The Good, the Bad, and the Mediocre

Single-panel comic strips

THE GOOD: The Far Side


You don't need to be a comic strip aficionado to like this one. Gary Larson pretty much closed the chapter of the single-panel comic strip back in the 1980's and early 90's. His artwork was crude, but helped to convey his surreal humor, and he displayed a unique sense of timing in his art and punchlines that most single-panel cartoonists ignore. It was still a damn sight better than Dilbert. Where most single-panel comics are static talking heads and a punchline at the end, Larson was able to imply a much more detailed scenario, like you had stumbled upon something incredibly bizarre right in the middle of it. Happily, before Larson could completely burn out, he hung up his pen and left a legacy of Page-A-Day calendars and nerdy t-shirts for future generations to enjoy.

THE BAD: Ziggy


Have you ever gone to see a comedy movie, and something happens on screen that everyone in the theatre laughs at, but you don't get the joke? That's basically how I feel everytime I read Ziggy. Here's a guy dominated by a parrot and the guy working the complaints desk at the local department store. That's supposed to be funny? Get this guy on SSI or something, he's clearly mentally deficient. Recently, Ziggy has been taken over by Tom Wilson's son, Tom "Tom II" Wilson, Jr., to terrible effect. As if the drawing wasn't terrible enough, Tom II likes to break out the Sharpie to ink his cartoons, giving it the effect of having been drawn by a kindergardner. Add the moronic punchlines and simply sad situations, and you'd got a single-panel comic strip more pointless than those Love Is... cartoons. Next time you wish on a star, Zig, do us all a favor: wish yourself to die.

THE MEDIOCRE: The Lockhorns


The refrigerator at my aunt and uncle's house is covered in clippings of this comic strip. I guess it's kind of a microcosm for their decades-old marriage, steeped in resentment and passive-agressivity, bonded together through familiarity and revenge fantasies. The Lockhorns is really brilliant, in a way, because you could conceivably keep it up endlessly by just applying a few joke logarithms per week. Leroy Lockhorn can't stand Loretta Lockhorn's cooking. Lorretta is bored by Leroy's incessant sports-watching. Leroy flirts with pretty, young women at social events. Loretta can't drive. Leroy doesn't like his mother in-law. Loretta spends too much money while shopping. There, I just came up with a week of Lockhorns strips. If you need me, I'll be on the boat, sipping on beer and waiting for the fish to bite.