HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: hshubs@eff.org (Howard Shubs)
Subject: Re: Calvin vs Jason
Originator: hshubs@eff.org
Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 04:57:28 GMT

In article <1992Apr15.023840.29405@udel.edu> wagenfuh@huey.udel.edu (Karl Wagenfuehr) writes:
>OK, let's get some discussion here:  in an all-out exchange, who would
>come out ahead, Calvin or Jason (of Foxtrot, of course; what were you
>thinking?!).  Jason has an age advantage, that is true.  Maybe he
>should be handicapped some way.  Calvin can enlist the aid of Hobbes,
>and Jason can use Quincy.
>
>So, who wins?  Or do they team up?  Or maybe swap places, and Calvin
>can go after Paige, and Jason can have a go at Susie.

If Calvin took a turn at being Jason, he'd wear a hockey mask.  You'd also
have to leave Hobbes in his original place or there'd be no point.  Imagine
Jason and Hobbes??!?


>
>Wouldn't this be great to watch?

Yeah, but only from a distance.  I'd also like to see some of Jason's Family
Circus frames actually published as Family Circus.  Bizzare!  Perhaps these
situations could be done in Far Side?  Cows as Jason and Calvin?
-- 
Howard S Shubs      hshubs@eff.org      I don't represent the EFF,
The Denim Adept     hshubs@BIX.com      but I do agree with them.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: carroll@cs.uiuc.edu (Alan M. Carroll)
Subject: Re: Bloom County
Organization: Technophiles Inc. - Engineers with Attitude
Distribution: usa
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1992 01:41:00 GMT

Yes, but let's face it - Bloom County was losing it by the end anyway.
The last few months weren't any funnier than Outland is now, even
though the previous stuff is prime quality humor. I always missed the
school teacher, though - she seems to have just disappeared, although
I really liked Oliver's physics instructor ("Except, of course, that
hamsters are allergic to oatmeal").

-- 
Alan M. Carroll          "Weren't there yams involved, too?" - J. Ockerbloom
Epoch Development Team   
Urbana Il.               "I hate shopping with the reality-impaired" - Susan
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: hobbes@cbnewsd.cb.att.com (timothy.j.burke)
Subject: Re: Calvin and Hobbes
Organization: AT&T
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 00:51:43 GMT
Summary: C & H has to be the best!

In article <1992Apr7.201000.8088@nic.unh.edu>, ss1@kepler.unh.edu (The Rink) writes:
> >>Calvin and Hobbes is by far the best comic strip around.  Just trying to
> >>start some arguments... 8)
> >>
> >>					A big fan,
> >>					Scott Elwood   
> >
> >
> >But who would want to argue with that?
> >
> >                                       Another big fan,

Not since the early days of D..berry or Bloom County has
there been a cartoon of such high quality and pure humor.

While the others have slipped off in the sunset Calvin
continues to take on the world with the assistance of
his fearless (except when sleds are concened) sidekick.

The wisdom of Hobbes goes far beyond that of a six year
old boy, Hobbes is REAL and IS ALIVE!!!!!


He has to be he sent this letter. Check the header.

******************************************************
From: wmorgan@stsci.edu (Windsor A. Morgan)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: Calvin-Hobbes/Bloom County/Outland
Date: 14 Apr 92 13:38:29 GMT
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute

In article <1992Apr14.031509.8276@leland.Stanford.EDU> jchokey@leland.Stanford.EDU (James Alexander Chokey) writes:

>I also wonder whether or not we can really consider Susie's dolls (Mr. Bun
>	and Binky Betsy) to be supporting characters--  they never talk, they
>	never become animate, and there is no other reason to suspect that
>	they are as real to Susie as Hobbes is to Calvin.

I don't know about Binky Betsy, but Mr. Bun is the only 'real' entity
in the strip!  He is the one who is imagining Calvin, Hobbes, Susie,
and the rest.  That he never even moves is the brilliance of Watterson
and Bun's secret plans to eventually take over the entire comics page!
See, already 'Calvin and Hobbes' has taken over half the Sunday comics
page in most newspapers!
-- 
'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
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: flournoy@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Raymond Suke Flournoy)
Subject: Re: Calvin and Hobbes
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University.
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 22:30:25 GMT

In article <53820@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt1759c@prism.gatech.EDU (Donald Morris) writes:
>In <53813@hydra.gatech.EDU> jb118@prism.gatech.EDU (Jeffrey N. Burch) writes:
>
>Actually, I'd rank Peanuts a distant 5th. Far Side has dropped to 3rd since
>Larson's sabbatical, as about 80% are re-runs I've seen in desk calendars..
>So, what's tied for 2nd? (And a rather close 2nd in my book...)
>
>	Baby Blues and Foxtrot!

