Brain Candy #6 - Interactive Fun Sites

"Comic Strip Cornucopia" exists to let you create your own daily funnies page. If you're a fan of the comics, and your local newspaper doesn't cover your favorites, you can buy other newspapers, but that's a clumsy and expensive solution. Now you have another option. By logging into "Comic Strip Cornucopia", you can design your own comic page. While the list doesn't include every comic in the world, it's pretty complete. Currently, there are 207 different strips available. Some of these are relatively obscure, but there are classics -- Alley Oop, Dick Tracy, Brenda Starr, Gasoline Alley, Mark Trail and Nancy are examples -- most major modern strips and even a reprint of an old strip (Doonesbury from 24 years ago). There are also a number of comics from prominent editorial cartoonists -- Jules Feiffer, Steve Benson, Tony Auth and Pat Oliphant, for example. All in all, it's surprisingly complete coverage of American newspaper comic strips.

Once you enter the site, you go to a customization screen, and pick the comics you want. You can look at the latest comic of each to audition them for your list. This takes you to the web page which has been set up for that comic (usually by its syndicator.) The site can vary from a bare-bones presentation of just today's comic, to a shrine to the comic and its author, complete with a place to buy comic-related trinkets, and even original artwork. One downside to this process is that a few syndicates require you to register with them to access their comics. It may get you on a mailing list or in a database, but it's also their way of getting you to agree to their restrictions on reuse of the strips. Most of the strips are not subject to this, but some of the more popular ones are. Use your judgment on whether you want to sign up.

My first visit to this site was less than a year ago; I created a custom list of comics that was assigned a number: 522. I changed my profile as part of writing this article; the new number was 646327. If these numbers are assigned sequentially, this would appear to have become a very popular site. I'll share my latest profile with you to give you an idea of what's available.

One of my all-time favorite comics is Bizarro, a quirky look at life by the cartoonist Piraro. When the Akron Beacon Journal stopped their weekly news magazine a few years ago, we lost access to it. Another is Calvin and Hobbes. I thought it was permanently retired, but you can access it here; I haven't yet seen a strip I recognize, so maybe it has been unretired. The Beacon Journal was auditioning cartoons a few years ago when Calvin and Hobbes ceased; one of the ones they tried but cut was Foxtrot, about an obnoxious geeky pre-teen and his long-suffering family. Now, I've got it back. The final two on my list were regularly published in newspapers I've read in the past. Sylvia is similar in some ways to Bizarro, but from a woman's perspective. It's usually wordy and usually quirky, but is quite funny most of the time. The last comic is an underground comic, Zippy the Pinhead. It covers the life of a character with only a loose grip on the fabric of reality, along with his oddball acquaintances. It's underground only because of its very strange tone, but it's worth a look.

So, if you're fond of comics, but your local paper doesn't offer you what you need, try the "Comic Strip Cornucopia".

And now for something completely different. If you've been a Mensan for a while, you may remember that the Braegen used to print columns occasionally by "Uncle" Al Schwartz. Al's got his own web site now at http://pw1.netcom.com/~uncleal0/uncleal.htm. For those fond of his sharp wit and not-politically correct, controversial articles, this site should be worth a look. Note however, that he's not shy about attacking what he objects to, and he doesn't stick to safe topics. Pay attention to his warning at the top of his page and bail out if you think you might object to his essays. Good reading!