The Comic Strip and Webcomic Thread.

[taranchula]

Ze humble comic strip has been a fixture in the newspaper for over one hundred years, those little one to four panel (six or more on Sundays) bundles of joy (and sometimes sorrow) designed to give us something to chuckle over during your morning (Or in some cases afternoon/evening) routine.

Some cartoonists such as Charles Schultz and Jim Davis were able to turn their two dimensional creations into multi-million dollar merchandising empires, while other artists work as hard as they can to either fulfill those similar dreams of grandeur or do it because they love their craft so much.

In other words this is the thread to talk about those characters, artists, likes and dislikes and any thing else at all related to world of the daily comic strip.

To get the snowball of conversation down the chilly hill of thread-dom, I shall talk about my favorite strips two of which are currently running in various news papers (or online) and two of which are not. (But often times, many wish they still were.)

EDIT: I've also opened the floor to anyone who wants to talk about webcomics. (Penny Arcade, VGCats, Shortpacked...etc) that said make sure not to link to anything that would be considered inappropriate.

My Cage: Written by Ed Power, art by Melissa DeJesus.

This strip debuted just last year, and in it's short time has risen to the top of the list of my daily reads.

At first glance this may look like another version of Dilbert replacing the human characters with anthropomorphic animals. But this strip goes a lot deeper then that, the writing at times is much deeper and the characters in the strip are portrayed in a more realistic light...(Well about as real as talking dogs and platypuses can get.) The art is also fantastic, cartoony but not too over the top, the tip of the iceberg is the full range expressions that the characters display. There is more expression in two short panels then some characters show in an entire 22 minuet cartoon.

All in all, a worthwhile strip a lot of you should check out.


Pearls Before Swine Written and Drawn by: Steve Pastis

Another animal based strip but this one deals more with surrealist humor and unlike a lot of other strips that try to hit that mark but fail miserably. Pearls sharp writing and simplistic yet charming art style does it almost every time.

The best thing about Pearls is the way it viciously lampoons other strips time and time again, Bil Keane's Family Circus is often a prime target.

Calvin and Hobbes: Written and Drawn by Bill Watterson

Nearly twenty years before Foster's hit our TV screen, there was another little boy/imaginary friend duo that was rocking everyones collective socks. That duo was Calvin and his tiger pal Hobbes.

Everything about this strip was pure gold, the writing, the art, the characters...just everything. And even though the strip was a product of the eighties and nineties a lot of the jokes still hold up even to this day. Now that's what we call "timeless."

The Far Side: Written and Drawn by Gary Larson

Ah the popular strip that can produce more humor in just one panel then most strips can muster in three or four. Ever since Larson hung up his pen in 1995 there has been many imitators trying to take over the spot as king of the one panel comic, but none of them has ever been able to take that title, few have come close but many have failed.

[Frankie_4_Prez]

I rarely read the paper comics these days; they're not nearly as funny as the stuff you find online. One summer when my apartment was undergoing construction they forced us out of the house in the morning, so I'd pick up the neighbor's paper and read the comics before they got up XD

I remember reading Rose is Rose and Heart of the city because I liked their art styles the best. I didn't find any of the comics too humorous. I liked the idea of the characters growing up in For better or for worse. Wonder if the artist will pass on the characters to someone else when she retires.

As a kid I used to read Garfield, but I feel Davis ran out of comedy steam a long time ago. The art has also been unchanged for over 10 years I think.

In high school I had a friend who raved about Doonesbury, but I never really figured out what it was about, other than the occasional, obvious dig at some current political fiasco. Most of the Doonesbury strips made no sense to me; perhaps you had to read them every day?

[taranchula]

Originally Posted by Frankie_4_Prez

I remember reading Rose is Rose and Heart of the city because I liked their art styles the best. I didn't find any of the comics too humorous. I liked the idea of the characters growing up in For better or for worse. Wonder if the artist will pass on the characters to someone else when she retires.

Actually your mention of Heart of the City just reminded me of another strip I left off of my favs list.

Lio which is penned by HOTC's Mark Tatulli. Lio is an interesting strip in which there is little or no dialog, just the odd adventures of the titular character, an offbeat little boy with a somewhat macabre sense of humor.