  Well, I can't say I agree on the Peanuts in 5th statement
(definitely higher), but I do agree that "Baby Blues" and "Foxtrot"
are great.  FT got discussed on rec.arts.comics every now and again,
but I have never seen anyone discuss BB, even though it is
consistently funny and original.  The lyrics to "Wild Thing" rewritten
as "Child Thing" were classic!

  Maybe it is a sign that I'm getting older, but I like this young
parent strip a lot.


--Raymond Flournoy        
======================================================================
flournoy@cs.stanford.edu         "For reasons I cannot explain
Computer Science Dept.            There's some part of me wants to see 
Stanford University, CA           Graceland"               -- P. Simon



Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: hshubs@eff.org (Howard Shubs)
Subject: Re: Funky Winkerbean
Originator: hshubs@eff.org
Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 01:56:29 GMT

In article <46341@dime.cs.umass.edu> michael@dime.cs.umass.edu (Michael Kieras) writes:
>
>Remember the really old days of Funky Winkerbean?  I used to get a
>big kick out of it when I was a kid.
>
>Some of the more memorable elements:
>
>The school computer that liked to play Star Trek
>------------------------------------------------
>	This was from the time before personal computers, and
>	the school computer liked to play Star Trek (when it
>	wasn't supposed to).  The staff found out what it was
>	doing when they discovered klingons signed up for
>	various classes.  It learned how to beam people
>	around the school when they tried to confront it.
>	They eventually gave up trying to stop it from playing
>	when it took over the coffee machine.  Ultimately, it
>	was replaced by another computer; this one with a god
>	complex.

I -still have- some of these, which I clipped out of the paper at the time.
When the principle tried to stop the computer, the computer beamed him
to the basement.  When he tried again, the computer beamed him to the roof.

The coach had the computer beam him into the opposing team's locker room so
he could get the other team's strategy.  Good stuff!

I remember meeting the guy who does FW back in 1977 at the junior high school
I was attending at the time (Byron, in Shaker Heights OH).  He spoke to a
class full of 7th graders, if I remember correctly.  He drew the characters
one per large piece of paper.  It was cool.
-- 
Howard S Shubs      hshubs@eff.org      I don't represent the EFF,
The Denim Adept     hshubs@BIX.com      but I do agree with them.
From: v070n53b@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (MARK PRZYBYSZEWSKI)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: worst comic strips
Date: 17 Apr 92 18:41:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: acsu.1992Apr17.174216.20931
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

My turn for my least favorite comic strips:

ANYTHING by Wretched and Milder (Rechin and Wilder), especially Crock and
Out of Bounds.  Hard to believe the Buffalo News dumped Tank for the latter;
never found anything humorous in either of these strips.  Besides, who's 
going to relate to the French Foreign Legion?

Moose Miller: one of the ugliest strips around.  Even though Willy and Ethel
have the same premise (featuring a fat, lazy husband and his large housewife),
the senses of humor in both are way different.  I AM SICK of Chester and the
moles, Moose running home with pizza, Chester's pool; they just seem to run
the same strips over and over.

Blondie: it's ancient, plus I DETEST Mr. Dithers.  Would you put up with a
boss who actually would kick you in the butt?  I don't care how incompetent
Dagwood may be, I'd be out the door and filing a lawsuit within a minute.

Curtis: the only time it's even halfway good is when it doesn't involve him,
which is rarely.  I hate Gunk and Flyspeck Island, Darryl, and the rest of
them. 

