You wake up and the first thing you do is head for the front door to take in the morning paper that you pay good money to have delivered. The mornings that it doesn't come are enough to make you head to the phone, call up the delivery service and read them the riot act. Not that you're so upset that you're not going to find out what our illustrious President did today. You're waiting to see if Lisa's cancer has really come back and wondering how Funky is going to take the news.
Welcome to the world of the funnies.
Let's face it, the first section we pull out of the paper in the morning is the funnies. We started reading them when we were kids and continue to read them even as adults. Titles come and titles go, including some of our favorites, but there is always something to take their place and put a smile on our face in order to get us through the day.
Funnies come in all shapes, sizes and themes. The number of ways they entertain us and make us laugh, or even cry, are limitless. Some of them have been around for so long that they feel like a member of the family. There are the funnies that come in single boxes like "The Family Circus" where a cartoon is worth a thousand words. The most poignant Circus funnies are the ones where one of the small children ask one of the parents a question that usually involves trying to explain the illogic of adult actions. They're funny and thoughtful all at the same time.
Then of course there are the fu nnies like "Dilbert", which has been one of the most popular comics over the past couple of decades. Dilbert combines technical and office humor in a way that is both weird and yet so true. We can certainly identify with many of the stupid things that the pointy haired boss does. While not as popular as in its early days, this comic still hits very true to home in its own bizarre way.
Looking for humor in uniform? There is always "Beetle Bailey", which is one of the longest running comics today, having begun on September 4, 1950. We've been laughing at this look at the army and a few of its inept participants for over 50 years now. Reading this comic and looking at the world today makes you wonder if our own military is really run any better.
Maybe you want a humorous look at married life. Look no farther than "The Lockhorns". This is a comic that turns marriage into a battle of the sexes that neither can seem to win. The wife in the comic can't cook and the husband is as lazy as they come and can't keep his eyes off of other women. It is every stereotype of modern day marriage that you can think of and it never stops making us laugh.
These few funnies only scratch the surface of the number of comics we get to enjoy every morning when we open up the daily paper. That's of course when the paper boy remembers to deliver it.
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Humor
