# Who the hell is enjoying Hagar the Horrible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [December 7, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720 "2015-12-07T17:46:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/61 "2015-12-10T00:03:11Z")
> [@crypto](#): > > . . . I could never dedicate myself to read them for a few months to see if I liked them. Somebody must, but I have never met anyone who admits to it. . . . I used to read Mary Worth regularly, enough to know the characters and follow the soap-opera plot. I found it enjoyable. It wasn’t “Apple Mary” herself who made it work, but the ensemble cast. Also, the art (at the time) was pretty good. (That tends to come and go, as the creative staff rotates.) I even wrote 'em a fan letter, and the artist (at the time) phoned me back to thank me! (This was around 1983…) ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/62 "2015-12-10T21:16:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I thought it was the other way around, that we first met Hi and Lois when Beetle visited them on leave. You’re correct. \*[Beetle Bailey\*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beetle_Bailey) debuted in 1950, while the first [_Hi and Lois_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi_and_Lois) strip was printed in 1954. ---
**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, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/63 "2015-12-10T23:50:45Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Back in its hayday, much of the humor in Hagar the Horrible revolved around Hagar drinking too much, and the trouble he got into while drunk. Eventually, civic-minded types pushed the artist to drop the booze-related humor. And the strip became much less funny as a result. > > It was around the same time that Beetle Bailey cleaned up its act. Sarge stopped swearing and stopped beating up Beetle, and the General stopped being a dirty old man. And, like Hagar, there really was little reason to read the strip after that. Strangely, my dad, who was squarely in Beetle Bailey’s target demographic and had followed it for a couple decades, gave up on the strip some time in the late 1980s. He complained, “It used to be funny, with jokes about all of the characters. Now it’s just Sarge beating up Beetle every day!” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/64 "2015-12-11T00:45:52Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Sarge stopped swearing and stopped beating up Beetle When did that happen? He still does that. I have noticed that the General isn’t as obvious when it comes to ogling Miss Buxley, but then again, all the other guys ogle her too and want to date her even though (and again, this is only implied) they know they aren’t gonna get any from her. I do think that the General and his wife stay together because they genuinely love each other, regardless of how different they may be. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/65 "2015-12-11T02:56:03Z")
So… any of you guys get [Non Sequitur?](http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2015/12/06) ---
**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 11, 2015, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/66 "2015-12-11T07:11:07Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > So… any of you guys get [Non Sequitur?](http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2015/12/06) I haven’t read newspaper comics in more than a decade, but I remember liking _Non Sequitur_. And I got a chuckle out the one you linked, because I have personal experience. Being a professional cook with much experience in scrubbing out pots (having also been a dishwasher) … if it’s that painful to scrub out the pot, you did something wrong while cooking. (I’ve always followed a policy of, “If I burn it to the bottom of the pot, I’ll scrub it.”) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/67 "2015-12-11T09:53:42Z")
Olde-tyme comics I still miss: – Pogo – L’il Abner – Gordo – Rick O’Shay This Modern World by “Tom Tomorrow” (actually Dan Perkins, I think) is usually pretty good. For those who aren’t familiar, it’s entirely a political comic. [Daily Kos is one place to see it.](http://www.dailykos.com/blog/Tom%20Tomorrow/) Mark Fiore does an interesting weekly Flash-animated political cartoon, with a strong liberal/progressive/leftist slant. Google his name to find various sites that carry it. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/68 "2015-12-11T10:57:29Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Olde-tyme comics I still miss: > – L’il Abner Al Capp was apparently a world class douche IRL. I’ve read in a couple different places that he exposed himself to a young Goldie Hawn and demanded sex. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/69 "2015-12-11T14:15:12Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Mallard Fillmore is so unfunny that it’s pathetic. Do any of the Dope’s resident conservatives actually think it _is_ funny? [This one](http://mallardfillmore.com/comics/november-29-2015/)’s good, but nobody bats 1.000. YMMV. I no longer get a daily paper, but when I did it seemed that several of the comics were like _Zippy Pinhead_ - not so much unfunny as incomprehensible. And I would have said that I liked absurdist humor. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/70 "2015-12-11T14:48:20Z")