These are all IMHO, but I had to get it off my chest.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ Mark Przybyszewski 	v070n53b@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu	v070n53b@ubvms.bitnet +
+ 				GO BILLS IN '92!			      +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ I may not be the president, I may not be the pope, but as long as I have    +
+ Gritty Kitty, I shall never mope!	Stimpson J. Cat, Ren and Stimpy	      +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: gummitch@techbook.com (Jeff Frane)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: Calvin and Hobbes Question
Date: 8 Apr 92 17:12:37 GMT
Organization: TECHbooks of Beaverton Oregon - Public Access Unix

ss1@kepler.unh.edu (The Rink) writes:

>Question:

>Calvin and Hobbes, (especially in the Sunday comics), seems to be a lot of
>old stuff.  Some look familiar, some don't.  Does anybody know what's going
>on, there?  What's Watterson doing, did he take a vacation somewhere along the
>
Watterson apparently took a vacation -- for a depressingly long time all
the strips printed in the Oregonian were 5 years old (by the copyright
dates in teeny print).  A few months back it was once again worth
getting the Sunday paper -- Oh Joy Oh Joy!  In the meantime it seems
Watterson's style change slightly; his pen line is different now, but it
certainly is still Watterson.

While there are other comic strips that are funny, and even a few that
are clever, C&H stands out because of all of them Watterson is the only
one that _really_ understands the medium and really makes use of its
potential.  Another great thing about _him_ is that he has vowed never
to exploit C&H: no Calvin mugs, no Hobbs t-shirts.

Have you ever noticed the relationship between Calvin/Hobbes and
Pogo/Albert: same shapes, same size ratio?  Calvin is definitely _not_
Pogo, but he has the same round head, the same sawtooth haircut.

Some of the best C&H strips, IMO, are the ones with no dialogue, no
balloons. Everything is done by _cartooning_ (what a concept!).

--Jeff Frane

-- 
gummitch@techbook.COM  Public Access UNIX at (503) 644-8135 (1200/2400) 
"Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe."
                                    --Thomas Jefferson
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: manley@iies.ecn.purdue.edu (HELD HOSTAGE -- YEAR ONE)
Subject: New Yorker Cartoons (Was Re: Family Circus)
Organization: Down In The Depths On the 90th Floor, Ltd.
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 05:31:58 GMT

In article <1992Apr8.023940.24329@udel.edu> wagenfuh@huey.udel.edu (Karl Wagenfuehr) writes:
>In article <ROISE.92Apr7182332@milton.milton.u.washington.edu> roise@milton.milton.u.washington.edu (Linda Roise) writes:
>>the caption.  I'm educated, but many of the cartoons in _The_New_Yorker_ 
>>are beyond me, I'm embarrassed to admit.
>>
>I'm not embarrassed to admit it, though I wouldn't catogorize them as
>"beyond" me -- that would imply that there was some humor to them somewhere.
>I don't think 99 percent of the cartoons in the New Yorker are funny under
>any definition.  Most of them substitute pretention for humor.  Or they
>make some butt-obvious connection that every body and his kid brother
>has all ready made that you wonder how the guy could have stayed interested
>in the idea long enough to finish illustrating it.
>There are a lot of just plain unfunny cartoons in the New Yorker, and I
>think people should stand up and say so, and not be taken in by the air
>of sophistication and intellect given off by the NYer.

Yep, some of them really go a long way for a nowhere joke, but then you get
some like "Chekov on Ice."  That one (a recent issue) left me and most of
my creative writing seminar laughing on the floor.  It just kind of crept
up on you...

Michael

--
------------------------  manley@iies.ecn.purdue.edu  ------------------------
                              Nobody likes you.
                            Everybody hates you.
                             You're gonna lose.
From: a0v6282@rigel.tamu.edu (Art Velasquez)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: INCOMING!! (Was:  Re: American Cultural Imperialism over Canada)
Date: 8 Apr 92 23:28:00 GMT
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41


     In article <1992Apr8.133719.28018@en.ecn.purdue.edu>, 
irvine@en.ecn.purdue.edu (B-rent) writes...
.
	Um.  I have a problem with the premise on the article
	of the 40-odd year old notion of 'American Imperialism.'
	
	If Canada feels that the US is dominant, they should
	think again.  Canada _may_ feel intimidated (and
	wrongly so) by the large US population.  I think that
	there is a unique Canadian culture, but the USA is
	not *that* different in culture (except for Quebec, 
	which feels intimidated by *everyone* :) ) that anyone could 
	claim domination by anything so inane as a comic strip!
.
	Come on people! Pull your heads out of the bucket! :)
.
	If you are culturally dominated by a *COMIC STRIP* it
	says a lot more about _your_ culture than that of your
	neighbors'!
.

