Updated on March 21, 2023
This week’s pick is “Edge City,” a daily newspaper comic strip written and drawn by the husband and wife team of Terry and Patty LaBan.
Background
Running from 2000 to 2016, the strip centers around the adventures of the Ardin family. The Ardins consist of parents Len (who co-owns a courier business) and Abby (who works as a therapist), and children Colin and Carly (both grade-schoolers).
The Ardin family is Jewish, and thus we get to see them celebrate Hanukkah and Passover as recurring annual storylines. Otherwise, most of the storylines are similar to those in “FoxTrot” or “For Better or For Worse” (in its earlier days), as we see the family’s daily lives.
One storyline sees Len decides to reunite with his old punk rock band. However, things went awry, as the band members rekindled their old grudges with each other. They all ended up in an on-stage brawl, without even playing. However, the younger punk music fans in the audience liked it.
Another storyline sees the kids berated for their apathy by their activist grandmother. Colin and Carly tell her they wanted to watch “iCarly” or “SpongeBob,” with the rather biting line “with luck, it might even be a new one!”
The strip ended its run in early 2016.
“Edge City” is carried by King Features Syndicate. At the time of this writing, one compilation collection’s been published.
(Updated 11/5/16)
