three panels, no punchlines: ilx's comic strip nomination thread is now open

http://css.judykat.com/ken-judy/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/yellow_kid.jpg

Just in time for the summer - the ultimate comic strip poll! You can nominate anything that is published more frequently than once a month (so no comic books) in a serialized manner. Fair game are webcomics (Penny Arcade, Dykes to Watch Out For), traditional newspaper strips (Hagar the Horrible, Doonesbury), experimental tumblr/blog serialized stuff (Hark! A Vagrant, Girl Mountain), anything else that seems to fit this rubric. I'll let nominations run until July 5th, then voting until July 31st and I'll do the rollout/results in August. Nominations don't have to be ongoing but can be retired (Little Nemo, Krazy Kat), single or three panels okay despite the thread title (Far Side, Lockhorns). Irregularly published comics that are still in serial ongoing form (Achewood, PBF) are also allowed. I'm flexible about the restrictions, I just want to make sure Marvel/DC/indie graphic novel stuff isn't included.

Feel free to also use this thread to link to collections, or to post individual strips to champion. I hope I'm not forgetting anything. Nominate away!

can we only vote for things that are nominated? wondering if I post a list of really obvious stuff or not.

I'll accept any ballot, but feel free to nominate obvious stuff too just in case they get left out.

The Upside-Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffarroo

Sam's Strip

Barnaby!

First volume of the Fantagraphics reprint is finally out:

http://www.fantagraphics.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&category=Barnaby&Itemid=113

2 webcomics:

Bad Machinery (/giant days/scary go round/bobbins) http://www.scarygoround.com
Octopus Pie http://www.octopuspie.com

thank you for loving Pupkin

Krazy Kat better win this

I'll make the Hark! A Vagrant nomination official. Kate Beaton is probably my favorite new cartoonist of the century.

http://harkavagrant.com/

WilliamC OTM.

Dick Tracy
Popeye
Al Jaffee's Tall Takes
Li'l Abner
Little Orphan Annie
The Lockhorns
Beetle Bailey
NANCY

Peanuts
Bloom County
Calvin & Hobbes
The Boondocks

you know, just in case someone forgot one of these existed

I will admit to having a soft spot for CURTIS.

me too.

Little Nemo in Slumberland
Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend (creepy creepy!)

http://coopcatalyst.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/igopogo.jpg

Sluggy Freelance
Zippy
Blondie
Hi and Lois
Andy Capp
Hagar the Horrible
Curtis
Mother Goose and Grimm
Sally Forth
Funky Winkerbean
Doonesbury
Foxtrot
For Better or For Worse
Tank McNamara

lol xposts to the CURTIS LOVEFEST

Nancy is so great.

Bad Machinery (webcomic)
Scary-Go-Round (webcomic)
Giant Days (webcomic) (can you tell I'm a John Allison fan?)
Cul de Sac (newspaper strip, Richard Thompson)
Captain Easy
Wash Tubbs
Buz Sawyer (can you tell I'm a Roy Crane fan?)
Krazy Kat

will add more when I have time

Popeye

Thimble Theatre

I like '60s-'70s Odd Bodkins, I don't know what it's been like since. I gather he's still producing it?

Arnold. Only ran in about 50 papers in the mid-80s, and was kind of one-note, but it was a batshit note.

Great Pop Things
Dykes to Watch Out For

Moomin!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/effgeevee/moomins005.jpg

Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer
Pogo
Leviathan
The Pain - When Will It End?
Moon Mullins
Toonerville Folks
Flash Gordon
The Kin-der-Kids

xkcd

(*ducks*

The Perishers by Dodd and Collins
Bristow by Frank Dickens
Carol Day by David Wright
Garth by Frank Bellamy
Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell and Jim Holdaway
The Broons by Dudley Watkins

Polly and her Pals by Cliff Sterrett
Terry and the Pirates by Milton Caniff
Johnny Hazard by Frank Robbins
Sky Masters by Kirby and Wood
Tarzan by Burne Hogarth
Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond
B.C. by Johnny Hart
White Boy by Garrett Price
Life is Hell by Matt Groening
Ernie Pook's Comeek by Lynda Barry

kinda late to say this now i guess but we prob should list creators/artists with the strips -- like someone who voted for 'gasoline alley' might want to make it clear that they're voting for frank king's 'gasoline alley' and not that thing that still runs in the papers.

