# Unfunny cartoons **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 9, 2003, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897 "2003-12-09T12:43:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/61 "2003-12-09T23:17:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jenaroph \* > Marmaduke, how I loathed thee, you stupid dog, and your owners, all drawn in a style that made them look as if they drooled constantly. Gary Larson drew a Far Side cartoon that took a potshot at Marmaduke, inscribing a tiny version of it with the barely readable caption “There goes that damn dog again…” He had it exactly right! That summed up every joke that ever appeared in Marmaduke. Not that there were many. My theory is that perhaps there are about 10 or 15 Marmaduke cartoons total, and Brad Anderson has been redrawing and resubmitting them every couple of weeks for 50 years. And then there was the “Doggone Unfunny” thing. _“Mrs. H. Erbrain of Butthole, Ark. has a Pekinese named “Pwecious” who likes to bark at strangers when they come to the door!”_ BWAAAH haw haw. I was at B&N the other day flipping through a recently-published [Marmaduke retrospective book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345464540/qid=1071011559/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-0264481-1147805?v=glance&s=books). Fifty years ago, the jokes were the same–but the panel was drawn in a New Yorker style, which somehow made it vastly funnier. I hate the new Marmaduke comics as much as the next person, but kinda liked the old ones. ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/62 "2003-12-09T23:28:49Z")
Chastain86, I kinda meant whatever floats yer boat! Everybody’s rantin’ on about cartoons/comics/funny pages, whatever and you come in with your microphone and disclaimer. You sounded a little like the fat/pc/grammar/gay police to me. No offense, don’t get all hot and sweaty on my account. No, Marmaduke was/is not my favorite. All time, I guess Henry was, It had no words as I believe Henry was dumb. But a good strip anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/63 "2003-12-09T23:51:19Z")
**MUTTS**. I hate that strip. I read it, and it angers me. And yet I can’t freakin’ help it - it’s like I’m uncontrollably drawn to it solely so I can feed my anger. _“Yesh my little schnoopy woopy!! I want shome LUV and Kisshes!!!”_ I just described every single damn strip. I think I’ll visit the website and pick one at random and paste the link. . . . [Here ya go](http://muttscomics.com/art/dailyarchive.asp?month=10&date=7&year=2003). ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/64 "2003-12-10T00:46:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ntucker \* > \*\*There used to be a web site called the Dysfunctional Family Circus which allowed readers to do exactly this. They kept all the submissions and they were rated. \*\* Ah yes. I loved all the inside jokes that emerged from the DFC like “I trip over my nutsak in a frinzy of dik play” or Uncle Roy, Soylent Green and the psychic fern. That poor fern. It’s time never came. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/65 "2003-12-10T01:29:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Man With The Golden Gun \* > \*\*None of you have to endure “Red and Rover”, I take it? It’s by Fred Basset’s brother. > > I have to bathe my eyes in hydrochloric acid each Sunday when I see it it’s so horribly unfunny. \*\* Stop looking at it! No charge for the advice… ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/66 "2003-12-10T01:41:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sofa King \* > \*\*I recommend [The Dysfunctional Family Circus](http://www.brainwashingvats.com/i/f/fc.html), and the king of them all [The Dysfunctional Family Circus Archive](http://www.implausible.net/dfc/ffDFC111/index001.html). \*\* Ooh, nice. My captions are still up there (377, 379, 380). ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/67 "2003-12-10T01:49:48Z")
**The Fusco Brothers**. Every once in a while I pull it up at uComics, much in the same way I’ll watch a few minutes of _Battlefield Earth_ if it’s on TV. I usually find myself praying for the day the moron characters end up with their heads impaled on the punctuation marks that seem to always be hovering over their heads. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/68 "2003-12-10T04:48:38Z")
**Cathy** , how I despise thee. You were finally banished from my local paper’s daily comics page, yet you still disrupt my Sunday laughter. Here’s the formula for a Cathy strip: Panel 1 - Cathy identifies issue; Panel 2 - She waves her arms and freaks out; Panel 3 - She resigns herself to living with the issue. **Frank & Ernest** Frank: “Ernie, why are you lying on the floor with that black cloth covering you?” Ernest: “Because this strip is so unfunny, I’m a **pall** ed.” (Sorry) **Garfield** : I’m a cat person. Just not that cat’s person. Shoo, cat. **Dennis The Menace** : Hey kid, I think I hear your mother calling you. What do I like? **Dilbert** , though I think you need to have a job with a company **and** be an American to get it. Hilarious, and dead on target. **For Better Or Worse** : I dunno why. I just like it. Maybe because of the unique aspect of the characters aging in near-realtime. I’ve been reading it for many years. How many comic strips are there where you can come to care about the characters? This strip has made me both howl with laughter and come close to tears. **9 Chickweed Lane** : Wonderful. Makes me feel like a kid again. **Get Fuzzy** : One of **the** best strips out there today. Fun stories, good jokes, and excellent artwork. I’m also fond of **Zits** , **Non Sequitur** , and **Bizarro**. ---
**Author:** ![Astra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@Astra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astra)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/69 "2003-12-10T08:57:43Z")
Nobody mentioned Snuffy Smith yet? Worst. Comic. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/70 "2003-12-10T12:08:18Z")
