Best Comics Not in Washngton Post: A Good Day for Arctic Circle and Edison Lee

With his image of an Armenia chess player, we discuss some of our favorite comic strips not found in the print version of "The Washington Post." While the post has a wonderful, eclectic mix of comic strips, there are still several which aren't in one of America's most widely read newspapers.

The reason for the Armenian chess player is a brilliant satire of chess in "The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee," our second favorite comic strip behind "The Arctic Circle," which is a hilarious parody of LinkedIn users (well, I am one of them myself).

We also loved "Animal Crackers," which featured some subtle dark comedy which proves no one should try to reenact Icarus.

And, "The Pajama Diaries," dealt with a look at how a mother must try to figure out what to do with their teenager's bedroom that is all decorated with teen idol posters.

Here is our top ten:

1. Arctic Circle

2. The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee

3. Animal Crackers

4. The Pajama Diaries

5. Edge City

6. The Flying McCoys

7. Bleeker

8. Brevity

9. Get Fuzzy

10. Tina's Groove

www.gocomics.com/animalcrackers/

http://edisonleecomic.com/

http://arcticcirclecartoons.com/

http://pajamadiaries.com/

Road Trip USA (1 of 20)- Take the Long Way Home

Today, we start our first of many outings right here from the comfort of our desk in the hamlet of Toms Brook, Va. (a real place, but not where we really are at the moment), with a look at just how long it would take a driver to get from the Coffee Plantation in Key West, Fla., to Mayor Douglas Issacson's office at the North Pole, Alaska, City Pole.

A good deal of the trek would actually go through western Canadian cities like Winnipeg and Edmonton, and assuredly, it would take a very, very long time.

So, we are giving you a chance to guess just how long it would take if you drove directly without taking photographs of horses as you drove through Kentucky.

The answer is either:

a) 87 hours and 25 minutes
b) 85 hours and 20 minutes
c) 83 hours and 15 minutes
d) 81 hours and 50 minutes

While researching this entry, we found out that Jimmy Buffett (don't forget the second 't') who is the famous resident of Key West will be performing in Raleigh on April 19 and in Charlotte on April 21.

SIDEBAR: Speaking of road trips, the Roanoke, Va., carpooling group Ride Solutions is sponsoring a screening of the 1986 good/bad movie "Maximum Overdrive" that was based on something Stephen King wrote. In the film, which was among the first major studio films to be shot in Wilmington, NC, Emilio Estevez battles an 18-wheeler that comes to life because of a comet. The film will be shown at The Shadowbox Cinema in Roanoke on Feb. 21 at 8:00 p.m. Admission is five dollars.