My favorite newspaper comic strips

I always enjoy a good comic strip, particularly humorous ones. They can lift your spirits even on the worst days. Below is my list of favorite comic strips I have enjoyed over the years – some are still published, while others bring back happy memories.

Calvin & Hobbes (by Bill Watterson): Easily my favorite of all time, even though it ran for just a decade between 1985 and 1995. Funny and often quite poignant, Calvin & Hobbes can touch your heart while bringing a big smile to your face. What person would not want to be a kid again after reading Calvin & Hobbes?

The Far Side (by Gary Larson): The Far Side ran in newspapers between 1980-1995 and most often was a single panel  versus a series of frames,  My favorite comic strip for a jolly good laugh. The Far Side was terrific at making the commonplace situations laugh out loud hilarious or taking a normal, everyday event and making it just plain silly. I particularly liked Mr. Larson’s use of interplanetary aliens and animals in the comic strip.

Red Bricks: Most of you will not recognize this comic strip because it was published only for a limited time and in a specific location – in the Purdue Exponent during the late 1970s.The title refers to the fact that nearly every building on campus is composed of red bricks – which just so happened to be the business John Purdue was in while he was alive. Satirical, irreverent, and hilarious, I wish Red Bricks could have continued well after my undergraduate college years or have been picked up by more newspapers for it was extremely well done. Easily the best college comic strip I have ever seen or read, bar none.

My hope is someday find a book or other publication that includes copies of Red Bricks, for in my young age I was not smart enough to hang on to copies back then. If anyone knows where you can find something like this, I am all ears.

Bloom County (by Berke Breathred): Opus the Penguin and Bill the Cat; what a goofy combination? Sometimes just wacky, other times containing spot on commentary, Bloom County was extra special. Up until the Penguins of Madagascar, Opus had been my favorite penguin character of all time.

Non Sequitur (by Wiley Miller): An irreverent, political,  and very funny single panel comic that started in 1992.  Some aspects may remind one of The Far Side, but Non Sequitur is hilarious all on its own. The title of the comic strip means “it does not follow” in Latin.

Dilbert (by Scott Adams): Begun in 1989, Dilbert is easily the best and most accurate workplace comic strip ever. I could do without Dogbert or Catbert, but the office humor is spot on.

Garfield (by Jim Davis): From the charming town of Fairmount, Indiana (also home of James Dean), Jim Davis started Garfield in 1978 and it is still running in newspapers today.  Personally, I adore Odie, Garfield’s canine friend and companion much more than Garfield himself. An innocent, slobbering dog. What more could you ask for?

Peanuts (by Charles Schultz): A 50-year classic from 1950-2000. When your last name is Brown, it is hard not to be a fan of Charlie Brown and his friends, even though you sometimes got referred to him as a kid. My favorite Characters were Linus, Snoopy, and Woodstock.