Comic strips are great fun. For me, that’s usually the first thing I read in the newspaper!
They tell a story with a sequence of cartoons. They can be funny, political, a running soap-opera drama, or social commentary. Newspapers usually publish them daily and/or weekly and they are now seen on the Internet (such as at www.gocomics.com/).
There are actually quite a few with redhead characters in them. I’ve limited the list to those that are more family-friendly, as I’m sure others can be found and are left for the adults to find on their own.
Some strips have gone on to also have a comic book and/or cartoon series.
Enjoy!
Baby Blues
(Barnes&Noble.com)
Written by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott
-- Zoe (ZOH-ee) – a redhead girl, 1st child of parents Darryl and Wanda.
-- Darryl MacPherson - redhead father of Zoe, husband of Wanda.
Dennis the Menace
(at Barnes&Noble.com)
US strip originally by Hank Ketcham.
-- Margaret Wade - redhead girl, wears glasses, 2years older than Dennis who she likes a lot.
-- Hot Dog - Dennis’s orange tabby cat.
Garfield
(Barnes&Noble.com)
Created by Jim Davis. Garfield - An orange striped cat owned by his human, Jon Arbuckle (auburn hair).
Brenda Starr
Created for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate by the 1st female comic strip artist to be syndicated in the US. Because of gender bias at the time, she used the pen name Dale Messick (real name: Dalia Messick). Debuted in 1940 and was popular in the 1950s. The main character was a beautiful glamorous redheaded reporter Brenda Starr, "world-famous girl reporter" who had wonderful adventures and passionate romances. The creative teams have consisted entirely of women. Brenda was featured on a US stamp (seen here). There were a few comic books as well. Hollywood's 1989 'Brenda Starr' film starring Brooke Shields did poorly. In December 2010, Tribune Media Services announced the Brenda Starr comic strip will leave funny papers and 'retire' (after 70 years!) although there will be a series of books.
Hagar the Horrible
(Barnes&Noble.com)
Originally drawn by Dik Brown; now by son Chris Browne. Hagar -
Scruffy redhead Viking with red beard who has a wife and 2 kids.
Rose is A Rose
(Barnes&Noble.com)
Written by Pat Brady. Clem is a toddler with a tiny tuft of bright red hair on his head. Cousin to Pasqual (son of Rose and Jimbo Gumbo).
The Family Circus (formerly The Family Circle)
(Barnes&Noble.com)
By Bil Keane, longest-running newspaper comic.
-- Dolly – eldest girl with red pony tail
-- Jeffy – redhead little boy
-- Kittycat – orange tabby cat
Ginger Meggs
Created in the 1920s by Jimmy Bancks (who died in 2007). Called "Australia's favorite boy" - this very popular Australian comic strip with worldwide distribution is about a young ginger-haired, mischievous preteen boy named Ginger Meggs. As Australia's longest-running comic strip, it became a popular comic book (Sunbeams Annual) and also Little Golden Books and others! Was made into a musical by Jim Graham and a film in 1982 ("Ginger Meggs"), plus appears on an Australian 1985 postage stamp. He also appears on a Perth Mint commemorative coin to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Australia's comic strip. There's a 1923 song about him too - "Ginger Meggs, the Sunbeam Song"-(download the printed music from the National Library of Australia website!)
(Courtesy National Library of Australia)
B.C.
(Barnes&Noble.com)
US comic strip created by Johnny Hart in 1958. B.C. - the name of the redhead caveman, who is also known as "The Midnight Skulker."
Fox Trot
(Barnes&Noble.com)
US comic strip by Bill Amend about the Fox Family. Paige - age 14, redhead teen, one of 3 kids.
Calvin and Hobbes
Created by Bill Watterson. Hobbes- the energetic stuffed orange tiger who belongs to a 6-year-old boy Calvin and comes ‘alive.’
Stone Soup
Val, the main character is a single mother, widowed, with red hair.
Marvin
US comic strip by Tom Armstrong.
-- Marvin – redhead baby who zips around causing trouble
-- Jeff Miller – redhead dad of baby Marvin
-- Bitsy– orange dog of the Marvin family who understands Marvin’s baby talk
Mutts
By Patrick McDonnell about 2 housepets.
-- Sid – unhappy orange goldfish
-- Crabby – unhappy orange/red crab
On The Fastrack
By Bill Holbrook.
-- Wendy Welding– redhead adult, her company’s CEO
-- Patina – her red-haired daughter
The Pajama Diaries
By Terri Libenson. Rob Kaplan - husband has orange/brown hair
Boomerangs
By Jack Pullan. About 30-something divorced mom with 2 teen girls.
