# True or False: Calvin and Hobbes was the best daily comic strip ever. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2006, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537 "2006-01-05T06:05:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/61 "2006-01-05T19:15:35Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > How about this: What is the best comic strip still actively being produced? None of C&H, The Far Side, or Peanuts fit this bill, and you can even argue that Garfield and (shudder) The Family Circus have been on autopilot for so long they do not qualify, either. > > I propose Get Fuzzy. It can routinely raise a genuine laugh out of me, sometimes even a good belly-laugh, and I am not a person who really laughs out loud that easily. Of today’s age? Hmm, well if you’re talking OLD ones still running, I’d have to say either Garfield (even though you said it wasn’t allowed. :p) or For Better For Worse. If you’re talking of medium age, I’d give the nod to Baby Blues (which never fails to make me laugh or grin or think) If you’re talking about recent and modern strips, Rose is Rose appears to me to have the potential to be a great one. Are any as good as Calvin and Hobbes was even at it’s lowest point, though? Not even. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/62 "2006-01-05T19:50:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I was a huge, huge Bloom County fan, an absolute fanatic, but even I’m surprised anyone would rank it ahead of “Calvin and Hobbes.” > > 1. As has been pointed out, Bloom County was very topical and so a lot of its bits now seem dated and silly, and > > 2. It simply wasn’t as consistently funny, and even at its best moments was never as funny as Calvin and Hobbes could be, and plus > > 3. Watterson stopped Calvin and Hobbes before it got old; Bloom County, sadly, morphed into the atrocious Outland/Opus spinoff crap that sullies everything that preceded it. I agree with this 100%. I loved Bloom County and had Breathed had left it that, it might get the edge over C & H (Pure Cane Laughter)TM. He jumped the shark with Bill the Cat. As an occasional one shot he was funny. He was definitely not funny as a regular. > [@Stranger](#): > > I think there’s merit to each position: Watterson’s idealism and resistence to marketing, and Schultz’s passion to keep doing the work that he loved as long as he could. I don’t think either can be used as a criteria for judging the oeurve of each artist. I’d rather sit down and thumb through the whole of Calvin & Hobbes, though, than through Peanuts; part of that may just be that I was in my teens and twenties when Watterson hit his stride, whereas Schultz probably hit his high point before I was born and kept going long after I’d lost interest in following daily strips, so I remember some of his more tiresome periods and forget or missed his better work. In any case, it’s clear that Watterson owes no small debt of influence to Peanuts. But I’d rather read Calvin & Hobbes. Would not have been able to say it better than that. I have the same generational bias. I’ll have to go find some old Peanuts compilations to make an honest comparison. For current day, I look forward to Get Fuzzy and Boondocks the most. Online - Sluggy Freelance. Arlo & Janis get the honorable mention - some of the best cat cartoons ever. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/63 "2006-01-05T20:03:33Z")
Four way tie: Calvin & Hobbes Dilbert The Far Side Bloom County ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/64 "2006-01-05T20:19:46Z")
> [@Agnostic Pagan](#): > > Would not have been able to say it better than that. I have the same generational bias. I’ll have to go find some old Peanuts compilations to make an honest comparison. [Ask](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560976322/qid=1136491967/sr=8-3/ref=pd_bbs_3/103-3559177-3391867?n=507846&s=books&v=glance) and [ye shall](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156097687X/qid=1136491967/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-3559177-3391867?n=507846&s=books&v=glance) [receive](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156097589X/qid=1136491967/sr=8-6/ref=pd_bbs_6/103-3559177-3391867?n=507846&s=books&v=glance). –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/65 "2006-01-05T20:33:06Z")
