Greatest Comic Strip of All Time
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ParadigmShifter
Random Nonsense Generator
Calvin and Hobbes is the best of the comics in the last 40 years. Watterson said his three inspirations were Pogo, Peanuts and Krazy Kat. Never read Krazy Kat, so can't comment on that.
I vote Pogo. I'm willing to bet a number of voters have never read it. Walt Kelly also deserves credit for lampooning McCarthy when that was a dangerous thing to do (Pogo was often a political strip, that more than once got him in trouble with editors).
Older strips do have an advantage in that the strips weren't being squeezed into smaller and smaller spaces. Watterson complained about this.
I vote Pogo. I'm willing to bet a number of voters have never read it. Walt Kelly also deserves credit for lampooning McCarthy when that was a dangerous thing to do (Pogo was often a political strip, that more than once got him in trouble with editors).
Older strips do have an advantage in that the strips weren't being squeezed into smaller and smaller spaces. Watterson complained about this.
ParkCungHee
Deity
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Why are action strips so underrepresented?
Good question. I have a couple of guesses.
One is that people prefer simple humor in a comic strip. They have an automatic tendency to look for humor in comics. Also, the more recent humor strips, starting with Peanuts, have more blank space which attracts the people and can be scanned quicker.
Most of the posters here are younger. Action strips take a greater beating every time the newspapers cut the space for individual strips. Humor strips are hurt, but not as much as action strips that normally demand more detailed artwork. Like Pogo, a lot of people may not have seen the older action strips.
Competition from other media. Humor depends often upon simple points and dialogue that either a strip or show or movie can present. Calvin and Hobbes wouldn't fit well into a movie format. Almost any action strip could be shown in a movie format to probably greater effect.
Action strips also demand greater involvement. Story lines may take months, demanding that the reader keep reading daily (or weekly). Comedy strips can often be picked up after a layoff of a week or two. Even the consistent stories (rarely over a couple of weeks) have a humorous point every strip.
Regretfully, the great age of the action strips in particular and comic strips in general is probably in the past. More competition from other media and the shrinking of space in newspapers. Similar to cartoons - we'll never see the like of Disney in the 30's or Warners and MGM in the late 40's and 50's again. I'm a little older so I do feel nostalgic for these art forms.
ParadigmShifter
Random Nonsense Generator
Tintin was OK.
Garth, not so much.
Garth, not so much.
Abaddon
Deity
Where is C&H? 
ParadigmShifter
Random Nonsense Generator
@Abaddon: In first place?
You have to buy the Daily Express in the UK to read it though, which means you are an idiot. Sometimes pubs have the Daily Express on the bar though.
You have to buy the Daily Express in the UK to read it though, which means you are an idiot. Sometimes pubs have the Daily Express on the bar though.
classical_hero
In whom I trust
Heretic_Cata
We're gonna live forever
Have you seen any xkcd comic from the last 6+ months ?
As much as I loved Calvin and Hobbes growing up, I like them even more as an adult -- because now I get all the little jokes.
_random_
Jewel Runner
The least recent XKCD:
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The most recent XKCD:
I'd say there's an overall trend uphill.
