HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: Chicago Tribune Comics Section
Date: 16 Apr 92 20:19:58 GMT
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations

My turn:

>>>>>>>The Far Side                      B- B+ A+ A+ A  A  A- A
>>>>>>>Peanuts                           B  B  B  B  B  A- B- C-
>>>>>>>Dick Tracy                        B- B- D  D  C  C  C- x
>>>>>>>Brenda Starr                      C  D  F  F  D  C- D  x
>>>>>>>Walnut Cove                       B+ D  ?  ?  F  C- ?  x
>>>>>>>Fox Trot                          A  A- A  ?  A  A+ A  A-
>>>>>>>Broom Hilda                       B- C  C  C+ D  D  C- C-
>>>>>>>Barney Google and Snuffy Smith    F  D  F  D- F- F  C- F
>>>>>>>Sylvia                            C  B  D  ?  I  D+ A- A-
>>>>>>>Geech                             C+ B  C  ?  C+ D- ?  C+
>>>>>>>Gasoline Alley                    D  D  F  F  D  D  F  x
>>>>>>>Fred Basset                       C  B  C  D- F  C- ?  F
>>>>>>>Amazing SpiderMan                 B+ C  B  C- C  A- C- D
>>>>>>>Mother Goose & Grimm              A  A  B  A- B  B+ B  B
>>>>>>>Mister Boffo                      B  A- B  ?  B+ B- ?  A-
>>>>>>>Winnie Winkle                     C- D  ?  D  D  D- ?  x
>>>>>>>The Buckets                       A- F  ?  ?  C  D  ?  D
>>>>>>>Doonesbury                        B- A  A+ B  B+ C+ A- A+
>>>>>>>Blondie                           D+ C  C  B- C  C  C+ C 
>>>>>>>Shoe                              B- A  C  B+ C+ B  B- B
>>>>>>>Calvin & Hobbes                   A+ A  A  A+ A+ A  A+ A+
>>>>>>>Pogo                              B- B+ C  ?  C- D+ B+ B-
>>>>>>>For Better Or Worse               B+ D- A  A- A  B  A- B-
>>>>>>>The Phantom                       C+ D  C  ?  C- B- ?  x
>>>>>>>Beetle Bailey                     C- C  C  B- C  B  C- D
>>>>>>>Hi and Lois                       C  D  C  D+ D  C  D  D
>>>>>>>Cathy                             B- B  D  D  D  B- C- B-
>>>>>>>Hagar The Horrible                C  C+ B  B- C  B- B+ D
>>>>>>>The Lockhorns                     D+ F  D  ?  F  D  D  D-
>>>>>>>Gil Thorpe (in Sports section)    B- D  ?  ?  C- D  ?  x

Formerly from Houston, I miss Tank McNamara, also.  Jeff Millar is one
of the funniest movie reviewers ever, and he wrote a damn good column for
the Houston Chronicle.

I'm really surprised at all of the good grades for Peanuts, I suspect it's
a result of nostalgia.  It certainly isn't because they've done anything
funny in the last few months.

I liked Pogo a year ago, but the new writers completely de-politicized it,
and now it's just much too cutesy.

Beetle Bailey is just simply offensive at times, and not all that funny.

The Tribune is missing Dilbert, Robotman, and Zippy the Pinhead.
-- 
Ted Frank          + "Question whether attorney's filing claim for 'stud fee'
1307 E 60 St, #109 +  as countersuit to paternity action was improperly
U o' C Law Skool   +  motivated required remand."  Headnote 9, Committee on
Chi, IL 60637      +  Legal Ethics of WVa State Bar v Douglas, 370 SE2d 325.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: arielle@taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva)
Subject: Re: The Best Far Side cartoon
Organization: Taronga Park BBS
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 18:43:35 GMT

In article <1992Apr11.020932.25120@eff.org>, hshubs@eff.org (Howard Shubs) writes:
> This isn't strictly related, but this is a low activity group so I'm going
> to post it:

Low activity?  I've gotten 164 posts in 2 days.

ObComics:  No one has mentioned Pizarro.  Interesting strip -- with an
even more off-beat brand of humor than the Far Side.
-- 
Stephanie da Silva                        Taronga Park * Houston, Texas
arielle@taronga.com                           568-0480   568-1032   
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: wmorgan@stsci.edu (Windsor A. Morgan)
Subject: Re: The Best Far Side cartoon
Keywords: far side gary larson
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 16:49:38 GMT

In article <7467@uqcspe.cs.uq.oz.au> warwick@cs.uq.oz.au writes:
>What is your FAVOURITE Far Side cartoon?