Speaking as someone who read Peanuts in its heyday–I still vote for Calvin. As Watterson says in one of his intros–Peanuts is very dark and cruel. Charlie Brown is a sad sack of a character (sorry for the pun)–and the other characters seem to revel in “dissing” him. No matter what he does, it is not good enough–not even for his dog. Og knows how this affected me on some level–anxious, angst ridden child that I was, but I know I identified with CB. I never, even very young, thought that Lucy et al were just joking around with Charlie Brown–they meant every harsh word and every bit of contempt. It’s not a place I want to visit often, anymore. Maybe it’s because I only have read Calvin as an adult (my son got waaaay into C&H awhile back) that I enjoy Calvin so much. He is admirable (if a bit overconfident) compared to CB who is pathetic. I also don’t respect Schulz for NOT sticking up for his strip and refusing the name “Peanuts” --he hated the name, this was HIS creativity–why not insist on a change? Watterson thought more of his “product” and acted accordingly. The differences in newpaper markets might have alot to do with this point, though. And to say that his most recent strips even come close to any C&H’s or even his own, early work–that’s just wrong. That unfunny, miserable brother or cousin of Snoopy’s etc–blech. Not funny, not commentary on social issues–nada. I agree that Peanuts gave us a more complex world and the characters were often complex. But C&H included adults–which was key, IMO, to really underscoring and understanding the child’s perspective. I have completely overlooked Zits–one of my favs as well. My oldest son is Jeremy’s age and so many of the strips could be taken from our live right now. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/66 "2006-01-05T20:43:36Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > How about this: What is the best comic strip still actively being produced? [_Non Sequitur,_](http://www.ucomics.com/nonsequitur/) IMO, for combining the offbeat humor of Gary Larson with art almost comparable to Watterson. Though the newcomer [_Inkpen_](http://www.ucomics.com/inkpen/) is quickly becoming another fave. Geeky enough to toss out Jack Kirby references, too. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/67 "2006-01-05T20:51:00Z")
Calvin and Hobbs and Far Side are the best two comics ever. As others have pointed out, it’s not really fair to compare them since they are so different in both format and content. Dilbert is the best currently running comic. Bloom County? Peanuts? They don’t compare at all. They aren’t half as funny or half as insightful as either Calvin or Far Side. I highly recommend **The Complete Far Side** , BTW. I got it for Christmas a couple years ago. It’s great. Two huge hardcover volumes that look like a desk reference set. With flying cows on it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/68 "2006-01-05T20:55:11Z")
Vote for TRUE Bloom County, Far Side and 70’s Doonesbury would be right behind. As a kid Peanuts (or Snoopy as I called it) was by far my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/69 "2006-01-05T21:03:35Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > _Little Nemo in Slumberland_ was the best comic strip ever. I agree. It’s going to be limited in it’s popularity because of it’s age and rarity, but if you’ve seen the strips reproduced in good quality, they’re amazing. Calvin & Hobbes is wonderful, and wins the popular vote, but I think it’s a close second. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/70 "2006-01-05T21:38:25Z")
I disagree. I think C+H takes from Little Nemo and builds on it surprisingly, integrating it with a much more interesting main character and setting. It’s a worthy successor. Little Nemo still has superior art, but the artistic flow is only slightly above C+H. In short, in some ways, C+H is a successful fusion between Krazy Kat and Little Nemo. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/71 "2006-01-05T21:38:38Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Original, funny, timeless, smart, and multifaceted. A work of art. As **RealityChuck** is the first to point out, everything C&H was, _Krazy Kat_ was decades before. Re **Derleth** ’s question, I’m partial to _Get Fuzzy_ for its completely warped yet totally recognizable world. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/72 "2006-01-05T21:48:56Z")
I love The Boondocks - haven’t seen the tv show, but the comic is great! ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/73 "2006-01-05T22:15:16Z")
