10 Best Comic Strips of the '90s, Ranked
The 1990s were a golden age for comic strips. Newspapers during the ’90s featured some of the most famous comic strips of all time, from long-running strips like Peanuts and Doonesbury to staples like Calvin and Hobbes or The Far Side. Many of the best comic strips from the ’90s are also some of the best comic strips of all time, and cartoonists are still trying to recapture the magic of that era in their modern comic strips.
The most popular subjects for comic strips in the ’90s were the same as they are today, namely politics and the struggles of family life. Cartoonists in the ’90s also looked at the most absurd aspects of life through surreal comics like Life in Hell, Outland, and The Far Side. Whether readers were looking for commentary about political issues, raising children, or working in a soulless office, the best ’90s comic strips had something for everyone.
Baby Blues Explored the Difficulties of Parenting
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Collage of comic strips from Bloom County, The Far Side and Calvin & Hobbes
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Anyone who has raised a child knows how difficult it can be. Parenting has always been a favorite subject of great comic strips like Calvin and Hobbes because it is an experience that resonates with many people. In 1990, a new comic strip about the challenges of being a new parent was launched called Baby Blues, which is still running today.
Baby Blues is a comic strip that has grown and evolved since its debut in 1990. When the comic launched, the parents in the strip had one newborn baby. Over the years, two more children joined the family, and the comic has adapted to cover the challenges associated with raising multiple young children as they grow and mature. With its relatable and sometimes almost too-real content, it’s no surprise that Baby Blues has resonated with audiences since the early 90s.
Life in Hell Was an Early Predecessor of The Simpsons
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In 1977, Matt Groening was working at a record store in Los Angeles. It was there he began selling his self-published comic book, Life in Hell. The comic used cartoon people with rabbit ears to describe life in L.A. as Groening perceived it, including its many disappointments. Several alternative magazines and newspapers picked up the comic, then expanded to hundreds of newspapers across the country and several published anthologies.
Although the strip started out as Groening’s way of describing his perceived disappointments of living as an adult in the 1980s, Groening continued drawing and publishing the comics until 2012, often reflecting on his real-life relationship issues in the comic. Life in Hell directly led to Groening’s creation of The Simpsons, which evolved from the comic’s distinctive art style and dark sense of humor into the entertainment behemoth it is today.
Doonesbury Has Been Satirizing American Politics Since the 1970s
Aside from parenting, politics is probably the most common subject for comic strips. The most famous political comic strip of all time is undoubtedly Doonesbury. Although Doonesbury is often associated with the 1970s, during which it was launched, the comics continue to this day (though only on Sundays recently) and have evolved significantly alongside the real world.
Every decade has its own political challenges, and the ’90s were no exception, from the first Bush presidency and the Gulf War to Clinton’s impeachment and the horrors of Columbine. Doonesbury was there throughout it all, providing its trademark scathing commentary. Doonesbury has occasionally been so controversial that it has been banned by newspapers, but it never shies away from the difficult issues confronting Americans.
The Boondocks Brought a Different Perspective to the Comics Page
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Gary Larson Comics
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Since the advent of newspaper comics, the comics page has been overwhelmingly white. In the 1990s, The Boondocks, the most well-known comic strip featuring predominantly black characters, was launched. The Boondocks introduced readers of all races to issues facing the black community. The comic was instrumental in bringing to light issues that didn’t always make it onto the news or other mainstream programming.
The Boondocks features a black family who have moved from inner-city Chicago to the suburbs. Like Doonesbury, the comic could be quite political and controversial and was banned by newspapers several times. Despite its sometimes contentious content, The Boondocks was an important opportunity for black voices to be heard in the 1990s, and its popularity also spawned a successful TV cartoon.
Dilbert Explored the Funny Side of Office Life in the 90s
These days, Dilbert is rarely seen thanks to racist and sexist opinions expressed by its creator, Scott Adams, which led most newspapers to drop the comic. In the 1990s, however, Dilbert was simply known as a hilarious comic strip about corporate office life. The comic featured an average office worker dealing with his coworkers and incompetent boss.
