Do You Remember These Classic Comic Strips?

Popeye the Sailor Man has become a cartoon icon since his first appearance in 1929. The spinach-guzzling character has starred in comics, TV shows, feature films, video games, and countless advertisements. Still, we all have to start somewhere, and Popeye entered the scene as a minor character in E.C. Segar’s comic strip "Thimble Theatre." He became so popular that the strip was eventually renamed "Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye."

Fans of the Sunday funny pages might know them best as the mischievous boy and his dutiful, wise tiger, but cartoonist Bill Watterson drew inspiration for the names of his famous characters from 16th-century French theologian John Calvin and 17th-century British philosopher Thomas Hobbes. The comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” featured the seemingly childish duo often embodying larger existential debates, such as how best to live one’s life or the pros and cons of institutional systems.

The comic strip “Non Sequitur” has gone through many changes since its launch in 1992, but today, it features a traditional format with recurring characters and a focus on politics and satire. The clever strip, created by Wiley Miller, won four National Cartoonists Society awards, the only strip to do so during its first year of syndication. The Pyles family is frequently featured, but there are plenty of other recurring characters, such as Obviousman, a superhero who hates the overly obvious.

“FoxTrot” has followed the Fox family through years of holidays, vacations, and daily ventures since Bill Amend launched the comic strip in 1988. Roger and Andrea’s three kids have a heavy dose of sibling rivalry in the series, but sometimes, the kids gang up against their parents in classic generational spats.

Jeremy Duncan is your typical high school teenager; he’s moody yet kind, clashes with his parents, and in between naps and daydreams he plays in a band called “Goat Cheese Pizza.” Created by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman, “Zits” is set in suburban Ohio and has won multiple awards since its debut in 1997. The strip follows Jeremy as he balances his time between school, family, the band, and his girlfriend. Much of the humor comes from the often-embarrassing facets of being a teenager.

“Mother Goose and Grimm” centers around an unlikely duo: a yellow bull terrier named Grimmy, and his absentminded caretaker, Mother Goose (an anthropomorphic goose). Grimmy is a typical dog — lovable, but always causing trouble. Mother Goose, of course, lives in a giant shoe, along with Grimmy and their cat Attila. The comic strip launched in 1984 and creator Mike Peters has focused many jokes on current events and pop culture through the years.

This little red-bearded Viking broke records after the launch of Dik Browne’s comic strip in February 1973, when Hägar and his crew became the fastest-growing comic strip of all time. The main character and comic strip’s namesake, Hägar, looks like a fierce Viking warrior on the outside, but really, he’s a loving family man with all the same problems as a modern suburban father.

Created by American cartoonists Brant Parker and Johnny Hart, this comic strip’s title is a play on “The Wizard of Oz,” but its characters and themes are not related to the famous film. Since 1964, “Wiz” the friendly wizard has been working for the king of Id, a short-tempered, greedy dictator. Wiz is sarcastic, but good-natured, and works from his basement to fulfill the king’s commands. The strip features many lovable supporting characters and follows their daily struggles in the oppressed Kingdom of Id.

Dennis Mitchell is a young, freckle-faced boy who causes lots of trouble for his parents and neighbors. The pockets of his overalls are often filled with frogs, snakes, or his trusty slingshot. One of his favorite antics? Dressing up as Cowboy Bob. Dennis loves watching his favorite cowboy in TV Westerns and even has an autographed poster of him. The original “Dennis the Menace” comic strip by Hank Ketcham debuted on March 12, 1951, and still runs today.

“Doonesbury," a chronicle of Michael Doonesbury's life, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020. The award-winning comic strip has a unique feature: Its characters age in real-time. This allows Trudeau to write about current events from different generational views, especially politics. He has famously taken on several U.S. Presidents, including Richard Nixon during Watergate, and Bill Clinton during his impeachment.

“The Far Side” keeps readers on their toes. Creator Gary Larson didn’t want his comic strip to be character-based like so many others were at the time, so in 1979, he created a strip with surrealistic humor that always surprised readers with new ideas and characters. This quickly became part of its magic. Larson commonly uses anthropomorphic animals (especially cows), cavemen, and regular humans as his characters, but he never names them.

Before the comic strip “Garfield” was named after the famous orange tabby cat, it was called “Jon” after its main character and Garfield’s owner, Jon Arbuckle. As the pasta-loving feline’s role grew during the comic strip’s first year in print, creator Jim Davis switched the name to “Garfield.” A year later, on June 19, 1978, the comic strip premiered nationally; today it still follows Jon, Garfield, and the dog Odie through daily life.

In 1950, Charles M. Schulz created some of the most beloved comic characters of all time. The “Peanuts” comic strip ran in 75 countries and was translated into 21 different languages; its influence is indisputable. Lucy and Linus van Pelt were a brother-sister duo and part of the recurring gang centered around Charlie Brown. Linus was intellectual and expressed his opinions on ethical matters. He frequently carried his “security blanket” around with him and sucked his thumb for comfort. Schulz modeled Linus after one of his own children.

George Jetson spent his days toiling away for his small, angry boss, Cosmo Spacely, at Spacely Space Sprockets. Sprockets are a type of toothed wheel, like gears, except sprockets are specifically made so their teeth fit into a chain, like a bicycle. Spacely Space Sprockets may then be considered an artisanal toothed wheel manufacturer, compared to their chief rival Cogswell Cogs, whose name implies generic, garden-variety toothed wheels.

Calvin and Hobbes have been best friends for nearly 40 years thanks to Bill Watterson, who created this classic daily comic strip that ran from 1985 to 1995. The comic follows the antics of Calvin, a mischievous 6-year-old, and Hobbes, his tiger. Everyone besides Calvin sees Hobbes as an inanimate stuffed animal, but Calvin sees him as a living character.