Comic Strip Draft: Round 1  

Inspired by the imminent end of Opus, my attendance at the Art Spiegelman talk at the New Yorker Festival and SPX, we're drafting comic strips...that have been in newspapers. Round 1 is today, tomorrow is Round 2, and Round 3 is Wednesday (though Round 3 has a twist).

Order: E, LD, Y, SN, JC, Grimbil

E:
Surely, the geeks and commoners can all agree that the greatest comic to ever grace our nation's fine newspapers is none other than Bill Waterson's Calvin and Hobbes. It represents the best of both worlds in how comics should be seen, as a representation of the childlike wonderment and wish fulfillment that the imagination can offer, with an intellectual and observant eye on how the world works, and the different ways we perceive and cope with what life places before us. All this from a precocious little kid and a stuffed tiger. The world's a better place for it.

YEAH, MAKE FUN OF THAT PICK, BITCHES!!! WHAT?! WHATCHU KNOW BOUT ME?! [ed. note: You'll see...well, actually, maybe not.]

LD:
Honestly, and I am pretty sure I mean this sincerely, Calvin and Hobbes is one of the more significant artistic achievements of the last 50 years. The skill needed to maintain the sense of childlike awe on display in the strip and espouse a highly intelligent philosophy on life while remaining funny is nothing short of staggering. Bill Waterson has my undying appreciation. There may be no better series of strips than the injured baby raccoon, no single strip more entertaining than Tyrannosaurs in F-14s!, and certainly no strip ever ended more appropriately. Seeing the only exhibit of Waterson's art ever displayed is a memory or which I am very fond.

I'm going to take The Far Side. In almost every way, this is Calvin and Hobbes' opposite. No real philosophy other than to point out life's absurdity. Whether it was a quick flash of cruelty in the morning (see the picture above) or a pointed parody of the airs that we put on to impress others, The Far Side was a jolting shot of espresso in the morning that reminded you not to take things too seriously. It was also years ahead of the curve in pointing out the American obesity epidemic.



E:
So, to all the readers, they should know that the only reason this draft idea got any traction was b/c I mentioned that I wasn't the hugest fan of The Far Side. I don't HATE it (like I may have hyperbolically stated at some point in that original email chain), but I don't love it, I don't like it a lot, I just think it's okay.

First of all, as background, I don't like single panel strips. They make me angry. Even the two in the Metro Express paper (which by the way, are the worst in the history of time) make me visibly angry on the train when I read it in the mornings. I have no rationale for this. I just do. It's the same as individual sports, no interest in them ever. Which is why I barely watched the Olympics. It's a personal preference.

I spent years acting like I liked The Far Side, that I thought it was as great as everyone did, I even convinced myself I did at some point, maybe even owning a Far Side book or two. But I've reached the point where I'm confident enough to say I don't like it, it's just okay. It's never made me laugh, it's barely ever made me say "wow, that was quite insightful." mind you, I don't expect this from comics, it's just what people have told me is so great about the Far Side. But to me, it's lazy intellectualism (look, here is something we should think about!, like a dead cat thrown on your porch, with nothing beyond that) and built on denotative irony (you see, IT'S THE FLIES who are swatting the HUMANS!). Again, nothing wrong with that, but when I read a Far Side, I forget what it even said about two seconds later. It's never registered with me in the least bit. Maybe I don't have the world view that Larson's humor speaks to, maybe I am just tired of propping it up in my head and hoping every strip I read will be as good as I want it to be, maybe I'm just a grump. But I don't like it.

After I received the response of this group's vitriol when expressing this opinion, I emailed one of my best friends and asked him what he thought of the Far Side. This was his response:

Is that even still around? The Far Side is made for your goofy uncle that everyone else in your family thinks is so edgy, and he gets one of the books every Christmas so you and your family can laugh at him laughing at it.

That's about right.

Now, bear witness to the hugest geek fight you're ever going to see on this site.

Y:
Calvin and Hobbes is unbelievably amazing. I really appreciated the way it could inject philosophy in an overt and confrontational sense. As for the Far Side, I'll flame the fans. I never found it that funny. Like, really, I didn't. The Complete Far Side never appeared on my Amazon wishlist, or anything. Sure it was good, and if someone had a Far Side calendar I'd read it, but I never enthusiastically looked for the Far Side panel in the newspaper. Maybe it's a "hater" in me that looks down on it as something that was appreciated by people around me that I just couldn't get on board with the enthusiasm (see also: Phish).

Also, it CERTAINLY does not belong ahead of Peanuts, which I take now.

