# What are the longest running comic strips? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-longest-running-comic-strips/383242 "2006-12-07T18:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-longest-running-comic-strips/383242/1 "2006-12-07T18:14:32Z")
I ran into one of the ten longest running, one I wouldn’t have thought of. Today’s Ferd’nand strip had a reference to “0,10” and I realized for the first time that it was not an American comic, so I looked it up. [Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Ferd'nand](http://www.toonopedia.com/ferdnand.htm) The strip started in 1937, distributed by Copenhagen’s Presse-Illustrations-Bureau. It was created by Henning Dahl Mikkelsen, who had worked in animation before becoming a newspaper cartoonist. Lacking language barriers, it quickly became a hit all over Europe, and made “Mik” (as Mikkelsen called himself in signing Ferd’nand) an international celebrity. Mik brought his strip to America on November 10, 1947. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-longest-running-comic-strips/383242/2 "2006-12-07T18:20:12Z")
**the Katzenjammer Kids** (AKA **The Captain and the Kids** ) has been running in the US since 1897: > **[Don Markstein's Toonopedia: The Katzenjammer Kids](http://www.toonopedia.com/katzen.htm)** > > Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-longest-running-comic-strips/383242/3 "2006-12-07T18:23:08Z")
Hasn’t Pogo been around awhile? Gee, I hope it’s even still a strip. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-longest-running-comic-strips/383242/4 "2006-12-07T18:28:32Z")
This site claims Thec Katzenjammer Kids is the oldest strip still in syndication: > **[Comics Timeline](https://www.factmonster.com/comics-timeline)** > > The history of the funnies in America **Ally Sloper** is arguably the oldest comic strip, little recognized in the US although he predated The Yellow Kid 9often cited as the first comic strip) by some twenty years. > **[Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Ally Sloper](http://www.toonopedia.com/sloper.htm)** > > Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation But Ally hasn’t run continuously, ending his first run in 1916. He’s had a few disconnected runs over the years, the most recent in the 1970s. He shows up in a cameo (not surprisingly) in the second “volume” of **The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen**. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-longest-running-comic-strips/383242/5 "2006-12-07T23:41:55Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] This site claims Thec Katzenjammer Kids is the oldest strip still in syndication: [/QUOTE] Started in 1897. Still drawn today by Hy Eisman, runs only on Sundays. Distributed by [King Features.](http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/katzkids/aboutMaina.php) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-longest-running-comic-strips/383242/6 "2006-12-08T00:25:25Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] Hasn’t Pogo been around awhile? Gee, I hope it’s even still a strip. [/QUOTE] The original Pogo strip began in 1948 and ended in 1975, a couple of years after creator Walt Kelly died. It was revived for a few years in the early '90s, and the new version (with the involvement of Kelly’s son) was actually pretty decent, but it naturally lacked the magic of the original. There is no version currently running. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-longest-running-comic-strips/383242/7 "2006-12-08T02:40:24Z")
Prince Valiant has been running since 1937. Didn’t like it as a kid and I still don’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-longest-running-comic-strips/383242/8 "2006-12-08T05:05:23Z")
> **[At 75, Blondie's more modern now, but still ageless](https://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0831/p13s01-alar.html)** > > Readers who turn to the comic strip this Sunday will find a scene that includes Beetle Bailey, Dilbert, and President and Mrs. Bush. > [@](#): > > 1. Katzenjammer Kids (1897-present): It retells German children’s tales through twins Hans and Fritz. Created by Rudolph Dirks, it is the oldest comic strip in syndication. > > 2. Gasoline Alley (1918-present): Unlike the perennially young Bumsteads of “Blondie,” the characters in this strip are drawn progressively older as the years go by. > > 3. Barney Google and Snuffy Smith (1919-present): This comic with its hillbilly characters still runs in 21 countries and in 11 languages. The strip introduced such terms as “heebie-jeebies” and “sweet mama” into the American vernacular. > > 4. Thimble Theater/Popeye (1919-present): The strip was centered on Olive Oyl until Popeye arrived in 1929. Popeye was the first cartoon character ever made into a public sculpture, honored for boosting Americans’ consumption of spinach. > > 5. Little Orphan Annie (1924-present): Harold Gray’s Annie inspired a radio show, musical, and movie. Blondie is close, being from 1930. Beetle Bailey is probably the oldest with its original creator, since Mort Walker has been doing it since 1950.