On New Year’s Eve, most comics use the new year as the base for their jokes, especially the legacy strips.  This year, two strips decided to tackle a subject that’s been avoided by comic strips for much too long — Man/Computer relationships.

Apartment 3-G - 12/31/2008

Beetle Bailey - 12/31/2008

How exciting!  A new year and a “HUGE CHANGE” in Spider-Man’s life!  Will he stop watching television instead of fighting crime?

The Amazing Spider-Man - 12/31/2008

I am not familiar with the comic book series, but I think I remember hearing that Spider-Man is only still married in the comic strip version.  Will he and Mary Jane get divorced?  Will Peter Parker whine constantly about it?  Will he be so distracted that he actually fights crime less than he does now?

Stay tuned to find out…..

Crankshaft - 12.19.2008

Crankshaft’s only friend in the world is his son-in-law’s old and bitter mother, and even she doesn’t really seem to like him very much.  For those who don’t regularly read this comic strip, this is about as upbeat as it gets.

Garfield - 12.19.2008

I must admit, this made me laugh a bit - quite a feat for Garfield.

Gil Thorp - 12.19.2008

When I was growing up, my family owned a small store.  This was our method of crime prevention as well - A fake camera with a small red light.  It even had a cord that ran through the drywall and into the back room, where it abruptly ended.

Herb and Jamaal - 12.19.2008

Isn’t this former bum/millionaire the same as the “obnoxious white guy” they use from time to time in this strip?

Have a great weekend!

Congratulations Josh!

First, One Big Happy, now Archie.

The Comics Curmudgeon, who has single-handedly  helped thousands of people renew their interest in daily comic strips, has once again been featured in a comic strip, showing that some comic strip writers have a great sense of humor, even if their comics aren’t particularly humorous.

Notice Archie’s shirt, boldly proclaiming  his distaste for the AJGLU-3000.

I’ve decided to write a bit about some lesser-known comic strips that I enjoy reading every day, in the hopes that some readers will discover them for the first time. These aren’t vying for the best strips on the comics page, but they offer enough humor to make them worth mentioning.

Agnes is a black and white strip included in the Houston Chronicle’s array of online comic strips. It’s primarily about a girl named Agnes and her best friend. Agnes is constantly coming up with crazy ideas that her friend reluctantly goes along with. Like most of my favorite comic strips, Agnes usually offers somewhat subtle humor - not resorting to stupid punchlines like many legacy strips.

Like many strips, this is one easier appreciated if you read it every day. Check out the Agnes comic archive to see strips from the past several years.

I’ll try to post about other good strips in the near future.