Once upon a time, there were things called "newspapers" that arrived in the early morning on the lawns and doorsteps of Americans. These papers contained information on current events that people often cared about and that sometimes affected their lives, like elections and discount tire sales. They were written by serious journalists who wrote about serious topics and appeared to care very deeply about them. 

Which meant that they were often depressing and dull.

In light of all that, the best page in the paper was usually the comics page, also sometimes called the funnies. A couple dozen cartoonists would offer up a few minutes of lighthearted escapism. It was sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes not...but always unquestionably more pleasant than the rest of the paper. 

It was much-needed levity in the midst of the angst, strife, and manipulation offered up by the journalists, and people willing to provide that were compensated well. The successful ones could pull in anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000 a year (source). 

The main character was named for the over-sized yellow night shirt he always wore and was kinda like Dennis the Menace on steroids.

The first newspaper comics started showing up a long time ago, way back in 1895. A comic called The Yellow Kid by Richard Outcault is generally considered the first true syndicated newspaper comic strip (source). 

Of course, back then, only one or two newspapers could be delivered per city block because, being chiseled on stone tablets...okay, not really. But distribution of that sort of material was much more difficult without the technology we have today.

The strip was described as a "turn-of-the-century theater of the city, in which class and racial tensions of the new urban, consumerist environment were acted out by a mischievous group of New York City kids from the wrong side of the tracks."

We can easily tell from this quote that whoever wrote it is an insufferable bore who never got invited to parties. But we can also see that comics are capable of more than just slapstick jokes from water-colored talking heads. Sophisticated concepts often become clearer when conveyed in simple terms, which gives cartoonists a unique opportunity.

Comics are an art form, whether that makes a ton of immediate sense or not. At least they are according to Bill Watterson, creator of maybe the best comic strip of all time, Calvin and Hobbes. Watterson's creation was special to him, and he believes comic strips, just like other art forms, ought to maintain a certain autonomy. This might seem a kind of high and mighty for a guy known to make booger jokes and draw strips about monster snowmen, but you can see his point. 

Successful cartoonists tend to be in tune with the political and social environment of the day. They provide commentary on topics people are likely to be chewing on, and provoke a few chuckles along the way.

There have been many syndicated comic strips over the years. Ranking the best or most successful or most influential ones is a tougher chore than you'd think. You can find various lists of top comics on the Internet, most accompanied by the stuffy, unnecessary commentary of whoever made the list.

As we were writing this piece, we checked a few out just for fun. Each had its variations, but they all pretty much unanimously agreed on two things: 1) Calvin and Hobbes wins best strip ever, and 2) Doonesbury, The Far Side, Peanuts, Opus, and Dilbert round out the next five spots but in a different order on just about every list.

• More