     Uh-oh.
     Thirty hours in existence, and there's already an international
flamewar.  And I thought this only happened in rec.sport.soccer.
     Take cover, all...   ;-)

#     Art Velasquez                         a0v6282@rigel.tamu.edu     #
#     Nuclear Engineering Department          Texas A&M University     #
#----------------------------------------------------------------------#
#     "You're pretty uppity for a sidekick.  Watch it, or I'll         #
#      start calling you Artie, or...or, SOMETHING-LAD!!"              #
#                                    _The Tick_, issue 10              #
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: areid@mary.fordham.edu (Darin Reid)
Subject: WOW!!!!!!!!!
Organization: Fordham University
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 04:37:00 GMT

200 messages on this group in it's first two days!  
I didn't realize that comic strips were so popular! 

- Darin

----
Internet:Areid@Mary.Fordham.Edu
Bitnet:Areid@Fordmulc
AT&Tnet:(212) 749-8187
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: dxf12@po.CWRU.Edu (Douglas Fowler)
Subject: Re: Family Circus
Reply-To: dxf12@po.CWRU.Edu (Douglas Fowler)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 92 00:25:55 GMT


     I enjoyed it years ago, and still like it, but agree it's lost some of
its cuteness and is blander.  As for the author's hangup with dead people -
how old is he?  Maybe his wife, or one of his kids died?  I bet he's 
pushing 60 at least.
     I wrote him about 10 days ago, telling him how much better it was in the
old days and offering to send him some clever ideas for cute things for the
kids to do that would be *funny*, like on misc.kids on this very network.
I'll let anyone know if I get a response.
     Here's hoping for improvement.  I wouldn't bet against it.

     P.S.:  I have the address of the syndicator (got it calling my local
paper), and will e-mail it to anyone promising not to flame him too much,
but to offer nice, clear, and constructive suggestions for improvement.  If
you seem likely to insult or degrade the strip in any way, I will not send
you the address.  It's that simple.
     One of the things I did in mine was suggest that he write a book on
parenting if he wants to be preachy.
-- 
Doug Fowler: dxf12@po.CWRU.edu      :    "Every baby born into the world is
Real home: Canton, Ohio             :  finer than the last."--Charles Dickens
 Trying to follow in the path of our :     "A baby is an inestimable
Lord;anything close will be a success:  blessing and bother."--Mark Twain
From: wurton@netcom.com (William L. Urton)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: The Best Far Side cartoon
Keywords: far side gary larson
Date: 8 Apr 92 22:48:24 GMT
Article-I.D.: netcom.hfrjz-d.wurton
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

warwick@cs.uq.oz.au (Warwick Allison) writes:

>What is your FAVOURITE Far Side cartoon?
My favorite is the pet shop with a fishbowl full of pirhannas in the 
foreground and a cat, shelves and other pet shop stuff in the background.
You have to look at the picture for a while before you notice that the 
cat has two front wooden legs.



-- 
Bill Urton     email: internet-wurton@netcom.com   bix-wurton
From: pcaster@mizar.usc.edu (Dodger)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: My Favorite Far Side
Date: 8 Apr 1992 16:11:50 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: mizar.usc.edu

I agree with many who rated Cat Fud number one.  I cut that one
out and still have it.  But another fav I haven't seen mentioned
is the What We Say To Dogs, where the guy balls out his dog Ginger,
and the only words Ginger hears and recognizes are "Ginger"

On a somewhat similar vein, I laughed out loud at the recent
one about the professor who invented the gadget to translate
dog into English.  The professor is walking down the street with
the ridiculous helmet that looks like a 1950's diving helmet and
all through the neighborhood, different dogs are depicted barking.

The translation is always the same....bark = hey.  It sure struck
me funny, but sure doesn't read funny here.
						BleedsDodgerBlue

Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: flournoy@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Raymond Suke Flournoy)
Subject: Re: The Neighborhood
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University.
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 01:59:39 GMT

In article <1992Apr16.184603.6853@cbfsb.cb.att.com> dks@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (douglas.k.steckel) writes:
>The times i've read this group I've seen nothing about The Neighborhood
>by Jerry VanAmerogen( I think). Is this strip still being written or
>published? ...

  No.  JV retired the strip, took a break (I believe), and debuted a
new strip called "Ballard Street."  Forgive me if the strip name is a
little off--the local paper stopped carrying it about a month or so
ago.  (Which should give you an idea about the strip's quality...)