I don't know about favorite, but one that is up there (and *really*
should be turned in to a birthday card -- I haven't seen it *yet*) is
the one where we have a lot of animals around a bear in a state
trooper's hat.  The bear's eyes are either covered or closed, and the
animals are covering their mouths, trying very hard to keep from
laughing.  In front of the bear is a cake with lit candles which look
like trees.  And above it all, in the background, is the sign which
reads...



"Happy Birthday, Smokey"

When I saw this, I lost all composure.  And I have never seen it as a
birthday card (though I believe it is in one of the books).
-- 
'Verily, there be no leader as wise as the Vision!'
                         Windsor Morgan (wmorgan@stsci.edu OR NHT@PSUVM.BITNET)
                         Space Telescope Science Institute
                         Baltimore, MD   21218
From: roise@milton.milton.u.washington.edu (Linda Roise)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: Family Circus
Date: 8 Apr 92 02:23:32 GMT
Organization: Seattle University

In article <1992Apr07.192516.230591@cs.cmu.edu> kji+@SPEECH1.CS.CMU.EDU (Kathi Iannamico) writes:

   I hate that syrupy piece of crap.  It used to be good years ago, but now
   it's nauseating.
   And what is this guy's hang-up with dead people?

It's fun to get in on the beginninf of a newsgroup.  Thre were several
echoes of this sentiment about "Family Circus."  Most of the early
posters seem to love "Calvin and Hobbes," as do I.  NOBODY has mentioned
"Kathy."   

Which brings me to an observation about humor.  Perhaps great humor is
like great art--it either speaks to an age or a generation, or it
speaks to humanity.  The universal themes, the ones that aren'g linked
to a particular generation or civilization, are usually the ones that
last the longest.

Maybe "Family Circus" appeals to a different time, a different set of
values.  I don't know anything about the creator of the strip, but I'm
guessing that he is writing from memory about the lives of his family,
his children, before they grew up, and is now overshadowed by the
recent deaths of his parents or others close to him.  He is out of
theme material about little children.  "Not Me," as well as the tracks
all over the neighborhood that Jeffy leaves, have been done and
redone.  They're cute, and anyone who's ever had kids can relate, but
once or twice is enough.  That's why I think he's run out of material,
or perhaps has become so focused on loss that he isn't really writing
humor anymore.

"Kathy's" life is so like mine was ten or fifteen years ago that I
still relate to the strip.  She was feminist when she first came out.
Now, faminism is 'way past her.  But her struggles to differentiate
from her parents, her battles with food, her role confusions, and her
relationship crises may appeal to my particular generation of career
women. 

Several of the current strips relate to child rearing and role
reversals in marriage.  These may appeal to people in the early
childbearing years, and not younger people.  

Some cartoons require a certain amount of cultural literacy to follow.
That's why, I think, we miss the point of "The Far Side" some of the
time.  We have to know what the artist is referring to, to understand
the caption.  I'm educated, but many of the cartoons in _The_New_Yorker_ 
are beyond me, I'm embarrassed to admit.

Sorry for carrying on so long.  This is the first time I've given much
thought to comics, although I've read them for many years.  How about
the art work--any comments?  Who reads "Prince Valliant"?

--
_____________________________INTERNET:_____________ roise@sumax.seattleu.edu 
                             roise@u.washington.edu or lroise@sun.lclark.edu
    Linda L. Roise           FREENET: ___________aj023@cleveland.freenet.edu
____________________________ PRODIGY: _______________________________JXCX33A
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: ffriedma@cis.ohio-state.edu (frank e friedman)
Subject: Bloom County
Originator: ffriedma@peacock.cis.ohio-state.edu
Organization: The Ohio State University, Department of Computer and Information Science
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 14:35:06 GMT


	I'm a new subscriber to this group.  There has been a lot of talk
about Bloom County (OK...a lot of "write").  In my opinion, I think the best
series in Bloom County was the one about forming and following the 
"Heavy Metal Band."  Unfortunatly, Bloom county never made me laugh as hard
after that series died off.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
  All my life I wanted to be someone...I can see now that I should have been
        more specific.

  Statistics show that every 67 seconds, a teenager has a baby.....Why
        doesn't someone find this girl and stop her?!?


