A Laughy
New Year
Cartoons
kill me. Perhaps a thirty three year old husband and father should
take things a little more seriously, but I can’t help giggling
at the funnies every morning when I pick up the paper. And then
I giggle at them on the internet during the day when I’m supposed
to be doing something productive. And then when I could be reading
some important piece of historical non-fiction or a biography that
weighs as much as my car, I giggle at the cartoons some more as
I page through the collections in my library. Here are a couple
of my recent favorites that will keep you laughing through the year:
The
Complete Far Side by Gary Larson
1266 pages???? What kind of kook puts
together a book with 1266 pages of cartoons and then expects the
public to pay over $100 for it? Gary Larson, maybe the funniest
guy ever, that’s who. This gorgeous coffee table book contains
every Far Side cartoon Larson’s ever done and also a great
Foreword by Steve Martin. Some don’t make sense, some will
make you smile and some will make you laugh out loud. Dropping $100
for arguably the funniest and most popular strip of the last twenty
years is a deal. (My favorite is the one where the kid is pushing
on the door that says “School For The Gifted” when he
should be pulling. Cracks me up every time.)
Who's
Up for Some Bonding? A FoxTrot Collection by Bill
Amend
If you aren’t familiar with
the Fox family, you are missing out. Middle class life has never
been portrayed more truthfully or as hilarious as in Amend’s
strips. Goofy parents, three distinctive kids and one creepy little
iguana make this one of the most successful strips of the past few
years. Amend’s take on the role of pop culture in the modern
family is dead on and he makes it funnier than most.
Pearls
Before Swine:
BLTs Taste So Darn Good by Stephan Pastis
Rat and Pig. Two living things most
of us hope never to find in our house, but when they arrive in the
funny section every day in the newspaper, I couldn’t be happier.
This is one of the newer strips out there, but also one of the funniest.
If they aren’t in your local paper, get the book and catch
up.
Blueprint
for Disaster: A Get Fuzzy Collection by Darby Conley
I’ve saved the best for last.
Rob, Satchel and Bucky are like part of my family. The ever frustrated
bachelor, the oh so sweet dog and the pain in the rear end cat are
never not funny. Simple as that. My day isn’t complete until
I’ve read the day’s strip. The offbeat references, Bucky’s
infatuation with monkeys and the life these three lead in a small
apartment are the best thing going in today’s comic strip
world. Pick up any of the collections to say you started reading
this series before it got huge. It’s almost there.
Wishing you many guffaws
and chuckles in 2004!
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