NCCCC: Most Realistic Comics Teenager

In the first division of the 2007 National Coolest Comic Character Competition, we are looking for the most realistic teenager. Making fun of teenagers is trickier than it looks. Review the criteria for a funny comic strip teenager and make a choice.

Breed Standards: That right combination of ennui and self-entitlement must be balanced. A good teen character is timeless yet contemporary. Fashions, musical tastes, and fads must keep current even if the character themselves never age. A teenage character and his friends must be instantly recognizable types, but not cliches.

Faults: Corniness. Anachronistic clothes or slang. Tone deafness. Patronizing attitude by the writers to real teenagers.

Jeremy Duncan Zits	Pro: The comic strip Zits is a stealth success, lagging behind more famous strips but somehow piling up syndication in over 1500 newspapers. Jeremy is a slacker’s slacker with a compelling cast of supporting characters.	Con: While the pop culture references try to stay current, the unbuttoned flannel shirt look has been cliché since back when Kurt Cobain’s brains were still in his skull.
Luann DeGroot Luann	Pro: Luann has been growing at Peter Parker speed from a bubbleheaded tweener into the high school student she is now. Along the way, the strip has tried to gently stay topical in a Very Special Episode way without becoming preachy. This strip has the widest cast of supporting characters, some of which aren’t just insufferable stereotypes. Just don’t try to pin me down by asking which ones.	Con: The endless love triangle have pretty much exhausted every permutation of characters possible except for a Gunther/TJ/Aaron Hill slashfest that surely exists somewhere on the web. Also, more and more time has been spent on doofus brother Brad’s nonexistent love-life lately than on the classroom antics of Luann and company.
Chip Flagston Hi and Lois	Pro: Chip is the teenage son of Hi and Lois which has tried to become edgier under the second generation of Walker-Browne artists. Over the years, the fashions and lingo have changed to keep pace and avoid Brady-ish anachronism.	Con: Chip is a pretty minor character in the ensemble and the overall Velveeta on white bread feel of the strip makes some of the better gags off limits.
Baldomero Bermudez Baldo	Pro: Baldo is the teenage son of a multigenerational Hispanic family. Like other teenagers his life revolves around school, girls, and cars. The Baldoverse milieu is one of the more realistic settings for a family strip. In infrequent fantasy sequences, Baldo can exhibit telenovela good looks, providing much needed fanservice to female comics readers.	Con: Let’s face it, Baldo is often just Zits with a Spanish accent.

Now it's your turn. Vote and leave your opinion. It may take a while for your vote to register, but it will get there. Check back later for results and standings.