One word: Curtis.
I absolutly love Non-Sequitor, and its usually a one box comic, so when I see Family Circus, I read it out of impulse, because usually the one box comics are the funniest. When I read the “cute” little quotation at the bottom of the box, I feel my own sick starting to rise in my throat.
I like Mutts but James hasn’t grown on me yet.
I think Citizen Dog is history. I read it on MSNBC but it apparently ended its syndication run and faded into the sunset.
Here in Pittsburgh, Richard Mellon Scaife’s little rag, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review puts Mallard Fillmore on the EDITORIALS page!
I liked the one of Mutts where they were showing a cat that was a “Turkish Angora”, and one of the Mutts goes, “It’s a weave.” (I have a Turkish Angora kitty!)
Or the one of Pickles-you know, that one with the little old couple? There was one where the wife is trying to eat her clam chowder, and the cat keeps trying to stick her face in the bowl, so the wife carries her into the living room and says, “Now, I’m going to put on that video I ordered for you, ‘Kitty Safari!’” It’s this little video of birds and chipmunks for cats. The lady puts it on, and gets fascinated by it. Meanwhile, the cat climbs back up on the table and commences eating the clam chowder. WHY is that funny?
Because MY cats do that! My Fluffy ALWAYS did that!
I like Bizarro and Mother Goose and Grimm. Grimmy is too cute.
No, you should REALLY be careful when surfing around Keenspace. I’ve got a Keenspace comic, and I’d estimate that out of, say 700 “cartoonists” with sites there, a handful have real talent, 100 know what they’re doing, 300 draw stick figures and vainly attempt to be funny and 200 haven’t figured out how to make the autoupdater work. :eek:
Keenspot (aaack, I typed “Keenspit”) is a bit higher quality. They host Bruno the Bandit and Sinfest and a few other obscenely popular ones.
As I have participated in FAR too many threads like this one, I shall limit my comment to the following.
I was in the Brooklyn Public Library a week or two ago, helping my daughter find books on how to draw cartoons, and I came across a paperback of old “Lockhorns” panels. Flipped through it and noticed that the jokes were exactly the same as the ones running in it these days. Bad cooking, wreck the car, stare lustfully at young women, etc.
Then checked the copyright page.
The Born Loser, you’re running on fumes. Please, please stop.
I originally felt that Get Fuzzy was basically a knock-off of Garfield with the nerdy guy, dumb dog, and sassy cat combo. But since it’s started it’s gotten to be quite good on it’s own. I mean, Garfield may squash spiders and shove Odie off tables, but where’s the come-uppance? Bucky, the Get Fuzzy version of Garfield, acts out in a more mean-spirited way (much more catlike than Garfield) but always winds up getting his karmically dictated spanking. And how many strips would have the cat bite the dog and claim it was because he was upsetting his feng shui? What the artist, Darbey Conley, needs to work on is getting story lines to last more than three or four days.
And speaking of Garfield, I would agree with all the vituperation others have voiced save for one thing: several years ago Garfield actually tried to have Jon killed. Oh no no no, it didn’t come out and say Garfield tried to have Jon killed, but he did slap a “Bury Me Alive” sign on Jon’s back, which is what happened (but I guess the thugs on the street didn’t dig down far enough). For that alone may the strip continue with its everyday pablum.
As for Mallard Fillmore, I think the RNC decided they needed a Doonesbury of their own. They didn’t get it. Sure, it’s a one-sided daily manifesto of how conservatives must feel in order to be a proper conservative, but the artist can’t even put a joke together short of: panel one of stupid liberal idea/story/position; panel two of that duck with his eyebrow raised giving a punchline even Rush Limbaugh wouldn’t touch. Frankly, it deserves to be put on the editorial page.
Oh, don’t even bother. Just skip straight to http://boymeetsboy.keenspace.com , one of two comics in my entire life I’ve ever consistently breathlessly anticipated the next episode of.
Okay, for some sickeningly funny adult comic joy at keenspace, look no further than http://exploitationnow.keenspace.com/. Sending your 18-year-old clone to do porn to pay the rent, porn, blowing up Canada, and weird pencilled flashbacks. It’s all good.
Then go over to http://www.megatokyo.com. Ah, the hoys of b33r.
Damn, that Tarzan. Who needs a “White Man taming Africa” motif these days?
You all wanna see some REAL adult Keenspace fun?
http://sinnerdragon.keenspace.com
This IS the furry sex comic you’ve all been hearing about.
And where’ve you been? Exploitation Now went to Keenspot, bought a domain and grew a PLOT. That’s right; it’s half-decent now!
While just about every comic here that has been roasted well and truly deserves it, there is one policy that has got to stop in my local papers.
Here in Vancouver, they run different colour strips on the weekend than what runs during the week! Why? Why do this? It’s completely stupid.
Which one is it? I’ve checked out a bunch of 'em, maybe I’ve seen it.
Well, what do you expect from a free domain site? It’s kind of cool though, because finding a really well-done strip is a treat.
I think Keenspot actually charges for webspace, or they have some arrangements with the artists - just a WAG, since all the really good strips seem to end up there sooner or later.
Except for Look What I Brought Home. Nasty!
I’ll give you an “AMEN” and throw another zombie strip onto the pile: Shoe. This used to be a great strip, but then the author Jeff MacNelly died and now some faceless syndicate known as “The MacNelly Group” does the strip. Shudder.
By far, the worst comic I have ever read in my life was a really obscure one called “Mr. Zeep” (formerly known as “Top Secrets”) that ran in the Boston Globe for a few months.
Mere words cannot describe how earth-shatteringly abysmal that comic was. Let’s just say that the cartoonist, who is named Paul Szep (get it…he named the comic after himself. ha ha) makes Bill Keane look like a veritable genius.
Oddly enough, I hear that Szep has won two Pulitzer prizes, but I find that surprising because last time I checked, there were no Pulitzer prizes for outsanding achievement in creating the literary equivalent of regurgitated dog food.
I would read this comic every morning in slack-jawed horror. By the time it was replaced (with a new comic that is almost as bad), I was almost sad to see it go because it was getting to the point where I could earnestly laugh at Szep’s complete lack of a sense of humor.
Has anyone read this strip? Maybe we should form a support group…
Yep. I just realized that this morning while eating Cream of Wheat and reading the comics. I hate both Mutts and Red and Rover. Thanks for pointing out my idiocy before I could get around to it. 
And I forgot about Look What I Brought Home. Ugh yuck.
KeenSpot pays its artists through profit sharing. Of course,
it’s by invitation only.
I like [url=http://www.lwibh.com]Look What I Brought Home**, although I agree it’s nasty.
Anybody ever read ‘Rose is Rose’? It’s one of those disgustingly ‘sweet’ comics that makes you want to puke. Who would believe a comic strip where the kid is named Pasquale and nobody beats the snot out of him?
Also what is the deal with Cathy? Does she need to get a life or what? How many jokes can you possibly write about a 45 year old woman who can’t find a swim suit that doesn’t make her look fat? And if your parents are that annoying to you, do what every other normal people would do in that situation; force 'em out of your life!
(man, am I in a stand up comedian mood this morning or what?)