and that goes double for bushmiller's 'nancy,' which for 10 years looked like this:

http://bakertoons.blogspot.com/2012/09/nancy-by-jerry-scott.html

Bringing Up Father by George McManus
Howard the Duck by Steve Gerber and Gene Colan
The Angriest Dog in the World by David Lynch
Prince Valiant by Hal Foster

Mickey Mouse - Floyd Gottfredson

revised with creators:

Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer by Ben Katchor
Pogo by Walt Kelly
Leviathan by Peter Blegvad
The Pain - When Will It End? by Tim Kreider
Moon Mullins by Frank Willard
Toonerville Folks by Fontaine Fox
Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond
The Kin-der-Kids by Lyonel Feininger

This is going to be a tough vote. So many of these are wonderful. (Esp. Katchor)

Gasoline Alley by Frank King
Mafalda by Quino
The Family Upstairs by George Herriman
Skippy by Percy Crosby
Dennis the Menace by Hank Ketcham

Over the Hedge by Michael Fry & T. Lewis
Robotman by Jim Meddick (the original 1980s strip, before it was completely retooled as Robotman & Monty, later on just Monty)
Menage a 3 by Gisèle Lagacé & David Lumsdon
The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks
Jeff Hawke by Sydney Jordan
Bucko by Jeff Parker & Erika Moen

Here's a few Franco-Belgian strips I'm not sure are well-known in the Anglo world, but they're all classic, so they should be included:

Quick & Flupke by Hergé
Les frustrés by Claire Bretécher
Idées noires by Andre Franquin
Gaston by André Franquin

Oh yeah, thanks for nomming Mafalda, J.D.! That one'll rate high in my ballot.

The Heart of Juliet Jones by Stan Drake
Apartment 3-G by Alex Kotsky
Mary Perkins On Stage by Leonard Starr

- love this fifties/sixties johnstone and cushing affiliated post-raymond realist stuff - part soap opera, part mystery-gothic, all madison avenue fashion decor and props, beautifully observed and penned.

oooh burn

Despite its decade-plus run on the strip, hardly anyone remembers that Jerry Scott worked on this strip.

Fart Party by Julia Wertz
Magic Whistle by Sam Henderson

Cheech Wizard by Vaugh Bode

It's more well-known in collected form, but since it was also serialized first in a French magazine, I'll nominate Asterix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.

that's really stretching the definition of comic strip and opens a colossal can of froglegs, imho - fabulous tho Asterix is, obv

All the 2000AD stuff technically qualifies but doesn't seem right. Maybe a bit too broad in that case. Or maybe we do want it to be a silly sized scope.

it would frogslegs to Gemma Bovery by Posy Simmonds

Tuomas - was "Les frustres" the title of a regular strip or slot by Bretecher? (I only know her from translated collections, obv - Frustrations, More Frustrations, thence Women and other theme-based titles. Great title for an "umbrella" strip though!)

Unlike, which reminds me

Sick Sick Sick by Jules Feiffer

later Feiffer by Jules Feiffer

There was a Dredd half-page Sunday in the 80s, but the basic unit of 2000AD is the 8-page story or chapter. That's way beyond the scope of "strips".

length isn't defined in original post, only serialization more than once a month. I agree that aren't right but they do fit the definition.

wasn't there a dredd daily back then also? in the daily star iirc.

Life is Hell by Matt Groening

ward beat me to this nom by an hour but I have fond memories of reading this in the mid to late 80s and being in awe of how funny and right on it was. wish there was some complete collection available.. or is there? not much of it seems to be online. at least it seems like whenever I'm searching for a particular one, I can't find it.

Also, there might be some British ILXors old enough to have read the Lars strips when they originally ran in the papers...?

not me guv - what british newspapers did the moomins appear in (in my experience it's the books that ppl in the UK are really familiar w/)?

I'm with Tuomas, purely because I think most people would vote Tove without thinking, so there kind of isn't any point to having the other entry?

yeah in light of the rules i shd probably withdraw my nom for Alf Tupper, hadn't really understood the criteria at first

also, desperate dan and the bash street kids don't belong on the list. (all from brit comic books.)

This is what Wikipedia says:

The main series of Moomin comic strips were made directly for the British market: they were spread by the British Associated Newspapers comic strip syndicate and the original publisher was the Evening News newspaper. The series originally appeared in newspapers from 1954–1975. At its peak, Moomin appeared in over 40 countries and about 120 papers, with over 20 million readers daily, making it the most successful Finnish comic strip ever published.

