Sunday, April 18, 2004
Jeff Takes On Comic Strips
Today, that classic publication of satire known as The Onion offered up its Take On Comic Strips. Their take was just what you would expect from the Onion. Only it was too short. So I decided to do my own take on popular comic strips. I'm basing mine on the Sunday comic strips page in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. The comic strips featured here are the same from Sunday to Sunday and include many of the usual suspects. So let's dive in. Starting with the first strip on the first page we have...
Garfield
There was a time when I found Garfield to be the funniest strip on the comic page. Nowadays I find it to be very hit and miss, with miss being the rule more than the exception. The strip always features Garfield either: A: on a diet, B: tormenting Odie or C: tormenting Jon. Today's strip has Garfield on a diet and having food hallucinations of a moving hamburger that came late because it was stuck in traffic. A show of hands, how many of you truly found that funny? I thought so. Occasionally old Garf will produce a chuckle. Only occasionally however.
Classic Peanuts
Here's proof that reruns exist outside of television. With the loss of the late Charles Schulz, we now find ourselves treated to recycled classic strips of the perennial favorite. Enjoyable? Yes. However, if they're going to rerun any comic strip, it should be The Far Side.
For Better Or For Worse
As I make my way through these strips, I realize that most of them are likely to wind up falling either into the hit-and-miss category (Ala Garfield), the kill it as soon as possible category (numerous ones we shall get to shortly) and the great category (Doonesbury). FBOFW falls into the hit and miss category. At the very least, you can say that it's always entertaining if not always funny.
Baby Blues
Occasionally funny enough to produce a minor laugh. Usually comes off too close to a sequel to Look Who's Talking to be truly funny.
Born Loser
One comic strip that always revolves around someone who is a (obviously) loser. May have enough mirth to provoke an occasional snort. But for the most part, it's a loser baby. So why don't they kill it?
Blondie
Hit and miss ala Garfield. It's very similar to the Brady Bunch in that it primarily relies on humor that wasn't particularly funny even back in the Stone Age. A prime example of this is today's strip. Dagwood tries to get Daisy the dog into the car so he can take her to the vet for her annual shots. Upon arriving at the Vet's office, he is informed that Blondie already brought Daisy there. The strip ends with Dagwood driving her home, saying, "Well no wonder you put up such a good fight".
Tiger
Often incoherent and hardly ever funny. Today's strip is a prime example. It features the title character looking for water. Where it goes I will not say, because it is way too incoherent. Kill it.
Shoe
Shoe was actually funny back when Jeff Macnelly was still alive. And its current incarnation still offers up humor. One of those comic strips that warranted saving when its creator died (unlike Dennis The Menace).
Mother Goose And Grimm
One of the few comic strips that manages to be almost consistently funny.
Marmaduke
Another one that's been around for ages. Another one that hasn't been anywhere near funny since goodness knows when. Each strip usually features some sort of slapstick; fall down go boom type gag that will doubtlessly end in something getting destroyed. In other words, humor that is so far from funny that you need a passport to get there.
Today's strip has Marmaduke's owner telling him to go do his taxes. Marmaduke instead opts to flop on the couch and the owner laments that it was worth a try. Time to put the damn thing out of its misery already.
Doonesbury
Easily the best thing on the comics page today. Garry Trudeau offers up brilliant political satire in an inventive way by mixing it up with his cast of recurring characters. And the satire is always funny and often hilarious. Thus Doonesbury falls into the great category.
The Family Circus
On the other end, we have this lame and very un-funny piece of drivel. Kill it.
Foxtrot
This one is actually funny, in a sort of sub Far Side way. Doesn't always hit the mark. But offers enough to keep an eye on it for the moment when a good laugh may strike.
Dilbert
The Doonesbury of office life. Not as hilarious as its political counterpart, it's still quite funny.
The Lockhorns
Hit and miss. Revolves around the same topic each week (husband and wife fighting). Not great. But not quite in the kill it category.
(Skipping over Prince Valiant since I very rarely read that one)
Curtis
I personally suspect that the only reason this one even remains in the Sun Sentinel is due to the fact that they feel they must include at least one Black comic strip, otherwise Jesse Jackson will be all over their ass for discrimination. The problem is, Curtis today is only sporadically funny. And even when it is funny, the humor is cheap and cliched. Today’s strip for instance revolves around the issue of confusing a wedding with a funeral.
A note to the editors of the Sun Sentinel: If you want a Black comic strip in your newspaper, there are far better ones out there. How about killing Curtis and replacing it with the Boondocks or if that one goes into Al Sharpton mode too much, Jump Start? Now there's' two actually FUNNY Black comic strip.
Sally Forth
Hit and miss
Rose Is Red
Hit and miss
Non Sequitor
Easily the funniest strip in the paper (aside from Doonesbury) and the closest we're going to get to anything as zanily hilarious as The Far Side. Today's strip deals with the death of irony in a very ironic way.
Hi And Lois
Another hit and miss one that's usually miss. Your tolerance for this one depends on your tolerance for obvious puns (a reference to the "Pata-A-Razzi" for instance).
Zits
Funny off and on. Good. But room for improvement
Cathy
Another one that's been around forever. And another one that milks the same joke over and over again for all its worth. Not quite in the kill it category. But will be there in about a year’s time or so.
Hagar The Horrible
AKA the favorite comic strip of people who thought Sammy ruined Van Halen. This one is basically a sitcomic about life in the Middle Ages. Hit and miss as usual. But when Hagar gets good, it’s good enough to warrant a read. So file this one as better than average but not great.
