CSotD: Why is this comic strip different from all other comic strips?
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Each year, Terry and Patty Laban's "Edge City" takes time from its normal round of domestic comedy to do a series of strips about Passover. Like Charlie Brown and the football, it's an annual event those who follow the strip look forward to, but, again like Charlie Brown, it's not completely isolated. Just as that fall classic is fully within character for Charlie Brown and Lucy, so, to, the Passover arc is within the normal flow of "Edge City" because, while not every arc emphasizes it or even mentions it, the characters in this strip are Jewish 52 weeks a year and not just for this special occasion.
I think a comic strip does best when it has a definite premise, and "aren't families funny?" is pretty generic. But, as their web site indicates, the Labans have made being Jewish a foreground characteristic of this family, and having a strong sense of identity gives the creators a grasp on their characters that allows the strip to often go beyond "teenager on the cell phone" humor.
But, just like Levy's Real Jewish Rye Bread, you don't have to be Jewish to love Edge City.
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