“Cathy” is so repellent it makes me hurt that it even exists.
I would like to register a vote in the defense of “For Better Or For Worse.” I got all teary when Farley drowned in the river. A comic strip’s got to be pretty good to make that kind of impression. You know, for the longest time, I had no idea that the strip was drawn by a Canadian (not that it bothers me). Not even the fact that the family seemed to have an unusual amount of relatives living in Vancouver and such. What finally tipped me off was when the characters talked about going to “university.” I don’t know many Americans who say that. Americans generally say they’re going to “college” even if they’re going to a university.
Let’s save time and name the comics that don’t suck:
Bizarro
Ziggy ::waits for thrown objects::
The Far Side
Dilbert
Non-Sequitur (I admit, I love the cynicism)
I could do without everything else.
The thing I detest most about other comic strips is that there’s no sense of aging or metamorphosis. The exceptions that come to mind- Baby Blues and For Better or For Worse- are certainly not ones I can relate to. Worse, some comics have inconsistent applications of aging and progression. In Hi and Lois , for example, the eldest son, Chip, has gone from being in high school to thinking about college, and Lois has returned to work after being a housewife… meanwhile, Trixie is still a baby, talking to sunbeams. It’s retarded.
Comics I hate :::scratches head::: Between Friends, Garfield needs to be put to sleep, used to love “Pirhana Club” but it hasn’t been fresh in a long time. I think both Doonsbury and Mallard Fillmore belong on the OP ED page. (btw Diceman, Garry Trudoux (sp) dosen’t do any of his own artwork)
I can defend Family Circus, it’s ok for a strip to be gentle.
I like Curtis, kind of off the wall, and Boondocks can be very insightful.
I’ve seen BC mentioned, I like that one, does anyone remember when he used to call the “matronly” character the “Fat Broad”?
Really don’t feel strong dislike for any of them, I mean come on, there just comics.
Well… ‘The Family Circus’ is changing hands now… have you noticed that the signature is now Jeff and Bil Keane? Some of the recent ones had no punchlines, just a statement.
Fun thing to do with ‘The Family Circus’: since it’s in the form of a circle already, add crosshairs and pretend that you’re a sniper! See how long it takes to take out the whole family! (Yes, I know this is sick and twisted, but graveyard shifts get boring sometimes…).
Other bad ones: ‘BC’. Without a doubt. Ever since he bacame ‘born again’, it REALLY turned downhill; ‘Rugrats’. Half the time there isn’t a joke to be found. Any of the soap opera. Cathy (From seeing her interviewed, Cathy Guisewhite actually seems to think like her creation. ACK!)
‘FBOFW’ Rules! As Does ‘The Pirahna Club’ (His one joke filler strips tend to be repetitive, but when he does a multi-day (sometimes multi-week) story line, it can rock. The thing to remember about ‘Pirahna’ (and ‘Liberty Meadows’, another Fave), is that the creator tends to get edited ALOT, so strips tend to get watered down.
Finally… I wish they would let ‘Peanuts’ go. STOP THE RERUNS ALREADY!!!
Wow! This thread generated way more interest than I expected :eek:.
First, let me defend Zits. It rules. I completely understand roughly 90% of the stuff about how Jeremy relates to his parents.
I agree with what’s been said about Cathy. How many times can you reuse the same old fat jokes? My local paper doesn’t run Garfield, but I remember when it did, and it was definitly getting stale. Unfortunatly, Dilbert is getting stale too. It’s a shame, because alot of the earlier stuff was damn funny. If you’ve encountered some of the people that Scott Adams depicts, then you realize how dead-on accurate some of his parodies are. My dad finds almost every encounter with the Pointy-Haired Boss to be hilarious. I especially liked a series of two or three strips featuring the bit-part character Dan, the Illogical Scientist. Dan perfectly captured the arrogant and self-important additude that so many scientists have. Telling quote:
Dan (to Alice): “I’m much smarter than you, because scientists have invented many things.”
Alice: “But those were other scientists, not you.”
Dan (rolling his eyes): “Apparently you don’t understand science.”
I agree that Curtis is just lame. It’s like the artist is trying to make a comic strip version of All In The Family. I’ve read a few Boondocks strips were really funny but yeah, it’s very erratic.
Oh, and don’t remind me about The Lockhorns. It’s every bit as bitter and spitefull as Non Sequitur. Maybe it’s drawn by the same guy.
Lastly: Doonesbury and Non Sequitur still suck. Gary Trudoux doesn’t even do his own artwork? God, now I know he’s a no-talent hack.
Foxtrot - the drawing is just terrible.
Family Circus - Enough said about this one already.
Rex Morgan, Judge Parker, Mary Worth, Mark Trail, etc. - The stories (?) move at a glacial pace.
Non-sequiter - drawing even worse than Foxtrot and not funny at all.
My favorites:
Doonesbury (not really a comic strip in my opinion - sort of a ongoing Editorial Cartoon).
Prince Valiant (particularly the Sunday version, in living color).
Blondie
“Fun thing to do with ‘The Family Circus’: since it’s in the form of a circle already, add crosshairs and pretend that you’re a sniper! See how long it takes to take out the whole family!”
—Oh, this is BRILLIANT. I like the way your mind works . . .
