10 Comic Strip Tropes & Trends That Aged Poorly

CBR ^ | 5/14/25 | George Chrysostomou

[DallasBiff]

To all the youngins out there, the comics in the newspaper, were a big part of our lives.

The writer seems to dislike Gary Larson,"The Far Side", which was funny.

The two comic strips I couldn't stand were, "Mary Worth" and "Dondi".

[DeathBeforeDishonor1]

Couldnt stand “Doonsbury” .

[pepsi_junkie]

Boy, this article is written by a humorless woke puritan who sees everything as something “problematic”. The Nuclear family didn’t age well?

[ansel12]

I remember most people being introduced to Navy SEALs by the Steve Canyon strip.

[Ciaphas Cain]

I know absolutely no one who ever read Doonesbury.

[Jolla]

Dick Tracy, Blondie and Family Circus were favs

[Right_Wing_Madman]

The author here is totally woke. No wonder he hates Peanuts, Family Circus, Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, and generally, all forms of humor. The movie Airplane! would probably send him into convulsions.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Oh brother, what a ridiculous wad of twaddle from a humorless prig.

"...many comic strips featured jokes that highlighted misogynistic views towards women."

I guess the author never heard of "Bringing Up Father."

[Jolla]

Agree, I liked the art but never read the panels, thought Jane Pauley was a cutie too.

[Seruzawa]

Gary Larson had the presence of mind to quit when he felt his creativity lagging. He never descended into the level of ennui that Charles Schultz did. Some comic strips became utterly devoid of any interest. Sort of like Steve Martin’s movies.

[Verginius Rufus]

"Blondie" used to have very long Sunday strips.

Two very good strips which don't seem to have been syndicated very widely were "Gordo" and "Rick O'Shay."

[MNDude]

agreed. this article was written by a woke idiot. I challenge them to show us a funny woke comic.

[Jonty30]

I agree with him on Family Circus. I never liked that comic strip. And Garfield.

They are both pablum, but this is a woke article and nothing is funny to the woke person.

[PGR88]

whoever wrote this article seems like a woke t##t - for leftists, everything must be deconstructed and politically-correct for the immediate time.

[Political Junkie Too]

I'm putting this in the "Lists that aged poorly" category.

They are trashing comic strip classics using a woke lens.

These strips united the nation by tugging on common heartstrings that we can all identify with. That is something that woke activists feel compelled to tear down and erase from history.

We cannot allow that to happen. It's clear now why Apple bought the rights to the Peanuts holiday cartoons so they can hide them away from the general public.

-PJ

[dfwgator]

I know absolutely no one who ever read Doonesbury.

Watched a great documentary the other day, "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29", about the 1968 Harvard-Yale game, when Harvard miraculously scored two TDs in the last minute to tie the game.

The character "B.D", was based on Brian Dowling, who was the Harvard quarterback in that game. Also, Tommy Lee Jones played for Harvard in that game.

[PGR88]

"...many comic strips featured jokes that highlighted misogynistic views towards women."

LOL. Andy Capp would give his wife black-eyes, and she would give them to him right back.

[awelliott]

The author here is totally woke. No wonder he hates Peanuts, Family Circus, Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, and generally, all forms of humor. The movie Airplane! would probably send him into convulsions.

100% true.

[mikey_hates_everything]

Nothing about Dilbert? The author is risking cancellation for not touting the party line.

[Dr. Sivana]

Where is the barf alert on this?!

To say that “The Addams Family” assumed that the nuclear family was superior misses the whole point that they were macabre.

I used to joke with my wife that the way things were going, we’d be the Munsters, but an inverted version, with Goths and vampires abounding and we would stick as scary because we were normal.

ow this author comes along as maintains that the Addams Family doesn’t reflect the variety we see in modern households!

The caricatures in the Far Side will be funny 50 years from now. All cartoons this side of Rip Kirby and “The Heart of Juliet Jones” are caricatures. That’s why they are comic strips!

“Calvin and Hobbes” didn’t age well?! You may as well say “The Godfather” didn’t age well because it celebrates a nuclear family.

I have written my own comic strip (all I need is an artist), and as someone who has been a bit of a student of the genre, appreciate the fact that the best ones are CONSERVATIVE. If Dagwood combs his hair and changes his work shirt, it is over. (As it is, they messed with Chic Young’s formula too much). Jiggs (Bringing Up Father) couldn’t exit if he wasn’t wearing a Top Hat and Spats. He finally retired, but an 80 year run is pretty damn good.