# The mundanity of my local papers comix. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359 "2005-02-16T15:28:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/1 "2005-02-16T15:28:56Z")
Ugh. If I didn’t know already that this was a benighted and navel-gazing town the funnies would clue me in. My local paper, The Marietta Times, runs these on a daily basis: Beetle Bailey Over the Hedge Fox Trot Hi & Lois Peanuts Hagar the Horrible Dennis the Menace Trudy Garfield Family Circus Doonesbury Snuffy Smith Shoe For Better or For Worse Cathy Blondie Now, give them credit for Doonesbury, FBoFW and Foxtrot. But could the rest be a more heinous group of ne’er-do-wells? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/2 "2005-02-16T15:51:49Z")
Yech. If USA Today ever started running comics, this would be their lineup. Well, they’d probably skip Doonesbury, FBoFW and Foxtrot. ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/3 "2005-02-16T16:11:52Z")
All you are missing is Marmaduke, and the unholy Wizard of Id/BC combo. Someone is still drawing Snuffy Smith? No shit? Wow, where’s Gasoline Alley and Dondi? I didn’t know someone had taken over Shoe. Didn’t that guy die? Over the Hedge, while not great, shouldn’t be in the same pantheon as Cathy et al. And while Garfield is totally pathetic nineteen times out of twenty, that twentieth can be so good sometimes it makes you think “What happened to this guy?” ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/4 "2005-02-16T16:25:58Z")
Abandon the dreary things. Try Webcomics! Begin with these– [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php](http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php) [http://www.kevinandkell.com/](http://www.kevinandkell.com/) [http://www.dieselsweeties.com/](http://www.dieselsweeties.com/) [http://www.scarygoround.com/](http://www.scarygoround.com/) > **[The Suburban Jungle (Rough Housing)](http://roughhouse.suburbanjungle.com/)** > > A very loud life of quiet desperation. from our own Doper **jimwicked** [http://crap.jinwicked.com/](http://crap.jinwicked.com/) ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/5 "2005-02-16T17:32:35Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Abandon the dreary things. > > Try Webcomics! > > from our own Doper **jimwicked** > [http://crap.jinwicked.com/](http://crap.jinwicked.com/) Thank you muchly sir, but I’m jiN; I have girly-parts. I don’t get the paper at home but I read a few syndicated comics online. I used to like Foxtrot (though I’ve gotten bored of it lately); I regularly read Get Fuzzy, and 9 Chickweed Lane. I also like the political comics that are all syndicated on this page: [http://cagle.slate.msn.com/politicalcartoons/](http://cagle.slate.msn.com/politicalcartoons/) It’s updated every few days as the artists submit new cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/6 "2005-02-16T18:33:32Z")
Sorry, **jin**. I _did_ know that is your name, but my fingers are deft as bananas at typing. :o ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/7 "2005-02-16T19:50:12Z")
Sounds a lot like our local paper: Peanuts, Sally Forth, Nest Heads\*, Shoe, The Middletons, Agnes\*\*, Judge Parker, Gasoline Alley, Rex Morgan, Grand Avenue, and Luann. The only thing that’s really worth reading is Dilbert, Fox Trot, Speed Bump, and Rose is Rose. Some of the others are occasionally amusing, but generally not. The paper used to have some good strips, but whenever they chose a new one, they went with a “family friendly” comic that was blander than white bread soaked in milk. But at least the got rid of Cats with Hands. :eek: \*Perhaps the least funny “humorous” comic strip ever. \*\*Runner up. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/8 "2005-02-16T20:35:55Z")
No list of comic-strip banality is complete without **Mallard Fillmore, Prickly City,** and **B.C.** No links; I refuse to be responsible for another’s suffering. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/9 "2005-02-17T01:03:59Z")
Moving this from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/10 "2005-02-17T01:08:09Z")
You need [“Get Fuzzy”](http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/getfuzzy/) in your local paper. Today’s strip cracked me up. “So you’re saying monkeys are fruit… hmmm. Yeah, that is expensive for fruit.” ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/11 "2005-02-17T01:23:44Z")