Beetle Bailey
See my comments on Hagar.
Today, that classic publication of satire known as The Onion offered up its Take On Comic Strips. Their take was just what you would expect from the Onion. Only it was too short. So I decided to do my own take on popular comic strips. I'm basing mine on the Sunday comic strips page in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. The comic strips featured here are the same from Sunday to Sunday and include many of the usual suspects. So let's dive in. Starting with the first strip on the first page we have...
Garfield
There was a time when I found Garfield to be the funniest strip on the comic page. Nowadays I find it to be very hit and miss, with miss being the rule more than the exception. The strip always features Garfield either: A: on a diet, B: tormenting Odie or C: tormenting Jon. Today's strip has Garfield on a diet and having food hallucinations of a moving hamburger that came late because it was stuck in traffic. A show of hands, how many of you truly found that funny? I thought so. Occasionally old Garf will produce a chuckle. Only occasionally however.
Classic Peanuts
Here's proof that reruns exist outside of television. With the loss of the late Charles Schulz, we now find ourselves treated to recycled classic strips of the perennial favorite. Enjoyable? Yes. However, if they're going to rerun any comic strip, it should be The Far Side.
For Better Or For Worse
As I make my way through these strips, I realize that most of them are likely to wind up falling either into the hit-and-miss category (Ala Garfield), the kill it as soon as possible category (numerous ones we shall get to shortly) and the great category (Doonesbury). FBOFW falls into the hit and miss category. At the very least, you can say that it's always entertaining if not always funny.
Baby Blues
Occasionally funny enough to produce a minor laugh. Usually comes off too close to a sequel to Look Who's Talking to be truly funny.
Born Loser
One comic strip that always revolves around someone who is a (obviously) loser. May have enough mirth to provoke an occasional snort. But for the most part, it's a loser baby. So why don't they kill it?
Blondie
Hit and miss ala Garfield. It's very similar to the Brady Bunch in that it primarily relies on humor that wasn't particularly funny even back in the Stone Age. A prime example of this is today's strip. Dagwood tries to get Daisy the dog into the car so he can take her to the vet for her annual shots. Upon arriving at the Vet's office, he is informed that Blondie already brought Daisy there. The strip ends with Dagwood driving her home, saying, "Well no wonder you put up such a good fight".
Tiger
Often incoherent and hardly ever funny. Today's strip is a prime example. It features the title character looking for water. Where it goes I will not say, because it is way too incoherent. Kill it.
Shoe
Shoe was actually funny back when Jeff Macnelly was still alive. And its current incarnation still offers up humor. One of those comic strips that warranted saving when its creator died (unlike Dennis The Menace).
Mother Goose And Grimm
One of the few comic strips that manages to be almost consistently funny.
Marmaduke
Another one that's been around for ages. Another one that hasn't been anywhere near funny since goodness knows when. Each strip usually features some sort of slapstick; fall down go boom type gag that will doubtlessly end in something getting destroyed. In other words, humor that is so far from funny that you need a passport to get there.
Today's strip has Marmaduke's owner telling him to go do his taxes. Marmaduke instead opts to flop on the couch and the owner laments that it was worth a try. Time to put the damn thing out of its misery already.
Doonesbury
Easily the best thing on the comics page today. Garry Trudeau offers up brilliant political satire in an inventive way by mixing it up with his cast of recurring characters. And the satire is always funny and often hilarious. Thus Doonesbury falls into the great category.
The Family Circus
On the other end, we have this lame and very un-funny piece of drivel. Kill it.
Foxtrot
This one is actually funny, in a sort of sub Far Side way. Doesn't always hit the mark. But offers enough to keep an eye on it for the moment when a good laugh may strike.
Dilbert
The Doonesbury of office life. Not as hilarious as its political counterpart, it's still quite funny.
The Lockhorns
Hit and miss. Revolves around the same topic each week (husband and wife fighting). Not great. But not quite in the kill it category.
(Skipping over Prince Valiant since I very rarely read that one)
Curtis
I personally suspect that the only reason this one even remains in the Sun Sentinel is due to the fact that they feel they must include at least one Black comic strip, otherwise Jesse Jackson will be all over their ass for discrimination. The problem is, Curtis today is only sporadically funny. And even when it is funny, the humor is cheap and cliched. Today’s strip for instance revolves around the issue of confusing a wedding with a funeral.
A note to the editors of the Sun Sentinel: If you want a Black comic strip in your newspaper, there are far better ones out there. How about killing Curtis and replacing it with the Boondocks or if that one goes into Al Sharpton mode too much, Jump Start? Now there's' two actually FUNNY Black comic strip.
Sally Forth
Hit and miss
Rose Is Red
Hit and miss
Non Sequitor
Easily the funniest strip in the paper (aside from Doonesbury) and the closest we're going to get to anything as zanily hilarious as The Far Side. Today's strip deals with the death of irony in a very ironic way.
Hi And Lois
Another hit and miss one that's usually miss. Your tolerance for this one depends on your tolerance for obvious puns (a reference to the "Pata-A-Razzi" for instance).
Zits
Funny off and on. Good. But room for improvement
Cathy
Another one that's been around forever. And another one that milks the same joke over and over again for all its worth. Not quite in the kill it category. But will be there in about a year’s time or so.
Hagar The Horrible
AKA the favorite comic strip of people who thought Sammy ruined Van Halen. This one is basically a sitcomic about life in the Middle Ages. Hit and miss as usual. But when Hagar gets good, it’s good enough to warrant a read. So file this one as better than average but not great.
Beetle Bailey
See my comments on Hagar.
