The best single individual comic strip you've ever read?

[Lee Nordling]

Cory Thomas brought up an interesting idea, which leads me to this question:

What's the single best INDIVIDUAL comic strip you've ever read, the ONE strip you feel was as well-written and drawn as a strip can be?

This is incredibly subjective, and answers probably reflect more about ourselves than the strips themselves.

I'll scout around for mine to post.

--Lee

[standard]

I've always appreciated good ol' Peanuts #1.
A. Because it's funny and mean, and
B. Because it so magically captures the tone of the first decade or so of the strip. It's instant-character description, overall theme explainer, and a good laugh, all in one.

So I guess what I like about it is that it works on sort of a meta level: it is a funny interaction between children, and it is a bold statement from a writer/artist about what you're in for.

[Pete Murphey]

It's a tie.

Hairy Fish Nuts.

Universal Truth.

[Lee Nordling]

Bloom County, one of my favorites, along with all the Bloom County redux strips by Breathed.

--Lee

[Leann Webb]

It's hard to choose my favorite cartoonist much less my favorite ONE that I read. There are a few I've seen that has stayed with me but I haven't a clue where to locate it on the 'net & post here.

One that comes to mind is a Gary Larson one. It's shows a really excited and happy dog looking out the back window of a car and talking to another dog in a neighboring yard. "I'm gonna get tutored!" (the other dog's expression shows indecision whether or not to bust his friend's bubble by correcting him)

Another one, also by Gary Larson, is set in a living room, outside the window, at the distance you see an old man being stuffed into the knothole of a tree by squirrels. Inside a lady shouts to her son, "Go get your father Harold, the squirrels have him again"

Both of those make me chuckle to myself every time I'm reminded of them. (since my day job is dealing with the public the second one comes to mind a good bit)

[Brian Fies]

This is the only comic strip with a permanent place of honor on my bulletin board. Luckily, I was working at a newspaper at the time--October 18, 1985--and was able to snag the original photostat sent by the syndicate, so it has stayed crisp and white all these years.

I don't expect anyone else to find it as funny as I did. First, I loved it because I'm passionate about astronomy. This was published during the last pass of Halley's Comet; one reason Halley's is the one comet everybody knows is that its orbit is about the length of a human life, 76 years. Very few people get to see it twice (Mark Twain was born during one appearance and died during the next). So this struck me as just an astonishing, audaciously dark meditation on mortality. Sally may see Halley's Comet twice, but her teacher won't--because she'll be dead. So will I. Man, I laughed myself sick when I read it.

Fortunately, years later I did express my appreciation for this strip in a note to Mr. Schulz, who seemed to like my interpretation.

[Mike Peterson]

The technically best cartoon might well be Charles Addams' "Skiing around the tree" strip. Addams often did dialogue-free cartoons that were stunning in their simplicity, but that one is probably the best of the lot. Not necessarily the funniest, but the one that really defies criticism. There it is.

My personal favorite is harder to pick, but the one that launched the most dreams for me was the one in which Barnaby is alone in his room and a strange little man with wings flies through the window. Cushlamocree! I was too young to read but I wasn't too young to know that this kid was about to have some amazing sh*t happen to him. I still envy him today, but I surely did back then.

[David Dang]

This strip, along with the rest from this same story arc at http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/1961/ch_trace_90.html, is sheer brilliance. I love all the Tracer Bullet stories. Mr. Watterson is such a talent!

[Jesse Cline]

Lee, I've enjoyed reading your posts. You have breathed a lot of life into this forum.

I think my all time favorite comic strip is the Calvin and Hobbes Sunday where its just a bunch of panels of a summer day. I remember reading it as a kid and just staring at it for about 10 minutes. It has humor, sentimentality, imagination and of course, beautiful art.

I wish I could blow this up poster size and hang it on my wall.

[Lee Nordling]

Actually, you CAN purchase a print of all of UPS's strips; they look quite nice.

So this one is PROBABLY available.

Framing is separate, and nope, I don't get a commission.

--Lee

PS. I love that strip, too.

[Frank Roberson]

This is my all time favorite comic from Gary Larson