AFAIK the whole strip came to be because some British newspaper syndicate asked Tove Jansson to produce Moomin comics, it British papers were always the prime market.

Also, apparently the whole idea that the Moomin comic should more adult-oriented than the books, and more a satire of current social phenomena, was something that was suggested by the British syndicate when they first asked Tove to create the strip.

(in my experience it's the books that ppl in the UK are really familiar w/)

same here. i didn't know there had been a newspaper strip until the d+q reprints.

the spirit had daily newspaper strips.

http://www.comicartville.com/spiritdaily1.jpg

maybe that was already mentioned...

The Evening News was a London only paper, although Associated had other regional papers where it could have been published. Associated's Daily Mail was home to the Flook strip by Trog (Wally Fawkes), which also featured a weird animal-like creature (and was written by people like George Melly, Barry Norman, Barry Took Compton Mackenzie and Humphrey Lyttleton - it should be reprinted!)

thanks scott, i'd totally forgotten about those spirit dailies (iirc there's not that much actual eisner involvement but i cld be wrong abt that)

Eisner had 0 or close to 0 hand in them AFAIR. I read some KSP floppy-format reprints, they were not v good

Ah yes, looks like D&Q has already published two books of solo Lars strips, with more to come.

Yes but out of the 7 ppl voting in this poll, you're the only one who's read them, and that's from years before the D&Q books (bcz you've been repping Lars on ILC that long!)

some of the bdsm/sub-dom stuff in those stories left me fucked up for life. wertham was right!

"No, you don't understand -- "a hubba" is my safeword!"

A lot of my favorites have been nominated, but if this is going to be a 50 ballot size, I have to nominate some more stuff

Dinosaur Comics, by Ryan North
Wondermark, by David Malki

keep them coming! any opinions about whether i should leave nominations open another week or just over the weekend?

Nemi FTW

you spelt WTF backwards

blecky yuckarella by johnny ryan

well, in that case, let's throw in Underworld by Kaz

http://goldbergcoins.auctionserver.net/images/lot/794863/0/lot794863.jpg

#dondi4ever

the one daily strip cartoonist i knew when i was a kid. lived in my town. his wife was my high school english teacher.

http://www.lambiek.net/artists/image/b/berrill/berrill_gt270867.jpg

dondi is good stuff

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rL4ZI-V0fmo/S0TbgpeHu9I/AAAAAAAABAw/Iohg_1wjoJ0/s1600/vices.jpg

struggled to find a SFW George and Lynne

http://www.art4comics.com/garth.jpg

Garth only marginally easier

http://www.billtidy.com/picoftheday/23092010152348.jpg

This is something else entirely

http://cdn.coollinesartwork.com/Images/Category_2/subcat_43203/WoodyA2.jpg

http://stwallskull.com/blog/images/crumbling_paper/crumblingpaper_billybragg.jpg

wait, Billy Bragg???

serious nomination for Apparently by Mike Barfield

http://procartoonists.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/apparently_2.jpg

Another Nom:

Sam's Strip by Mort Walker and Jerry Dumas. It's a meta comic strip about comic strips that ran from 1961-1963. I just got the collection a few months ago and it blew me away.

I don't think I've seen Angus Og mentioned yet by the Scottish contingent, and I thought Lobey Dosser was supposed to be the most famous thing ever (it's got a statue ffs which should put it up there beside Desperate Dan and Beryl the Peril, which is heady company).

The Angriest Dog in the World by David Lynch

The Angriest Dog in the World is a comic strip created by film director David Lynch. The strip was conceived by Lynch in 1973 during a period when he was experiencing feelings of great anger.[1]

Kenneth Anger's The Most Lynchian Dog in the World not quite as well known

oh god i loved angus og. I miss it so much even now

ok i don't think we're going to get any more nominations so consider this a last call and i'll post the voting thread tmmrw

post a full noms list first

ok, did i miss anything?

