Comic strips you really like / dislike?

[Commendatori]

I do two crosswords a day - the Washington Post and the Washington Times (thanks to the fact that my Freeper co-workers seem incapable of doing anything with a crossowrd other than leaving it in the recycle box). Crosswords, as we know, are in the comics section, so comic strips are tough to avoid.

I remember when I was a kid, I'd ready every comic and pretty much liked them all. Nowadays, there are almost none I can stand, but plenty I dislike.

If you do crosswords too (or if you just read the comics) which comics do you read, like and dislike (I refer to current ones)?

As for me, I:

LIKE "Tank McNamara."

LIKE "Boondocks."

LIKE "Doonesbury."

KIND OF LIKE "Big Nate."

TOLERATE "For Better or Worse," which is sort of lame but is read by my better half.

TOLERATE "Garfield," for the same reasons above, although this one was once actually funny.

USED TO TOLERATE "Opus," but it's so lame in comparison to "Bloom County" that it's painful to look at - kind of like the comebacks of Palmer or Carlton, or watching Mantle and Mays hang on too long. I'd rather look at a car wreck. Just sad.

DISLIKE "Spiderman," which is criminally boring (miss a week, and you miss nothing - did anyone see that lame "Owl" villian?), but I look because I know my dad reads it.

DISLIKE "Pickles," but read it because my mom does.

DISLIKE "Out of the Gene Pool," which has struck me as racist from time to time and is never funny.

INTENSELY DISLIKE: "Mallard Fillmore." Occasionally I see a pro-GOP one-frame political cartoon that's clever and a little funny, even if I don't agree with it. "Fillmore" isn't even clever, though, and does nothing but beat the Limbaugh drum. I'll bet if I were to listen to Limbaugh today I would know what tomorrow's strip will be. Outright shit.

INTENSELY DISLIKE: "Rose is Rose," which is really tough to avoid(directly under one of my crosswords), never funny and never cute. This is honestly the most annoying, stupid strip I've seen in my life, in any paper or country. I now pick up my crossword and fold it over - without my glasses on - just to avoid it. It's apparently meant for adults, but has miles to go to reach "Family Circus" in that aspect. Simply awful. Inexcuseable.

What say you?

[LynneSin]

1. I love "For Better or for Worse"

Lynn Johnson is very anti-war and it'll pop up from time to time. She was the first to introduce a homosexual character into the cartoon strip (and he has a partner who run a business). She's one of the good ones!

[m-jean03]

11. I agree

Remember what a huge controversy it was when the gay character, Michael's friend came out? I was pretty young but still informed, and all the homophobic LTTE's at the time made me sick.

Plus, the strip usually makes me laugh. Everything kind of rings true, especially about the dog. :-)

[Liberal Veteran]

48. Lawrence was his name. I also cried when Farley died.

That was so sad.

[BigMcLargehuge]

15. I love that her characters age like normal people

grow up get married have kids... very well put together strip, and beautifully illustrated, funny, and nice.

[NorthernSpy]

32. actually, they seem to age _faster_ than normal people

I guess I just found it kind of creepy that so many fBoW characters start doing the married&procreating thing right out of college (or even high school). Sure, there are people who do things that way, but most -- especially those with university degrees -- don't really settle down til later. Maybe somebody should tell the author that it's not 1960 anymore...


Mary

[mopinko]

51. not faster

ellie and i had a baby together. and both had home births, although mine was planned and her was not. april and my son are still the same age. and i cried when farley died, too. i love that the strip is committed to reality. even when it means the dog dies.
i like get fuzzy.
i love boondocks.
i mostly like dilbert the strip, although the hype of the dilbert empire is a little much.
i hate hate garfield, and the lockhorns.

[HawkerHurricane]

52. Since they are based on members of her real family...

except for the youngest daughter, April, who is fictional and tell stories based on real events... I have reason to believe that her son did get married right out of college, and immediately have a kid.

[terrya]

2. "Boondocks" "Zits" "Out of the Gene Pool" - Likes

Plus, "Mutts" "Doonesbury" "Fox Trot"

Dislikes:

"The Family Circus" - syrupy, icky right wing drivel.

[phillybri]

3. Calvin and Hobbes was the greatest...

No one else comes close...

[Heddi]

56. Agreed. I even have Calvin & hobbes tattoos

Yeah cheesy I know---but I got them...oh...10 years ago, when the strip was still out and they were cool. My first (and only) tat's. Calvin on my right hip, hobbes on the left.

