Friday Five: Funny Papers

Thanks, PG, for this fun Friday Five!

After an exhausting election here in the states it's time for some spirit lifting! Join me with a nice cup of tea or coffee or cocoa and let's sit back and read the Funny Papers!

1. What was your favorite comic strip as a child?

Well, I always read Peanuts, of course, but for some reason I liked following all of the "soap opera" strips too, and I still do. (A bit of trivia: when my parents sold their house and moved into an apartment, they wound up in Apartment 3-G.)

2. Which comic strip today most consistently tickles your funny bone?
Nearly every day I laugh out loud at Get Fuzzy.
(ETA: Unlike me, Nachfolge took the time to show you why.)

3. Which Peanuts character is closest to being you?

Which Peanuts Character Are You?
	You are Schroeder. You are brilliant, ambitious, and brooding; you tackle tasks with extreme focus. People don't always interest you as much as other pursuits, though, so you can come off as aloof.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

I don't think this is accurate, though. Maybe the "brilliant, brooding, and aloof " part. ;)

4. Some say that comic strips have replaced philosophy as a paying job, so to speak. Does this ring true with you?

Well, I think that many of the most popular strips have addressed the mysteries and foibles of the human condition with humor--and that's why we have loved them.

5. What do you think the appeal is for the really long running comic strips like Blondie, Family Circus, Dennis the Menace as some examples?

They remind us of a time that seems to us now to have been gentler and more innocent, although it really was not much different than our own. Of the three examples given, Blondie is the only one that has become even slightly contemporary (e.g., Blondie now has a career, Dagwood has a computer on his desk). The gender roles in Dennis the Menace, for example, are preserved in amber, ca. 1955.

Bonus question: Which discontinued comic strip would you like to see back in print?

Oh, no, just one? How can I possibly choose among Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County, and The Far Side?

And now a little story: The time: summer of 1990. The place: a quiet (at least it was when we came in), attractive little restaurant in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, WA, where the Scientist and I were vacationing after attending a friend's wedding in Tacoma. At a nearby table were two couples, one about our age (early thirties) and an older couple who appeared to be the woman's parents. The younger man spent the entire meal loudly haranguing his in-laws about matters political and social. Everyone in the restaurant received the benefit of his opinions. Finally they finished eating and left, and again the little restaurant was quiet. Our waitress rushed over, all giddy, and gushed, "Do you read Bloom County?" "Used to," we replied. She nearly squealed. "That was Berke Breathed!"