Even the funny strips more often produce a smile from me than a laugh out loud. The only two strips I can remember for sure ever made me laugh out loud are Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes, but there may well have been times when I LOL’ed at The Far Side, Bloom County, Foxtrot, Zits, maybe even Blondie a time or two.
I seem to recall laughing at the Calvin & Hobbes Draelin mentioned. But the one I for sure remember cracking up over—and like so many good strips, it depends a lot on the artwork—is one where Calvin’s sitting with his math homework, staring at a confusing problem. His face scrunches up a little, then it scrunches up some more, and finally he’s shambling off with his arms out in front of him and a truly grotesque look on his face, saying “THE LIVING DEAD DON’T NEED TO SOLVE WORD PROBLEMS!”
As for Peanuts…
I agree that Peanuts was killer when Schulz was in his prime, in the 60’s or 70’s, and went downhill later on, but I disagree as to why. Schulz never struck me as trying to be “cute”; he did keep trying new things and, if anything, he spent too much time on things that he may have found personally amusing but weren’t what the public loved about Peanuts and didn’t always work—like all those strips of Spike alone in the desert talking to a cactus, or the increasing emphasis on Rerun in the strip’s final years (though I found his enthusiasm for “underground comics” a bit amusing). And what humor there was, was often very dry.
But, as long as Schulz was drawing it, Peanuts never hit the point where it was, to me, never worth reading. [Picks up Peanuts book that happens to be lying around, looks through it] And there are strips from at least as late as 1991 that are capable of making me laugh out loud. A couple of examples:
Charlie Brown to Linus, as they’re walking home: WE HAVE SOMETHING NEW AT OUR HOUSE… WHEN I GET HOME FROM SCHOOL, MY DOG MEETS ME IN THE YARD WITH MILK AND COOKIES…
Then we see Snoopy, standing holding a tray with a glass on it (which is a little amusing in itself), and Charlie Brown says to Snoopy: "I SEE THE MILK, BUT WHERE ARE THE COOKIES?
Snoopy, rolling his eyes: THEY GOT TIRED OF WAITING SO THEY LEFT…
This next one only works if you’re familiar with some of the strip’s recurring themes…
Charlie Brown is standing in front of the classroom at school, holding a paper. Snoopy is standing beside him in his WWI Flying Ace outift.
Charlie Brown: THIS IS MY REPORT AS WRITTEN BY MY DOG ABOUT THE FLU EPIDEMIC IN 1918 DURING WORLD WAR I …
I HAVE BEEN ASKED TO READ IT TO YOU…
“THIS IS HOW THE FLU EPIDEMIC BEGAN”…
“IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT”