[wallinbl]

I picked up the Calvin & Hobbes box set (all 23 pounds of it) for my brother for Christmas, and I've been dying to crack it open and start reading. Never before has a gift I got for someone else tempted me so much.

No disrepect to the other strips, but Calvin & Hobbes is the finest comic strip to have existed. It was whimsical, intelligent, imaginative and philosophical.

[chris v]

Those are all neck and neck with me, but yeah, Calvin wins by a nose, at least. I want the complete set baaad.

[Peter]

Penny Arcade
oh,

[Gankdawg]

Far Side. C&H second though.

[mdc]

Farside and Calvin and Hobbes, but since i had to vote for one i went with farside.

[cjrivera]

Calvin & Hobbes with Far Side a close second.

[Dakar]

Garfield doesn't get a nod?

[rickey939]

Originally Posted by Dakar

Garfield doesn't get a nod?

"Garfield" was once good. If you read through the early years of "Garfield", you'll find some good laughs. If you look through more recent versions of the strip, you'll find lame jokes and jokes that just don't make sense. "Garfield: The Movie" falls under the latter.

[Dakar]

Originally Posted by rickey939

"Garfield" was once good. If you read through the early years of "Garfield", you'll find some good laughs. If you look through more recent versions of the strip, you'll find lame jokes and jokes that just don't make sense. "Garfield: The Movie" falls under the latter.

Yes, the recent Garfield are abysmal. But I still think it should get a nod.

[wallinbl]

Originally Posted by Dakar

Garfield doesn't get a nod?

I did about five minutes worth of Googling and read a few articles about various 'good' strips, and found that this was a reasonable list. Garfield garnered very little attention. I personally like the strip, but I would say that it is no where near as good as a Calvin & Hobbes, Peanuts or Far Side. I've never seen Pogo, but it came up multiple times and was repeatedly referred to as the best ever, although it ended before my time.

[Timo]

C&H just a bit in front of Peanuts.

[Dakar]

Truthfully, neither would I, but as the comic I adored as a child, and one that has seen much fame, I still think it deserves a place on the list.

Edit: Especially when I've never heard of pogo, disliked Bloom County, and have never seen Life is Hell anywhere other than a book store.

[wdlove]

I think that it's Zippy.

[ReggieX]

Originally Posted by wallinbl

I picked up the Calvin & Hobbes box set (all 23 pounds of it) for my brother for Christmas, and I've been dying to crack it open and start reading. Never before has a gift I got for someone else tempted me so much.

I got the Calvin & Hobbes and Far Side box sets on the same day a few weeks ago. It was a fun trip home on the streetcar, lemme tell ya!

[ReggieX]

Originally Posted by wdlove

I think that it's Zippy.

[wallinbl]

Originally Posted by Dakar

Edit: Especially when I've never heard of pogo, disliked Bloom County, and have never seen Life is Hell anywhere other than a book store.

Pogo is referenced by both Charles Schultz and Bill Watterson as a major influence, causing people to consider it as the first great comic.

Bloom County has grouchy fans - if you dis it, they complain.

Life is Hell is a way of including Simpsons fans. It did have a run in many newspapers for a while. I haven't seen it since the 80's. My understanding is that the strip is still drawn and published in some newspapers.

[Dakar]

Originally Posted by wallinbl

Pogo is referenced by both Charles Schultz and Bill Watterson as a major influence, causing people to consider it as the first great comic.

Bloom County has grouchy fans - if you dis it, they complain.

Life is Hell is a way of including Simpsons fans. It did have a run in many newspapers for a while. I haven't seen it since the 80's. My understanding is that the strip is still drawn and published in some newspapers.

Ah, I'm too young to know pogo then.

The only thing I've seen of Life is Hell was some random frame that had one child telling the other, "I'm going to tell God to stab you." Pretty funny.

Thanks for the info.

[scaught]

bloom county was great. doonesbury has carved out its own niche with some pretty great stuff over the years thats uncomparable to anything else. far side is obviously absolutely friggin genius. peanuts and garfield are...well. they may have been interesting in their heyday but they certainly havent aged well at all.

calvin and hobbes was written at a different level than pretty much every other comic ever. i dont know that kids would always get it (with obvious exceptions for the occasional [however, no less amazing] puerile strip or 2 that would be released). it was flat out great great stuff. when they let watterson stretch out a bit on those weekend strips he really took it to another level. just flat out amazing watercolors, etc. i see those calvin peeing stickers on cars and i get MAD. its not funny. he never peed on anything, and youre taking a mans ART that is highly respected and respectable and capitalizing on it (something watterson never cared to do. he turned away countless merchandise and cartoon/movie offers). my vote without question went to calvin and hobbes.