Someone please just kill me, because Snuffy Smith and Gasoline Alley still run in the Fort Pierce (Florida) Tribune. And then they hide Non Sequitur in the fucking classifieds! I miss Charles Schultz too, but the man has died! Can we please retire Peanuts? Can we not live with out a comic strip that has been running for 40, 50 and dare i say 60 years? Was not Blondie first inked in the thirties? How long has Beetle Bailey been in the Army? Later today I am going to read Bloom County. Do I dare mention how much I miss Calvin and Hobbes? Oh, my god, hear our plea, and retire these old comic strips. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/71 "2003-12-10T12:48:26Z")
Look, our old-school all-time faves aren’t coming back. We need to let go of the past! Look around for relatively new ones that at least try to be funny without relying on one or two jokes, like those old standbys we’ve seen in the comics for the past 30 years or more. The reason you see strips like Gasoline Alley and Snuffy Smith in the paper even well after they’ve run their course as funny is that devoted readers of the comics are extremely touchy about what gets dropped. It seems that every time a paper drops a longtime comic, there’s a huge hue and cry from those people who grew up reading the strip. The truth is, there are a lot of people who consider the comics to be like a nice pair of comfortable shoes - they’re comfortable with Mary Worth, for example, so they don’t want the paper to drop her. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/72 "2003-12-10T13:09:45Z")
I have a soft spot for **For Better Or Worse** , because the mother was pregnant with April the same time I was pregnant with my second child; since the characters in this strip age in almost-real-time, I could really relate to the whole pregnancy, and April-as-she-grew thing. I’m surprised no one’s mentioned **Baby Blues** yet. Often amusing, sometimes hilarious. I hate, hate, hate **Marmaduke**. Never, ever, ever funny! ---
**Author:** ![SeekingTruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@SeekingTruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeekingTruth)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/73 "2003-12-10T14:08:54Z")
Very depressing to be reminded of these shit comics. It was very hard to imagine comics strips w/o Calvin & Hobbes. Hell, I have them tattooed on my left bicep. My fave now is Real Life Adventures, hasn’t anyone heard of this one? It’s a single panel comic. I swear Mr. Bovee is ME! ex. Co-worker: What’s the matter? MrB: Very expensive weekend. My team lost. CW: You bet a bundle? MrB: No, I threw my wife’s antique lamp through the flat screen plasma t.v. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/74 "2003-12-10T14:10:18Z")
I’m trying to think of the name of this newer one in my local paper. Its mostly about a bunch of kids an their parents and their former ghetto-rap-star dog. Its a little repetitive, but often dead-on funny. There’s also a newer one called Bizarro, which is more or less in the far Side vanue, albeit a little more bizarre and a little less funny. (but then, isn’t everything less funny than Far Side?) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/75 "2003-12-10T20:00:00Z")
**smiling bandit** - you’re thinking of Housebroken: [http://www.ucomics.com/housebroken/](http://www.ucomics.com/housebroken/) ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/76 "2003-12-10T23:27:04Z")
Oh, god, reading this thread has reminded me of a couple of horrible ones: **Mark Trail** , a.k.a. A Paragraph Transcribed From Encylopedia Britannica **9 Chickweed Lane** , which usually consists of 7 wordless frames of that chick dancing or daydreaming or rolling in happyfaces, followed by one frame that says something like, “I like fuzzy bunnies.” May I now direct your attention to an important study regarding the [sweating habits of Cathy](http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000084.html). ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/77 "2003-12-11T00:37:27Z")
I’m a 20 year old guy and I happen to like **9 Chickweed Lane**. Most of the wordless dancing ones are dancing and music references, which are hilarous if you understand, but I can understand how they might leave a non-music person scratching their head. Plus she’s hot for two-dimensional jailbait. A recently bought the Boondocks treasury **A Right to Be Hostile**. Money well spent. The comic is consistantly funny thoughout, but it shifts around mid-2001 from a quirky family comic to a three person political comic. I prefer the former, but its his comic. As for what I hate: Mallard Fillmore. Go ahead, mock liberals, but be witty about it. Geez! ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/78 "2003-12-11T05:26:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > \*\ ***The Fusco Brothers**. Every once in a while I pull it up at uComics, much in the same way I’ll watch a few minutes of _Battlefield Earth_ if it’s on TV. I usually find myself praying for the day the moron characters end up with their heads impaled on the punctuation marks that seem to always be hovering over their heads. \*\* I can never get past the truly horrid artwork, myself. ---
**Author:** ![by-tor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/by-tor/32/266_2.png) [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/79 "2003-12-11T07:08:03Z")
For Better Or Worse in unutterably lame to the nth degree. ---
**Author:** ![by-tor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/by-tor/32/266_2.png) [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfunny-cartoons/217897/80 "2003-12-11T07:15:52Z")
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