5 Favorite Comic Strip Characters

This Luann comic strip comes from May 23, 2003. I love the give and take between Luann and
her brother Brad here. She is trying to give Brad advice about a woman named Toni. I clipped
this out and put it on my refrigerator, where it has yellowed with age.

It's not easy coming up with a list of favorite comic strip characters. I find it easier to make a list of favorite comic strips in general, but having to come up with characters made me think a little and that's never a bad thing.

Here are my 5:

1. Charlie Brown. Snoopy seems to be the star of the Peanuts strip, and I like him, but not as much as Charlie Brown. Charlie should have a complex given the number of times Lucy has pulled the football away from him every time he tries to kick it and the way he gets his clothes knocked off every time he takes the pitcher’s mound. His friends even chide him for picking the sickly looking Christmas tree. But he stays true to what he believes and he never gives up.

2. Garfield. He takes laziness to a new level – even for cats. Be he’s not always consistent in his laziness or eating habits. He befriends mice rather than eats them, but if a spider gets anywhere near him, he smacks it dead with a newspaper. Garfield acts like a human. He walks on his hind legs, he eats people food (pizza and lasagna seem to be his favorites) and he even gives his owner a hard time about his lack of dating success. He’s a caricature of the way we treat our pets – like humans, and I say that without any judgment.

3. Jeremy from Zits. His big shoes crack me up. So do his friends – one of whom is named Pierce (presumably because he has his eyebrows, ears, nose and lip pierced). Jeremy is a typical teenage boy – he’s in a band, he speaks a different language than his parents, he’s wrapped up in technology and he complains about everything. But he’s likable and he’s funny.

4. Brad from Luann. I like Brad for a number of reasons. First, I love his banter with his sister, Luann (see the strip above). Second, he became a firefighter because of the events of 911 and it changed him from a guy who was a slouch to a hardworking professional. Third, I enjoyed the way he fumbled for words after he met Toni, a female firefighter, and attempted to make her his girlfriend. I think every guy can relate to that.

5. Cathy. I haven’t seen this strip in a while. I’m not even sure if my local paper still carries it, but the way she stresses over every relational aspect of her life makes her relatable.

Who are your 5 favorite comic strip characters?