        Fritz.
                ffriedma@cis.ohio-state.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: The Best Far Side cartoon
From: chisnall@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz (The Technicolour Throw-up)
Date: 13 Apr 92 23:45:51 +1200
Reply-To: chisnall@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz
Distribution: world
Organization: Computer Science,University of Canterbury,New Zealand

From article <1992Apr11.181549.16163@news.cs.brandeis.edu>, by st902415@pip.cc.brandeis.edu (Adam Levin):
> "Take this handkerchief back to the lab, Stevens. I want some answers
> on which monster did this--Godzilla! Gargantua! Who?"

Then there's the one with King Kong lying dead on the ground with the poodle
next to it ....
--
Just my two rubber ningis worth.
Name: Michael Chisnall          email: chisnall@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz
I'm not a .signature virus and nor do I play one on tv.
From: fry@tara.harvard.edu (David Fry)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: For Better or for Worse
Date: 8 Apr 92 04:10:28 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc3.1992Apr8.001029.10826
Organization: Harvard Math Department

In article <1992Apr7.215418.28231@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu> kiran@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu (Kiran Wagle) writes:
>Anybody read this? Any opinions? Should she have had the third child?
>Will Michael & Martha stay together forever? Will Gordo turn his dad
>in for abusing him?

I read it.  I like it a lot, and I respect the fact that the
people in age, the children grow up, etc.  But that makes me
feel that it will depress me soon as I use it to track my own
aging process.

As for your questions, umm...yes, no, no. But I could be
wrong...

David Fry                               fry@math.harvard.EDU
Department of Mathematics               fry@huma1.bitnet
Harvard University                      ...!harvard!huma1!fry
Cambridge, MA  02138            
Xref: sparky rec.arts.comics.strips:176 soc.culture.canada:3228 soc.culture.usa:2824
From: yackob@eeserv.ee.umanitoba.ca (Kerry Yackoboski)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips,soc.culture.canada,soc.culture.usa
Subject: Re: Comic Strips -- American Cultural Imperialism over Canada
Date: 8 Apr 92 15:00:15 GMT
Organization: Elect. & Comp. Eng., U of Manitoba - Tuvan Instruments Corp.

axd7104@acfcluster.nyu.edu writes:
>In article <1992Apr8.004312.1600@cs.sfu.ca>, jamie@cs.sfu.ca (Jamie Andrews) writes:
>>      Well, there is one strip by a Canadian that I know about:
>> _For Better or Worse_, by Lynn Johnson.  But although I don't
>> think she refers to the USA, I have never seen any references to
>> Canada in that strip.
>
>I've seen one.  The mother gets into a minor car accident and has to go to
>court.  When I saw that bailiff going, "Oyez, oyez!" it really threw me off.
>I do have to admit, though, that was the first time I realized that it was a
>Canadian strip.

	Maybe we get different versions than you do.  The main characters are
	always going to Vancouver to visit grandparents, or Winnipeg for the
	summer on the farm, etc.

--
<yackob@ee.umanitoba.ca>     Tuvan at heart.
From: jena@longs.LANCE.ColoState.EDU (jennifer archie)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: Calvin and Hobbes
Keywords: groovy man
Date: 7 Apr 92 19:29:56 GMT
Reply-To: jena@longs.LANCE.ColoState.EDU (jennifer archie)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Colorado State U. Center for Computer Assisted Engineering.

In article <1992Apr7.184259.6196@acsu.buffalo.edu>,
v121r529@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Scott A Elwood) writes:
> Calvin and Hobbes is by far the best comic strip around.  Just trying to
> start some arguments... 8)
> 
> 					A big fan,
> 					Scott Elwood   

How about ONE of the best, right after ernie pook's comeek and the Far Side ;->


         JENNY < GE'NIE > 
         Disclaimer: 	these are my opinions,
			why not? no one else wants them.

COLORADO STATE UNIV. : jena@longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: mudcr@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (David C Roller)
Subject: Re: stupid strips
Keywords: dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb
Organization: Educational Computing Network
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 17:30:17 GMT

Yes I find Fred Basset Funny in the least.
I clip comics on a dayly basis and while I usuall pass over Fred I clip
him twice a month.  Yesterday 4-7 the wife saw Fred walking somewhere
away from the husband who was sitting down and said "If Fred could talk
I bet he would say I'm off to get my masters slippers.  In the next
frame Fred says "If Fred could talk he would say I'm off to the kitchen
to look for scraps of food on the floor"
I found this funny and clipped it.

