The Comics

While prepping for my weekend shift on the radio, I was going through some old prep to see if there was anything that I could recycle or update.  In that prep was a line about a paperboy delivering papers.  At first I laughed, because, are there even paperboys anymore?!  Second, does anyone read the paper physically today?  I mean, most newspapers are all online today – some of which you have to pay for!

I was a paperboy for both the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News.  I remember as a kid reading my horoscope, the Names and Faces column, Bob Talbert, and all about the Detroit Tigers.  The thing I loved about getting the paper was reading the comics page!  There were so many great comic strips over the years.  I could always count on a good laugh from some of my favorite characters.  Off the top of my head, here are just some of my favorite strips (past and present)…..

The Far Side

From 1980 to 1995, Gary Larson provided a daily laugh for me and so many others!  At one time, I owned all the books and every year I bought the wall calendar.  The cartoons are like a good movie, or TV show – you have seen it hundreds of times, but they are still funny!  I miss this comic so much!

The Argyle Sweater

This is the closest thing to The Far Side that I have found.  I love how Scott Hilburn incorporates puns almost daily.  Since there is no more Far Side wall calendar, I get the Argyle Sweater one for 365 laughs a year!

Peanuts

This seemed to be the first comic on every comics page for as long as I can remember.  Charles Schulz created some very memorable characters.  I related to Charlie Brown in so many ways growing up.

Calvin and Hobbes

LONG before Toy Story showed us what toys do when we aren’t around, there was Calvin and Hobbes.  Calvin was a kid with a big imagination.  He had many adventures with his stuffed friend, Hobbes.  The strip only lasted 10 years (1985-1995), but still remains one of the best!

Crankshaft

Ed Crankshaft was a former minor league baseball player for the Toledo Mud Hens, who now is a school bus driver.  One of the running gags was how he destroyed his neighbor’s mailbox on a daily basis.  At times, this strip had some serious story lines, and remains a favorite.

Funky Winkerbean

Crankshaft was actually a “spin-off” of this strip.  One of the reasons I loved this strip so much, was that it would occasionally focus on Harry Dinkle, the band director and his marching band.  Our band director could be strict, but hardly as strict as Dinkle.  It was not uncommon for strips about band camp to appear the same week we were doing band camp in high school.  As a band geek, I loved this strip!

Drabble

There are so many things I love about this comic by Kevin Fagan!  The relationship between the father (Ralph) and his son (Norman) reminds me so much of the relationship I have with my dad.  I can relate to the constant dieting struggles that Ralph endures.  There are funny story lines about their dog (Wally), their duck (Bob), and their cat (Oogie).  Ralph’s friend is named No-Neck!  This reminds me of my dad and my grandma – they had nick names for everyone!  The strip has been going since 1979 and Kevin is still drawing it!  GREAT strip that always makes me laugh!

Overboard

Chip Dunham started drawing this in 1990.  How can you go wrong with a bunch of incompetent pirates?!  The adventures of Captain Crow and the crew of The Revenge range from battles with their enemy (the Green ship), golf, pet care (thanks to Louie, the captain’s dog), and gardening.  One of the things I love about this strip is the occasional breaking of the “fourth wall”.  Often, the “cartoonist” plays a character in the strip he is drawing….

Foxtrot

Another great strip that follows a very funny family – the Fox’s.  Bill Amend began this strip in 1988 and up until December of 2006, it ran 7 days a week.  Since then, it’s been running only on Sundays.  Many of the funny situations involved their 3 kids, Peter, Paige, and Jason.

Zits

I was almost 30 when this strip debuted in 1997, but found it very funny.  Jeremy is a teenager struggling with typical teenager stuff: girls, school, etc.  There were many times where I could picture myself in his shoes.

Honorable Mentions

There were so many comics that I read each day.  The ones mentioned above are just a few favorites that I enjoyed.  Others include: The Wizard of ID, Mother Goose and Grimm, Garfield, Hagar the Horrible, Beetle Bailey, Pearls Before Swine, and BC.  I am sure there are more, but without using Google, these are the ones that came to mind immediately.

While I don’t get a newspaper on a daily basis anymore, when I do, I still go straight to the comics page.  What comics did you enjoy reading in the paper?