Weekly Writer's Workshop: 10 of my favorite Comic Strips

Here are the prompts for this week’s Writer’s Workshop: 

1.  Write a post based on the word shopping. 
2. Write a post in exactly 10 sentences. 
3. List ten of your favorite comic strips (from the newspaper). 
4. Write about a time when you laughed at an inappropriate time. 
5. Write about a joke (practical or otherwise) that did not go over well. 
6. List things you oddly obsessed about as a child.
   

I love comic strips.  I think I always have and I'm pretty sure I always will.  

Here are 10 of my favorite strips but not my favorite 10 strips

Rubes by Leigh Rubin

This is actually my favorite strip of Rubes.  I remember reading it in the Western Courier (my school campus newspaper). To learn more about Rubes click here.

Frank & Ernest by Thaves

The rest of the strips with images are not my favorite strip of the series I'm using them because I have previously used them on this or one of my other blogs.  This strip is a good representation of the regular content over the years. for more about Frank & Ernest click here.

Mister Boffo by Joe Martin

Along with Calvin & Hobbes, Peanuts & The Far Side, Mister Boffo, is probably one of my favorite 4  comic strips of all time.  The strip below while very representational of Martin's humor is definitely not up to his usual standards. For more Mister Boffo strips click here.

Non-Sequtir - Wiley Miller

Many of the Out There Comics like Far Side and Rubes   take place in a panel rather than a strip.  I think this is why I like Non-Sequtir so much it often appears in strip form strip rather than a panel.  For more about Non-Seutir click here.

Big Nate by Lincoln Pierce

The strip below embodies the titular character very well.  For more about Big Nate click here.

Animal Crackers By Mike Osburn

While Animal Crackers is a comic strip that appears in newspapers, this is not how I first digested it.  I remember strips being excerpted in some of my middle school textbooks and discovered it in newspaper version years later. For more Animal Crackers click here.

For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston

Paramount Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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The above picture has nothing to do with the aforementioned comic strip.It's just I did not have permission to post any of the above strips but only used them since I had already used them on blogger before.  The above images or from the 1919 Cecille B Demille silent film For Better For Worse.

For Better or For Worse is a family comic strip that is humorous but also more realistic than many comic strips of it's era.  One way it was more realistic was the stylistic choice to age the family in real time.  At some point Johnston reversed the aging process and began telling the family story anew.  For examples of the strip click here.  

The Far Side by Gary Larson

I love The Far Side.  Gary Larson has a bizarre sense of humor and his artistic style blends very well with that humor.  One of my favorite strips is where you see a cat following signs scrawled out that say Cat Fud.  The signs eventually end at the inside door or a dryer,  While the cat appears to be following those signs into the dryer.  You can see dog waiting on the other side of the door ready to push it closed if the cat goes in.  The thought bubble above the dog says "Please! Let this work! For examples of the Far Side Strip click here.

Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Calvin & Hobbes originally ran from November 18, 1985, to December 31st, 1995. Words cannot really describe what a wonderful experience it was for me to spend 10 years with Calvin and his stuffed tiger.  I adored every scrape they got in and don't really have a favorite strip.   Since I recently turned 60, I decided to put a link to the Calvin & Hobbes Strip from when I turned 30. The Strip features Calvin's Love Interest/nemesis. Susie Derkins.  It also use the phrase opposite day which is a phrase we use around the house quite a bit and I was unaware that Calvin ever talked about the concept.

Peanuts By Charles M Schulz

By Samsz - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5250404765

I have tried hard not to rank these comic strips or even say that they are my top 10 favorites. They are just 10 of my favorites. Peanuts, however, will always be my favorite strip. I'm sure that my love for comics strips grew from my love for Peanuts.  I once tried to learn French, just so I could read the French edition of a Peanuts anthology  at our library.  This strip is from the day I was born.  For more  Peanuts click here.

For more of this weeks Writers workshop click here.