| A syndicated comic strip written and drawn by Bil Keane. The strip
has been in syndication since 1960.
The daily comics typically are a single panel, while the Sunday
color strips can go as high as 3 panels.
The strip relates moments in the lives of a typical family, based
upon the creator's own family. The family consists of two parents and
their four children. The children are Billy, Dolly, Jeffy, and P.J.
The children, like nearly all children in comics strips are
eternally young. The family has two pets a dog named Barfy and
a cat named Kitty. The family is also visited occasionally by
grandparents.
The Family Circus does not generally hold up very well after one
gets out of the early grade school years. The jokes usually are based
upon words mispoken or misused by the children or concepts that youngsters
haven't yet grasped. The sentiment can be pretty saccharine on
occasion, but then most readers aren't expecting biting social
commentary or razor wit.
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