I don't normally even like comics but the one big exception was always C&H. Those giant compendia gave me a couple of the most enjoyable, pants-wettingly funny days of my life. I believe I've read every last one. Peanuts, big old MEH!
No Right Answer: Best Sunday Comic
- Thread starter Firefilm
- Start date
Calvin & Hobbes, hands-down. I disagree that Peanuts exists "outside of time"; there are some exceptionally dated references that remove that timelessness.
Now, if we're talking a comic that had a larger-than-comics impact on its world that could rival C&H on the Sunday pages, Bloom County/Outland is your best pick.
Now, if we're talking a comic that had a larger-than-comics impact on its world that could rival C&H on the Sunday pages, Bloom County/Outland is your best pick.
I'm glad that I wasn't the only one disappointed that Peanuts made it in before Far Side. I never understood the fascination with that comic, aside from it being a "classic" for some reason.shirkbot said:
Oh, and:
Laugh:Worgen said:
To me, there are two highly underrated comics, one is centered more to the 80's but still fuckin' awesome (Bloom County) and Far Side
Fuckin' love this thread.
Really? Really?!?IridRadiant said:
Dilburt I'll grant you as maybe being on par, even though Scott Adams said in interviews that C&H was a superior strip.
But Garfield?? There are exactly two jokes that are repeated ad nauseum.
EDIT: And thirding the disappointment at no Far Side.
Never heard of C&H but have seen the pissing on football team shirt thing on back of car,
So from a British POV its gotta be peanuts
There a has been a lot of I'm british so I've not heard X so Y wins debates for me recently.
So from a British POV its gotta be peanuts
There a has been a lot of I'm british so I've not heard X so Y wins debates for me recently.
uh huh .... a tie ...
strange .... Peanuts was never really that great in that I never really read them. They where kinda dull and used the same few jokes over and over (kinda like Garfield) Where as Calvin and Hobbes was about stuff at times, the duo actually did more 'kid' things, and at least when the same gag was used (like the weird snow men or Calvin Ball) it was different in one way or another.
strange .... Peanuts was never really that great in that I never really read them. They where kinda dull and used the same few jokes over and over (kinda like Garfield) Where as Calvin and Hobbes was about stuff at times, the duo actually did more 'kid' things, and at least when the same gag was used (like the weird snow men or Calvin Ball) it was different in one way or another.
No no no. Please don't form your opinion of Calvin and Hobbes based on those crappy decals. They have absolutely nothing to do with the comic. They were made without the creators consent and go against everything the strip represented.Dominic Crossman said:
Calvin & Hobbs win this by default for me as I rarely find Peanuts funny. Especially when bizarre Snow Men are added into the mix. But Peanuts?.... Too many characters to even care about & the jokes usually aren't there or have gone stale.
Here's a short list of comics I find way more funny than Peanuts
Andy Capp
Beetle Bailey
Hagar The Horrible
Mother Goose & Grimm
And I find Dilbert & Garfield at times way more funny than Peanuts.
Here's a short list of comics I find way more funny than Peanuts
Andy Capp
Beetle Bailey
Hagar The Horrible
Mother Goose & Grimm
And I find Dilbert & Garfield at times way more funny than Peanuts.
I have to ask, have you guys actually ever READ Peanuts? It's nonsensical. In that, it literally makes no sense. It's not funny, it doesn't tell a story, it is simply three or four panels that make you go "huh"? Go ahead, pick up a Sunday paper and read it sometime (assuming they are still running the repeats), you will see that I am right (my paper runs the daily repeats so I sometimes read it after I've read all the other better stuff). Maybe it was because Schultz was going senile at the end of his career, I don't know.
I have no idea why people adore this strip so much. The XMas specials? Sure, okay, those are pretty good. But the strip itself is simply non-understandable.
I have no idea why people adore this strip so much. The XMas specials? Sure, okay, those are pretty good. But the strip itself is simply non-understandable.
Another tie?! I demand a rematch! With Dan supporting his favorite comic strip! Calvin & Hobbes should have won hands down. I read that strip as a kid, because I could relate to Calvin at that age.
And what's wrong with Dilbert?
And what's wrong with Dilbert?
I don't understand people who still like Garfield. Maybe it was funny, say, 25 years ago, but it has been absolutely terrible whenever I actually deemed to read it. Cut and paste panels and the same few gorram "jokes" (I use the term "joke" here lightly) that he has been telling since he first published the thing. Not funny and incredibly bland.
Calvin and Hobbes though, now that was a fantastic comic strip. My grandmother used to buy a C&H book for me to read every time I visited. Witty humour, great drawing (later on), incredibly imaginative and fanciful. It was funny to read as a kid and it aged wonderfully when I became an adult, if anything becoming far funnier that it was when I was a kid. Man, I miss that comic strip. Several years ago my local newspaper started to run the strips again in the comics section and C&H was so much funnier than anything else in there. It made me realize how stale comics have become now-a-days, so much so that I stopped reading comics in the paper they stopped running C&H. It is one of my dreams that Bill Watterson has been spending the last eighteen years secretly making new strips of Calvin and Hobbes.
Also agreed with others that The Far Side is pretty much the only comic that could give Calvin and Hobbes a run for its money.
