Here is Thursday’s episode of a comic strip called Adams’ Apples, which appears exclusively in my local paper, The Oregonian, and is not available online.
The artist, Jim Adams, is a local schoolteacher, and the strip is apparently autobiographical. It is also consistently amateurishly drawn, awkwardly worded, and unfunny.
In this example, he has used a joke that I distinctly remember reading a better-worded version of in a joke book I checked out of the library when I was 7.
But never mind that.
“DICIDED”??
When was the last time you saw a misspelled word in a comic strip? Maybe never? It is an exceedingly rare event, because syndicated comic strips have many layers of editors. Adams’ Apples does not, or at least not editors who care about such things. Adams once misspelled “CEMETERY” as “CEMETARY,” and I’ve seen him write “A LOT” as one word. Mistakes like that are common elsewhere, but like I said, the comics page is usually pretty tight.
He’s not very good with commas, either, as you see in this installment. The commas after “BUT” in the second panel and “SO” in the third panel are unnecessary, though allowable if you really want to indicate that the speaker pauses there. “But, pause, eventually, pause, the weather….” But the comma in “SUCH AS, ‘HUGO'” in the third panel is just wrong, period. Again, this is typical of Adams’ Apples.
I hate the strip so much that I read it every day, just so I can enjoy hating it and feel bad for the hundreds of talented cartoonists whose work is rejected by The Oregonian in favor of a homegrown but awful strip. So sad.
Wow.
Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was more about saving some money by paying this guy a pittance instead of syndicating a better strip. The whole ‘homegrown strip’ angle just makes it more palatable. All the good comic strips are on the web these days anyway. Newspapers are just accelerating their demise by not running a good comics page.
I think I read that joke — better worded, of course — on a bubble gum wrapper when I was 6. And I’m older than you.
So that’s why people who hate SR read it faithfully, too? I will never understand this.
*Glances at comic*
I dunno, it still seems funnier than Garfield.
Laffy Taffy jokes are more sophisticated than this comic strip.
The comic becomes a lot funnier if you pretend the girl speaking at the end is retarded.
The worst syndicated strip is “Overboard.” It usually mangles some old joke or telegraphs the punch line in the first panel. That one is pretty sorry though.
No, Fred Basset is the worst comic strip in the world.
Setting aside the horrendous spelling and grammar, is this really any worse than, say, Family Circus, Pluggers, or Rubes?
Or Cathy?
I think there are so many “traditional” comics that are really boring (Garfield & Cathy as mentioned). Here is one of my favorite unprinted comics ever. I really wish this guy could get in print:
http://www.basicinstructions.net/
The only misspelling I ever saw in a comic strip was when Bill Watterson spelled it “baloney” because he understandably couldn’t stand the way “balogna” looks.
My biggest problem with this story is that those mistakes are made by a schoolteacher. Teacher, teach thyself!
I love it, Eric’s version of an angry letter. It would awesome if you sent this to him.
I attempted some Googling to see if I could find more about Adam’s Apples. Most of the very few references I could find were mainly from people who also believe this is an awful comic.
http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/09/07/local-farley-comic-to-come-to-an-end/
That link has many comments from people who hate the comic (and a few who like it) and several attempts by the artist himself trying to defend it: “The most popular comic strips, are often simultaneously the most disliked.”
http://pleasestopticklingme.blogspot.com/2008/09/search-for-greatness-in-world-gone.html
That link goes to another article like Eric’s expressing their loathing of this comic. Unfortunately, he could not find an actual copy of the strip so he was forced to transcribe an example.
Gah! I second JeremyB.
[Insert long-winded rant on the necessity of providing appropriate incentives so that intelligent people won’t be throwing away their careers if by teaching K-12.]
The only misspelling I ever saw in a comic strip was when Bill Watterson spelled it “baloney” because he understandably couldn’t stand the way “balogna” looks.
“Baloney” is an accepted spelling — it’s in the dictionary — so Watterson was correct. He’d be justified in not liking the way “balogna” looks, though, since the traditional spelling is “bologna.”
Thank you, Eric, for correcting the comment about Bill Watterson’s spelling of “baloney.” I can get on with my day in peace.
The “Pear Pimples for Hairy Fishnuts” comic on Bloom County from long ago has a Hare Krishna say, “Just couph up some dough, Mac!”
Here’s a link to the corrected version of the Bloom County Pear Pimples cartoon (this is a lithograph that didn’t appear in the newspaper or cartoon books originally).
https://www.berkeleybreathed.com/store/item-detail.asp?ID=32&storeid=1
Bad comics are the best (teehee, irony). Someone should send Adams Apples in to the Comics Curmudgeon.
“Baloney” is an accepted spelling — it’s in the dictionary — so Watterson was correct. He’d be justified in not liking the way “balogna” looks, though, since the traditional spelling is “bologna.”
Oops. Yes, well. Your face! *runs away*
I think the majority of current mainstream comics are a waste of space. Not that I want newspapers to do away with them, they just need to get over their fears and cut the dead-weight loose. Make room for fresh blood! *Sigh* I miss Calvin and Hobbes.
I remember the hurricane joke from when *I* was a kid, and I’m older than anyone. In fact, I think I made it up.
The best cartoon *ever*? Bizarro.
http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/
to Chris H
Than for tipping me to Basic Instructions! 🙂
You are dead wrong, Eric. The worst comic-strip in the world is called (I think) WTD – a play on WTF, but with ‘Duck’ instead of the f-word. The strip is carried by the Toronto Star, the largest-circulation newspaper in Canada, so is presumably syndicated. Its protagonist is a duck (or several ducks – you can only tell them apart by their colour, since they’re completely without individual character) who is a professional portrait and wedding photograper. Now there’s a concept that grabs you right away!
The strip is utterly unfunny, always, and has none of the Family-Circus cuteness factor that might make its presence understandable. I hate Family Circus, but shut-ins probably love it. Insult to injury — this appears on the same page as ‘Zits,’ which is always pointed, and often hilarious. You might find it on ‘thestar.ca’ the newspaper’s website. Don’t bother.
@ Ray
I did bother, just for fun (nothing could be worse than what I’ve already seen in the paper), and I didn’t have to look very long to find one that wasn’t half-bad.
@ Andrew D
Meh. I guess it was tolerable. But I didn’t even say to myself, “Huh, I guess that’s funny.”
I see this was posted 3 years ago, but I looked up the comic because I just learned that the creator of Adam’s Apples is my child’s art teacher and wanted to see what I thought. Here’s my thought- the comic is adorable, and you are a ****. How freaking rude and nit-picky! And to the other people joined in in some of the comments… you look and sound like a bunch of bullies who need to obvisously find a hobby or something more productive. Mr. Adams is a cool guy, and a more importantly a great teacher. Shame on you. Puke!
he is my school teacher he is a funny nice man so why dont yu stop being so hateful and if yu dont like it move on dont title it the worst comic ever i think yu are jealous of him because he is successful and you are not he is probly funnier then yu so stop being so obsessive and be quite!!
Jim Adams is my art teacher and this is not the worst comic strip.And how dare you disrespect him like this!