A Lesson is Learned but the Damage is Irreversible, by Dale and David
A Softer World, by Joey Corneau and Emily Horne
Achewood, by Chris Onstad
Acme Novelty Library, by Chris Ware
American Elf, by James Kolchalka
Amy & Jordan, by Mark Beyer
Andy Capp, by Reg Smythe
Angriest Dog in the World, by David Lynch
Angus Og, by Ewen Bain
Apartment 3-G, by Alex Kotsky
Apparently, by Mike Barfield
Arlo and Janis, by Jimmy Johnson
Arnold, by Kevin McCormick
Azumanga Daioh, by Kiyohiko Azuma
B.C., by Johnny Hart
Bad Machinery, by John Allison
Barnaby, by Crockett Johnson
Beetle Bailey, by Mort Walker
Berger & Wyse, by Joe Berger and Pascal Wyse
Blecky Yuckarella, by Johnny Ryan
Blondie, by Chic Young
Bloom County, by Berkeley Breathed
Bluey and Curley, by Alex Gurney
Boob McNutt, by Rube Goldberg
Bringing Up Father, by George McManus
Bristow, by Frank Dickens
Bucko, by Jeff Parker & Erika Moen
Buster Brown, by Richard F. Outcault
Buz Sawyer, by Roy Crane
Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Watterson
Captain Easy, by Roy Crane
Carol Day, by David Wright
Cheech Wizard, by Vaugh Bode
Clare in the Community, by Harry Venning
Conchy, by James Childress
Cul de Sac, by Richard Thompson
Curtis, by Ray Billingsley
Dal Tokyo, by Gary Panter
DAR: A Super Girly Top Secret Comic Diary, by Erika Moen
Death to the Extremist, by Michael Zole
Dennis the Menace, by Hank Ketcham
Desperate Dan, by Dudley Watkins
Dick Tracy, by Chester Gould
Diesel Sweeties, by Richard Stevens
Dilbert, by Scott Adams
Dinosaur Comics, by Ryan North
Donald Duck, by Al Talliaferro and Bob Karp
Dondi, by Gus Edson and Irwin Hasen
Doonesbury, Garry Trudeau
Dream of the Rarebit Fiend, by Winsor McCay
Dry Bones, by Yaakov Kirschen
Dykes to Watch Out For, by Alison Bechdel
Ernie Pook’s Comeek, by Lynda Barry
Ettamogah Pub, by Ken Maynard
Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, by Gilbert Shelton
Family Circus, by Bil Keene
Fart Party, by Julia Wertz
Flash Gordon, by Alex Raymond
Flook, by Wally Fawkes
Footrot Flats, by Murray Ball
For Better or For Worse, by Lynn Johnston
Foxtrot, by Bill Amend
Frank and Ernest, by Bob Thaves
Funky Winkerbean, by Tom Batiuk
Garfield Minus Garfield, by Dan Walsh
Garfield, by Jim Davis
Garth, by Frank Bellamy
Gasoline Alley, by Frank King
Gaston, by Andre Franquin
George and Lynne, by Conrad Frost
Get Fuzzy, by Darby Conley
Get Your War On, by David Rees
Giant Days, by John Allison
Ginger Meggs, by Jimmy Bancks
Girl Mountain, by Simon Hanselmann
Great Pop Things, by Colin B. Morton and Chuck Death
Guick & Flupke, by Hergé
Hagar the Horrible, by Dik Browne
Hark! A Vagrant, by Kate Beaton
Hi and Lois, by Mort Walker
Hogan’s Alley, by Richard F. Outcault
Home-Clubber, by Jon Link and Mick Bunnage
Howard the Duck, by Steve Gerber and Gene Colan
Idées noires, by Andre Franquin
If..., by Steve Bell
Jeff Hawke, by Sydney Jordan
Jim’s Journal, by Scott Dikkers
JL8, by Yale Stewart
Johnny Hazard, by Frank Robbins
Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer, by Ben Katchor
King Aroo, by Jack Kent
Krazy Kat, by George Herriman
Lady Luck, by Klaus Nordling
Later Feiffer, by Jules Feiffer
Les frustrés by Claire Bretécher
Leviathan, by Peter Blegvad
Li’l Abner, by Al Capp
Life is Hell, by Matt Groening
Little Lulu, by Marge
Little Nemo, by Winsor McCay
Little Orphan Annie, by Harold Gray
Lobey Dosser, by Bud Neill
Loomus, by Steven Appleby
Luann, by Greg Evans
Maakies, by Tony Millionaire
Mafalda, by Quino
Magic Whistle, by Sam Henderson
Male Call, by Milton Caniff
Marmaduke, by Brad Anderson
Mary Perkins On Stage, by Leonard Starr
Maxwell the Magic Cat, by Alan Moore
Medium Large, by Francesco Marciuliano
Menage a 3, by Gisèle Lagacé & David Lumsdon
Mickey Mouse, by Floyd Gottfredson
Miss Peach, by Mell Lazarus
Modesty Blaise, by Peter O’Donnell and Jim Holdaway