The artwork and stories sort of remind me of the old Adams Family strips from back in the day, now the interesting thing is that if you compare Lio to Tatulli's other strip HOTC (A strip about a little girl living in Philadelphia, which for the most part has a vastly different tone and level of humor.), you might tend to wonder if the same person drew them.

Oh and Lynn Johnson says once she is done with FBOFW the strip will be done period, which I guess is for the best as the strip has been kind of meh for the past several years, plus lately we've been getting these weird periods where they will start re-running older strips for a couple of weeks at a time with no rhyme or reason, before going back to the fresh stuff.

[some guy you dont know]

uh, peanuts, dilbert, and foxtrot are the only comics i like that i can think of off the top of my head. foxtrot is awsome. and so is dilbert.

eh, i dont read alot of comics, i like to stick to webcomics, which i read an abundance of.

[scary_dream]

I love Pearls Before Swine and Calvin and Hobbes!!

I used to love Garfield, but it has since gotten EXTREMELY cheesy. I know they have always been kind of corny, but it seems they've just taken a downfall in the past few years, like Jim Davis may be running out of ideas. I used to be so in love with it though... I even had Garfield bedsheets as a kid!

I also love Arlo and Janis... I can't relate to the comics of course because I'm not a married adult with grown kids, but they still make me laugh because they remind me a lot of my mom and dad!

Some comics are kind of hit and miss for me, too. Herman, a one-panel comic, is RARELY funny, but sometimes, maybe once every two weeks, they'll run one that makes me and everyone else laugh so much that I'll hang it up in the office at work.

[Lynnie]

I grew up with the Sunday Comics. My dad would get the paper every Sunday and my brother would beg either one of our parents or I to read the comics to him. Once he learned to read, we fought over the comics, and the victor would get to read it first. Hopefully the loser would still have some intact when they finally got a hold of those few pages.

My favorites of all time have got to be

Garfield: Although the earlier ones were funnier, the newer ones still hold some charm for me. And as a cat lover, I can't help but love it. Plus, that silly ol' cat will forever more remind me of my brother's late cat Tommy, since he had a similar no-nonsense personality to Garfield's. We always joked that Garfield was Tommy's hero, and he was trying his best to be just like him.

Luann: I could relate all throughout my teenage years, and now days I'm brought back to those awkward years. Just a typical girly teenage girl, her friends, her crushes, her brother, his friends, his crushes, and their parents having to put up with it all.

Mutts: Any pet lover, especially for dogs and cats, would enjoy this. It's a humorous look into the lives of neighbors Earl the dog and Mooch the cat, both spoiled but sweet, and also many of their little friends. One of the cutest comics ever if you ask me.

FoxTrot: Yup, I'm on the FoxTrot wagon too. Typical middle class family, typical teenage kids, with a genius little brother who's too smart for his own good at times.

Calvin and Hobbes: And of course I'm a big fan of Calvin and his stuffed tiger turned imaginary friend. Such innocence. Such fun!

Peanuts: My mother absolutely LOVES Snoopy and Woodstock, and she raised me to love them as well. I grew up with the shows/movies, and of course the comics. They're more quaint than humorous I suppose, but I still love them. That little beagle and his birdy friend are just too cute!

And last but not least-
Retail: This comic cracks me up!! Us retail drones will all empathize with this. To the point of being scary. The creator Norm Feuti also wrote a HILARIOUS book about life working in retail. Only recently did I realize that Seattle is one of few places where the comic actually makes an appearance, which makes me sad because it's truly a great strip. So I doubt anyone has heard of it. Well, now you have! So along with the link above, here's the wiki about it, with all the fun facts.

[Mr_Bloo_Veins]

If you don't like Calvin and Hobbes you're not human!


Matt Groening's "Life in Hell" is another great one.



Technically this isn't a webcomic, but it's still pretty damn funny.

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.
http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/

[Medikor]

I've always been a fan of "Sherman's Lagoon" by Jim Toomey. I also love "Garfield" and "Mother Goose and Grimm".

[Lynnie]

Originally Posted by Mr_Bloo_Veins

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let?s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.
http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/

ROTFL!! That's classic! I've never seen that before. I love that sly old cat, but Jon's pretty funny without him, too. Haha, poor Jon!

[taranchula]

Some one should take Garfield Minus Garfield a step further and take out Jon as well, just three solid panels of nothing but a blank white (or lime green or yellow if you have color comics.) wall...Now That's comedy.