-- Jane Tinker - Mom has deep auburn hair
-- 2 daughters - One has blondish/orange hair and the other has auburn/brownish hair.
Piranha Club
By Bud Grace.
-- Ernie Floyd – orange-haired guy and his misadventures
-- Doris Husselmeyer – girlfriend of Ernie with auburn hair
-- Earl – red-finned piranha
Prince Valiant
(Barnes&Noble.com)
By Hal Foster.
-- Prince Arn – the 1st-born son of Prince Valiant, orange hair
-- Nathan – Prince Valiant’s youngest son, orangish hair
Rhymes With Orange
By Hilary Price, herself a redhead.
Safe Havens
By Bill Holbrook. Jenny– has bright red hair, self-centered female.
Apartment 3-G
By Nicholas P. Dallas and art by Alex Kotzky. American comic strip about 3 career gals living in New York (a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead). Began in 1961. -- "Tommie" (Abigail Thompson)– One of the 3 characters who is a red-haired nurse
-- Ruby Wright - Apparently a recurring character who is a redhead and a cousin of one of the roommates.(thanks to Norah)
Slylock Fox
Scarlet Sleuth - a bright red fox who solves mysteries.
Zits
(Barnes&Noble.com)
Comic strip by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman about 15-year-old boy and his friends, family.
-- Sarah Toomey – teen girl with red hair and freckles, on-and-off girlfriend of main character,Jeremy
-- Pierce – many-pierced teen boy with a red Mohawk
-- ?__?Teen girl with upswept curly orange hair, freckles, glasses
Red and Rover (Red & Rover)
By Brian Basset, debuting in 2000, is a syndicated comic strip about a young red-haired boy and his loyal dog, Rover.
-- Red (or "Russell") – the redhead 10-year-old boy who loves outer space, model rockets, baseball, and has a dog. Red can understand what the dog Rover is thinking. The dog was rescued by Red and enjoys chasing squirrels. (Thanks to Anne Lindsay in Seattle!)
Zack Hill
By John Deering.
-- Zack – the orange-haired, hyperactive 10-year-old boy who lives with his mom, Jan, is a widow. His mom runs a boarding house to make ends meet and deals with a lot of 'oddballs' as a result.
-- Jan - Mom Jan also has reddish hair.
Little Orphan Annie
(Barnes&Noble.com)
By Harold Gray about orphan and her dog.
-- Annie – main character, orphan with mop of red curly hair, blank eyes, and wears red dress.
-- Sandy – later accompanied by her orange/red-furred dog, Sandy, breed unknown.
In the early 1940s, Annie and her dog Sandy had a radio show that was sponsored by Quaker Oats. (In June 2010, it was announced that this long-running comic strip will disappear from the Sunday funny pages, after 86 years! We'll see what the future holds....)
Cul de Sac
(Barnes&Noble.com)
By Richard Thompson. The main character, a 4-year-old girl Alice Otterloop. The stories center around her life in the suburbs in her home, at preschool Blisshaven Academy Preschool, her friends Beni and Dill, and her older brother Petey.
-- Petey Otterloop – brother of Alice with orange/red hair
-- Mother - the mom has orange hair (thanks to Norah)
Pearls Before Swine
By Stephan Pastis, a former lawyer, US comic strip. Characters know they are in a comic strip.
-- Crocodile Mom - Has tall curly red hair
-- Newspaper staff - Rat (main character) has been depicted as a newspaper owner. Two staff members are redheads - a male has ginger hair and mustache; a female has tall curly bright orange hair.
Luann
Written and drawn by Greg Evans, who won Reuben Award as Cartoonist of the Year in 2003. The syndicated newspaper comic strip is in a suburban setting about a teenage girl, Luann, and her family, friends, and school.
-- Luann DeGroot - The title character of the comic strip has orange-yellow hair.
Peanuts
(Barnes&Noble.com)
By Charles M. Schulz
-- Little Red-Haired Girl – An unseen little redhead girl in the comic strip that character Charlie Brown has fallen in love with at school. She did appear in several TV specials. She never returns his affection -- unrequited love.
According to the Charles M. Schulz Museum (Santa Rosa, Calif), "Charlie Brown's infatuation was modeled after Schulz's own crush on a redhead he knew from Minneapolis. In the cartoon, the little red-hair girl only made one appearance in the strip. It only showed her silhouette. Schulz wanted to leave her exact appearance to the imagination of readers."Read Charlie Brown's quotes...)
Interesting NOTE -- the Schulz museum allowed all redheads to be admitted free on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 2010....thanks to an "annual tradition of paying homage to Charlie Brown's unrequited love for a little red-haired girl."
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Enjoy!
