a stroke, as one side appears to be drooping. And Nola’s other hand in the first panel appears to be sprouting from her chest. I have a Pogo collection at home that is well-thumbed. Now _that_ was some quality cartooning. ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989/135 "2012-07-27T15:53:27Z")
_“Reg Smythe was the greatest British newspaper strip cartoonist of the 20th Century – and second only to Peanuts’ Charles Schulz on a global scale. So why don’t we treat him that way?”_ I’m just asking: > **[Andy Capp | Reg Smythe](http://www.planetslade.com/andy-capp-reg-smythe01.html)** > > Andy Capp is the comic strip by British cartoonist Reg Smythe for the Daily Mirror in 1957, the cartoons feature working class belligerent work shy Andy and his long-suffering wife Flo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-strips-you-love-and-love-to-hate/608989.md?page=6)