Thursday, March 15, 2007

March Madness Comics Style


Last year about this time I did a 11 part series I called the National Crappiest Comics Competition or the NCCC™. The competition was a 16 comic single elimination tournament to determine the comic most deserving of elimination from the comics page. BC was about to carry off the trophy when Gil Thorp stole the crown in a very controversial call by the judge, namely me.

This year I am running a different NCCCC or NC^4 which I have called the National Coolest Comics Character Contest. Rather than model it on the NCAA, it will be based instead on the Westminster Kennel Club. I have come up with six archetypal comics characters categories and I will nominate at least four characters in each grouping. Then all the winners of each type will compete for best of show.

Best of all, to avoid last years fiasco, the voting will be public and all readers of this blog are eligible to vote. While I have already determined most of the candidates, I am open to nominations from the floor, subject to approval. The ground rules are pretty simple:

  1. All characters must be a featured regular cast member of a comic strip currently in newspaper syndication.
  2. No webcomics, discontinued comics, or comics solely in reruns are eligible. This disqualifies all characters from Peanuts, Liberty Meadows, and Pogo, among others.
  3. Write-ins are allowed at the sole discretion of the judge. Write-in candidates must otherwise meet all other eligibility criteria.

Without further ado, the categories are:


Remember, instead of last year where I was trying to determine the crappiest comic, this year I want to find the BEST character. Contestants in each category will be kept confidential until the blog post goes live. At that time, I will announce the approximate time voting closes and I will declare the winner in the comments. There will be two categories posted a week with the final competition tentatively scheduled for Monday, April 2. The final week of competition is contingent upon me finding adequate internet connectivity while I chaperone my son’s annual band trip.

BlatantCommentWhoring™: Feel free to make nominations from the peanut gallery.

18 comments:

Sue T. said...

Best Evil Anthropomorphic Animal has gotta be Bucky from "Get Fuzzy."

I don't have any kids myself, but based on the constant text messaging & cell phone usage of the kids I see around here, I'd have to vote the always-wired Jeremy from "Zits" as Most Lifelike Teen Character.

I can't think of any male CILFs so I'll have to try and think like a member of the opposite sex for a moment and pick Blondie as the hottest CILF (funny div.). Soaps? Abbey Spencer, maybe? I dig her red hair...

Most precocious kid: Jason from "Fox Trot."

Ambiguously gay duo: Hagar and Lucky Eddie.

Anonymous said...

God, have I actually been (mostly) blurking here for a year. It was the NC^4 that brought me here. My picks:

Lifelike Teen - Jeremy, no question. Maybe Baldo, but Jeremy's the one to beat.

Precocious Cynical Kid - a crowded field. Outside shots: Gabby from Grand Avenue, Danae from Non Sequitur. Jason isn't cynical enough.

Hottest CILF (Funny) - Edda Burber. Period. Hands down. Slight competition from her mother Juliet.

Hottest CILF (Soap) - We all know the final is gonna be June vs. Abby. I'm going with Abby under the new artist. Outside shot: Mrs. Phantom

Evil Anthropomorphic Animal - Another crowded field. Bucky's the one to beat, but he has weaknesses. He's been nice to Satchel on a couple of occasions.

MAGD - Not as crowded a field as it once was. Frank & Ernest have tradition, but lose points for being a zombie comic now. Do Mooch and Earl count?

TBG said...

Most ambiguously gay duo? That's easy: Ted and Sally Forth.

Anonymous said...

Liberty Meadows lives on in comic book form, but that's a nitpick.

Teen Character: Jeremy from Zits is probably going to take it, Baldo's pretty strong with he goes self-delusional and turns into soap opera art. Chip from Hi & Lois doesn't stand a chance. April's gotta be in the running but I don't think she'll win. Likewise Luann. Is Niki from Rex Morgan a teenager yet?

Precocious Kid: Danae's my favorite here. I think Big Nate is a strong contender. Hilary from Sally Forth will be in the money, I'm guessing. Alex from Doonesbury? She's probably in the Teen division now that she's away at school.

CILF/Funny: Pam from Brewster Rockit, Edda, Lila (as in Meaning of...), Yenny, Cookie Bumstead, Miss Buxley (these last two from the Zombie Division, natch)

CILF/Soap: Brenda Starr is the dark horse here. I like her new artwork. Mrs. Phantom is pretty hot, as noted above.

Evil Animal: Catbert is the most consistently evil. Most of the others are just misanthropic.

AGD: Mike & Weed, Earl & Clyde, Hagar & Lucky Eddie (ZD), Rex Morgan and any other guy who's drawn into the strip.

Anonymous said...

Most ambiguously gay duo from the least likely source:

Anno Domini and Conahanty

Anonymous said...

Best Evil Anthromophic Animal: Hands Down, Rat, from Pearls before Swine.

Ambigiously gay: Mark Trail!

Anonymous said...

I agree: Rat should win Best Evil Anthropomorphic Animal hands down. To paraphrase PEarls cast member Goat, "his soul is so dark it smudges mine."

a miserable rabbit said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I'm curious--are men going to be included in the CILF category? I feel like they should be, just to be fair, but the only even remotely attractive men from the funnies I can think of are Rob from Get Fuzzy and whathisname the dancer from 9CWL.

Anonymous said...

PLEASE tell me you're going to include Lips Patterson in your hottest cartoon character poll? Please? There's some great Anthony-vision views of her on Joshreads.com!

Anonymous said...

If you're still accepting nominations, how about Slylock Fox and Max Mouse for Ambiguous Gay Couple?

Better yet - Slylock and Reeky Rat. Slylock's always busting him for perceived social transgressions. There must be something between them.

Anonymous said...

CILF/Funnny: someone should mention Tiffany from Luann. Not my cup of tea, actually, and not that well drawn. June and Abby, however...

Anonymous said...

You know, I realized I meant Toni, the one who gets Brad all bothered, not Tiffany.

Jenny G said...

I'd nominate Cassandra Cat as CILF, but I can't figure out if Shylock Fox falls into the Funny or the Soap category. Or neither . . .

Anonymous said...

Hottest CILF – Funny Division: Heart's mom, from HotC.

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