Do Redheads Have More Fun?

'CALVIN AND HOBBES' (UPS)
Talk this week of redheads -- er, orangeheads -- in "Cul de Sac" has got me to thinkin': The funnypages love a good carrottop. (Not to be confused, puhleez, with the Carrot Top.) From strawberry blondes to rooster-red moptops, the comics have been very, very good to the character Clan That Sports the Red and Orange.
What's the reason? "Mom says redheads have fiery, uncompromising temperaments!" Petey exclaims in "Cul de Sac." So is it a cartoon-stereotype personality thing? And Petey's sis says: "Your hair's so orange that it's distracting." So maybe it's a visual thing -- our eyes can't resist such colors in the Sunday comics.
So from Calvin to Hagar, Petey to Little Orphan Annie, Foghorn Leghorn to, well, Red, the Official 'Riffs Question of the Day: Who is your favorite cartoon redhead?
You're invited to share your brightly belocked picks.

'RED ROVER' (WPWG)
By The Reliable Source |
July 2, 2009; 1:02 PM ET
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Posted by: seismic-2 | July 2, 2009 1:54 PM
Gotta be the little red-haired girl Charlie Brown was in love with in "Peanuts"!
Posted by: dcgirl714 | July 2, 2009 3:16 PM
Sorry seismic, it's Brenda Starr, the one thing upon which my mother and I ever agreed.
Posted by: tuna3 | July 2, 2009 6:25 PM
I would have voted for Calvin, except that he is definitely not a redhead. The color of Calvin's hair varies somewhat in some of the Sunday panels, but is clearly intended to be blond. This is confirmed by the "haircut" incident, in which Hobbes offered to "repair" the damage to Calvin's hair with a yellow(!) magic marker.
Hobbes is also an excellent character, but whether orange fur should qualify as red hair is questionable at best.
Posted by: kilby | July 3, 2009 4:19 AM
Abby Spencer-Driver may be a RED head now, but when she was first introduced (back at the dawn of time) her Sunday hair was PINK. Maybe the colorist was going for "strawberry blonde".
Posted by: mhaire | July 3, 2009 11:15 AM
I have to say my favorite redhead in the comics is Abbey Spencer Driver. Barreto had picked up from Harold LeDoux (former JP artist) and done an even better job
Posted by: brainiac1077 | July 3, 2009 2:59 PM
Here's a vote for Little Beaver's best buddy, Red Ryder.
Posted by: jimbo1949 | July 3, 2009 8:38 PM
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I do wish the online Post would follow the print edition's lead and carry the daily version of Cul de Sac, rather than just the Sunday strip! Anyway, as much as I do appreciate Petey Otterloop's wise insights into the human condition, I must cast my "favorite redhead" vote for Abby Driver in "Judge Parker" instead. (Sorry, Brenda Starr!)