For me, Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson, how he captures a 5-6 yo boy, just so bloody funny, I have his first compendium of books. Gary Clark and his strip, The Swamp, the quintessential Aussie take on life,I have a number of his originals, my favourite the bulldozer series and Lab 13, scalpels this big.
Being from Scotland I'd have to say Oor Wullie, definitely a comic strip character from my childhood..... I would not want him on a Speedmaster though
So hard to pick just one, but I'll list my top 3. 1. The Far Side Gary Larson 2. Peanuts Charles Schulz 3. BC Johnny Hart
1 Peanuts 2 The Perishers 3 Calvin and Hobbs 4 Andy Cap Used to wait to be able to get the newspaper from my dad every day so I could read the comic page. Nobody was allowed to touch it until he had read it first, not even my mum and she was quite the fierce dragon when she wanted to be.
Ah Dennis, the incorrigible prick! Always bullying the effeminate Walter (who when I was reading it in the late 70's early 80s would often wear a dress and make-up). I pray to Jesus they've updated the characters a bit. Likewise Andy Cap - the wife beating alcoholic - is he still being published?
Most memorable exchange from "the Wizard of ID" was when the prisoner in the dungeon complained to the guard that for twenty years they had given him one serving of gruel every day, but that day all he was given was "a dish full of dirt". The guard replied, "sorry, I forgot to add the water".