Safe Havens by Bill Holbrook

Safe Havens

Samantha Argus, 26, is the foremost expert in genetics at Havens University and perhaps in the world. In fact, she's cracked the code that lets ordinary humans transform into any living thing at the drop of a hat and has cloned a few dodos back to life. The world isn't quite ready for this knowledge yet, though, so she keeps it under wraps while she works as a dorm RA, professor, and researcher. But life isn't all boring-- her fellow RA is a talking cat, her husband's overseas agent is a time traveler, and her late grandmother can talk to her from heaven through any reflective surface.

Safe Havens began life as a syndicated comic strip in 1988, set in a daycare called Safe Havens. The characters have aged in real time and are having children of their own now. Dave Hamper grew into a professional basketball player and Samantha's husband; Thomas Volant is a Cirque du Soleil performer married to a mermaid, with a trapeze-swinging, half-fish son; and Bambi is a famous singer with plans to travel to Mars.

Safe Havens is available online at safehavenscomic.com. The first comic posted online is from October 2010.

Appeal: Science fiction, puns, black representation, anthropomorphism, adult relationships

Other: Bill Holbrook also writes Kevin & Kell, an anthropomorphic comic strip, and On the Fastrack, a strip set in the technology offices of Fastrack, Inc. Some characters from On the Fastrack appear in Safe Havens.

Holbrook, Bill. "Safe Havens." safehavenscomic.com. Web. 4 May 2014.

Dick Tracy by Chester Gould

Dick Tracy

Dick Tracy is a detective in a large city. From the the 1930s to tday, Tracy and his colleagues use science, forensics and good old-fashioned smarts to catch outrageous criminals like The Brow and Pruneface. Tracy gets help from a young orphan, Junior, whom he later adopts, Tracy's girlfriend and later wife Tess Trueheart, and an eccentric older actor named Vitamin Flintheart. The strip has evolved through the decades, adding contemporary elements to its basic police procedural, and Tracy's two-way wrist radio is now a wrist-computer, but the strip still runs in newspapers nation-wide. It is available online at gocomics.com.

Appeal: Mystery, detective stories, police procedural, classic, middle grade plus.

Art: Bold, caricature

Text: Police slang, expository

Other: Chester Gould created the strip and drew it until 1977. The strip has spawned radio shows, comic books, movies, television shows both live-action and animated, and books.

Awards: Chester Gould won the Ruben Award in 1959 and 1977, and a Special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1980. Dick Tracy was included in the Comic Strip Classics series of stamps from the United States Postal Service in 1995.

Locher, Dick,Collins, Max Allan., eds. The Dick Tracy Casebook: Favorite Adventures, 1931-1990. New York : St. Martin's Press, 1990. Print.

Heavenly Nostrils by Dana Simpson

Heavenly Nostrils

A strip about a girl named Phoebe and her best friend, a unicorn named Marigold Heavenly Nostrils. One day Phoebe is skipping rocks in the woods behind her house and she hits a unicorn by mistake. Phoebe's rock saved Marigold from staring forever at her own captivating reflection and in return, Marigold grants Phoebe one wish. Phoebe wishes for Marigold to become her best friend. Marigold is a magical, self-absorbed unicorn, and Phoebe is an imaginative and enthusiastic nine-year-old. Together they learn how to be friends in a world filled with candy-barfing dragons, goblins, video game-obsessed parents, and fourth-grade frenemies. Heavenly Nostrils is available online at gocomics.com.

Appeal: Magic, fantasy, sarcastic humor, unicorns, all ages.

Art: Flowing, modern

Text: Conversational, fantastical

Other: Dana Simpson also drew a webcomic called Ozy and Millie, populated by talking animals, with similar themes of elementary school philosophy and adventure. Ozy and Millie ran from 1998 to 2008, and is available online.

Simpson, Dana. "Heavenly Nostrils." gocomics.com. Universal Uclick, n. d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.

Stone Soup by Jan Eliot

Stone Soup

A strip about the life of a single working mother, Val, raising two daughters in a house with her sister, nephew, and mother. The sister, Joan, dates and eventually marries the man next door, Wally, who is raising his nephew, and they have a daughter together. The strip focuses on the joys and frustrations of family life and single parenthood. 12-year-old Holly wants to be an adult right now and tries to dress like it; Joan's lassez-faire attitude towards life and money management creates conflicts when she owes her sister rent; and grandma Evie is constantly thrilled at the delayed revenge visited upon her children by her grandchildren. It is available online at gocomics.com.

Appeal: Single mothers, family life, children, teenagers, middle grade plus

Art: Flat cartooning a la Charles Schulz, dynamic

Text: Dramatic, exclamatory

Other: Jan Eliot created the strip as a way to connect with and support single, working parents in ways that she did not have access to while raising her children and working. The strip occasionally features a book club consisting of the mothers from For Better Or For Worse, Rose Is Rose, Zits, and Alice from Dilbert.

Eliot, Jan. Stone Soup: The First Collection of the Syndicated Cartoon. Kansas City : Andrews and McMeel, (c)1997. Print.