Tinsley is a superb caricaturist, but he’s almost never funny. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/71 "2015-12-11T14:51:10Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Al Capp was apparently a world class douche IRL. Al Capp was the Richard Wagner of the funny pages. He created timeless work of supreme genius, but you wouldn’t leave him alone with your wife or daughters. See this 1951 self-portrait/autobio from his Wiki page (if anyone can find a full sized copy online, tell me where!) > **[Al Capp](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capp#/media/File%3AAl_Capp_Self-portrait_April_1951.JPG)** > > Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip Li'l Abner, which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (with help from assistants) drawing until 1977. He also wrote the comic strips Abbie an' Slats (in the years 1937–45) and Long Sam (1954). He won the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award in 1947 for Cartoonist of the Year, and their 1979 Elzie Segar Award, post... ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/72 "2015-12-11T15:14:10Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Al Capp was the Richard Wagner of the funny pages. He created timeless work of supreme genius, but you wouldn’t leave him alone with your wife or daughters. > > See this 1951 self-portrait/autobio from his Wiki page (if anyone can find a full sized copy online, tell me where!) > > [Al Capp - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capp#/media/File%3AAl_Capp_Self-portrait_April_1951.JPG) [Sounds like he was just a plain, old rapist.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi926DKi9TJAhXJFj4KHTzpAhIQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcomicscommentary.blogspot.com%2F2012%2F01%2Fal-capps-sex-scandals.html&usg=AFQjCNHHxhe1TSEj1zZvCV2ESpMXWJhcRw) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/73 "2015-12-11T16:02:43Z")
Sally Forth has been revivified (or maybe just vivified) under Francesco Marciuliano. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/74 "2015-12-11T16:33:39Z")
^ Have they retired the biting-the-ears-off-the-chocolate-Easter-bunny gag yet? ---
**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 11, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/75 "2015-12-11T16:33:58Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Olde-tyme comics I still miss: > > – Pogo > – L’il Abner > – Gordo It’s a real shame there’s no good collection of Gordo out there. That was a great strip. The only thing that seems to be in print is the rather pricey _Accidental Ambassador Gordo: The Comic Strip Art of Gus Arriola_, which despite the subtitle is apparently more of a biography than a collection of his work. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/76 "2015-12-11T17:03:05Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Sounds like he was just a plain, old rapist. You win. I’m still not giving up my Kitchen Sink Press “Lil’ Abner” reprint volumes. Or listening to _Parsifal_. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/77 "2015-12-11T17:28:23Z")
When “The Far Side” shut down, it was as if the music died. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/78 "2015-12-11T18:14:34Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Mallard Fillmore is so unfunny that it’s pathetic. Do any of the Dope’s resident conservatives actually think it _is_ funny? > > Doonsbury was funny for a long time, but not anymore. > > I miss “Brewster Rocket, Space Guy”. I am a bit conservative, and Mallard Fillmore is pathetic. The LA Times runs Prickly City which is a better version of a conservative comic. Doonesbury shocks me in how long it can do re-runs while Trudeau is on vacation. I have spent some time explaining to my 12 year old politics of the 70s so that he can get the jokes. I prefer Candorville and La Cucaracha for topical humor of a more left wing bent. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/79 "2015-12-11T20:04:55Z")
Prickly City stars a human who holds liberal views that she thinks are conservative, and a coyote who holds idiotic views that he thinks are liberal. I’m still not sure just how much that reflects the author’s own views, versus what he thinks are the views of typical voters. To be fair, Carmen (the human) is at least acknowledging the madness currently going on in the Republican primary, and is horrified by it. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720/80 "2015-12-11T20:45:14Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > When did that happen? He still does that. _Shrug_ Maybe they put it back in. The strip was really dull after they took it out. > [@](#): > > I have noticed that the General isn’t as obvious when it comes to ogling Miss Buxley, but then again, all the other guys ogle her too and want to date her even though (and again, this is only implied) they know they aren’t gonna get any from her. I do think that the General and his wife stay together because they genuinely love each other, regardless of how different they may be. A while ago there was a story line where Miss Buxley filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the general. AFAIK, that was end of any overt sexism on the general’s part. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-the-hell-is-enjoying-hagar-the-horrible/739720.md?page=5)