Most have been mentioned: Pogo and Krazy Kat (back in the 70s, the strips were rerun in the local newspaper, so I was able to experience reading it as a daily strip) were favorites. Barnaby was also a great one, but I’ve only read it in the collections that were put out in the early 80s.
Seconded. I even miss Outland, even though it wasn’t half as good.
I’ll also second The Far Side.
Does anyone else remember a strip called Lindenhurst that used to run in one of the computer magazines back in the days when a TRS-80 was not a fossil? I have fond, generalized memories, although I can no longer recall a single specific strip.
Okay, okay, I really miss C & H and The Far Side the most.
Ditto “Far Side” and “Calvin and Hobbes”
Also (only on Sunday’s) “Rick O’Shay”. I really miss that one.
C & H was great. It closed the door firmly on the Peanuts era of childhood.
I’ve only been hanging around here for a month, and this is my second comics thread. In the previous thread, I got my butt kicked for suggesting that Our Boarding House with Major Hoople was a great strip. I’ll go ahead and say it again, but specify more clearly that I’m referring to the strip drawn by the originator, Gene Ahern in the 20s and 30s. Great stuff.
Another vote for Dick Tracy. Some of the greatest villians and throwaway lines ever. In fact, both DT and Major Hoople did what great old paintings did – they filled up the available space with as much info as they could cram in: sight gags, asides, sotto voce commentary, etc. Some modern strips have brought that style it back, but I still miss those old strips.
Well, you won’t get it kicked from me! I kinda liked “Our Boarding House”. I only saw it during the later years, when one of the papers in my college town carried it. I remember thinking that it was very weird, and very dated, and I couldn’t figure out if there were regular characters or not. And yet, the stilted oratory and arch wise cracks appealed to me.
Priscilla’s Pop, on the other hand . . .
I think about the best artwork of all time was Out Our Way. The detailing is impressive, in this one note all the windows in the building in the background, the grain of the wood, the cap, just amazing. Not that they’re particularly funny by today’s standards, but you gotta love the art.
Bloom County was in my book the best of all time.
J. R. Williams was one of the greats. His Bull of the Woods is classic too, if you just can’t get enough machine shop humor. He was a very accomplished drawer. A lot of his stuff is available again.
You would probably also appreciate Windsor McKay’s Little Nemo in Slumberland.
With regards to impressive details, etc: Gilbert Shelton’s Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.
Not that you’d find it in the comics section of your average metropolitan daily 
I miss Downstown.
You sir are my hero.
Behold the introduction of the heptathluge
Wonder Warthog!
I was a big fan of the short-lived When I Was Short by Michael Fry (who went on to do the more successful Over the Hedge) and Guy Vasilovich. What other syndicated comic strip ever mentioned Keith Jarrett?
I love that strip. Pure genius.
My wife was dubious about it though - while admiring its art, she thought the artist “must have serious mental problems”. 
But just imagine opening the paper to the “comics” page and seeing that. What a blast that must have been!
I miss Prince Valiant. It was a good, meaty strip with an engrossing story line. I loveed it from the time I could first read – and that was a long, long time ago.
There was also a comic strip in the 70s called (IIRC) “Dooley’s World”, which alas has not yet rated a ‘toonopedia’ entry. Dooley was a little boy who had an assortment of toys that, much like Hobbes of “Calvin &…”, came to life only when he was alone with them. When Dooley’s parents showed up, the toys were ordinary toys.
“Was”? Both of my local papers still carry Prince Valiant.
It’s usually represented by a floating cloud with fists and feet (Andy’s and Flo’s) sticking out of it.