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Calvin and Hobbes

Calvin and his best friend Hobbes, whom Calvin sees as a live tiger and whom everyone else sees as a stuffed animal, have lots of adventures. They explore in the woods, travel to Mars, fight with the girl next door, and make mayhem while discussing philosophy and life as seen from Calvin's six-year-old point of view. Calvin and Hobbes is available online at gocomics.com.

Appeal: Childhood mischief, imagination, environmentalism, philosophy, art, family friendly

Art: Calligraphic, dynamic, realism in some Sunday strips.

Textual style: Sarcastic, ironic, conversational.

Other: Bill Watterson is notoriously reclusive, and has given only a handful of interviews since the launch of Calvin and Hobbes. He refuses to allow merchandise or other media to be based on his comic strip.

Awards: Watterson has won numerous awards for Calvin & Hobbes, including the Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year in 1986 and 1988, Harvey Awards in 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1993 through 1996, and an Eisner Award for Best Comic Strip Collection in 1992. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes had a starred review in Publisher's Weekly.

Watterson, Bill. Attack Of The Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons. Kansas City, Mo. : Andrews And McMeel, 1992. Print. All.

Sylvia by Nicole Hollander

Sylvia

A sociopolitical and social gag-a-day comic whose star, Sylvia, comments on current events from the comfort of her bathtub, a restaurant booth, her typewriter, and the bar. Sylvia's friends and family join her for discussions and jokes about politics, gender issues, and mass media.

Appeal: feminism, satire, politics, adults

Art: Rough cartooning, bold lines, lots of background detail

Textual style: Ironic, satiric

Other: Sylvia started as a series of cartoons Hollander drew for a feminist magazine

Awards: In 1983 Nicole Hollander won the Wonder Woman Foundation Award for Women of Achievement Over 40.

Bloom County by Berke Breathed

Bloom County

A political commentary and satire starring the residents of a small-town boarding house. Characters include Milo, a ten-year-old newspaper editor, his pop culture-obsessed friend Binkley, womanizing lawyer Steve, wheelchair-bound veteran Cutter John, Bill the (mostly braindead), and Opus, a naive and optimisitic penguin. Throughout the strips they run for president, form heavy metal bands, protest unfair treatment of comic strip characters, die, come back to life, and generally lampoon 1980s politics. It is available online at gocomics.com.

Appeal: Political humor, 1980s pop culture references, absurdism, talking animals, satire adults.

Art: Dynamic expression and composition, fine use of color in Sunday strips.

Textual style: Sarcastic, ironically juvenile, loquacious.

Other: Steve and Cutter John starred in Berke Breathed's earlier comic The Academia Waltz. Breathed followed Bloom County's run with two related strips, Outland and Opus.

Awards: Breathed won the Pulitzer Prize in editorial cartooning in 1987. 

Breathed, Berke. Tales Too Ticklish To Tell: Bloom County. Boston : Little, Brown, 1988. Print.

The Boondocks by Aaron McGruder

The Boondocks

A political and social commentary comic about a young black boy and his family and friends in a middle class white suburb. Huey Freeman is intelligent and radically minded. His brother Riley is heavily influenced by gangsta rap and thug culture. Their grandfather was a Civil Rights activist and disagrees with both brothers' opinions on almost everything. The characters clash over and discuss current events in politics and the media. Huey hosts the "Most Embarrassing Black People Awards" each year, needles the naive biracial girl next door, and talks back to racism as it appears in the media.

Appeal: Liberal politics, black representation, satire, children in surreal situations, adults.

Art: Manga-influenced, the style changed slightly in 2003 when another artist took over drawing duty from the writer, Aaron McGruder.

Textual style: High-level vocabulary, heavily tied to current events, awash in irony and sarcasm. 

Other: The comic strip was adapted as an animated television show in 2005, and has aired four seasons to date. 

Awards: The animated adaptation won a Peabody Award in 2006.

McGruder, Aaron. Public Enemy #2: An All-new Boondocks Collection. New York : Three Rivers Press, 2005. Print.

Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel

Dykes to Watch Out For

A continuity and political and social commentary comic about a group of friends, mostly lesbians, in an American city. The characters age in real time from their 20s to their 40s, finding new partners, break up, losing and getting jobs, having children, and participating in political activism. Mo Testa is the main character, a neurotic, paranoid lesbian trying to survive in a world of conservative politicians and the threat of World War III. Mo's paranoia is balanced by her best friend Lois, a laid-back drag king with little interest in politics. By comparison, Lois's roommates Sparrow and Ginger often argue politics with partners and moms Clarice and Toni, who split their time between work, each other, and their son Rafael. 

Appeal: lesbian and queer representation, person of color representation, realism, liberal politics, ironic humor, adults.

Art: Cartoony, expressive, consistent throughout the run.

Textual style: Debate, diatribes, simultaneous conversations among multiple parties.

Other: Alison Bechdel has written two memoirs and drawn comics for many national magazines. She won the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2012.