I don't think that I really have to say a whole lot about this one, it's the greatest comic strip of all time. Not as geeky as Far Side or Calvin and Hobbes, but it came before them, and set the standard.

Charles Schulz hand-drew Peanuts for his entire life, even when he was like really old and could have had young servants draw it for him. He practically invented the standard four-panel rhythm of the newspaper comic strip, and he was one of the first to make the jokes about the misery of existence.

We are all better for having been in a world where he drew his comic strip.

Now I just hope Mary Worth lasts until it's my pick again.

LD:
The thing about Peanuts is that it's more or less The Simpsons of comic strips. In a lot of ways it's the best, no doubt. But, it also became equally apparent as the years went on that Schulz had lost touch with what made the early strips so great (which, for the record, was an unrelentingly bleak world view and endless cynicism, so maybe it wasn't such a bad thing), and became a shadow of its past. I'd love to get a peek at those Fantagraphics collections someday.

For my money, the best one panel strips outside of The Far Side are the ones that come in Parade magazine. They heal our country through laughter. Especially that Howard Huge.

E:
That's actually exactly right, even the visual style of peanuts changed in a similar way to the Simpsons through the years.

It's always best to go back to the old peanuts strips when you want to revisit them. So awesome.

And god, Parade magazine. Unbelievable that has now been mentioned on our blog.

SN:
I'm gonna have to take the Boondocks. Huey drops some knowledge on y'all, and Riley pretty much pistol whips all of the other comic strip characters on the page (especially the Family Circus and Cathy -- fuck them). When all of the other comics would appear together in each other's strips to celebrate Christmas, Riley was robbing Dagwood's house, and Huey was discovering the real meaning of Christmas.

E:
I should probably add that I am a HUGE fan of the Boondocks, and even have an autograph of Aaron MacGruder. Even though it's an inconsistent story (and he never got to bring in his plans for the asian kid who was a DJ), it definitely was the first "important" comic to hit the papers since...god only knows when. His commentary during 9-11 and the aftermath is among the best political cartooning out there.

Also, check out MacGruder's Birth of a Nation if you like his stuff. great book.

JC:
I'm going to take a different path and take Garfield. Why Garfield? From creation, Garfield had one mission: commercial success, which it has triumphed for the past 30 years. While some comics are created with artistic intent, many are concocted as pure money grabs. In the cash-grab category, Garfield is king. What is startling is that Garfield has been able to hold that appeal for over 30 years, when many cash-grabs burn-out.

Garfield has been spun off into tv cartoons, movies and in the 80s those stuffed car ornaments that you couldn't go 5 minutes without seeing. In terms of commercialism, Garfield is unrivaled (yes, even you Peanuts have fallen by the wayside).

Jim Davis intention attempts at thoughtless humor has also had the unintentional effect of inspiring Garfield Minus Garfield, a hilarious take on John Arbuckle, Garfield's every-man owner.

For comics, Garfield is truly the fattest cat.

E:
I won't lie, I had A LOT of Garfield books as a kid.

JC:
So did I, but then I read one after college and was like "Why did I find this funny. AARGH!"

LD:
I like that take. There aren't many great comics left, and that perspective explains a lot of what's out there.

E:
Also, Garfield and friends was a must see in my TV watching days. Even with those farm friends he had.

SN:
Fuck Garfield. Waaaah, I'm always tired and I hate anything that has hope or beauty. I only eat lasagna cause I'm a fuckin diva. Why do I hate mondays so much? I don't even have a job!

E:
I have to post this link anytime anyone talks about Garfield.

Grimbil:
My pick should not come as a surprise for those of you who read my Google Reader feed. It's a strip that started in the 80s and has had a considerable influence on strips today. Personally, it was my introduction to politics and social issues, possibly even sex, drugs and rock and roll....maybe not the best way to introduce the subjects to an 8 year old, but I'd say it worked out in the end.


Berke Breathed's Bloom County dealt with all kinds of modern day issues in the 80s, from cold war Russia and the Bomb to hippies, drugs, rock and roll, and Star Trek. Bill the Cat is still one of my favorite characters - a drugged out, catatonic, Garfield spoof, his run for President eerily came to life 15 years later with George W Bush.

The way he shut down the strip was pretty amazing.....first Bill gets his brain swapped out with Donald Trump's. He soon buys Bloom County and after the team all go on strike, hires scabs to replace them. Eventually he desides to shut everything down, so the characters all go off to other strips. Steve Dallas, the former frat boy and sleazy lawyer, heads over to Cathy. Porty and Hodge Podge get roles on Marmaduke, while Milo Bloom takes on a bit part in the Far Side. Poor Opus is left by himself and walks off into the sunset. End of strip.