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

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've been working on a submission for Mezzacotta's iToons webcomic. It's going to be a sequel to #100, which was a comic alphabet where each letter of the alphabet was represented by a different comic. However, unlike #100, I will be using just American newspaper comic strips - no webcomics, foreign-language strips, or manga.

Most of the decisions for which newspaper comic strip to use for which letter have been easy - Garfield is obviously G, Peanuts is obviously P, etc. But some letters have been more difficult to decide which strip best represents a letter.

I've written about it in more detail here: https://www.irregularwebcomic.net/draakslair/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=12316
But the short version is that I'm trying to pick the strip that's the most definitive/iconic/well-known/popular/long-lived, that sort of thing (definitive isn't the best descriptor, but I can't think of a better one). I've been trying to consider multiple factors, so that a strip that didn't run for as long but was more popular can be roughly equal to a long-running strip. I also don't want to discount strips that started and ended well before the majority of people who will see the completed submission were even born.

I previously ran a poll on this board for the letter F, with options such as The Far Side, The Family Circus, Foxtrot, Flash Gordon, Frank & Ernest, and For Better or For Worse. The results of the poll did not necessarily guarantee I'd use the winner in the completed submission, but they helped inform my decision.

Now I've come to another difficult decision: the letter S. Which comic strip do you think would be best to represent the letter S? Gut instincts and informed decisions are equally welcome.

Some info about the options:

• Sally Forth, created by Greg Howard, currently by Francesco Marciuliano and Jim Keefe - still running, in publication for 39 years, appears in ~700 newspapers globally
• Sam and Silo, created by Mort Walker and Jerry Dumas - ended, in publication for 39 years, was unable to find out its peak circulation numbers
• Sherman's Lagoon, created by Jim Toomey - currently running, in publication for 30 years, appears in ~250 newspapers in America, and an unknown number globally (across 30 countries)
• Shoe, created by Jeff MacNelly, currently by Gary Brookins and Susie MacNelly - currently running, in publication for 44 years, won the National Cartoonist Society's Reuben Award in 1979, was unable to find out its circulation numbers
• Side Glances, created by George Clark, later by William Galbraith Crawford - ended, in publication for 56 years, was unable to find out its peak circulation numbers
• Six Chix, a collaboration between six women cartoonists - currently running, in publication for 21 years, appears in ~120 newspapers
• Skippy, created by Percy Crosby - ended, in publication for 22 years. I'd never heard of it, but apparently it was really big stuff, spawning a radio show, a novel, multiple movies, and a brand of peanut butter. At one point the strip was earning the cartoonist more than the U.S. President made. It's cited as a big influence on Peanuts. Read the Wikipedia article, it's interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skippy_(comic_strip)
• Smitty, created by Walter Berndt - ended, in publication for 52 years, won the National Cartoonist Society's Reuben Award in 1969, was unable to find out its peak circulation numbers
• Slylock Fox & Comics For Kids, created by Bob Weber, Jr. - currently running, in publication for 34 years, appears in ~400 newspapers
• Stone Soup, created by Jan Eliot - ended, in publication for 25 years, appeared in ~250 newspapers worldwide

There are no wrong answers. Let me know what you think with a comment in addition to a vote, and if you know any other worthy contenders for the letter that I overlooked, please inform me.

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The only ones I've even heard of on this list are Shoe and Stone Soup.

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It's a bit difficult to judge since a lot of comics can be very regional. Most of these never appeared in my newspaper, for instance. That said my answer is going to be Slylock Fox, since out of all of these comics it's the only one I've ever seen parodied by someone else, which makes it notable in my eyes. Also, I feel like it would be the most interesting one to put in your idea since it would contrast the other comics and add variety due to the nature of it being a puzzle-themed comic.

I would also nominate the newspaper Spider-Man comic strip as a suggestion, as not only is that a well-known character but the specific series itself has been infamous for decades in memes and its general notoriety.

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I have only heard of Stone Soup and it is garbage

I'll be honest, the only one I recognize is "Shoe", and I couldn't have told you its name before looking it up.

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I feel like it has to be either Slylock Fox or Sally Forth

Its probably really Sally Forth, but Slylock might be the only chance in this alphabet to acknowledge that style of comic strip

Im sure there are other letters where soap strips can win
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Sally Forth is the only one of these I've heard of

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Ashethan posted...

I'll be honest, the only one I recognize is "Shoe", and I couldn't have told you its name before looking it up.

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Surprised there aren't more hugely popular strips that start with S.

I think it's probably Sally Forth. Consider that it's getting a good amount of votes despite the typical gamefaqs user probably not being its main target audience. (Slylock isn't either, but users would have been its target audience in the past)

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I only recognize Sam and Silo so that

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GameStonk posted...

I have only heard of Stone Soup and it is garbage

I'm surprised you think that. I own almost all the book collections and have been reading it for decades, and it's quite good.

I'm also surprised that there's currently a three-way tie for first place. It'll be interesting to see if it remains that way, or if one starts to soar ahead.

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I have to go with Slylock (even though I can never figure out the solutions!)

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Giving this a bump. Unbelievably, the three-way tie has gone from 10 votes each to 12 votes each.

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I've only heard of shermans lagoon, I enjoyed it as a kid

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Kenri posted...

Sally Forth is the only one of these I've heard of

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Still pretty close at the top, but Slylock is one ahead, now; 14-14-15, Sally, Shoe, Slylock respectively.

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Only heard of Shoe and Sherman's Lagoon, and out of those I only like Sherman's Lagoon, so that's what I picked.
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Daily bump. Top three are now 18-16-15, Sally, Shoe, Slylock respectively.

This is really helping, thanks everyone for voting!

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Grand Kirby posted...

I would also nominate the newspaper Spider-Man comic strip as a suggestion, as not only is that a well-known character but the specific series itself has been infamous for decades in memes and its general notoriety.

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I do not nominate the newspaper Spider-Man comic strip, because it is The Amazing Spider-Man, and thus should be in T or A.

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Daily bump. Top three are now 19-16-15, Sally, Shoe, Slylock respectively. Stone Soup is starting to come up, though, with 11 votes.

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Going to close the poll now. Thanks to everyone who voted, it helped me out with my decision.

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