Awards: The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For won a Publishing Triangle Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction in 2008, and had a starred review in Publisher's Weekly.

Bechdel, Alison. The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008. Print.

Dilbert by Scott Adams

Dilbert

A gag-a-day strip about computer engineers at the office. Characters include the titular Dilbert, his lazy coworker Wally, his more competent coworker Alice, their a clueless boss, Dilbert's megalomaniacal dog Dogbert, and various stereotyped professions (the accounting department, for example, is staffed by trolls). Dilbert has visited Elbonia, a technologically disadvantaged country waist-deep in mud; weathered his own dog's hostile takeover of his company; and struggled to find a woman interested in dating an engineer. It is available online at Dilbert.com.

Appeal: Work humor, sarcasm, cute animals in absurd situations, working life, for adults, revenge fantasies

Art: Absolutely clear lines, static, almost copy and paste.

Textual style: Sarcasm, pointing out the obvious to the oblivious.

Other: Scott Adams worked in banking and for AT&T for many years, office experiences that inspired Dilbert. He won the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award in 1997.

Awards: 1997 Harvey Award for best syndicated comic strip. 1998 Max & Moritz Prize for best international comic strip. 1996 and 1997 Zombie Award for best comics strip.

Adams, Scott. Casual Day Has Gone Too Far. Kansas City, Mo. : Andrews And McMeel, 1997. Print.

Frazz by Jef Mallett

Frazz

A strip about an elementary school in Ohio. Among the characters are the school janitor, a brilliant third-grader, and a grumpy, older teacher. The janitor, Frazz, is an ally to and advocate for the children of the school, particularly brilliant Caulfield, whose precocious nature and boredom at school often turn into pranks pulled on his grumpy teacher Mrs. Olsen. The characters make puns, literary references, philosophical queries, and messes as they explore the world around them and the people in it.This strip does not talk down to readers, and treats children as people in their own right. It available online at gocomics.com.

Appeal: Puns, literary references, child-related humor, humor that can be enjoyed on many levels, all ages.

Art: Cartoony, sketchy.

Textual style: Wit, repartee, word play.

Other: Jef Mallett is a bicyling and triathlon enthusiast like Frazz. The strip often references his heroes, such as Bill Bryson and Bill Watterson.

Awards: 2003 and 2005 Wilbur Award for Promoting Ethics and Positive Values.

Mallett, Jef. Frazz: Live From Bryson Elementary. Kansas City, Mo. : Andrews McMeel, 2005. Print.

Blondie by Chic Young

Blondie

A gag-a-day strip about middle-class white family in America. Hapless husband Dagwood provides much of the slapstick humor at work and at home, where wife Blondie and children Alexander and Cookie provide the rest. Dagwood is always late leaving the house, colliding with the mailman on his way out the door, gets fired every month (hired back immediately), and eats enormous sandwiches as a midnight snack. It is available online at Blondie.com.

Appeal: Slapstick humor, family life, all ages, kids.

Art: Clear lines, cartoony, constant throughout the strip's run.

Textual style: Short exclamations, some humorous irony.

Other: Chic Young grew up in St. Louis and attended the Art Institute of Chicago. He drew Blondie until his death in 1973.

Awards: The National Cartoonists Society's Billy DeBeck Award (later renamed the Reuben Award) in 1948. Blondie was one of 20 comic strips commemorated in the USPS Comic Strip Classics stamp series in 1995.

Young, Chic. 25 Years With Blondie: A Silver Anniversary Volume. New York : Simon And Schuster, 1958. Print.

For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston

For Better or For Worse

A continuity strip covering 30 years in the life of a middle-class white Canadian family and their friends. Babies are born, children grow up, parenthood's ups and downs are explored, and characters experience changes in and conflicts with spouses, families, jobs, children, and lives. Ellie, the mother, goes from being a full-time homemaker to a part-time toy store employee to the store owner. Michael grows from a toddler to a teenager to an adult with a family of his own. Elizabeth spends years figuring out what to do her life, and whom to spend it with. In one infamous story arc, the beloved family dog saves the youngest, April, from drowning in a river and dies in the attempt. This is a comic about family, love, hardship, and joy. It is available online at gocomics.com.

Appeal: slice-of-life, family drama, realism, family-friendly, middle grade plus

Art: Starts off sketchy but expressive, becomes more detailed in the middle years.

Textual style: Lots of exclamations and pronouncements, some sentimentality.

Other: Lynn Franks Johnston was born and raised in Canada, and attended the Vancouver School of Art. Over the course of her career she has been awarded several honorary doctorates, and been made a member of the Order of Canada, a member of the Order of Manitoba, and been inducted into the Canadian Cartoonist Hall of Fame and the National Cartoon Museum Hall of Fame.

Awards: The author has won the Reuben Award, the Gemini Award for Best Cartoon Series, and the National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Comic Strip Award.

Johnston, Lynn Franks. It's All Downhill From Here: A For Better Or For Worse Collection. Kansas City : Andrews, McMeel & Parker, (c)1987. Print.