  But if you like "The Neighborhood" you should like "Ballard Street."
It has the same jokes, but with a fixed cast of characters.


--Raymond Flournoy
  flournoy@cs.stanford.edu
From: bhoughto@hopi.intel.com (Blair P. Houghton)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: For Better or for Worse - die, die, die!
Date: 12 Apr 92 22:57:53 GMT
Organization: Intel Corp, Chandler, AZ

In article <1992Apr8.163229.26289@colorado.edu> zulauf@csn.org (Mike Zulauf) writes:
>Family Circus, Nancy, Rose is a Rose (now there's a REAL dog!), etc.

Rose is Rose mostly bored me, except once, when it produced the
only comic I ever carried around with me (stuffed into the pouch
that held my hp-15c, before it got stolen):

A diapered Pasquale sits eagerly; Rose holds up a flash-card with
an 'A' on it and says, "Okay, Pasquale, now this is an 'A'."
Pasquale, wide-eyed, blurts out, "Why?"

				--Blair
				  "It helps to beleive in education,
				   and to have practiced it once or twice..."
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
From: tssmith@netcom.com (Tim Smith)
Subject: Re: Fusco Brothers!
Date: Thu, 09 Apr 92 03:10:26 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 

In article <ISBELL.92Apr8104657@pop-tarts.ai.mit.edu> isbell@ai.mit.edu (Charles L Isbell) writes:
# gt1293c@prism.gatech.EDU (W. Scott Radeker, IV) writes:
# |I can't believe no one else likes the Fusco Brothers!  It's great.
# 
# I truly hate this strip.  And I mean this honestly.  I have often had
# to drink water after reading it.  Now, I think it simply boils down to
# this:  I don't get it at all.
# 
# Surely, it's just some private joke that I'm not in on...?

Fusco Bros. is a verbal strip.  Kind of the George Carlin of comic
strips.  If you like the constant wordplay, the puns, etc., you can
get into it.  But the drawing is really bad.  

The best strips are those that combine great drawing and great
writing.  C&H and FBOFW.  As much as I like Bill Watterson's drawing,
I think Lynn Johnston is the best strip artist now running.  I just
love the action she gets into her characters.  (It's really only 
visible in the large Sunday color comics.)  But, on the whole, I'd
rank C&H a tad higher for the great drawing combined with really
imaginative writing.

I always read Blondie.  It evolves slowly, it's not funny, but I really
like the drawing.  Maybe it's just a tradition?

Really badly-drawn strips, like Cathy, are only occasionally saved by
the writing.  The closet episode, and Irving's reaction (4/8/92), was
really funny.  But generally I can take it or leave it.  I'd stick with
Blondie long after I abandoned Cathy.

Peanuts, to put it mildly, sucks.  I read an interview with Bill
Watterson back when C&H was just starting, and he was full of praise
for Peanuts.  Almost made me stop reading C&H. :-).

We just changed our newspaper subscription from the SF Chronicle to
the San Jose Mercury News.  The only strip I will miss is Fred
Basset.  Yes!  This strip takes a lot of flak here, but I think it's
really underappreciated.  I'd put in the top 15, no question.  It's
English, and the publishers cop out by changing some English
references (but not others, e.g. the vicar).  But it's well-drawn and
well-written.  This is funny.  I like cats, not dogs.  But I like Fred
Basset, and really hate Garfield and Heathcliff.

--Tim (tssmith@netcom.com)
From: dtate@unix.cis.pitt.edu (David M Tate)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips
Subject: Re: The Best Far Side cartoon
Keywords: far side gary larson
Date: 9 Apr 92 04:54:42 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

In article <1992Apr8.160435.24501@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> sjs28257@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Stelter) writes:
>warwick@cs.uq.oz.au (Warwick Allison) writes:

>>What is your FAVOURITE Far Side cartoon?

>1.  "CAT FUD"

It's no contest:

	"Hey!  They're lighting their arrows on fire... Can they *do* that?"


-- 
          David M. Tate            |"The man who hath no music in himself
     dtate@unix.cis.pitt.edu       | Nor is not moved by concord of sweet sound
  A poem should be dumb, / As old  | Is fit for treason, stratagems, and spoils
 medallions to the thumb.-MacLeish | 	Shakespeare, "Merchant of Venice", A.V