Board 8 > Which newspaper comic strip starting with "F" is the most definitive?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm a regular contributor to Mezzacotta's Square Root of Minus Garfield and iToons webcomics (links in my signature). iToons is approaching its 500th strip, and I've been working on something special to commemorate the number. The idea to represent each letter of the alphabet with a newspaper comic strip (just US/UK ones) that starts with that letter. I've made a thread on Mezzacotta that goes into it in a bit more detail: https://www.irregularwebcomic.net/draakslair/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=12316

Some strips are more obvious choices than others. Peanuts is obviously going to be P, Garfield is obviously going to be G. Both are worldwide phenomena whose popularity are undeniable. My problem is, many letters have quite a few notable comic strips, any of which could make it into iToons #500. And I can't decide how to rank them against each other. I thought it might be worth coming up with a formula that takes into account peak popularity, cultural impact, longevity, newspaper distribution, etc., but I have no idea how to make one that'd be fair.
For example, look at the first two contenders below. The Far Side had a higher peak popularity, but The Family Circus has been around for over 4 times as long. The Far Side is often considered one of the funniest strips of all time, while The Family Circus has been unfunny for decades. Both have had a significant impact on American culture, in their own way. How do you compare those?

My ultimate goal is to be able to say, "G is for Garfield," in the same way that you'd put in a children's alphabet book, "A is for Apple." Basically, a more-or-less definitive answer, one that no one can argue with. Putting "A is for Asbestos" in a children's alphabet book is technically accurate, but there were definitely better options. See what I mean?

Anyway, I'm looking for help. Each of the strips in this poll have their own claim to fame, and I can't decide which one to use.

The Contenders:

1. The Family Circus: Published for 61 years, appeared in 1500 newspapers
2. The Far Side: Published for 15 years, appeared in 1900 newspapers
3. Flash Gordon: Published for 69 years. The only figure I can find says it was published in 100 newspapers, but that it was read by 50 million people, because this was back when there were fewer newspapers and they were much bigger and higher-quality (well, the comics pages at least were)
4. For Better or For Worse: Published for 29 years, appeared in 2000 newspapers
5. Foxtrot: Published for 33 years, appeared in 1200 newspapers
6. Frank and Ernest: Published for 49 years, appeared in 1200 newspapers
7. Funky Winkerbean: Published for 49 years, appeared in 400 newspapers

Numbers all taken from Wikipedia. If anyone knows of a better source, I'd love to have it.

The winner of this poll won't automatically be the one I end up using, but will definitely influence the final decision. I'm mostly looking to spark discussion and get some feedback about the whole thing. Please leave a comment with your thoughts.

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oh dang it's already time for my every couple years' remembering that mezzacotta exists

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Family Circus is terrible but its probably Family Circus. I still voted for Far Side.

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KelpTheGreat posted...

3. Flash Gordon: Published for 69 years.

Nice.

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One of the first two.

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Foxtrot came to mind before I saw the poll, so I voted for that.

I tend to forget Far Side was in the papers, since I usually see it in collections of the comics.

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Foxtrot was the first to come to mind, but I know its not correct.


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ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Foxtrot was the first to come to mind, but I know its not correct.

yeah, this. Family Circus has to be it, I think. Although Far Side is also probably worth discussing.

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If it's just which one is the most well known to the general public, it's Family Circus.

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I'd say Far Side.

I don't think length matters too much. I mean Calvin and Hobbes is probably THE C comic strip (I guess Cathy could have an argument) and it lasted only 10 years. Also Far Side sold more calenders than Family Circus sold compilations (Like 13 million vs 45 million)

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Field, Garf
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I don't like the usage of the word "definitive" here

but it's probably Family Circus. I would have said Far Side if it had been around longer.

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This post in the topic you linked swayed me

I would support either The Far Side or Family Circus for F. They're both iconic. I would lean toward Far Side, because it changed the comics page to an extent that I doubt Family Circus ever did and because I doubt any of the Far Side imitators are going to show up in your list.