Of course, like 4 months after I got the tats, calvin & hobbes retired from the paper and now it's like having betty fucking worth tatooed on me. No one under 26 knows who the fuck Calvin & Hobbes are, and usually no one under 30 understands the 'coolness' of them.

[curse10]

4. Intensely dislike: Family Circus

biggest. piece. of. crap. ever!!!!

[Commendatori]

6. Have you ever seen "Rose is Rose?"

I would agree with you completely regarding Family Circus if not for this garbage.

[curse10]

7. LoL

Yes, I have. And although horrible in its own right, I still think Family Circus takes it

[Commendatori]

8. You pretty much lose with either one, true

(Edited to note that I can't get the Family Circus to show up, I searched through a few papers and found it online at the Houston Chronicle)

Your post got me thinking "on some days Family Circus probably IS worse," so I went to dig up both of today's strips to take a represntative "stool sample." Hope you're on a diet:



http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/comics/archive/showComick.mpl?date=20040713&name=Family_Circus

I don't know which one you or the majority of DUers would think is worse today (I think Rose ekes out a thin win), but two things are clear:

1.) Either has the potential, on any given day, to be worse than anything on Earth outside of a spine-crushing train wreck.

2.) If there's such a thing as Purgatory, we should get credit for time served reading this dung.

[Beware the Beast Man]

5. None.

Comic strips ain't what they used to be. Far Side and Calvin & Hobbes were the best. Dilbert is sometimes witty because anyone who's worked in an office setting can relate.

[TrogL]

9. Online comics I like (I hate newspapers)

Doonesbury
Boondocks

These next five are episodic comics and make a lot more sense if you read them from the beginning.

Megatokyo http://www.megatokyo.com/ (M-W-F occasionally late)

Anime. Two geeks cause utter havoc in Tokyo. One is clearly mad, the other is merely hanging on for dear life.

There's a forum but watch out for freepers.

Venus Envy http://venusenvy.keenspace.com/ (M-W-F erratically)

A transgendered teenager attempts to cope. The story arc that just ended is one of the most wrenching thing's I've ever read online or off. Take the warning seriously, especially the thing about the chicken teaching hard science.

There's a mailing list. No freepers but be prepared for more gut-wrenching material.

The Call of Whatever http://tcow.keenspace.com/ (Thursdays)

A group of friends run a business vaguely like Ghostbusters but geared more towards the Great Old Ones. Cthulhu puts in an occasional appearance.

User Friendly http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons (daily)

Denizens (ie BOFH's) of a network support company cause havoc. Cthulhu and Hastur put in occasional appearances.

Many people go for the tech forum and forget to read the comic.

Video Games, Big Chicks, Mad Scientists: Polymer City Chronicals

http://www.polymercitychronicles.com/index.shtml (Tuesday, Friday)

Science fiction. I will not attempt to explain the plot (mostly 'cause I'm totally lost). Forum frequented mostly by gamers.

[fudge stripe cookays]

10. Favorite, hands down: "Non sequitur"

also like Boondocks.

I don't read the comics much anymore since our paper is better for lining catboxes than reading.

But I used to read my buddy's copy of it for Non-Sequitur at work years ago.

[St. Jarvitude]

12. Like: Foxtrot

Like: The Boondocks
Like: Non Sequitor (they sometimes take hits at the left, but they're usually still funny)
Like: Doonesbury
Like: Zits
Kind of Like: Dilbert. Scott Adams has really lost his edge but it's entertaining sometimes to look at the anthologies.
Dislike: Cathy. Nothing but cliché stereotypes of men and women. Yawn.
Dislike: Agnes. It's just simply not funny and is horribly horribly HORRIBLY drawn.

I loooooooooooove The Far Side, but it's obviously not in print any more. I have every one of the anthologies.

[CO Liberal]

13. I Used to Like "B.C."...

But I can't read it any more, since Johnny Hart found religion.....

[mac56]

14. No current strip holds a candle to Calvin & Hobbes.

Boondocks comes close, and Doonesbury is always a favorite.

I completely despise The Family Circus, Annie (formerly "Little Orphan..."), and Stone Soup. And I'm sure I'll fall on the floor in shock if Dennis the Menace is ever funny again.