Moomin, by Tove Jansson (and Lars Jansson)
Moon Mullins, by Frank Willard
Mother Goose and Grimm, by Mike Peters
Mutt and Jeff, by Bud Fisher
My New Fighting Technique is Unstoppable, by David Rees
Nancy, by Ernie Bushmiller
Octopus Pie, by Meredith Gran
Odd Bodkins, by Dan O’Neill
Oglaf, by Doug Bayne and Trudy Cooper
Oor Wullie, by Dudley Watkins
Order of the Stick, by Rich Rurlew
Over the Hedge, by Michael Fry & T. Lewis
Peanuts, by Charles Schulz
Perry Bible Fellowship, by Nicholas Gurewitch
Pictures for Sad Children, by John Campbell
Pogo, by Walt Kelly
Polly and her Pals, by Cliff Sterrett
Popeye, by E.C. Segar
Prince Valiant, by Hal Foster
Pros & Cons, by Kieran Meehan
Pupkin, by Bobby Crosby
Red Meat, from the secret files of Max Cannon
Robotman, by Jim Meddick
Rock’n’Roll Zoo, by Savage Pencil
Rockets Passing Overhead, by Steven Appleby
Sally Forth, by Greg Howard
Sam’s Strip, by Mort Walker
Scary Gary, by Mark Buford
Scary Gary, by Mark Buford
Scary-Go-Round, by John Allison
Sick Sick Sick, by Jules Feiffer
Skippy, by Percy Crosby
Sky Masters, by Kirby and Wood
Sluggy Freelance, by Pete Abrams
Something Positive, by R. K. Milholland
Steve Canyon, by Milton Caniff
SuperMutant Magic Academy, by Jillian Tamaki
Tall Tales, by Al Jaffee
Tank McNamara, by Jeff Millar
Tarzan, by Burne Hogarth
Terr’ble Thmopson, by Gene Deitch
Terry and the Pirates, by Milton Caniff
The Adventures of Superhero Girl, by Faith Erin Hicks
The Angriest Dog in the World, by David Lynch
The Bash Street Kids, by Leo Baxendale
The Boondocks, by Aaron McGruder
The Broons, by Dudley Watkins
The Family Upstairs, by George Herriman
The Far Side, by Gary Larson
The Heart of Juliet Jones, by Stan Drake
The Inventions of Professor Lucifer G. Butts, A.K. by Rube Goldberg
The Katzenjammer Kids, by Rudolph Dirks
The Kin-der-Kids, by Lyonel Feininger
The Lockhorns, by Bill Hoest
The Pain - When Will It End?, by Tim Kreider
The Perishers, by Dodd and Collins
The Phantom, by Lee Falk
The Spirit, by Will Eisner
The Stephen Collins Cartoon, by Stephen Collins
The Upside-Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffarroo, by Gustave Verbeek
The Wizard of Id, by Johnny Hart and Brant Parker
Tijuana Bibles, by Various Artists
Toonerville Folks, by Fontaine Fox
Tracts, by Jack Chick
Troubletown, by Lloyd Dangle
Underworld, by Kaz
Wash Tubbs, by Roy Crane
Washingtoon, by Mark Alan Stamaty
White Boy, by Garrett Price
Wondermark, by David Malki
xkcd, by Randall Munroe
Zippy the Pinhead, by Bill Griffith
Zits, by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Later Feiffer, by Jules Feiffer

this could just be Sick, Sick, Sick / Feiffer by Jules Feiffer

(the former was later titled just Feiffer)

also THIMBLE FUCKIN' THEATRE, surely that was nommed

bcz it's the best strip of all time

also, desperate dan and the bash street kids don't belong on the list. (all from brit comic books.)

― sleepingsignal, Friday, June 28, 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

tt is listed as popeye

Calculus Cat

eh, i suppose that was never really a proper, strip-form comic. citymouth half fits the bill, but i don't love it the same way. ne'er mind

a proper, strip-form comic like 90% of this list of webcomics

oh ffs if we're mainly doing webcomics LEISURETOWN by Tristan Farnon

Or just make up a name for it, as with Popeye

i apologize for the amateurish look of the nomination thread and i hope the staff gets everything into tip-top shape by the time the rollout happens

so stoked for this thread, thanks for doing it mordy!

in fairness 'thimble theatre' did eventually get its name changed to 'popeye,' not till some time after segar's death tho i think.

bump, voting has been happening over at:

golf, amirite? ilx's comic strip voting thread is now open