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{{short description|American comic strip}}
'''''Pickles''''' is a daily and Sunday [[comic strip]] by [[Brian Crane]] focusing on a retired couple in their seventies, Earl and Opal Pickles.<ref name="dn110220"/><ref name="CraneBio"/> Inspired by Crane's [[parent-in-law|in-laws]],<ref name="byumagazine"/> they find retirement life less than idyllic.▼
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}
| title = Pickles
| image = Pickles comic strip cast.png
| alt = A green banner with the strip's name in yellow letters above a drawing of the strip's main cast
| caption = The main cast of ''Pickles''
| author = [[Brian Crane]]
| url = [https://www.picklescomic.com/ Pickles Comic]
| status = Running
| first = April 2, 1990
| altnames =
| syndicate = [[Andrews McMeel Syndication]] (July 1, 2022–present)<br />[[The Washington Post Writers Group]] (Apr 1990–June 2022)
| publisher = Baobab Press
| genre = Humor
| rating =
}}
▲'''''Pickles''''' is a daily and Sunday [[comic strip]] by [[Brian Crane]] focusing on a retired couple in their seventies, Earl and Opal Pickles.<ref name="
== Publication ==
As of 2016, ''Pickles'' was syndicated in close to 1,000 newspapers worldwide.<ref name=Dwyer>Dwyer, Ed. [https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2016/11/the-funny-papers/ "CULTURE: The Funny Papers: Newspapers may be in trouble, but the comic strip is alive and well — and flourishing online,"] ''Saturday Evening Post'' (November 7, 2016).</ref>
In 2022, ''Pickles'' moved syndicates from [[The Washington Post Writers Group]] (which had previously announced it was shutting down its comic strip business) to [[Andrews McMeel Syndication]].<ref name=DailyCartoonist>{{cite web|title=Mike Lester Moves Mike du Jour to Andrews McMeel|first=D. D.|last=Degg|date=July 29, 2022|work=The Daily Cartoonist|url=https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2022/07/29/mike-lester-moves-mike-du-jour-to-andrews-mcmeel/|quote= ...joins ''Loose Parts'' and ''Pickles'' as stablemates since those two had moved from Washington Post Writers Group to Andrews McMeel earlier this year (June 1 and July 1 respectively).}}</ref>
''Pickles'' has been published since 1990. In 2001, it was named best newspaper comic strip of the year by the [[National Cartoonists Society]].<ref name="NCS"/>▼
==Story and characters==
Inspired by Crane's [[parent-in-law|in-laws]],<ref name="byumag11"/> the strip describes their efforts to enjoy retirement, which instead proves quite imperfect for both.<ref name="kolo151023"/> Earl Pickles is bald and has a bushy white mustache; he also wears glasses and suspenders. He is described as "a couch potato, curmudgeon and all-around geezer-in-residence."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=December 28, 2022 |title=Meet the Pickles Family |url=https://www.picklescomic.com/ |website=picklescomic.com}}</ref> Opal Pickles also wears glasses and is often seen wearing purple polka-dotted dresses and white sneakers. She is "a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, [[red hat lady|Red Hat Lady]] and cat servant."<ref name=":0" /> When sitting, she is usually seen with her pet cat, Muffin, in her lap (on some occasions, Muffin tends to lie on Earl's lap to his disdain). Both characters were drawn with their eye pupils visible through their glasses during the strip's early years, but their glasses were later whitened so that they are opaque to readers.
The cast includes their dog, Roscoe; their cat, Muffin; their 6-year-old grandson,<ref>[https://www.arcamax.com/thefunnies/pickles/s-2465545 The age of Nelson]; URL accessed February 11, 2021.</ref> Nelson Wolfe; Nelson's parents{{mdash}}their daughter, Sylvia, and her husband, Dan, a [[Wildlife photography|wildlife photographer]];<ref name="CraneBio"/> Clyde, Earl's friend; and Pearl, Opal's sister, who dated Earl many years ago. Opal's friend Emily also occasionally appears.<ref>https://www.gocomics.com/pickles/2024/03/02?ct=v&cti=76520 {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref> Roscoe and Muffin are depicted with thought balloons (like [[Snoopy]] or [[Garfield (character)|Garfield]]) to express their personal views whenever they observe the daily routines of their humans or other incidents.
In the foreword to one of Crane's ''Pickles'' books, [[Charles M. Schulz|Charles Schulz]], creator of the ''[[Peanuts]]'' comic, stated, "I think it would be very comforting to have Earl and Opal for neighbors."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Renberg Winters |first=Charlene |date=2011 |title=The Art of Making Pickles |url=https://magazine.byu.edu/article/the-art-of-making-pickles/ |access-date=December 28, 2022 |website=BYU Magazine}}</ref>
==Awards and honors==
▲*In 2001, ''Pickles''
*In 2013, Brian Crane shared the [[Reuben Award]] with [[Rick Kirkman]].<ref name="cobr130526"/>
==Bibliography==
The strips have been collected in book form in:<ref name="CraneBio"/>
* ''Pickles'' (1998)
* ''Pickles, Too: The Older I Get, The Better I Was'' (1999)
* ''Still Pickled After All These Years'' (2002)
* ''Let's Get Pickled!'' (2006)
* ''How Come I Always Get Blamed for the Things I Do?'' (2010)
* ''Oh Sure! Blame it on the Dog!'' (2013)
A 25th anniversary retrospective, ''25 Years of Pickles'', was released by Baobab Press in 2015.<ref name="kolo151023"/>
==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="CraneBio">{{cite web |publisher=[[The Washington Post Writers Group]] |title=Pickles |url=https://syndication.washingtonpost.com/pickles |accessdate=October 24, 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305033523/https://syndication.washingtonpost.com/pickles |archivedate=March 5, 2016 }}</ref>
<ref name="dn110220">{{cite news |first=Carma |last=Wadley |work=[[Deseret News]] |title=A cartoon family: Popular 'Pickles' captures humanity of humans |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700111818/A-cartoon-family-Popular-Pickles-captures-humanity-of-humans.html |date=February 20, 2011 |accessdate=February 22, 2011}}</ref>▼
<ref name="
▲<ref name="
<ref name="
<ref name="cobr130526">{{cite news |first=JK |last=Parkin |work=[[Comic Book Resources]] |title=National Cartoonist Society announces Reuben, divisional awards |url=http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2013/05/national-cartoonist-society-announces-reuben-divisional-awards/ |date=May 26, 2013 |accessdate=October 24, 2015}}</ref>
<ref name="kolo151023">{{cite news |first=Rebecca |last=Kitchen |publisher=[[KOLO-TV]] |location=Reno, NV |title=Creating 25 Years of Laughs: 'Pickles' Comic Turns 25 |url=http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/Creating-25-Years-of-Laughs-Pickles-Comic-Turns-25-336284341.html |date=October 23, 2015 |accessdate=October 24, 2015}}</ref>
}}
==External links==
*[http://www.gocomics.com/pickles ''Pickles''] comic strip at [[GoComics]].com
*[http://www.arcamax.com/thefunnies/pickles ''Pickles''] comic strip at [[ArcaMax Publishing|Arcamax.com]]
{{Andrews McMeel Universal}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickles}}
[[Category:1990 comics debuts]]
[[Category:American comic strips]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Fictional families]]
[[Category:Gag-a-day comics]]
[[Category:Works about old age]]
▲{{comic-strip-stub}}
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