In an era when tech companies were starting to take over the American business landscape, Dilbert exploded in popularity. People often printed out Dilbert comics that were particularly applicable to their jobs and mounted them on their office or cubicle walls. Dilbert used its trademark minimalist art style to tell stories about the difficulties of office life in a way that was sometimes almost too real.
Foxtrot Portrayed Average Suburban Family Life
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Calvin and Hobbes reading comics on top of panels from Bloom County and The Far Side
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Although it never reached the popularity of some of its peers like Calvin and Hobbes, Foxtrot was a consistent and often hilarious presence on the 1990s comics page. Foxtrot follows the lives of a typical suburban family with a father, mother, and three kids of various ages, all of whom fit different 90s kid stereotypes.
The kids on Foxtrot were relatable to many kids in the ’90s. The oldest son loved video games and sports, the daughter was preoccupied with her friends and popularity, and the youngest son was obsessed with math and science. A physicist himself, creator Bill Amend designed the youngest son as an exaggeration of his own interests. Foxtrot continues to this day as a Sunday-only cartoon, still commenting on the challenges of family life.
Peanuts Revolutionized Newspaper Comics Over Fifty Years
Peanuts is undoubtedly one of the most influential and famous comic strips ever. Although people associate Peanuts with its earlier decades, the comic ran until creator Charles Schulz’s retirement in 2000. Peanuts pioneered many cartooning techniques that are still used today and was incredibly influential on essentially every comic strip artist who followed.
The cast of Peanuts consists of kids (plus Charlie Brown’s dog Snoopy and his friends), and adults are rarely seen and never heard in the comic. The Peanuts characters were universally recognizable to readers in the 1990s, and the comic strip continued to be a source of humor and comfort to its many fans throughout the decade.
Outland Continued the Traditions of Bloom County
Collage of panels from Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County comic strips
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In the 1980s, Bloom County was one of the most popular comic strips being published. When Bloom County ended in 1989, creator Berkeley Breathed launched a sequel series called Outland. Outland initially focused on new characters and minor characters from Bloom County. However, most of the characters from Bloom County eventually returned, and the strip essentially became a continuation of Bloom County.
Opus the Penguin was Bloom County’s most famous character, and his popularity continued throughout Outland (and its successor comic, Opus). A Sunday-only comic throughout its run, Outland lacked the continuity of a daily strip but still maintained the political commentary and absurd humor that Bloom County was known for.
The Far Side Held an Absurd Mirror to Society
The Far Side is a timeless comic strip. Creator Gary Larson largely avoided commenting on issues like politics or popular culture, which would have dated the strip. Instead, The Far Side used material like historical events or common idioms as the basis for its humor, allowing it to age well and appeal to a broad audience.
The best Far Side cartoons hold a mirror up to society and make people laugh at the absurdity of human behavior and societal norms. The Far Side is a masterpiece of absurdist humor, often putting animals in human situations to emphasize the weird ways that people act. From cavemen to rocket scientists and cows to mosquitoes, no profession or animal was immune from The Far Side’s clever and elegant single-panel jokes.
Calvin and Hobbes Was the Best Comic Strip of the ’90s
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Bill Watterson’s masterpiece Calvin and Hobbes is often lauded as the best comic strip ever. Readers in the 1990s were lucky enough to read the classic comic as it was being published, eagerly checking the newspaper daily to see Calvin’s latest inventions or adventures. Compilations of the classic comic are still incredibly popular, and fans from the 90s have excitedly passed their collections on to their kids.
Calvin and Hobbes revolved around the young child Calvin and his pet/stuffed tiger Hobbes. Calvin’s adventures were wholesome and often philosophical, as he learned life lessons and discovered how the world worked. Calvin’s parents often struggled with their energetic and imaginative child but always treated him with love and care. The result was a classic tale for adults and kids that still resonates with readers today.