I have to defend B.C. When it’s not prattling on about some Christian thing it can be really funny. And Wizard of Id is almost always funny. Heathens… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/12 "2005-02-17T02:14:49Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > And Wizard of Id is almost always funny. I recognize the words in that sentence, yet it doesn’t make any sense. 😃 Talk about an art form in the sewer. It is to our credit that though we are barraged daily with the likes of \*\*In the Bleachers, Mother Goose and Grimm, BC, Mallard Fillmore, Crock, Heart of the City, Momma \*\* and **La Cucaracha** , we somehow resist the impulse to step in front of a deli van. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/13 "2005-02-17T03:40:19Z")
There are still a handful of decent comics out there–Get Fuzzy, Pearls Before Swine, Dilbert, Pickles and Fox Trot all come to mind–but for the most part, it’s all crap or comics that used to be good 10+ years ago. Webcomics are where it’s at these days. You aren’t restricted to content that’s guaranteed not to offend anyone and you can stop reading anything you don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/14 "2005-02-17T03:49:15Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > No list of comic-strip banality is complete without **Mallard Fillmore, Prickly City,** and **B.C.** I’m finding Prickly City to be showing promise. I’m never going to find it as consistently funny as Doonesbury because I don’t lean that way, but it can be sharp. With any luck it will wipe the black hole known as Mallard Fillmore out of existence. That one’s _never_ been funny. ---
**Author:** ![Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d9b06d/32.png) [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichini_Sanshigo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/15 "2005-02-17T05:16:41Z")
Don’t you get it? Everything in the comics sections of the paper is supposed to be bland and uncontroversial. As far as comics go, **[Boondocks](http://www.ucomics.com/boondocks/)** is wickedly funny, and, disappointed liberal that I am, I always get a laugh out of Tom Tommorow’s **[This Modern World](http://www.thismodernworld.com/)**. Also, I’m terribly addicted to **[Sluggy Freelance](http://www.sluggy.com)**. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Foible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Foible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foible)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/16 "2005-02-17T05:19:05Z")
Our local paper just tried out some new comics but they didn’t touch their hardcore lineup of blandness. We are still stuck with Blondie, Hi and Lois, Wizard of Id, Hagar the Horrible, and other pieces of drek turned out by hired gag writers rather than the original visionaries. The worst insult is Peanuts. It’s nothing but repeats! If I cared I could go buy a book of every stinking strip thats going to run but our newspaper feels the need to waste the space rather than give a new cartoonist with a fresh voice a chance. The readers voted two to one to dump that dated piece of drivel so our paper took that as a sign to keep it! I haven’t yet figured out how they came to that conclusion but it’s no wonder newspapers aren’t attracting younger readers with decisions like this. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/17 "2005-02-17T05:34:53Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > There are still a handful of decent comics out there–Get Fuzzy, Pearls Before Swine, Dilbert, Pickles and Fox Trot all come to mind–but for the most part, it’s all crap or comics that used to be good 10+ years ago. I recently sent an e-mail to the artist who draws Pearls Before Swine regarding a spelling error, and he sent a very nice reply! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/18 "2005-02-17T06:16:43Z")
What, no mention of that master of scintillating wit, [Fred Basset](http://www.ucomics.com/fredbasset/)? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Leroy\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Leroy\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leroy_Brown)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/19 "2005-02-17T10:31:40Z")
Every time I see a comics page I go straight to the “Cathy” strip. I noticed a long time ago how 99.9% of those strips has at least one character yelling with gallons of sweat flying from his/her head by the third panel. I’ve seen only ONE time this didn’t happen. I wish I had saved it, it felt like finding a four-leaf clover. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359/20 "2005-02-17T13:06:12Z")
Using the mouse preview it looked like you were going to bash Foxtrot and I couldn’t let anyone bash on my Denise. 🙂 At least you don’t get Marvin. When I was a kid I got Marvin was hilarous. Now (15+ years later) its awful. Has it always sucked or has it just gone downhill? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mundanity-of-my-local-papers-comix/290359.md?page=2)