[ghporter]

Hmmmm. Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County (and Academia Waltz), Peanuts...Can't decide! I'd like to put in a plug for Mutz, though. It's touching, simplistic without being childish, and usually quite wonderful.

[paul w]

I would say that they were all important and different in their own way. Certainly nothing compares to the Far Side - though many have tried since to fill its void. Gary Larson had a special, bizarre, vision that hasn't been replaced.

The Peanuts were the most culturally important - but it's been so long, and our humor has evolved a bit that it's gotten a tad dated and overexposed.

Life in Hell was definitely unique - and maybe the best of those alt comix that ran in the village voice (although the Jules Feiffer, This Modern World, etc were excellent too).

Doonesbury and Bloom County seem to suffer from being dated. Sure Doonesbury is still around - and still quite good - but it really did have its peak a while ago. Now it's less accessible to those who haven't been reading it for a while. Bloom County was maybe a bit gimmicky, and forced at times, but it was definitely head and shoulders above most of the other crap in the paper.

Pogo - funny people forget about Pogo but in its heyday it was probably the Calvin and Hobbes of its time - fun, well drawn, accessible to kids and adults. A smattering of satire, etc.

Calvin and Hobbes is far and away the one that most people like the most. Probably what helps its legacy is that Watterson stopped when he could have gone on milking the cash cow for decades.

[SirCastor]

I love Calvin and Hobbes. Easily the best written Strip... ever. Except for the Far Side, the others on the list don't even come close. The only comic that's made me laugh out loud since has been "Get Fuzzy"

[dav]

[funkboy]

Calvin and Hobbes for pure quality, since it had a shorter life than Peanuts. Watterson did not want it to stagnate, he let it go when it was still very good, so for quality of the entire series run C&H is probably the winner.
Peanuts can be very poignant, sometimes be laugh out loud funny, and sometimes be fairly melancholy. A comic strip that pulls off melancholy has not existed since Peanuts - I didn't appreciate the comic quite as much when I was younger. I just wanted to see Snoopy do something silly. As I'm a little older, though, I like the strips that are not ha-ha funny more and more.

Incredibly tight race between Peanuts and Calvin, Calvin winning by the aforementioned quality. Peanuts had such a run, though, and still had bright spots even in its later years.

[davesimondotcom]

My vote among these choices goes to Calvin & Hobbes. Bill Watterson was in the head of every boy in history, I think.

Bloom County and Far Side get nods as well.

Peanuts for it's long term success, but really it isn't that funny when you read it these days. To me, anyway.

To those who said Garfield. Maybe 20 years ago. But seriously, how many "I hate Mondays" strips can be made?

Doonsbury. Never has been funny. Simply the work of a bitter man.

Write in: Get Fuzzy. Funny nearly every day. Laugh out loud funny. My current favorite. And Darby Conley openly acknowledges the influence of Watterson and Berke Breathed as well as Gary Larson.

[Shaddim]

Bloom... County.


Period.


Distant second would be C&H.

[insha]

Originally Posted by scaught

bloom county was great. doonesbury has carved out its own niche with some pretty great stuff over the years thats uncomparable to anything else. far side is obviously absolutely friggin genius. peanuts and garfield are...well. they may have been interesting in their heyday but they certainly havent aged well at all.

calvin and hobbes was written at a different level than pretty much every other comic ever. i dont know that kids would always get it (with obvious exceptions for the occasional [however, no less amazing] puerile strip or 2 that would be released). it was flat out great great stuff. when they let watterson stretch out a bit on those weekend strips he really took it to another level. just flat out amazing watercolors, etc. i see those calvin peeing stickers on cars and i get MAD. its not funny. he never peed on anything, and youre taking a mans ART that is highly respected and respectable and capitalizing on it (something watterson never cared to do. he turned away countless merchandise and cartoon/movie offers). my vote without question went to calvin and hobbes.

Seconded!

C&H t

[macaddict0001]

out of those(and probably any other) calvin and hobbs but foxtrot and get fuzzy are funny as well as webcomics such as megatokyo and sinfest.

[funkboy]

Get Fuzzy is not in the best of all time (not at this point yet, and really is not as poignant or universal as Calvin and Hobbes), but I agree it's great.

Pearls Before Swine is also an excellent current comic. Really off the wall stuff, but funny.

[sek929]

The Far Side, I have like 20 Gary Larson books, I was pretty much raised on it.

C&H is a close second.

[JHromadka]

Peanuts

[starman]

Bloom County and Farside.

Deathtongue rulez!

[SpaceMonkey]

I'm the only Doonesbury vote? Come on, people.

Maybe it's because I'm the kind of guy who also watches CSPAN.

[quesera]

Calvin & Hobbes got my vote. I'm only a third way through volume 1 of the box set. The laugh out loud quality has been quite interesting as I am often forced to explain the laugh to my wife who is visually impaired. It really makes you realize what an artful blend of words and visuals C & H is.

