Comic strips that should just quit:
– Garfield. Once of the particulars of his personality were established back in the early ’80s (he’s fat, he has a teddy bear named Pookie, he hates Mondays, etc…) the strip never went anywhere. At all. Not a compelling storyline or issue to be found.
– Family Circus. Need I say more? As the movie Go put it, “And it’s always there, in the lower right hand corner, just waiting to suck.”
– The Boondocks. It tries hard to be a relevent social commentary, but its approach to communicating its stance on the issues has the same amount of subtlety and wit as a baseball bat to the head. If Doonesbury is on the editorial page, why not this? It’s not even remotely as clever.
– Sally Forth. This comic strip has the smarminess of an NPR voice translated onto newsprint. It’s one of the few strips where the quality of the humor seems deliberately aimed at producing a bemused smile at the most, and nothing more.
– In the Bleachers. Apparently no one told this guy that he is not funny. Like, ever. Maybe that’s why his strip has been segregated from the rest of the comics and banished to the scoreboard on the sports page?
* * * * * *
In all actuality I’m not that bitter–it’s a gorgeous day out and it’s Friday to boot. I am, however, more than a little sore from the last of the moving yesterday (9 straight hours + 4.5 full truckloads + practically singlehanded). Somebody’s going to crash after work today.
It IS gorgeous outside! Too bad I freeze in 70 degree weather :-/
I know the Sally cartoon (which I enjoyed reading as a teenager), Garfield (always a favorite, although I agree, not so much in the plot category), and the Family Circus. I like FC just for the simple fact that it appeals to so many different situations. We have one on our fridgerator that relates to my brother, who plays hockey:
Sitting next to a penalty box at a hockey game: “I know how you feel, sir. My mother puts me in time-out, too.”
Very cute. :)
You’re a true Floridian :) Although I will say that when Autumn starts to roll in it does take me a week or two to get acclimmated to the lower temperatures. Same thing in the Spring leading up to Summer…
Yeah. I feel like kind of a heel now for lambasting all those comic strips. I did enjoy reading Garfield collections quite a bit when I was younger. Most of those were full of his early stuff (back when Garfield was actually walking on all fours), pretty much all they had at the library. And I’ll concede that FC does have its niche :)
what’s wrong with NPR?
i dare to stand up and defend boondocks. it’s one of my very favorite cartoons, after foxtrot.
i like sally forth too. i don’t have a problem with simply getting a bemused smile from a comic.
I actually listen to NPR quite a bit. It effectively counterbalances my daily listening to conservative talk radio. You’ll have to admit, though, there’s a certain “NPR timbre” to most of the voices. This cartoon illustrates it pretty well.
the college radio bit is highly funny.
hence the reason I thank the gods of internet that there are rss feeds (doonesbury is definitely one of my favs!) and a few others, whoo hoo!
I do miss reading the comics and doing the crossword in the mornings over my breakfast… (sigh)
I enjoy Doonesbury muchly. As much as I don’t agree with a lot of the attitudes and ideas it advances, it’s very well written and the comic timing is spot-on.
Are you familiar with Bloom County? It was a strip influenced by Doonesbury and written in the ’80s. It’s close to my favorite comic strip. It has the wit and timing of its influence but more whimsy and fun and is a little bit less tied directly to current events.
nope, not familiar with Bloom County… I always found it interesting how different areas had different comics (ie: the ones in the detroit free press were very different from the average onces in nc)
i like that instead of reading newspapers, I can just read Doonesbury
(j/k, but its almost true!)
;)