[BigMcLargehuge]

16. likes and dislikes

the ones I enjoy are:

Boondocks, but I have to read it online as the newspaper doesn't carry it here.
Doonsbury, same story as Boondocks.
Dilbert
For Better or for Worse
Preteena

The ones I don't enjoy are:

Nancy, it's just awful.
Family Circus, makes my kidneys hurt
BC, I'm atheist so the relentless prosthelitizing is too much
Mallard Fillmore, it's on the editorial page here, which I also skip.

[Ratty]

17. Luann

I used to read all of the comics, even 'Peanuts,' mostly out of habit. Then I started reading only certain ones. Then narrowed it down to Doonesbury, For Better or Worse, and Luann. Nowdays I only read Luann.

[skypilot]

20. A shoutout for "Luann"!!!!

I love that strip. It's funny and involving. It is also really interesting to see a comic strip character growing up.

[AlCzervik]

18. I love Boondocks

anf there used to be one called Robot Man, it went away though.

I really dislike Cathy.

[noonwitch]

19. Like: Doonesbury, Mother Goose & Grim....

Hagar the Horrible, Non Sequitor, Mr. Boffo, Boonedocks (we don't get it in Detroit, I see it at Bartcop). I miss the Far Side.

tolerate: Cathy, Garfield, Sally Forth, LuAnn.

hate: Family Circus, most serials like Mary Worth, Spiderman, etc. Little Orphan Annie is creepy, I much prefer the musical.

[Redneck Socialist]

21. I'll add Sylvia to the like list,

because no one has mentioned it yet. I also like Arlo and Janis, Zippy and Monty (formerly Robotman)

Dislikes: All the truly bad ones have already been mentioned.

[Speck Tater]

22. Family Circus...

"I, I just love the Family Circus! That P.J., he's getting to be quite a handful." -- Mayor Wilkins in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Three, episode title: "Bad Girls".

[mrboba1]

23. I see everyone that mentioned...

I see everyone that mentioned the Family Circus hated it. Is there a pinpointed reason?

I usually just ignore it, and it doesn't affect me one way or the other.

Although the other day the girl was singing "Row your boat" the same way my daughter does...

But that's the only time in years I have read it.

I loved Calvin & Hobbes and Bloom County. Opus is annoying with no point.

On edit: Luann, Zits, For Better or for Worse & Dilbert are all I read now (Dilbert only because I live it)

[Ratty]

25. I'd read Dilbert too

Except my stupid paper prints it in the Business section. I just don't have the time or motivation to go looking for it.

I used to love For Better or Worse. I guess I lost interest in it after Michael got married and it started dealing with pregnancy and babies and ... blah. I'm anti-baby, I admit it. Though I do like how it realistically portrays everyone growing up. Didn't you cry when the dog died heroically saving the baby's life?

[Magrittes Pipe]

42. Family Circus RULES!

[baldguy]

50. DYSFUNCTIONAL Family Circus

http://www.wildsea.net/dfc/archive/1.html



Hey! How come for us you never wear that tight little french maid's outfit, like you do when you serve Dad his breakfast?

This gruel sure does taste better with a Republican in the Whitehouse!

Mommy, why does my cereal taste like bitter almond?

Daddy ... now that you've had the operation, are we supposed to call you Mommy?

[CBHagman]

24. Good question!

Those I adore: Mutts, Boondocks, Non Sequiter, Doonesbury. I'm also fond of For Better or For Worse,
Rhymes with Orange and Big Nate. Big Nate is surprisingly fresh.

The soap opera comics are also a guilty pleasure, especially because they torment you for weeks on
end instead of sanely solving a problem.

Worst trend: Comics that actually make me sick during breakfast. There is an insatiable lust for toilet
humor in today's popular culture, and it's spread to the comics. Please, no references to feces and
urine in the morning comics page, and no visuals. I almost threw up on Out of the Gene Pool once.

I'm sick of the strips where the ideas ran out decades ago. B.C. is like that, and so is The Wizard of
Id. It doesn't help that Johnny Hart buys the right-wing perversion of Christianity hook, line and
sinker. For Better or for Worse is much more Christian, and it lacks the mean spirit of B.C. and
The Wizard of Id.

Oh, and I love Baldo. I think it's a hoot, especially Gracie, with her Frida Kahlo happy meal ideas.

