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In 1983, the Dayton Daily News accidentally switched the captions for “Dennis the Menace” and “The Far Side”.  And then, a few days later, they did it again.

So that got me to thinking… Scott McCloud invented “Five Card Nancy“, using panels from Ernie Bushmiller’s “Nancy” comic strip.

Could I make a similar game, using the real-world example from the Dayton Daily News?  Of course!

So here it is!

The Rules:

1. Only single panel comics can be used, and only those with captions below the art.  In panel spoken text is not allowed.  Silent panels may be included.
2. At least two comics are used.  If you wish to make it more interesting, you can use more, but the number should be even.
3. Normal strips should be offset by the more unusual.  For every “Dennis the Menace” there should be a “Far Side”.  (See below for suggestions.)
4. There should be at least 100 examples from each comic (100 panels, 100 captions).  The more people who play, the more comics or examples should be used.  Random examples may be used, but should be in equal proportion of “normal” to “unusual”.
5. The playing deck has two parts: comics and captions.
6. Each player is dealt four cards from each deck.
7. Play begins with a player presenting a match of a caption with a panel.
8. Other players then try to “edit” the match by replacing either the comic or the caption with a card from his/her hand.  Play ends when none can improve on the mismatched comic.
9. All players then refill their hands and play continues with the next player.
10. If you need to keep score, post the mix-matched creations to your social network feed (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Friendster, Usenet).  Score points for each “like” or re-share.

Recommended comics:

Like a good wine or cheese, a really fine comic strip gets even better as the years go by. Over and over again, I’ve reread my collections of The Far Side by Douglas Adams and discovered that time had unlocked another joke for me to appreciate.

I’ve gathered a very short list of the comics that I loved as a child, even if I didn’t know why.

The Far Side, Douglas Adams

For Kids: The drawings are silly and often have talking animals or people being hit in the face.

For Adults: Larson’s humor is inimitable, smart, and always surprising. Using his iconic single panel, he suggests a past, present, and future to each unique situation in the Far Side Universe. This Cause-and-Effect set up, employing the reader to supply the punch line, turns each strip into a puzzle that is entertaining to solve.

Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Waterson

For Kids: Calvin is an extremely sympathetic character to every child. They read through his eyes… they want to BE Calvin, and they already are.  “I agree with you Calvin,” they cry, school lunches are gross! I want to be Spaceman Spiff! 
 

For Adults: The strip bounces easily back and forth between kid humor and adult pontification. It rings unfalteringly TRUE both ways. And if kids can see themselves in and become Calvin, adults can recognize themselves in the parents as well as see Calvin in a whole new light. The day I found myself siding with the Parents in one strip was the day I made a snow angel to prove I still could.

Peanuts, Charles M. Schultz

For Kids: To be honest, I wasn’t a big Charlie Brown fan as a child. I was, however, a big Snoopy fan. He was a million times better than Marmaduke or Fred Bassett. My personal favorites were always the WWI flying ace episodes.

For Adults: I think that the reason I may not have liked Charlie as a kid was that Charlie is actually a grown up in disguise. The world isn’t fair or magical to Charlie, it is disappointing. The magic of Schultz is that he somehow makes this funny instead of depressing.

Which old comics have you found hidden layers to?  Tell us about it in the Comments!

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These reenactments of Gary Larson’s The Far Side on Flickr are worth a chuckle or two. Make your own!

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