Good clarification. I had no idea that spinnwebe/iadl was the successor to DFC. I think someone here, perhaps you, posted a link to it last month, and I have gone back to laugh at the images and captions many times since.
His pithy observations on the human condition are comparable to the best that Dickens or Dostoyevsky ever wrote!
Question: what about these strips whose original writers (eg “Terry and the Pirates”, “The Phantom”, “Prince Valiant”) are long dead-who writes these things now?
Johnny Hart and Co. seem to have drifted Christian since I was reading the strip. It’s hard to believe that this strip is still put together by six guys sitting around drinking beer and throwing ideas into a tape recorder, as they said in “Backstage at the Strips” many years ago. Things must have chaned.
I didn’t realize it until I moved to Binghamton, N.Y., but “B.C.” is clearly named after “Broome County”, where Hart lives (or lived). The guy who was the model for Thor used to work in the same place I did. Everything down there is “B.C.” this or “B.C.” that, including and especially the “B.C. Open” golf tournament. his explains all the golf references in the strip.
I’m sure Berkeley Breathed was inspired to call his strip "Bloom County because of “Broome County”.
For the record, I love Foxtrot, Sylvia (It’s an acquired taste), Doonesbury, and Non-Sequitur (the proper spelling). I hate The Boondocks, I haven’t liked Nancy since I was a kid. I’m not fond of Mallard Fillmore, and it’s not just because of my political leanings. But I’ve got to admit that he had one or two really good cartoons. I haven’t liked Paul Szep’s one-panel cartoons since the Bston Globe started running them on the comics page.
Paul Szep story: They once ran one of those “Dewar’s profiles” magazine ads about Szep. Someone cut it out and osted it on my office door with Szep’s name crossed out and mine filled in. Szep looked almost EXACTLY like me except for a slightly more Leno-esque chin). People were coming u and asking me how I got in a liquor ad!
This is one reason I now have a beard.
The most unfunny comic strips I have ever laid eyes upon were all written/drawn by Houstonian Michael Fry. His “Committed” comic strip is the pinnacle of mediocrity, and his previous attempts at comics like “Cheeverwood” and “Scotty” tried to be “Bloom County” so hard it was sad (he has somehow had several; thankfully they were all cancelled) .
And the well still isn’t dry. Who else loathes Dennis the Menace? Horrible, oh horrible, most horrible! Can’t believe this wretched strip is still around. Go away. Go away and never come back. Go away and never come back, and shoot yourself, drop dead, head straight for Hell, and never deaden my braincells again, too, y’hear? And take Dick Tracy and Gasoline Alley and most of the rest of them with you, especially Luann. God, I hate Luann.
But I miss Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side. And Shoe. Rest in peace, McNally. At least you’re not where Luann and Dennis the Menace are going.
Don—I remember seeing, years ago, a parody of “Dennis the Menace.” Dennis was walking into the kitchen with a skull in his hand and saying to his Mom, “Look what I found in Mr. Wilson’s head!” Still giggle at that one.
Which is worse: “Mary Worth” or “Rex Morgan, MD?”
I am still in heaven over the “Family Circus” sniper idea . . .
Eve - Please, call me Jaime. My title is Knight of los Resorbitos, which I’m gonna have to change cause it is the most horrible attempt on my part at Spanglish.
And I remember the parody. It neatly captured the “humor” of Ketcham. It’s in MAD, in an article suggesting ads and such should appear on postage stamps. Jaffee’s idea, I think. Even MAD has sunk in the years since Gates died.
And I like the sniper idea, too.
Y’know, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship. But if it isn’t, we’ll always have the City of Townsville.
I will defend FBOFW, Zits, and Doonesbury, although I will certainly concede that Doonesbury was a thousand time better in the 70’s (when Trudeaux was doing his own drawings, BTW).
Otherwise, I will generally agree with the comments here. Spiderman truly pissed me off - I love the character, but Stan Lee spent so much time “bringing readers up to date” that NOTHING EVER HAPPENED!! I do find a quirky charm in some of the older continuity strips, a la Gasoline Alley.
Weird, but true: About 8 years ago, the Washington Post, which takes its comics very seriously, cancelled Mark Trail. A storm of controversy started, and the Post backtracked. Not only did they reinstate the strip, they added a special section in which they printed all 50 Mark Trails they had skipped. I read them – truly bizarre.
Mary Worth: One conversation lasts 8 weeks!
Spider-Man: Makes Mary Worth look like a Bruce Willis movie.
Crankshaft: From dull to pointless and back again, with an Archie Bunker ripoff character to boot!
Agnes: Most in need of How to Draw Comic Strips for Fun and Profit
Peanuts: He’s dead. Move on.
B.C.: I seem to recall this being funny many, many years ago.
These were never, ever funny or worthwhile: Marmaduke, Dennis the Menace, Crock, The Wizard of Id, Drabble
And I can’t believe no one has mentioned the execrable Heathcliff!!! Satan himself could not conjure a more repetetive and moronic cat comic strip.
You’d think I hate comics from all these, so I’ll list my favorites (including the passed-on): Sally Forth, FBOFW, Ballard Street, Bloom County, Calvin & Hobbes, Dilbert, Doonsbury, Get Fuzzy, Foxtrot (only newspaper cartoon I’ve ever seen a bong in) … and many others.