********************************************************************************
Dave Roller                            The Great Commission
mudcr@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu                  For The Next Generation

To boldly go  and make disciples of al nations.
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit  and teaching them to obey everything Christ has commanded.
Surely He is with us always to the very end of the age and the galaxy
itself.
Star Trek prologue and Matthew 28:18-20
******************************************************************************* 
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: derek@netcom.com (Derek LeLash)
Subject: Re: The Best Far Side cartoon
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 92 05:22:10 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 

"Until his life's destiny was further clarified, Robin Hood spent many years
robbing from the rich and giving to the porcupines."

:-)

Derek

-- 
Derek LeLash (derek@netcom.com)   "I pulled into a fast food place, parked, and
Technical Writer/Mac Savant        went in.  I could have yelled my order into
BASYS Automation Systems, Inc.     a clown's mouth and eaten in the car, but I
Sunnyvale, CA  408-720-1236 x201   wanted to show I had class." -- Sue Grafton
From: murphy@npri6.npri.com (David P. Murphy)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: For Better or for Worse
Date: 13 Apr 92 20:58:01 GMT
Organization: NPRI, Alexandria VA


    >If the strip keeps up its attempt to mimic the actual passage of time,
    >It's going to end up like Gasoline Alley, a parody of a nostalgia trip
    >(though I sometimes like GA anyhow).  I therefore think the following
    >will happen:
    >	Michael and Martha will get AIDS
only americans get AIDS
    >	Dad will buy a Mazda Miata and leave town with the hygienist
only americans desert their spouses
    >	The grandparents will join the Hemlock Society and go quietly
only old americans suicide
    >	April will be hit by a stray bullet through the window
only america has street violence
    >	The abusive father will by killed by his son
child abuse and patricide occur only in america
    >Or would this be too much of a bummer?  Actually, like everyone else I
    >love the way these people cope -- and they're CANADIANS, in case you
    >didn't notice!  Perhaps that's what will save them from the all-American
    >fates I've outlined above.....
    >
    >plck@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (David Pollack)

by golly, you're right!  all five of the events you list ARE all-american fates!

===SARCASM MODE DISABLED===

care to re-phrase that, david?

ok
dpm
-- 
murphy@npri6.npri.com 602 Cameron St. Alexandria, VA 22314 (703) 683-9090

              When every one is dead the Great Game is finished, not before.
                              --- Hurree Babu, "Kim"
From: uslave@mcl.mcl.ucsb.edu (KJS @ucsb.mcl)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: Favorite Mr. Boffo
Keywords: Mr. Boffo
Date: 15 Apr 92 05:16:49 GMT

"The Devil making a funny"

The Devil is standing in a crowded elevator and yells, "UP!"


--
*        *      *     *     *    *   *  *  * * ** ** *** **** ****** ********* 
   KJS @ucsb.mcl (Jesse Chang)               e-mail: uslave@mcl.mcl.ucsb.edu *
   "Traveling thru hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy!"    -- Han Solo * 
*         *       *      *     *    *   *  *  * ** ** *** **** ****** ********
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: wiles@ultra.kodak.COM (Dale L. Wiles)
Subject: Re: Calvin and Hobbes
Organization: Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, NY
Distribution: su
Date: 8 Apr 92 08:59:52

In article <1992Apr8.023051.20282@EE.Stanford.EDU>
sahul@loading-zone.Stanford.EDU (Zakir H. Sahul) writes:

   1) What is Calvin's last name?

   2) What are Calvin's parents' first names?

I'm pretty sure that they don't have last names.  I know the Bill Watterson
has said that Calvin's parents don't have first names.  They're just "Mom" and
"Dad."  (Like kids see their parents.)  Kind of a neat idea.

					XXXX Wiles
					(Who has no first name either, but
					 that's just a government plot.)
--
Reply to: wiles@ultra.kodak.com
AMA: 621385					DoD: 0448
Disclaimer: I'm just a Temp so it's not Kodak's problem.
From: jverdega@cae.wisc.edu (Jeffrey Verdegan)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: Jim's Journal
Date: 9 Apr 92 20:36:03 GMT
Article-I.D.: doug.1992Apr9.153603.5817
Organization: College of Engineering, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison

In article <1992Apr9.145716.3456@amhux2.amherst.edu> twpierce@amhux1.amherst.edu (Tim Pierce) writes:
>Has anyone else seen a strip called "Jim's Journal?"  We get it at
>Amherst, but it seems not to be distributed very widely.  This is kind
>of an existentialist/minimalist strip with a small but pretty
>dedicated following here and at UMass.  I was wondering if New England
>has the only pocket of "Jim's Journal" fans in the country.
>

I'm not positive, but I think that JJ originiated here at UW-Madison, and we've
got Jim mugs, T-shirts, everything.  Personally, I can't stand the bloody thing.