[2bfree]

49. Gracie is the best!

Best:
*Non-Sequitor
*Baldo
*Zits
*Luann
*For Better or Worse
*One Big Happy
*Baby Blues

Worst:
*Malard Filmore
*B.C.
*Family Circus
*Cats with Hands
*Marmaduke
*Peanuts

[Guy Fawkes]

Doonesbury, Boondocks, This Modern World. eom

[DoveTurnedHawk]

26. Hate: Beetle Bailey

The author is a complete racist, IMO.

DTH

[Mike Daniels]

27. PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

A strip that requires a somewhat warped sense of humour to truly appreciate but one that makes me laugh out loud more often than any other strip out there nowadays.

I've grown to like Get Fuzzy as well which seems to carry the same acidic tone that PBS has. No surprise since I believe GF is favored by PBS's artist. Apprarently Dilbert's Doug Adams served as a mentor as well to Pastis (PBS).

Dislike -

For Better or Worse - Sorry, but I find the story arcs contrived and the characters have run out of plot lines. It's either have one couple pop out another kid or have April recycle stories that took place when the original two kids were her age. I keep waiting for the grandfather to kick it so they can get rid of the old geezer and do something different.

Loathe -

Garfield - I think Jim Davis has been responsible for more needless killing of trees than Republican environmental policies. I'll give that it was funny the first year or two but once Davis decided to trim up the character design for marketing purposes, the strip lost whatever little appeal it had to begin with.

[Unperson 309]

28. I Hate Cathy: Here's WHY...

I actually had the good fortune to meet Cathy Guisewite (the "cartoonist") and have a talk with her!

For those who identify with the title character, Cathy, if you thought she was a reflection of the creator, think again! Cathy Guisewite is all of 5 feet tall and MAYBE, if she has a heavy overcoat with ballbearings in the pockets, 89 lbs! She is teeny! Slender, wispy, waifish... and utterly completely C*O*N*V*I*N*C*E*D that every woman, in all countries, at every moment of each day diamond-laser FOCUSED on how fat she is!

Voting? "Am I too fat to vote?"
Children? "Wow! Maternity clothes make me feel less fat!"
War in Iraq? "Wow a Burqa would hide my fat!"
Nuclear proliferation? "Great! nuclear winter means no bathing suits! I won't look so fat!"
Animals? "Does the dog think I'm fat?"
UFO's? "I wonder of the aliens have a cure for fat?"
Politics? "I can't campaign in this dress! It makes me look fat!"

It doesn't matter WHAT the subject is, it is always, constantly continually, relentlessly, tediously, monotonously ABOUT FAT!

When I asked Guisewite if she ever thought about anything EXCEPT her wieght, did she ever think about her self esteem or woman's issues or how successful a woman in her field could become, she replied (direct quote because I wrote it down!!) "Well, some days I feel like a complete failure! That's when I go home and eat an entire tub of Kool-Whip." And, of course, after that, she worries about... gatting fat.

Her strip is one long unending self-absorbed, pitiful WHINE about FAT!

Cathy stopped being funny before she EVER put Rapidograph to paper! She can't draw (look at the hands and fingers. Yuck!) She can't script, she can't think of ANY punchline that doesn't revolve around weight and she's an EMBARASSMENT to women in the field!

I told her so to her face! Her reply? "Oh, wow... stuff like that makes me just want to eat more!"

She's psychotic!

309

[Canuckistanian]

36. I agree. Cathy is pathetic.

No wonder the character is filled with self pity and mindless pursuits.

[ALago1]

29. Calvin and Hobbes!!

So much character depth and philosophical insight. It can't be beat!

[jdonaldball]

30. I used to love "Tumbleweeds" and "Li'l Abner"

Is "Tumbleweeds" still in American papers? I've been away for a while.
And "Li'l Abner". With "Passionata Von Climax" and "Tobacco Rhoda" and "Joe Btfsplk." And the socialist Schmoos!
And Pogo: "We have met the Enemy and he is us!"
"BC" USED to be good, before Johhny Hart became a Freeper.
Around 30 years ago I used to imagine his character, "Grog" (the hairy Neanderthal or whatever it was) dancing "the Hustle". :-)
"Krazy Kat" was before my time, but as a sometime cartoonist, it's one of my favorites. Franklin Roosevelt loved "Krazy Kat" and he read it every morning in the White House.
The old original "Popeye" was true American Gothic back around 1919, before it was corrupted into animation. The movie "Popeye", starring Robin Wiliams, actually comes closer to the spirit of the original comic strip Popeye of 1919, than any of the animations do.
And then the "Nemo" comics from circa 1905, deserve to be in museums, beautiful, Gothic-American/Art-Noveau/Surrealism.
And so, in contrast, most comic strips suck today. The closest thing I see today, which matches the old spirit of classic American comic strips, is "Boondocks"!!! :-)

[Westegg]

31. LOVE: "Katzenjammer Kids." HATE: "Dondi." (n/t)

[NorthernSpy]

33. I kinda dislike most comix

The ones we've got in the local newspaper all seem terribly stale. And being a famileee paper, they won't print any possibly-interesting fringe stuff, so it looks like stale is what we're stuck with.