Frankly, I prefer **For Better or for Worse.** But not by much. And, while I didn’t like it for the first decade or so, **Luann** ’s stock is really rising with me. I’m a sucker for clean-line illustration, I guess. If we included weekly strips, I’d include **Tom the Dancing Bug** and **Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend**. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/74 "2006-01-05T22:23:44Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > And, while I didn’t like it for the first decade or so, **Luann** ’s stock is really rising with me. I’m a sucker for clean-line illustration, I guess. It is well-drawn (& its female characters are the hotties of the comics page), but, like FBoFW, it’s too soap-opera-ey and not enough funny to be one of my absolute favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/75 "2006-01-05T22:42:56Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Schulz was completely different. Just as Charlie Brown never forfeited a game no matter how many runs he gave up or how many times he was knocked off the mound, so Schulz couldn’t quit, even if his hands shook or if it became increasingly harder to find humor in his characters’ harsh world. (It took the onset of blindness to make him finally put down his pen.) Meh. Crap produced by someone with an excellent work ethic is still crap, there’s just more of it. While his strip may have been funny once, Schultz produced a bad comic strip for a period longer then my life span, regardless of his work ethic he should’ve quit and yielded his place in the funny pages to a younger person with fresh ideas for a new strip. By hanging on like grim death, he ruined his strip for a whole generation who might’ve discovered it had they not been turned off by the stuff that was run in the paper during his later decades. And I agree C&H is the best strip I’ve ever read. Far Side might’ve been funnier sometimes, but C&H was funny and meaningful, which gives it the edge. Foxtrot is good, but I think part of it’s populairty is simply due to the fact that it doesn’t have many other good strips to compete with in todays funny pages. Doonesbury is still funny sometimes (and wins a prize for longest lasting comic strip that still managed to stay at least somewhat amusing), but I think a lot of the enjoyment people get out of that strip is seeing how the characters develop over time, rather then the humor. Dilbert is good, but it really caters to it’s nitche, and was a lot better when it flipped between office strips and strips centered around Dogberts crazy schemes. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/76 "2006-01-05T23:08:48Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > If we go online, then Penny Arcade kicks everyone’s ass. Even Far Side, for me. While [Penny Arcade](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic) is often funny, there’s no way it beats Calvin & Hobbes. I find the strip unreadable because of the lettering. Dude can’t make an “f” to save his life. Always looks like a “P”. Stupid & annoying. Online comics would best be served in another thread, but we’ve done that to death. I think [Diesel Sweeties](http://www.dieselsweeties.com/), [Sinfest](http://www.sinfest.net/), and [Girl Genius](http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/) all beat Penny Arcade. I can at least read the text. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/77 "2006-01-06T00:44:56Z")
I vote “True”. I think Watterson wins. If you were to ask him his own opinion, I think he’d say Krazy Kat… or he’d just get mad and get on his soapbox about the entire concept of ranking “art” in the first place. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/78 "2006-01-06T01:07:39Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > **Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend**. If we’re going to go back that far, I’d still give it to McCay, but I like _Little Nemo_ better. ---
**Author:** ![ReuvenB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@ReuvenB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReuvenB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/79 "2006-01-06T02:23:50Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I have completely overlooked Zits–one of my favs as well. My oldest son is Jeremy’s age and so many of the strips could be taken from our live right now. I enjoy Zits quite a bit, too, and by a lucky coincidence (I was on a summer program with his step daughter) I’ve met Jim Borgman twice. Unfortunately, the first time I met him, the only thing I could think of to say is “I really admire your work,” and the second time, I could only come up with “I still think your work is completely awesome.” He drew me a sketch, and he’s a really nice guy. Sorry for the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537/80 "2006-01-06T02:36:34Z")
_Bats aren’t bugs!!!_ That said, and if we disqualify The Far Side for being a panel and not a strip… I choose, **True** Also in the running is Peanuts (before it got stale) Krazy Kat Get Fuzzy Doonsbury (which also has overstayed it’s welcome, IMHO) and I’ll add… **Tumbleweeds** and **The Appletons** (which appeared in National Lampoon in the 70’s & 80’s) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-or-false-calvin-and-hobbes-was-the-best-daily-comic-strip-ever/338537.md?page=5)