# Weirdest comic strip crossover ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 4, 2015, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594 "2015-11-04T06:41:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [November 4, 2015, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/1 "2015-11-04T06:41:41Z")
So I’m browsing through the comic strips for Wednesday, and I notice something very strange going on in both the [11/04 Mary Worth strip,](http://www.seattlepi.com/comics-and-games/fun/?feature_id=Mary_Worth) and the [11/04 Phantom strip.](http://www.seattlepi.com/comics-and-games/fun/?feature_id=Phantom) Slick! ---
**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:** [November 4, 2015, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/2 "2015-11-04T07:07:04Z")
Once in the mid-70s, Tank McNamara was visited by the Hulk, Spider-Man and Iron Man. (Spider-Man got his own strip a year or two later.) ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/3 "2015-11-04T11:43:47Z")
Well, there is the infamous Archie / Punisher issue Brian ---
**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:** [November 4, 2015, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/4 "2015-11-04T12:11:31Z")
[Amalgam Comics.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalgam_Comics) These included _Bruce Wayne, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D; Lobo the Duck; Spider-Boy; Bat-Thing; Iron Lantern; Doctor Strangefate_, and many other goofy combinations. ---
**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:** [November 4, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/5 "2015-11-04T12:43:19Z")
This thread is about comic _strip_ crossovers, not comic _book_ crossovers. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/6 "2015-11-04T13:08:43Z")
One of my favorites was the April Fools day in the 90s when, with no warning, a few dozen Strip creators switched strips. ---
**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:** [November 4, 2015, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/7 "2015-11-04T13:12:40Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > One of my favorites was the April Fools day in the 90s when, with no warning, a few dozen Strip creators switched strips. I think I remember that one. Was it done just that one time? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/8 "2015-11-04T14:27:54Z")
Mary Worth, slouching towards Bethlehem. I was beginning to fear a female Phantom, but Mary will straighten her out. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/9 "2015-11-04T14:31:22Z")
Mary has super powers all related to meddling, so this looks like a match made in heaven (and Mary knows \*plenty \*about matchmaking). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/10 "2015-11-04T14:35:19Z")
> [@CGav8r](#): > > Mary has super powers all related to meddling, so this looks like a match made in heaven (and Mary knows \*plenty \*about matchmaking). - In the Bandar tongue. ---
**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:** [November 4, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/11 "2015-11-04T15:04:35Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > - In the Bandar tongue. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/12 "2015-11-04T15:08:37Z")
A number of the strips (especially Lio, and lately, the oddly revitalized Wizard of Id) have done crossovers/practical jokes/satires of each other. A Halloween one last Sunday had all of the characters attending a party at either Blondie’s or Hi and Lois’s, with the comment that it was the only day they could mix with regular folk. As a still-devoted reader of the funnies, I find it… funny. ---
**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:** [November 4, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/13 "2015-11-04T15:15:04Z")
I know that not too long ago on _Sally Forth_ the Forths were kvetching about not being invited to the Bumstead’s last Anniversary party. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/14 "2015-11-04T15:30:46Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > One of my favorites was the April Fools day in the 90s when, with no warning, a few dozen Strip creators switched strips. Drabble was all scribbly that day and the characters were wondering what a comic creator would do if he couldn’t switch with another. They concluded that he would just draw it with his left hand instead of his right. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/15 "2015-11-04T15:49:43Z")
Pearls Before Swine frequently does strips involving the Family Circus kids. And I don’t know if it counts as a crossover but PBS had a week of strips a couple years ago that were drawn by Bill Watterson. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/16 "2015-11-04T15:58:55Z")
Going way, way back… Sgt Rock and The Viking Prince in _ **Our Army at War** _. **[TVP, attacking a Tiger tank with a sword]:** _Men **hiding** in the monster’s belly! **COWARDS!** Come out and **fight**!_ ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/17 "2015-11-04T16:06:37Z")
There was a famous inadvertent cross-over between Dennis the Menace and The Far Side, when the paper switched their captions (the Dennis the Menace comic now had Dennis saying something like “I see your tiny, fossilized skull sitting on a shelf” to an adult … 😃 ". ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/18 "2015-11-04T16:10:28Z")
For the past year or so, Little Orphan Annie has been an ongoing character on Dick Tracy. She’s friends with his granddaughter, Honeymoon. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/19 "2015-11-04T16:15:34Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > There was a famous inadvertent cross-over between Dennis the Menace and The Far Side, when the paper switched their captions (the Dennis the Menace comic now had Dennis saying something like “I see your tiny, fossilized skull sitting on a shelf” to an adult … 😃 ". I remember when the Far Side was next to Family Circus and the captions got switched. I think it was in the 80s? After that I always read them switched, for extra fun. ---
**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:** [November 4, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594/20 "2015-11-04T18:00:41Z")
**Sam’s Strip** (a.k.a. **Sam and Silo** ) frequently featured characters from other strips, usually King Features Syndicate strips. **Pearls Before Swine** and **Get Fuzzy** coordinated their gags with each other for a week a few years back. I think the characters stayed in their own strips, though. **Liberty Meadows** has parodied other strips on numerous occasions, and often has **Cathy** show up to make the “Ack!” sound and look like a mess. I guarantee Cathy Guisewite isn’t in on the joke. Probably the earliest crossover was between **Beetle Bailey** and **Hi & Lois** in the 50s (Beetle is Lois’s brother). **Nancy** was originally a supporting character in **Fritzi Ritz** , but I forget whether she took over the strip or they were ever separate features. **The Phantom** and **Mandrake the Magician** have popped up in each others’ strips on occasion. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-comic-strip-crossover-ever/736594.md?page=2)