The Family Circus Makes Me Angry

The Family Circus. You know, the comic strip that follows the childish buffoonery of Billy, Dolly, Jeffy, and PJ, along with their dogs Barfy (?) and Sam and their cat, Kittykat.

Its dizzying un-funnyness has baffled and angered me for years. It has the opposite effect of most comics - - I read it and instead of chuckling or even smiling, I actually become pissed off. Apparently I'm not alone.

There are a number of sites which change the caption of each Family Circus panel in attempt to make it funnier (see above). Some are funnier than others, and - - fair warning - - most of them are more than a little bit crude. (Don't check them out if you're easily offended. )

Less crude, and probably more funny are the reviews and comments other Circus-haters leave on sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble describing their love for Bil Keane's comics in gushing prose and quasi-philospohical language. (One reviewer calls it "Proustian introspection with Munch's visual conundrums.")

There's also this: Joe Mathlete Explains Today's Marmaduke. Mr. Mathlete has graciously taken it upon himself to explain the subtle, delirious comedic brilliance of the funny page's other low water mark to the rest of us who are too dimwitted (or angry) to wrap our heads around it.