Best: Calvin & Hobbes
Worst: Boondocks. Shameless, unfunny ripoff of Bloom County with tiresome ‘black anger’ pouring out of every panel. The papers, the author and the PR firm tried to make it a hit but humor and the entitlement mentality don’t make a good mix.
Strangest: Henry. Mute bald kid. How many sleepless nights did the cartoonist have trying to come up with a strip idea considering his main character couldn’t talk?
Agreed, I would add B.C., The Far Side, and Shoe to my fabs.
As far as worst, Doonesbury was the indisputable worst until Boondocks appeared in the scene. I was living in the DC area when this black kid student from the University of Maryland started the strip in the school’s paper. Of course, it was immensely popular with the liberal/marxist crowd in MD opening doors for the kid. First in cartoon syndication and later as a TV cartoon show in Cartoon Network. At least Doonsbury stuck mostly to attacking conservatism and propping up liberalism/socialism/communism/progressives/marxists causes for the middle aged likeminded; Boondocks is mostly angry/violent racial anti-anything not black in a present setting targeted at the young.
Regards.