The Non-Adventures of Wonderella by Justin Pierce

The Non-Adventures of Wonderella

Wonderella is a terrible superhero. She drinks, she ignores crises, and she'll endorse anything for a buck. This send-up of superheroes sees Wonderella fighting the likes of Hitlerella and Jokerella (or not, depending on what's on tv), failing to save her sidekick Wonderita from peril, and causing more problems than she solves. Readers who enjoy Wonderella will also enjoy R.K. Milholland's Super Stupor.

The Non-Adventures of Wonderella is online at nonadventures.com. Read from the beginning here.

Appeal: Superheroes, irony, parody, science fiction, humor

Art: In the style of paper cut-out cartoons like South Park or Monty Python. Parodies superhero designs

Text: Mature, non-sequitur, allusions to current events

Pierce, Justin. "The Non-Adventures of Wonderella." nonadventures.com. Web. 4 May 2014.

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.

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.