Early Peanuts has a quality that surpasses C & H but unfortunately once the kids' precociousness became sort of franchised and Snoopy began not to be a dog it lost something.

I do need to find some Pogo as I've red many references to it and know too little about it.

Mutts and even Get Fuzzy show some promise, albeit inconsistently and in very different ways. Otherwise the daily comics these days are not worth much. Well, I guess I do also read Blondie, but that's primarily because she's such a hottie.

[Bandit240]

Ive taken a liking to Get Fuzzy since they started running it here. Ive got a widget that gives me the newest Foxtrot everyday. Now if only i could get one for Get Fuzzy.

[Albert Pujols]

Calvin and Hobbes, **** yeah. I like the snowmen strips the best.

[slugslugslug]

I haven't read Bloom County in a while, but I know it had its brilliant streaks. I don't know if anyone's had the consistency of Watterson, though. I don't think you can find a Calvin & Hobbes strip that isn't funny, except maybe the baby raccoon ones.

I think I put Bloom County a bit ahead of Far Side. Breathed and Larson both kept at it a little longer than they should've, for sure.

I think Doonesbury's had its funny streaks, but not for years. Even when I agree with his message these days, I don't laugh...

[cmeisenzahl]

No Prince Valiant voting option?!? ;-)

[Arty50]

Originally Posted by funkboy

Calvin and Hobbes for pure quality, since it had a shorter life than Peanuts. Watterson did not want it to stagnate, he let it go when it was still very good, so for quality of the entire series run C&H is probably the winner.
Peanuts can be very poignant, sometimes be laugh out loud funny, and sometimes be fairly melancholy. A comic strip that pulls off melancholy has not existed since Peanuts - I didn't appreciate the comic quite as much when I was younger. I just wanted to see Snoopy do something silly. As I'm a little older, though, I like the strips that are not ha-ha funny more and more.

Incredibly tight race between Peanuts and Calvin, Calvin winning by the aforementioned quality. Peanuts had such a run, though, and still had bright spots even in its later years.

That's pretty much what I was thinking. I have to admit, it took me a while to pick one of the two.

As for Life in Hell, it was/is generally published in free weekly newspapers. Stuff like the LA Weekly, SF Metro, etc.

[JoshuaZ]

Family Circus!

Oh wait, its not funny. Never mind.

[V12]

peanuts...for its great life lessons lol

[Chuckit]

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse....garfield_sucks

[Buckaroo]

FoxTrot

[TailsToo]

Peanuts or Doonesbury, without a doubt.

[Railroader]

Frazz

[MrForgetable]

calvin and hobbes

[torsoboy]

And I thought you guys were all computer geeks... where's dilbert on this list?? I think you probably have to work as an engineer to get it though (hardware or software), so maybe that is why it's not on the list. I work someone that used to work construction and he says that he never used to get Dilbert, but now it cracks him up almost every day. Turning to the next page on the daily calendar at work is one thing I look forward to in the morning.

But from this list, C&H all the way. Peanuts and Garfield??? How could someone think that those are funny? That liks thinking that "For better or for worse" is funny. Or Tarzan. There are multiple comics that I just skip right by, and Peanuts and Garfield are very very close to being on that list.

[nredman]

i vote - Garfield

[ghporter]

I should put in a word about Pogo. Pogo slipped away from the funny pages while I was young, but because of wonderful and caring people, I've been able to enjoy a lot of Walt Kelly's amazing insight, wonder, candor, and sharp use of allegory (not to mention sarcasm and downright scorn) through the simple character of Pogo, an unassuming possum. Fabulous, stunning, and deeply touching don't say enough.

What other comic in history has had the wideranging influence on so much of a culture? In the U.S. culture, I cannot find one. Pogo influenced everything from TV programming to news (print and other media), and much of the popular culture of the time.

In keeping with the season, please peruse the holiday sentiment of this Pogo page. Enjoy.

Originally Posted by torsoboy

But from this list, C&H all the way. Peanuts and Garfield??? How could someone think that those are funny? That liks thinking that "For better or for worse" is funny. Or Tarzan. There are multiple comics that I just skip right by, and Peanuts and Garfield are very very close to being on that list.

Peanuts influenced so many comic strips, had so many groundbreaking and poignant moments, that it deserves to be at the top. While I admit it fell off a bit at the end, (Schultz was quite old by then) it'd be foolish to ignore the rest of it.

C&H and Dilbert are good picks too, but number one has to be Peanuts. And I'll bet if you asked the authors of C&H, Dilbert, and others, they'd say the same thing too.

[Rev-O]

Calvin & Hobbs first with a very strong sentimental nod to Pogo. Pogo was pretty damn good.