Calvin and Hobbes though, now that was a fantastic comic strip. My grandmother used to buy a C&H book for me to read every time I visited. Witty humour, great drawing (later on), incredibly imaginative and fanciful. It was funny to read as a kid and it aged wonderfully when I became an adult, if anything becoming far funnier that it was when I was a kid. Man, I miss that comic strip. Several years ago my local newspaper started to run the strips again in the comics section and C&H was so much funnier than anything else in there. It made me realize how stale comics have become now-a-days, so much so that I stopped reading comics in the paper they stopped running C&H. It is one of my dreams that Bill Watterson has been spending the last eighteen years secretly making new strips of Calvin and Hobbes.
Also agreed with others that The Far Side is pretty much the only comic that could give Calvin and Hobbes a run for its money.
Calvin and Hobbes is high art. Peanuts is minimalist art. They are both genius in their own way.
I'm surprised to see Peanuts not getting its due in the comments, though (or in the video either). Peanuts is an incredibly subtle and beautiful comic. Schultz' drawing style is so sparse and produces so much character, and Charlie Brown is one of the world's greatest ever loser-heroes. In fact, the whole series is full of despair - Charlie Brown's doomed romance with the little red-haired girl. His continuous hope that one year Lucy won't pull the ball away. Lucy's tragic love for Schroeder. Linus' love of his teacher. Marcie's worship of Patty. Only Snoopy is a constant source of optimism (and even he has his failed writing career). There's easily as much philosophy in Peanuts as there is in Calvin and Hobbes.
I highly recommend Umberto Eco's brilliant essay on the translation of Peanuts and his musings on the comic itself. It's a fascinating perspective on the genius of Schultz.
And just to make it clear - Calvin and Hobbes still wins it for me by a whisker, for Calvinball alone.
I'm surprised to see Peanuts not getting its due in the comments, though (or in the video either). Peanuts is an incredibly subtle and beautiful comic. Schultz' drawing style is so sparse and produces so much character, and Charlie Brown is one of the world's greatest ever loser-heroes. In fact, the whole series is full of despair - Charlie Brown's doomed romance with the little red-haired girl. His continuous hope that one year Lucy won't pull the ball away. Lucy's tragic love for Schroeder. Linus' love of his teacher. Marcie's worship of Patty. Only Snoopy is a constant source of optimism (and even he has his failed writing career). There's easily as much philosophy in Peanuts as there is in Calvin and Hobbes.
I highly recommend Umberto Eco's brilliant essay on the translation of Peanuts and his musings on the comic itself. It's a fascinating perspective on the genius of Schultz.
And just to make it clear - Calvin and Hobbes still wins it for me by a whisker, for Calvinball alone.
I'm British too and I've read them - they're not in any newspapers but the books are readily available. And you should absolutely read them, they are a masterpiece. Other comics may have better gags (I love Dilbert) and even better art (Far Side) but C&H goes to the depth of the human soul.Dominic Crossman said:
Calvin and hobbes FTW, same for the far side. Probably the most deeply philosophical comic strips I know of.
I was also fairly fond of foxtrot for it's weird mix of family fare and nerdiness. Plus, the author of foxtrot retired a few years ago, just as his comics where getting stale. It's always good to see an author recognize they've reached the end of a certain creative work, and I quite respect him for that (unlike the author of dilbert, who's quality has gone down notably in the last few years, despite the 90s' strips being quite good).
I was also fairly fond of foxtrot for it's weird mix of family fare and nerdiness. Plus, the author of foxtrot retired a few years ago, just as his comics where getting stale. It's always good to see an author recognize they've reached the end of a certain creative work, and I quite respect him for that (unlike the author of dilbert, who's quality has gone down notably in the last few years, despite the 90s' strips being quite good).
Garfield one of the worst national comics. Seriously. 90% of the strips amount to "Garfield is fat and/or angry! Now that's comedy gold!" Their is no strip that comes anywhere close to Calvin and Hobbes.IridRadiant said:
This is one of those comparisons that pit two different universes against each other. Peanuts is a media icon, but Calvin and Hobbes has more intrinsic value.
This situation is somewhat like comparing Marvel to DC, at least in movies. Marvel movies nowadays are always epic, fun, and intelligent all at the same time. DC movies are more of a mixed bag - due to different production studios, I guess. But everyone knows and have known Batman and Superman. Only comic readers could name the Avengers before their movies came out...
This situation is somewhat like comparing Marvel to DC, at least in movies. Marvel movies nowadays are always epic, fun, and intelligent all at the same time. DC movies are more of a mixed bag - due to different production studios, I guess. But everyone knows and have known Batman and Superman. Only comic readers could name the Avengers before their movies came out...
Oh, right. I guess my analogy is tangential, in some ways.Flatfrog said:
I'll give Peanuts credit, it's holiday specials hold a place in my heart but no other comic, not in newspaper or a webcomic, has made me cry, other then the last Calvin and Hobbes strip, which was published on December the 31st 1995.
Sorry if didn't make myself clear but I know nothing about c&h and didnt even realise the decal/picture was anything to do with it until this video was made. I'm not judging it by that, but rather not at all as I habe no basis off which I can honestly jugde it one way or another.bluepotatosack said:
Also Jackie Chan likes Snoopy from peanuts so it must be awesome.