#2 Berkeley Breathed

Bloom County was (and now thankfully is) a laugh riot from start to finish. It was also good at tossing in an occasional "dandelion break" to change things up. This was the first series I ever bought a collection of and I now have the original series in hardcover. I never continued on to Outland and the Opus Sunday's (now relegated to dream sequences), but I'm back with the new series.


up next at #1...the creator of Spaceman Spiff, Stupendous Man and Tracer Bullet!

#2 Bill Watterson

Did any comic strip ever capture the intensity and exhilaration of childhood as well as Calvin and Hobbes? Calvin was a pint-sized Id waging an endless war against the dying of the light and the encroaching darkness of growing up.

Growing up in Calvin’s world means the end of imagination and creativity and the triumph of compromise and acceptance and conformity and mediocrity. It means the extinction of the dinosaurs and the return of spacemen to their home planets. Wonder dissipates, monotony grows, and a lifetime of infinite tomorrows fades and becomes a march into tedium.

Watterson’s genius was evident in every aspect of his strip. He was a master of cartooning and of illustration. His words were as deceptively simple as his drawings, and the truths he reminded us of were always poignant, never sentimentalized.

Because Calvin was six, always six, we did get to frolic in his Edenic world where he would never grow up, but which was surrounded by all of the ominous signs of adulthood. For a few moments each day, when we read of the adventures of Calvin and Hobbes, we could forget for a moment how brief and fragile childhood had been and savor its joy.

Had Watterson chosen to go on with Calvin’s story rather than freeze it in amber, Calvin would eventually have been doomed to be just a Tom sawyer, a faux-rebel who actually uses the signs of rebellion to endear himself to the community. Calvin went off like Huck Finn, a true rebel lighting out out for the territory rather than even trying to fit in.

As if his brilliance as a writer, observer and artist weren’t enough, Watterson raised the ante by his absolute refusal to merchandise his creation. Thank the comic gods he allowed the publication of the collections of his strips. The little boy and his loyal, wise companion, their names reminiscent of a theologian who warned against the evanescence of pleasure and a philosopher who reminded us of the brutishness of life will live forever in their magical world uncorrupted by either adulthood or exploitation.

Watterson's work refreshes the soul, and for that we should all be grateful.

Someone mentioned Shooter?  I love Shooter but even I wouldn't have him on my list.

Yeah, There are a few that a shaky. I'll just let Cei-u sort it out. They have to do the dialogue to qualify or else Aragones' Groo would be among the pictures I posted.

If there's no honor among geeks then the world has truly reached the last days ...

Day 11...the 2nd of 2 amazing Archie enthusiasts...
Bob Montana



Bob Montana's artwork and his comedic style of drawing/story-telling is outstanding, and my absolute favourite from the golden age. If you're used to gag-a-day Archie strips, these older ones are a real treat. There are many continued story lines, some going on for over 3 weeks.

Y'all ever hear about a lil' ol' place name o' Dogpatch ?



Born Alfred Gerald Caplin, the cartoonist genius behind Li'l Abner was better known as Al Capp.

At the age of 9, he lost his left leg in a trolley accident, obviously having a huge impact on his life, and worldview, from then on. Encouraged by an artistically inclined father, Capp cartooned and became the youngest syndicated cartoonist in America at the age of 19 working on the AP's Colonel Gilfeather. Far too boring for Capp, he hired on with Ham Fisher ghosting his Joe Palooka strip. Eventually tiring of the overbearing Fisher he left to create his own strip.

At the age of 25, Capp took his hillbilly idea to United Features Syndicate and Li’l Abner was born.

Hardly “li’l,” Abner was a hulking, naive man-child, and the frequent foil for Capp’s satiric stories about American life and politics. This simple-minded citizen of humble Dogpatch was a paragon of virtue in a dark and cynical world. Abner often found himself far from home, whether in the company of unscrupulous industrialist General Bullmoose, in hapless snowbound Lower Slobbovia, or wherever Capp’s whimsical and often complex plots led our heroic hillbilly.

Li’l Abner was the unlikely son of tiny Mammy (Pansy) and Pappy (Lucifer) Yokum. Mammy was the industrious “sassiety leader” of backward Dogpatch who instilled honesty and All-American ideals in Li’l Abner. Pappy, in contrast, was an illiterate and hopeless parasite. From the inception of the strip, Abner was vigorously pursued by Daisy Mae, a beautiful Dogpatch damsel hopelessly in love with the bumbling, unappreciative and seldom amorous bachelor. Abner spent nearly two decades outracing Daisy in the annual Sadie Hawkins Day race but the couple finally married in 1952, a fictional event that captured national attention and was a cover story for Life magazine. Their only child, Honest Abe, was born in 1953.

Li’l Abner generally had no visible means of support but he sometimes earned his living as a mattress tester. When not involved in worldwide escapades, he was engrossed by his favorite “comical strip,” Fearless Fosdick. He interacted with many marvelous and fantastic characters creating language and situations which have become permanent parts of the American lexicon.

Abner was started in only eight newspapers, but Dogpatch struck a nerve in Depression-era America. Within three short years it had climbed to 253 newspapers, reaching over 15,000,000 readers. Before long he was in hundreds more, with a circulation exceeding 60,000,000. At a time when syndicates owned the copyrights, trademarks and merchandise rights to comic strips, Capp wrested control of “Li’l Abner” from United Features, an almost unprecedented event.


Besides entertaining millions, Capp permanently affected the popular culture. In 1937 he introduced the annual Sadie Hawkins Day race into his strip. It quickly inspired real life girl-asks-boy dances across America and Sadie Hawkins Day became a national institution. In 1948 his lovable Shmoo characters became a national sensation, creating the largest mass merchandising phenomenon of its era, followed on its heels by the Kigmy. After nearly 20 years of prominent bachelorhood, Li’l Abner finally married Daisy Mae in 1952, an event that shocked the country and made front page news.

Capp’s celebrity admirers ranged from actor/director Charlie Chaplin, writer John Updike and economist John Kenneth Galbraith. Author John Steinbeck was not only a fan, in fact, he called Capp “the best writer in the world.” Capp speckled his wild narratives with unforgettable characters – among them heartless capitalist General Bullmoose; human jinx Joe Bfstplk, who was followed by his own bleak rain cloud; Evil Eye Fleegle whose double whammies could melt skyscrapers; cave-dwelling buddies Lonesome Polecat and Hairless Joe who concocted Kickapoo Joy Juice, the ultimate moonshine; Mammy Yokum, the sweet old lady who could outbox men twice her size; fumbling detective Fearless Fosdick, whose bullet-riddled body resembled Swiss cheese; and the gorgeous but odorous Moonbeam McSwine who preferred the company of pigs to men. And when readers thought there was no sadder and poorer place than Dogpatch, Capp would take his readers to frostbitten and poverty stricken Lower Slobovia. It is no surprise that the colorful Li’l Abner cast inspired a long-running Broadway musical in 1957 and two film adaptations.

In addition to the enormous popularity of his comic strip, Capp’s fame stemmed from a high media profile. He was a frequent and outspoken guest on the “Tonight” show, spanning hosts Jack Paar, Steve Allen and Johnny Carson. He authored his own newspaper column and radio show and was a guest lecturer at campuses nationwide. Capp retired the strip in 1977 and died two years later. Capp’s “Li’l Abner” stands the test of time as a pinnacle of cartoon art and social satire.

The strip ran from 1934 to 1977. Capp died two years later.