I am and always have been a comic book fan. I’m drawn to their clever, multi-layered story-telling and character-driven narratives. I’m also drawn to them because, admittedly, they take me back to my youth. Like nutella. And old Hammer horror movies. And comic strips, what my father would refer to as “comics” back in the day. I didn’t read that many but the few I did follow I enjoyed immensely. What follows are My Top F Favorite Comic Strips…
5. Calvin and Hobbes (Bill Watterson)
The quintessential comic strip buddies! Calvin and Hobbes was at turns funny, brilliant, and surprisingly touching. The complete, hardcover, three-volume, heavy-as-hell set sits downstairs in my library, waiting to be read.
4. Dilbert (Scott Adams)
If you’ve ever worked in an office, you can’t help but empathize with Dilbert and his co-workers. To quote Homer Simpson: “It’s funny because it’s true.”
3. Bloom County (Berke Breathed)
Joyously subversive, Bloom County offered up some of the most hilariously colorful characters in comic stripdom, among them Bill the Cat and the ever optimistic penguin Opus.
2. Herman (Jim Unger)
This one takes me back, waaay back to late elementary school. I used to read Herman along with a fellow fan – my father. I loved the strip so much that I would assiduously clip every daily installment and then transfer and tape it into a dedicated scrapbook (that, I’m sure, is sitting somewhere in mom’s garage).
1. The Far Side (Jim Larson)
Larson’s awkward, bizarre, and devilishly humorous single panel strip remains my favorite. It makes me laugh as hard now as it did twenty-five years ago.
So, what are some of your favorite strips I failed to mention?
Big day on the Fantasy Football front for both Ivon and me as both of our teams (his Running Dead and My Snow Monkeys) face must-win games. He’s already at a disadvantage – Bush ran all over him Thursday night – so he’s going to need a big game from all of his starters to have any hope of staying in the playoff race. My Snow Monkeys suffered a costly loss last week and now need a win to help secure a playoff spot or risk falling out of contention. I’m rolling with Romo tomorrow against a suspect Bills D. Petersons my RB1 simply because he’s Adrian Peterson while Maurice Morris slots into my RB2 spot while I await Jahvid Best’s return (I’m sitting Brandon Jacobs against the 49ers #1 ranked rush defense and, until Daniel Thomas can prove he’s healthy and capable of moving the ball, he’s going to ride the bench as well). Dropped the lacklustre Saints D for the surprising Browns defense. Crosby is my kicker and Ballard starts at TE. Which leaves my WR and Flex spots – and therein lies the problem. Who do I start? Well, I do know I’m starting Dez Bryant at WR1 as he’ll be facing that porous Bills’ D. I think he’ll be seeing plenty of looks with Miles Austin out. That leaves four WR’s for the two remaining spots. My choices: 1. The underperforming Roddy White whose Falcons have a huge match-up against divisional rivals New Orleans, 2. All-pro pass-catcher Hakeem Nicks who is coming off a hamstring injury, is listed as questionable, and will be playing a tough 49ers defense, 3. KC’s #2 WR Steve Breaston who has been fairly dependable the last four games or so. He faces a terrible Broncos team and should see plenty of opportunities as the Denver D focuses on shutting down KC #1 WR Dwayne Bowe, and 4. Dark horse Michael Jenkins, the #2 WR in Minnesota that is playing Green Bay in what promises to be a high-scoring affair. Common sense dictates I go with White and Nicks, but I’ve been burned by White so many times I’m not so sure I trust him, and I’d hate to start Nicks only to have him pull up lame and miss part of the game – or worse, not start at all! So, what do you guys think?
Today’s entry is dedicated to blog regular 2cats and Sheryl. Condolences.
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