Speech characterized by profundities

Speech characterized by inanities

Raised by distracted, angry parents

Raised by distant, irritable aunt

Subject to surreal fantasies

Subject to surreal universe

Has thing for neighbor girl Suzy Durkins

Has thing for Rollo the rich kid

Best friend is wise-cracking, cuddly stuffed toy

Best friend is wise-cracking, prickly headed tough boy

Uncle is secretly gay

Aunt is secretly a former movie star

Interacts (barely) only with stuffed toy, fantasy monsters and a handful of humans: teacher, bully, neighbor girl, family members).

Interacts with numerous humans, including friends, workmen, police officers, strangers, hippies and codgers

Must contend with the ups and downs of fortune

Must contend with the emptiness of existence

Escapes into fantasy to avoid day-to-day world

Use trickery and fraud to cope with day-to-day problems

Destined to become troubled but brilliant adult

Caught in time loop - growing up is inconceivable

Creator is alive

Creator is dead

Strip debunks childhood's cuteness by portraying its horrors from both the kid's and the parents' point of view

Strip debunked childhood's cuteness by substituting surliness, cynicism and incomprehension for human emotion

Strip ignores existence of contemporary art

Strip included frequent commentary on contemporary art

Distinctive perspective, bizarre caricatures add dynamism to style that is blend of Peanuts and For Better or Worse

Art achieves formal perfection through use of minimalist formulas and extreme economy of gesture

Comic was widely read and critically acclaimed

Comic was widely read and uniformly despised

Best comic strip of the decade

Best comic strip of the century