Sunday Wonders - F

F is for Funnies.  Or what I have always called the funny papers.  Nowadays, the funnies have gone up-market and everyone says "comics page".  If you google 'funnies'  you don't get any definition that agrees with mine.  So, I'm out of step.

That shouldn't be surprising.  I realized, when I began this post, that I'd been reading funnies for more than 60 years.  I can still remember the first cartoon strip I ever read.  Well, maybe not the exact one but the characters.  It was the Katzenjammer Kids and I had no idea what it was about.  Of course, I was too young to even understand what I was reading.  But even when I did get it, I didn't.  It has always been one of those mysterious strips on the funnies page that just isn't funny.  That's a pretty important part of the genre, I would have said.  And many are hilarious.  The best, of course, can be related to our lives here and now.  They remind us that humans are all...er...human.  And there is something inherently funny in our humanity.

I read the funnies every day.  It is probably the most important part of the morning paper for me.  I leave it 'til last - that's how much of a daily treat it truly is.  Looking back and analyzing (because that's what I'm famous for) I see that my tastes have changed over those many years.  One of my first favorites was Prince Valiant.  I know...not funny - at all.

When my kids were little, I can remember enjoying Andy Capp. This was a time when we were getting to know the British brand of humor.  While, I didn't think we had much in common,  the Capp family provided a lot of snickers and giggles.  Must have been something to identify with, don't you think?

I vaguely remember when the Peanuts cartoons arrived on our funny pages.  I didn't get them at all!  For years, I mostly ignored them but after Schulz died, our pages began with reruns from earlier years.  I started reading them and found that, while still not very funny, they had something to say.  I was sorry when the reruns stopped.

For sheer longevity, though, the prize goes to Rex Morgan, MD.  I have been reading this strip every day since I was able to read the funnies.  A long, long time.  I appreciate the social commentary.  But mostly, I am impressed with how such a glacial pace of story-line can hold my interest.  In my heart, I am a soap opera junkie.

And, now for the blue ribbon.  Cul de Sac is now my favorite feature on the funny page.  I enjoy Alice so much.  She is what everyone wishes they could be: a independent, free-thinking, let-it-all-hang-out kind of person.  Her freedom is legendary even as she is captive to the world of grown-ups. And she's just a pre-schooler.  Or is that the point?

Let the funnies continue forever.   I'll be here.