I had never really indulged in comic strips before, so although I was familiar with titles like Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbs, I’ve never had the chance to read them until now.
If I had to pick out the order of my favorite readings out of these strips, I would have to say I enjoyed Little Nemo in Slumberland first and foremost. I had never read Little Nemo before, and I really enjoyed the fantastical setting that Little Nemo was in for the Palace of Ice. The intricate backgrounds and really fun characters like the pugnacious snowmen fighting as well as the various tour guides that show Little Nemo and the Princess around were very colorful and amusing. I also thought the endings of each comic page, although repetitive, were very cute and emphasized the childlike wonder and adventure kids have especially before bedtime.
Calvin and Hobbs was my second favorite because even though I find some of the humor a little crude for the comics in general, I think its a very realistic comic in how it approaches ideas and concepts in the real world. It’s also great at stretching your imagination with the ever-present Hobbs changing between a stuffed tiger and a real tiger at different intervals.
My third favorite goes to Peanuts, as I feel its in a similar vein of Calvin and Hobbs, albeit a little tamer but just as much of a no-nonsense dialogue between characters. Last, but not least is Krazy Kat. I was only able to find a small selection of comics, but reading them outlaid did improve my understanding of the dialogue and the story in the end. The strip was unique, but I also felt that I couldn’t understand it very well because of some of the themes or concepts presented aren’t very present in modern times. Hopefully, through some more research and reading, I can better understand the context of the strip in the future.
I agree that early Peanuts is very much like Calvin and Hobbs, where the kids try to act like little adults with each other. However, I'm not sure if I would describe Calvin and Hobbs as "realistic", since many strips are about childhood escapism into fantasy worlds and palling around with an imaginary tiger. I think part of the humor that comes from Calvin and Hobbs is how seriously Calvin takes his nonsense: He gets super motivated about building an army of snowmen or going back in time with his cardboard time machine, but he can't stand doing his homework.
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