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colliding posted...

I don't like the usage of the word "definitive" here

Yeah, I hemmed and hawed between using "iconic," "most important," and a few other adjectives. But I think "definitive" works well for what I'm trying to accomplish.

Jakyl25 posted...

I would lean toward Far Side, because it changed the comics page to an extent that I doubt Family Circus ever did

This is probably true, but that's only within the last few decades. As I said in that topic, the problem is that there are many iconic strips from older generations. What about Flash Gordon? (BTW, there was a typo in my OP. Wikipedia says it was in 130 newspapers, not 100.) @Ashethan brought up The Far Side selling more calendars than The Family Circus selling collections, but if we look at media beyond the strip itself, Flash Gordon is more successful than those two put together. It had multiple movies, live-action tv shows, animated shows, radio plays, stage plays, video and tabletop games, novels, and even a ride at the World's Fair. But almost all of that was well before (I'm betting) most of the users on this board were born, and the property isn't really well-known today.

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I went with For Better or Worse, but I think that's more of a generational thing than anything definitive. I'm also glad that nobody voted for Funky Winkerbean because some of those strips still make me angry. (Seriously, choosing Tae Bo to beat up thugs instead of Tae Kwon Do or something, ANYTHING, better suited for combat? Burn in Hell, Batiuk.)

Uglyface2 posted...

(Seriously, choosing Tae Bo to beat up thugs instead of Tae Kwon Do or something, ANYTHING, better suited for combat?)

I don't read the strip and don't know what you're referencing, but isn't it more badass that they beat up thugs using an incredibly unsuitable method? What's more awesome: beating up thugs with nunchucks, or beating up thugs with two wet noodles tied together with a piece of yarn? =P

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Still looking for feedback and opinions, so I'll give this a bump.

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I have some feedback, but you probably wont like it.

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redrocket posted...

I have some feedback, but you probably wont like it.

If it's criticism about my other, already-published Mezzacotta strips, that ship has sailed. XD

But if it's about the proposed strip and the scope of this topic, I'd prefer to hear it.

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H better be Heathcliff
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KelpTheGreat posted...

If it's criticism about my other, already-published Mezzacotta strips, that ship has sailed. XD

But if it's about the proposed strip and the scope of this topic, I'd prefer to hear it.

I just think that the one strip per letter of the alphabet deal is too gimmicky and a Top X strips of all time would be more meaningful.


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redrocket posted...

I just think that the one strip per letter of the alphabet deal is too gimmicky and a Top X strips of all time would be more meaningful.

Well, as I said in the forum thread that I linked:

For #500, what I wanted to do was an unofficial sequel to #100, The Comic Alphabet, but with just syndicated newspaper comic strips (probably just US/UK strips).

See, it's already been done before: https://www.mezzacotta.net/itoons/?comic=100

Also, doing a "Top X strips of all time" wouldn't really be a comic. That sort of thing would be better handled as an actual list/article, where you can go into detail about why each strip was important and stuff.
Doing it this way is paying homage to the traditional children's alphabet books that many people grew up with, while also being interesting to look at in its own right.
But that's just my opinion, and I appreciate you offering yours.

One gimmick that #100 did that I'm not doing is finding a panel from the strip in question where the dialogue starts with the same letter. My strip is going to just be title panels (probably from Sundays) that have the strip's name.

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I voted Foxtrot simply because it's the one I read the most of.

But The Far Side probably outstrips it in influence.

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ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Foxtrot was the first to come to mind, but I know its not correct.

Not at all. There's not really any "correct" answer to the question, which is why I'm having so much trouble in the first place. =P Whichever comic jumps immediately to mind is a perfect method of picking a suitable representative, like how many people will say "apple" if I ask them "A is for..."

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Giving this a bump.

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Last bump for this one. Gonna have to make a decision, then I'll start worrying about the other troublesome letters...

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