Comics Aren't Always Funny

Across the Fence #536

I’ve always been a fan of newspaper comic strips, or as some people call them, “the funnies” or the “funny papers.” The funnies used to be filled with comic strips that had great artwork, good story lines, and lots of good humor. Maybe that’s why we call them the funnies.

Comic strips have changed over the years. That’s only natural because just about everything seems to be in constant change. Lately, I feel like I’ve been left behind and don’t understand the humor or lack of humor in many strips. Over the years many of my favorite strips have been dumped in favor of new, more modern and up-to-date strips. I’ve tried to get into the new strips, but many of them seem to be way over my head when it comes to understanding the humor in them. Call me an Old Fogey if you want, it won’t bother me.

This past Sunday, the day after Valentine’s Day, the cartoon strip “Retail” by Norm Feuti greatly offended me. I usually like the strip and have been following it for years. The art and writing are good, but this one crossed the line as far as I’m concerned. Perhaps many of you follow this strip too. 

On Sunday it dealt with Valentine’s Day and Cooper, one of the main characters, was reading a verse he had written for his girlfriend. It begins, “Violets are blue, roses are red, I’m glad you chose me instead of some other guy.” One part then goes on to say, “I’m glad you chose my wit and charm, and not some rube down on the farm, who smells like manure, and isn’t too bright, and commits felonies every Saturday night. But truly I’m glad that you picked me, because I know in reality, you’d never end up with guys like those, and I’m lucky to be the one you chose.”

"Retail" comic strip by Norm Feuti

Ok, that sounds like another put-down of farm and rural folks by big city, urban thinking. I find that offensive. I’m proud to say I grew up on a farm and am still a country boy at heart. I’m a rather “old” boy, but still a country boy. Yes, I’m one of those rubes down on the farm that he mentions, and yes I smelled of manure because we worked in the barn every day. I hate to admit it, but we only took a bath once a week because we didn’t get a bathroom in the house until I was a sophomore in high school. We had an old two-holer outside that worked just fine all year round. So I guess I’ll have to concede that I probably smelled like manure, but I wasn’t alone. There were a lot of us farm kids. 

Now as far as this rube not being too bright, that may be up for debate, depending who you talk to. I like to think I’m fairly smart. It’s my opinion that us farm kids who went to one room country schools had a wonderful education that prepared us for high school, college, and the work force. I think farmers have to be very smart. There’s always been a lot involved in farming and now they have to be tech-savvy too. Show me another job where you have to know as much about so many areas as in farming. 

Back to that Valentine poem, let’s look at the last statement… “and commits felonies every Saturday night.” I don’t know where he was going with that. I will admit, I used to have a bit of fun on Saturday nights with my friends, but I don’t think we ever committed any felonies. Even farm boys had to have fun once in a while.

  

I realize other cartoonists have found themselves on a hit list when they’ve poked fun at certain things in society. I won’t be putting out any hit list, but I did send the cartoonist a message that I was a regular reader of his strip and liked it. However, I told him I was disappointed with this particular cartoon and explained why. I then told him I’ve been a fan of cartoon strips since the days of Milton Caniff and an early Charles Schulz. He’ll probably think, “Boy, this guy is a really old geezer.” We’ll see if I get any response.

Just in case you’re wondering who Milton Caniff was, he drew two strips, Steve Canyon, and Terry and the Pirates. Charles Schulz drew one of my all time favorites, Peanuts. Other classic strips that I loved were Pogo by Walt Kelly, Li’l Abner by Al Capp, Gasoline Alley by Frank King, Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson, Prince Valiant by Hal Foster, For Better or for Worse by Lynn Johnston, B.C., and The Wizard of Id by Johnny Hart, Beetle Bailey by Mort Walker, Hagar the Horrible by Dik Browne, and my list could go on and on. I’ve got to include Willie and Joe cartoons by Bill Mauldin. Many of those cartoonists are gone now, but others have continued drawing their strips. Some of those strips are history. 

That short list of cartoons includes some wonderful artists and innovators in the world of cartooning. Just like life, cartoons can’t be funny all the time, but they’ve brought, and continue to bring, a lot of humor into a world that really needs to chuckle or laugh once in a while.

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