Why do all the comic strips suck?

[s1m0n]

Am I just old, or do all newspaper comic strips suck these days? It seems to me that in days of yore, there was usually at least title you could count on. In some eras there was two. But its been years since I sought out the comics page, and likely 5 years since I saw a comic worth remembering. Sigh. Newsprint really is a dying industry.

[Nanohedron]

I can't remember the last time I ever read a comics section (or a newspaper, for that matter), but I recall becoming increasingly disappointed with the fare. Maybe I've just gotten dour.

[kkrell]

Hunt around at http://www.gocomics.com/ , and maybe you'll find something you like. Many strips are now published free on-line, which can make for interesting choices. Setup your own list and view everyday. I like "Off the Mark" (often animal-centric), and reruns of old "Calvin & Hobbes"

[Mitch]

Am I just old, or do all newspaper comic strips suck these days? It seems to me that in days of yore, there was usually at least title you could count on. In some eras there was two. But its been years since I sought out the comics page, and likely 5 years since I saw a comic worth remembering. Sigh. Newsprint really is a dying industry.

Yes. we are just old.
That's not nothing - the young surpass us in everything.
We have no idea what they are going through.

Sometimes they come back to ask for a policy.
When that happens .. cool.

In the mean time ..we shaped them, for better or worse..

I spend about half the time talking to my teenage son to undo the past mistakes I made.

The comics? they are all movies now. The youngsters have no time to read paper - it's all there on google. If they saw the movie .. maybe you can talk.

If it's any "comfort" most movies now originate in comic-strip development.
It governs the plot and the cinamagraphy - we call them "key-frames".
Just look at the "making-of" specials in any movie.

The young will navigate all that.

Trust them.

[Nanohedron]

Yes. we are just old.
That's not nothing - the young surpass us in everything.
We have no idea what they are going through.

Only in context of the times. I would counter that we can in fact know what they're going through, because we've been through that part of life - and nothing really changes in the process of going from youth to age. It is they who have no real point of reference to us, because they haven't gotten there yet. Mostly, we duffers just forget how it was for us when we were younger.

[Sirchronique]

Were the "funny pages" ever actually funny?

[Brus]

Am I just old, or do all newspaper comic strips suck these days?

I doubt if you're that old.

Unless you're close to 90, you can't remember the really good days of comic strips. I can't either. But there are lots of historical collections in book form. A decent-sized library will probably have a few.

[An Draighean]

Am I just old, or do all newspaper comic strips suck these days? ... Newsprint really is a dying industry.

You answered your own question. Every printed newspaper on earth is dead, they just don't know it yet. Can't attract any cartooning talent with a market that shrinks every day.

[chas]

I like Dilbert. But the comics haven't been the same since the Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes quit running.

[benhall.1]

I like Dilbert. But the comics haven't been the same since the Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes quit running.

Nothing's been the same since Mehitabel and Archie et al.

[s1m0n]

I like Dilbert. But the comics haven't been the same since the Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes quit running.

Nothing's been the same since Mehitabel and Archie et al.

Was that ever a comic? I know Don Marquis's Archie & Mehitabel as poetry, occasionately illustrated, but never as a comic even loosely defined.

[s1m0n]

Am I just old, or do all newspaper comic strips suck these days? ... Newsprint really is a dying industry.

You answered your own question. Every printed newspaper on earth is dead, they just don't know it yet. Can't attract any cartooning talent with a market that shrinks every day.

You're likely right. Matt Groening is a perfect example. His Life in Hell, running in the alterna-weeklies, was poised to become the next great comic after The far Side & Calvin & Hobbes, but he abruptly discovered how much more money there was in newer media, and abandoned the strip to create The Simpsons.

But here's a classic:

[benhall.1]

I like Dilbert. But the comics haven't been the same since the Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes quit running.

Nothing's been the same since Mehitabel and Archie et al.

Was that ever a comic? I know Don Marquis's Archie & Mehitabel as poetry, occasionately illustrated, but never as a comic even loosely defined.

I guess I not only like the poetry but the illustrations as well.

... however, you've prodded me to look this stuff up. I'm thinking of the illustrations by George Merriman, and, though I've only just discovered it, these only came about when the poems were published in book form, after the columns in The Evening Sun. I think of these illustrations as cartoons, and I think that's a good description of them, but yes, you're right, there's no way it was a "comic strip".

Interesting. Thanks for prompting me to look deeper.

[Coffee]

Oh, there are tonnes of genuinely funny comics out there; I don't know if any of them are in the paper...