OK, this is obviously a spinoff from another thread…
I think that there are some really great current comic strips. I particularly like Get Fuzzy and Sherman’s Lagoon. Get Fuzzy is about a Siamese cat and his hapless human and canine companion. Sherman’s Lagoon is about a rather dim Great White shark and his neighborhood. Both are really, really different. I also like Boondocks.
I think that these comics are breaking new ground, and that they are the new classics.
My favorite comic strips are on the web. I’ve found them consistently funnier than anything that’s in the papers nowadays. A sampling of what I read:
[list]
[li]Sluggy Freelance[/li][li]Goats[/li][li]Sinfest[/li][li]User Friendly[/li][li]It’s Walky[/li][li]Bruno the Bandit[/li][li]Avalon High[/li][li]The Parking Lot Is Full[/li][li]You Damn Kid[/li][li]Rudy Park[/li]
The best descriptions of each are on their respective home pages just a click away. There are a lot of hidden gems like these out there on the web.
Sorry, Lynn, but I don’t think much of Sherman’s Lagoon or Get Fuzzy. Both strike me as a little obvious. Boondocks does have its moments, though.
I would put Doonesbury and Foxtrot in my “old reliables” category. Among newer strips, I like Zits, Rhymes with Orange and Mutts. Zits (about a teen-ager and his parents) is basic gag-writing with some real observations of human nature to add depth. Rhymes is more Gen X angst mixed with wry humor, mostly from a woman’s perspective. And Mutts (about a cat and dog that pal around) has a sort of Zen-like simplicity that reminds me of Peanuts.
Speaking of which, it’s nice to see the old Peanuts strips, from a period when Schultz was doing some of his best work.
I like Zippy the Pinhead, among the current batch.
I like Rhymes with Orange, by Hillary Price (the youngest peson to have ever had a nationally syndicated comic strip) and the Big Picture. I love Frank and Ernest, too. I think it’s the most consistently clever comic in the paper.
I only consistently read:
I most lament the loss of “The Far Side”
But, alas, you can see that my favs/classics are tied to my age. And the fact that our local rag only carries a limitied number of comics.
I disagree that Zits is a “basic gag” strip. It has a surrealistic touch that, IMHO, gives it a real Calvin and Hobbes-esque quality. It’s one of my current favorites. I also love Mutts.
Crabby Road hits 50% success rate with me, more than most new-to-me ones.
Gotta disagree about Frank and Ernest and Mutts. Neither strip has ever evoked the slightest snicker from me. Since people have mentioned Mutts before, I gotta ask: why? What’s to like?
My current faves are Red Meat and Kevin and Kell (now going to 7 days a week, woohoo!). I also have a strange attraction to The Norm.
aye. i really can’t think of a current cartoon that compares to the far side.
i hope they freeze gary larson’s brain when he dies, and put it in a space capsule. that is a man that i would be proud to have represent our species.
Though it is a weekly, “This Modern World” by Tom Tomorrow is currently the best comic going. My other favorite is Lynda Barry’s “Ernie Pook’s Comeek”.
I like Shermans lagoon, Piranha Club, Foxtrot & dilbert. I hate Boondocks, tho, that strip is just mean, not funny. I also hate the fact that the write said that everyone that does not like his strip is either stupid or a racist.
I used to like Overboard, but it is a rehash & often very mean.
For alternative paper strips, I like Tom the Dancing Bug and This Modern World. Non Sequitur has its moments (though I miss the odyssey of “Homer the Reluctant Soul.” Wiley was going to “web” it but last I heard he couldn’t get enough subscriptions to justify doing it.)
I think Boondocks and Zits are pretty good strips. On their best days they have a C&H quality to it.
And Mutts is just cute. When The Boondocks has gotten under my skin, I could always read Mutts and soothe myself down.
Zippy is hilarious sometimes, but usually rates an “Okaaaay…” There’s this one strip… I can’t remember what it’s called, it’s a bout a raccoon and a turtle living in the suburbs. It’s quite sublime at times… there’s this strip, again, I don’t know the name, it’s a married couple with a daughter named Hillary… Baby Blues is funny sometimes, too.
–Tim
Nothing, and I mean nothing, could EVER take the place of Calvin & Hobbes. Or The Far Side, for that matter. And Peanuts, of course, is untouchable.
But there’s always a place in my heart for Non Sequitor. It uses the blatantly obvious in an inobvious manner… and the artwork is pretty good, too.
Citizen Dog is genius in its utter simplicity.
Foxtrot is very consistent in the surreal manner in which everything is portrayed.
I also enjoy Mallard Fillmore and For Better or For Worse.
Aw, heck, I enjoy most comic strips.
How can you guys like “boondocks”? Yestre, when all the strips were doing their homage to “sparky” and Peanuts ( which I thought was a very nice gesture), he had a strip which implied 2 of Shultzes characters were lesbians. It is just plain mean. And his statement that if you don’t like his strip, you’re either a racist or stupid, is unbelievable.
Mallard is beneath contempt, even worse than Doonesbury, which has had funny moments, when he is not taking himself too seriously.
Danielinthewolvesden wants to know:
The Pepermint Patty/Marci relationship is a common joke. Have you heard Chris Rock’s latest routine on HBO? A lot of people think that and he was riffing on that, not Charles. Anyway some people will pay tribute to you in a somber way, some in a glorifying way and some will give you a roast (think Friars Club). Aaron gave a roast. (I won’t question whether you consider calling someone a lesbian is an insult; I’ll grant you the “Not that there’s anything wrong with it” save 
)
Anyway, I’m hoping you’re not taking the strip at face value. Huey’s viewpoint is not the author’s.
I never heard of him making that statement. Cite, please.
I agree with 'ya there. I know there has to be someone with a conservative viewpoint who can be funny and draw. There has to be. Come on make a strip. Put Mallard out of its misery
Homer
I think you’re talking about Over the Hedge and Sally Forth respectively.
I also like Piranha’s Club BTW.
Let’s see, some of my favorites (in no particular order) are:
Robotman
Foxtrot
Piranha Club
Over the Hedge
Doonesbury
Dilbert
For Better or For Worse
Baby Blues
Jump Start
I am boggled that Mutts actually got two mentions in this thread as a favorite. Half the time I can’t imagine that anyone other than the author laughed at the day’s strip. Of the other half, half of that are the serious preachy ones, like the “shelter stories,” and the other half are okay, but annoying due to that stupid cat’s shpeech (sic) impediment. I recommend putting Mutts to sleep.
Robotman and Dilbert are my two favourites, but Dilbert has started to go downhill. Occasionally Overboard is funny, but lately it’s been the same gags over and over again. I also like Foxtrot and For Better or For Worse
No one has mentioned Rex Morgan, MD! 