----------

Jeff Verdegan
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Computer-Aided Engineering Center
jjv@caestaff.engr.wisc.edu
(608) 263-1875
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: sjs28257@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Stelter)
Subject: Re: Outland vs. Bloom County (WAS Re: Calvin and Hobbes)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 22:43:47 GMT

wagenfuh@huey.udel.edu (Karl Wagenfuehr) writes:

>In article <1992Apr11.031402.15220@samba.oit.unc.edu> Chuck.Lavazzi@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Chuck Lavazzi) writes:
>>	And speaking of "Outland"...how many of you caught the "Bill and Opus
>>Christmas Special: A Wish for Wings That Work" last year?  I thought it was one
>>of the hoopiest things on major mediocretin media in some time. Great animation
>>and a sense of humor that was utterly Brethed.  Truly mutant.  Good sound
>>effect, too.

>I was going to post about that special; you're right, it was well made
>(except the voices were all wrong, of course ;-).  What bothered me about
>it is that instead of using characters who have well deserved being included
>in a TV special (Milo, Hodge-Podge, Portnoy, Binkley, Cutter John, Oliver,
>the list goes on...), Breathed instead used these unproven, unpopular
>characters he's subjected us to in Outland.  That pig, and that rat, and I
>don't even remember who the other one was.  There they were, acting like we
>should know them, and even stealing some schtick from the familiar
>characters.  They were ... SCABS!!  I think that fact ruined the "classicness"
>of this special.  Plus Opus' voice was all wrong :-)

Yes..."A Wish For Wings That Work" was a cartoon that was made about four
or five years too late.


                                     --Steve Stelter
                                       sjs28257@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu

Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: sahul@loading-zone.Stanford.EDU (Zakir H. Sahul)
Subject: Calvin and Hobbes.
Reply-To: sahul@loading-zone.Stanford.EDU (Zakir H. Sahul)
Organization: Stanford University
Distribution: su
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 92 22:06:08 GMT


Calvin and Hobbes presents the classic conflict of parents' control over
a kid and the kid's resistance to it.  Although Calvin does seem to have a
good side that pops up every now and then, he is overall "bratty".  

Calvin
does not much listen to his mom (illustrated by the strip where he is off 
thinking about something while his mom is lecturing about homework and another
one where his mom says - "What did I just say?"  He replies: "I don't
know.  Weren't you listening either?").

He is also always questioning his dad's authority with those polls among
the six
year olds in the house.  And of course he has no respect for his teacher 
Ms. Wormwood.  In fact, he is not even phased out by being sent to the
principal's
office.  

What sort of kid would Calvin be if he were "obedient".  Would his imagination
diminish?  Would he be a bore?  Will his creativity be snuffed out by the
domineering parents/teachers?  Will he not be as daring?

Personally, I think so.  But, I would like to ask C&H fans who are parents
to shed light on this.....
From: stv@ferret.uucp (Steve Manning)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: C&H: Merchandising (was Re: HOBBES (of C&H) Bumper Sticker)
Date: 16 Apr 92 03:15:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: ferret.1992Apr16.031512.630
Distribution: usa
Organization: The Mannings at home

When we were visiting my sister-in-law in Iowa City we found
a small selection of C&H T-shirts at a mall downtown.  At the time
we were very surprised to find them, 'cause we'd read on the net
that BW wasn't doin' the marketing thing.

There were only about 4 styles available.  My wife and I each got
one.  My wife's has the classic panel that goes:
    "Sometimes I think the surest sign that there is intellegent
    life in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us"

And mine (one of my favorites):
	H: Do you believe in God?
	C: Well, SOMEbody's out to get me.

The shirts themselves are really good quailty, and we frequently get
comments from passers-by asking where we found them.  As I recall,
we paid $15-18 each.  Not cheap, but worth it I think.

So, did we buy legit C&H merchandise or did someone rip off our
heroes?  Enquiring minds...
-- 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
Steve Manning   stv%ferret@introl.introl.com  stv@ferret.uucp
Milwaukee, WI       ...!introl!ferret!stv   etc., etc., etc.
      "...but you're wrong, Steve. You see, it's only Solitaire" I.A.