10 Comic Strip Tropes & Trends That Aged Poorly

CBR ^ | 5/14/25 | George Chrysostomou

[dfwgator]

That’s a classic! Loved Bloom County.

[Do_Tar]

That’s what his dads told him.

[xp38]

I got to meet Gary ages ago at a book signing. We had a nice chat. Yes he is funny.

[rlmorel]

I am glad to hear that.

I am a big aviation nut, and I went to the big Fly-In at Oshkosh a few times. Once, me and my buddies got to talk to Bob Hoover, a WWII fighter pilot, said by Chuck Yeager (I think!) to be the greatest pilot he knew.

We talked with him for 15-20 minutes, and he was absolutely the nicest, classiest, and most congenial celebrity I had ever met.

So I always enjoy hearing about someone who is famous, but still has enough humility to genuinely enjoy the company of regular people!

[drSteve78]

You owe me a new ipad, snort, snort, snort, I don’t think that all of this mess will clean off!

[Right_Wing_Madman]

Never liked Garfield. Or Nancy.

I thought Nancy, when written and drawn by Ernie Bushmiller, was brilliant. Nancy came from a broken home and a pessimistic tone underlined its sharp and witty humor. Nancy would sometimes try to be a boy, but she was always a girl. She and Sluggo were perfect friends.

[Right_Wing_Madman]

I love Peanuts.

What I loved about Peanuts is how neurotic all the characters were, to include the dog. And Charlie Brown, who was supposed to be the straight man in the middle of this pandemonium, was the biggest basket case of them all.

[mikey_hates_everything]

I considered the possibility that “Dilbert” has never existed to the commie author.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Dilbert is a blast. Too subtle for anyone on the Woke or Asleep Left.

Garfield still funny.

Miss Farside. Incredibly funny which is why the Left hated it. There was another related comic strip before it if I am correct. Can’t think of it’s name. Also subtle animal a l humor.

The Left has no real sense of humor, plus many are soul-less wackos. Some are just plain stupid, usually in a vicious, vindictive way.

Captain. We’re gonna need more insane asylums.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Bloom County. Hilarious!!

[Bullish]

Ditto that

[21twelve]

I read some article about the Far Side. That first cartoon (goat in the cloud bank) has the reader fill in the rest of the cartoon. Larson did that a lot, sort of stopping the action/joke so the reader could fill in the rest. The article had some psychological reason why the reader liked those types of cartoons so much.

[metmom]

The Left has no real sense of humor, plus many are soul-less wackos. Some are just plain stupid, usually in a vicious, vindictive way.

That bears repeating.

[Dr. Sivana]

There was another related comic strip before it if I am correct.

No. There have been other absurdist panels and strips, but "The Far Side" was Larson's first major work.

[Dr. Sivana]

What I loved about Peanuts is how neurotic all the characters were, to include the dog.

I think Shermy was pretty normal. Of course he all but disappeared after a few years.

[Verginius Rufus]

In some of the very early Family Circus cartoons, the father is smoking...that disappeared after a while.

My mother was a child when Nancy first started appearing...she never liked it.

"Henry" was boring. "Little Lulu" was another strip which disappeared.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I still remember Al Capp’s Students Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything!(S.W.I.N.E.)

I remember how that particular Li’l Abner adventure ended. The SWINE were rioting and the regents of the University got scared and decided to sell the University. Only buyers were the Mafia.
Here came the SWINE rioting. I still get a thrill remembering how the leader of the SWINE assaulted the MOB Enforcer’s brass knuckles with his teeth.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I miss Snuffy Smith, Prince Valiant and Lil Abner. When Calvin and Hobbes ceased being printed I quit reading the comics.

[Vermont Lt]

Nancy was boring. Aunt Fritzi was not.

[ShadowAce]

Surprised no one mentioned Pogo. Way ahead of its time!

Aaagh! Friday the 13th comes on a Wednesday next month!