W E D N E S D AY, A U G U S T 2 3 , 2 0 0 6The Best Comic Strip Of All TimeShockingly, one critic picks "For Better Or Worse," which has barelycaught my eye over the years and never seemed more than not-awful.(Which is more than most comic strips accomplish.) I actually lovecomic strips: they're truly a bottom of the barrel, no respect art form.(Try going into a comic book store and see how even they treat comicstrips with disdain.</p><p> You'll find a few collections in a musty corner buteveryone will look at you with pity or laughter for caring.) I can't speakto some of the legendary strips because I haven't been able to samplethem properly. "Gasoline Alley" (which made waves by having itscharacters age in real time) is just starting to come out. "Pogo," "LilAbner," "Terry and the Pirates" and "Dick Tracy" are either notavailable at all or only in flimsy cheapo paperback editions that don'tproperly present them from start to finish.</p><p> Of the ones I can speak to,here are my favorites:1.</p><p> Doonesbury -- not only the best comic strip of all time, I believe it'sone of the most remarkable works of art in any medium.</p><p> Nothing --Imean nothing -- has captured the last forty years of our history in quitethe same breadth and manner as "Doonesbury." It has a cast ofcharacters that would make Dickens proud, political satire that wouldmake Twain smile, a continuing storyline a la the best primetime soaps,a social history akin to Balzac, pointed pop culture commentary worthyof any critic.</p><p> And it's funny.</p><p> Very funny.</p><p> It's a remarkably uniqueaccomplishment.</p><p> If you want to know what life was like in theSeventies, Eighties, Nineties and now, what better place to start?Surprisingly, even most comic strip fans either disdain "Doonesbury"or simply don't pay it much attention.</p><p> I have no idea why.2.</p><p> Krazy Kat -- a spare haiku of a strip, with a cat in love with amouse, a dog in love with a cat and a mouse that loves to bean the catwith a brick.</p><p> That's about it, but the love of wordplay and the endlesspermutations this setup inspires is just delightful.</p><p> Throw in themarvelous sense of space in the strips and you have an oddball classicthat needs to be read aloud and sunk into before you can appreciate itsparticular take on the world.</p><p> Like Monty Python, once you're on itswavelength, you'll surrender completely.Next Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: The Best Comic Strip Of All Timehttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/08/best-comic-strip-of-all-... 1 of 37/28/09 8:34 PMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SAaronMichael in New YorkBiboy POPSURFING.COM: The Best Comic Strip Of All Timehttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/08/best-comic-strip-of-all-... 2 of 37/28/09 8:34 PMPOPSURFING.COM: The Best Comic Strip Of All Timehttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/08/best-comic-strip-of-all-... 3 of 37/28/09 8:34 PM
