The 1990s were a massive decade for the comic strip medium. It marked the last full decade of Peanuts, while featuring other conclusions like that of The Far Side, while ushering in impressive new talent and engaging stories. It was the decade that introduced multiple fun new families for readers to enjoy weekly and/or daily, and by the end of the decade, it even featured the newspaper debut of future icons like The Boondocks. But for those seeking workplace comedy, Dilbert quickly drew readers in with its office employee-focused satire, proving a solid go-to for workers in over 2,000 newspapers worldwide.

But for one reason or another, whether it was its stagnating premise not addressing the shifts in office culture, or the February 2023 incident that was its final nail in the coffin, readers may have sought out other comic strips since then to spark joy in their daily life. Thanks to a wide breadth of content from the 1990s, other relatable avenues are available to read, whether for new parents or those wishing to relive their youth, or legends of the decade deserving to be read by everyone. The 1990s hardly produced another comic strip like Dilbert, but perhaps that’s for the best, as it instead produced a vast spread of great comic strips covering a wide, ever-evolving variety of topics.

Baby Blues

While not everybody is bound for a white-collar job, parenthood is a timeless experience for much of the world, with its chaotic lows and healing highs chronicled well in Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman’s beloved 1990 original comic. Largely focused on modern parenting, this series addresses how Darryl and Wanda MacPherson adjust as their family grows, first with newborn Zoe, with two others, Hammie and Wren, to follow later.

While not aging in real-time, readers find the MacPhersons not only obviously grow in number, but mature as a family unit while tackling relatable struggles of their own. It can give sometimes too honest of a glimpse into the difficulties of having children, while those same children grow older and slowly develop their own curious minds. It blends the harebrained schemes these hatch such as licking their sleeping parents like a dog would, to convince them to get a family pet, with the experiences of their sometimes-overwhelmed parents, each hailing from white-collar work of their own, as they realize parenthood is also a full-time job on its own.

Mutts

Less so even a comparison to Dilbert at all, but a solid recommendation by Charles M. Schulz himself, as “one of the best comic strips of all time” in the Peanuts creator’s own words. It takes a rather simple premise, the adventures of Earl the Jack Russell Terrier and Mooch the tuxedo cat, as Mutts endears readers to its stars and indeed all animals.

It’s adorably endearing in ways more fundamental than similar comic strips like Garfield, with Mooch’s late-night antics such as noisily interacting with outdoor cats as instantly relatable for pet owners. But Mutts also goes one step closer, with wholesome installments like its Shelter Stories as wonderful tales of rescue animals taken to their forever homes. It’s a perfect blend of sweet humor that can be surprisingly poignant when it needs to be, with itself being an overall healing comic strip from the 1990s that should be on any animal lover, or indeed anybody’s radar.

Calvin and Hobbes

Much like Dilbert, Calvin and Hobbes naturally didn’t get its start in the 1990s, but it entered its peak in this decade. The comic strip was at the top of its game in terms of overall readership, and creator Bill Watterson’s creativity was arguably unmatched in this period from 1990 until its conclusion in 1995.

Calvin and Hobbes experienced some of its most iconic moments in this decade too. It introduced readers to the first game of Calvinball, which has since become shorthand for everything from other games thought up on the fly, to unreasonable, unexplainable workplace metrics goals too unreachable to be considered fair. Calvin’s flights of fancy brought him to the time of the dinosaurs, with other adventures involving sentient snowmen even from that same year.

But perhaps most beloved of all was its open-ended conclusion, in which the titular duo’s adventures never truly stopped. Perhaps of all the series mentioned so far, not even the staunchest Dilbert fan could reasonably dismiss Calvin and Hobbes as a worthwhile general alternative.

Outland

The successor to Bloom County, Berkeley Breathed’s Sunday-only series covered a wide breadth of topics as Bloom County’s Ronald-Ann would step into the surreal, magical doorway bridging a world on the wrong side of the tracks into an idealized fantasy world. Divorced from the daily publishing cadence of Bloom County, this series would jump into wild new territory while leaving every topic open for absurd interpretations.

It’s a more varied world, tackling politics, pop culture, and major developments for brands like Microsoft, with the series lampooning Bill Gates. While certainly more unconventional than most great comic strips of the 1990s, its humor was undeniable, and in instances like August 21, 1994’s meteor gag, it could be timeless, as it mocks fitness junkies convinced they’ve gamed the unpredictable nature of death.

Zits

Also created by Jerry Scott but this time illustrated by Jim Borgman, Zits is a multifaceted comic strip for multiple varieties of readers. It can be about parents of teens, trying to figure their kid out while juggling work functions and maintaining themselves as positive role models. It certainly was also relatable for teens, presenting a world that simultaneously treats them like children, while saddling them with increasingly adult questions about life and responsibility.

At the center of Zits is Jeremy Duncan, the classic teen slacker who, alongside his on-again, off-again girlfriend Sara Toomey, and best pals Pierce and Hector, faces the world, endless homework, and various rites of passage. Jeremy may relentlessly poke fun at his parents as products of a different era, but he inevitably shows his respect for them, as well, whether to ask a favor or to genuinely convey affection. It’s a solid comic strip that changes accurately with the times, while addressing timeless topics such as the temptation to cheat on school assignments, question one’s place in the world, and utterly annihilate the family fridge’s reserves of food as teenage boys are wont to do.

Writers

Jerry Scott

Penciler(s)

Jim Borgman

Inker(s)

Jim Borgman

Colorist(s)

Jim Borgman

Publisher(s)

simon & schuster

Artist

Jim Borgman