[LWolf]

34. CALVIN & HOBBES

As for the rest,

Really like:

This Modern World
For Better or For Worse
Peanuts
Jump Start
and...Rose is Rose :evilgrin:

Like:

Luann
Pickles
Dilbert

Don't like:

Mallard Fillmore
Soap Opera style comic strips

[bigwillq]

35. I love "Peanuts"

"Boondocks", "Bound & Gagged", "BC"


If I hate one, I don't read it.

[Canuckistanian]

37. I liked the old Peanuts

But Schulz really jumped the shark in his last 5 years or so.
Not funny, endlessly repeated themes, lame lines.

[bigwillq]

39. I would have to agree

Maybe it was his old age.

But Snoopy and Charlie still rock.

[CO Liberal]

45. That's Because Charles Schultz Died

The strips they're running today are recycled from the '70s.

[CO Liberal]

47. That's Because Charles Schultz Died

The strips they're running today are recycled from the '70s.

[marigold20]

38. I enjoyed Zippy the Pinhead when we had a major newspaper

delivered but now we get only the local rag. I could check to see if it's online somewhere I suppose. Others - For better or Worse and Bizarro.

[Ivan Zero]

40. Boondocks rocks

Loved last week's "strips from 1984".

Also: Get Your War On (too bad it isn't in the fucking paper, I fucking wonder why.)
Doonesbury
Bizarro
This Modern World
For Better Or Worse

Anyone get Alley Oop on their funnies page? It isn't a great strip, but it's strangely fascinating to watch how sloooooooowly the plot moves along, two frames a day, day in day out. It took ages to resolve the "Dolf plots to invade Moo" story.

Family Circus used to turn my stomach, but I seem to have gained an immunity.

The one that REALLY sets me off is Dennis The Menace. Dennis really gets on Mr. Wilson's nerves ... WE GET THE POINT! You've exhausted every single possible way of illustrating this point. For the love of god, STOP.

Why do papers run these strips that keep recycling the same tired themes over and over for decades?

[ironflange]

41. I like Rose is Rose

Also:

9 Chickweed Lane
Pibgorn
Monty
Soup to Nutz
FBOFW
Bizarro

Most of the rest I can take or leave.

A note about Nancy: What makes this strip so bizarre is that all the characters look and act like they did in the 40' and 50's. Except for Aunt Fritzi, she looks and acts like someone who just stepped out of an R. Crumb komik.

[arwalden]

43. Love: Lockhorns / Loved: Far Side / Loved: Calvin & Hobbes / HATE: Cathy

[welshTerrier2]

44. Dilbert is the only one I read ...

i especially like Wally ...

[philosophie_en_rose]

46. Comics I Love: Dilbert, The Boondocks

Comics I Despise: Mallard Fillmore, Prince Valiant, Cathy, Mother Goose & Grim, Dennis Miller.

[SarahB]

53. Used to like Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side

Currently like the Boondocks and Doonesbury, but I like Boondocks more. I'm not much of a comics person. I'll read them if they're there, but don't seek them out. I can't say I "hate" because I don't put enough mental energy into it to call it hate. :shrug:

[mopinko]

54. sylvia

i started reading the republican rag chicago tribune when she moved from the sun times many years ago. i have had the pleasure of meeting nicole hollander. she is an outstanding woman. i like her all the more when they do the occasional poll, and she come out as most hated.
and i miss the far side, a lot. did you know that gary larson is actually an entomologist, and discovered a couple of bugs that are named after him?

[kiahzero]

55. Some great webcomics

http://www.sluggyfreelance.com">Sluggy Freelance
http://www.crfh.net">College Roomies from Hell!!!
http://www.itswalky.com">It's Walky!
http://www.queenofwands.net">Queen of Wands