What makes a cartoon or comic book (or comic strip) popular?

not sure there is a sure fire formula, comic strips like peanuts and for better or worse, dealt with real life subjects in a fairly straightforward way and were very popular

calvin and hobbes and bloom county took a more absurd view of the everyday and were very popular

why things like blondie and the family circus keep getting published i'll never understand

i stopped reading daily comic strips on any regular basis about a year or so ago

the last few years my favourites were, get fuzzy, frazz, non sequitur and lio

before that calvin and hobbes, bloom county, ernie and doonesbury (in the 70's and early 80's)

Why do some comic books last longer than others?

You don't read comic books?

Show something that the reader like to read but not you want them to read

I'm writing kids'/family books.

i buy trade paperback collections, waiting for Volume Two of Brightest Day (DC's continuing series after Blackest Night) and Justice league Generation Lost* Volume One to come out in a month or so

an X-Men compilation called Second Coming just came out in hardcover, looks pretty interesting, but i'm going to wait for the paperback edition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightest_Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League:_Generation_Lost
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men:_Second_Coming

*the Justice league generation lost series harkens back to my favourite Justice League run in the late 80's written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, with art by Kevin Maguire

HI-I meant do you know what makes comic books successful and last longer than others?

nope i only know what i like, in fact the late 80's justice league i was mentioning, started as justice league, split into justice league international and justice league europe, it was a good mix of action and humour, i loved it, but the general consensus was it wasn't popular, sales were bad and it got canned

Perhaps you should start with your own experience. What makes you want to keep reading, looking at, or buying, a cartoon or comic book? What elements keep you hooked over the long run?

I must admit I'm not an avid comic book reader.

It seems a little odd that you want to create your own comic book if you have never been an avid reader of comic books yourself.
Sort of like wanting to become a chef when you have no great interest in eating or enjoying food.

I can tell you what I like in a cartoon strip, and why I'd continue reading it, but unless you've also had a similar first hand experience, I'm not sure you'd really understand it from a reader's perspective, and the same would be true of comic books. Graphics are only a part of it, and probably the smallest part. The storyline and the characters have to be consistently interesting if I'm going to keep reading, and look forward to reading more.The ones I enjoy the most are those that seem fresh, and keep surprising me, no matter how long I continue to follow them.

I talk about comics and read things like Wizard Magazine and Previews Magazine. I read about comic books online.

I want to go into comic books because I decided animation wasn't what I wanted to do with my characters. I did write a preliminary comic story with some of my characters and got it copyrighted to protect my characters with. That was years ago. I am going to redo that.

Blondie and Family Circus have universal appeal and keep up with the times.