One of the last places you'd expect to find fun is in an elementary-school janitor's cleaning closet. Creator Jef Mallett has given life to Renaissance janitor Edwin Frazier, better known as "Frazz," who took the job at Bryson Elementary School as a struggling songwriter. He then surprised everyone by sticking around after selling his first hit song; the school will never be the same. Frazz has a diverse cast of charming characters including eight-year-old budding genius Caulfield. He's a constant thorn in the side of bitter and burned-out third-grade teacher Mrs. Olsen, who still remembers having Frazz in her class more than 20 years ago. Caulfield needs Frazz to challenge him as he remarks, "School would be OK if it didn't interfere so much with my education." Hilariously naive Principal Spaetzle wants to be like Frazz. First-grade teacher (and first-rate babe!) Miss Plainwell is getting to know him better. And the kids at Bryson Elementary can't get enough of him! Live from Bryson Elementary is the first Frazz collection and will leave fans begging for more

''Monkeys are uniquely suited for cocktail parties. They are able to hold a beverage in one hand, hors d'oeuvres in the other, and greet fellow guests with their feet. And yet they get invited to surprisingly few cocktail parties.'' --Bo Nanas It's a jungle out there, so . . bring your copy of Bo Nanas: Monkey Meets World. This hilarious collection of comic strips chronicle the adventures of Bo Nanas, a three-foot-tall talking monkey, who swings through life with wit and a gentle perspective. Tackling whatever life throws him-be it strange jobs, weird relationships, or even genetically engineered bananas-our hero maintains a wry sense of humor. As Bo handles everything from annoying cell phone users to teething babies, readers are sure to see a bit of their own lives in this boldly drawn, prize-winning comic strip. Who, for example, hasn't tried to do an act of kindness only to have it blow up in their face? Bo spies a sad little puppy tied up in a yard and decides to treat him to a day of movies and amusement parks only to find himself in the back of a police car for his troubles. Work can also be a challenge. When Bo takes an office job he finds himself to be the only available male in the building and thus the center of attention for a bevy of single female coworkers, sizing him up to see if he'll ''take to domestication.'' After winning the FineToon Fellowship in 2002, Bo Nanas began syndication in May 2003 through the Washington Writers Group. Bo Nanas: Monkey Meets World is a must have for anyone who loves monkey business.

Baby Blues is the hilarious cartoon strip that depicts the perils and pratfalls of raising young children in suburbia. Daryl and Wanda MacPherson are a couple in their mid-thirties struggling to juggle work and three kids with hectic schedules-and maintain their sanity. Zoe, the talkative eldest, is seven and more worldly than ever. Hammie is the newly anointed (by the recent birth of baby Wren) middle child. At age five, he's a willing student for Zoe and a virtual Velcro board for blame. Wren is the newest addition to the MacPherson clan-so far, all giggles and sunshine . . with a few clouds on the horizon. Parents worldwide have delighted in this slice-of-life comic since its debut in 1990. Baby Blues has been a huge hit in syndication (King Features), published in nearly 1,000 newspapers in 24 languages, and read by 40 million fans.

'The comics pages have no shortage of family strips, but For Better or For Worse distinguished itself from the start. . This success can be attributed to Johnston's uncanny ability to see into the heart of daily life so accurately that readers feel she is speaking directly to them."Art imitating life. That's what happens in Lynn Johnston's perennially popular comic strip, For Better or For Worse. By reflecting on her own family and experiences, she created the Pattersons: Elly, John, Michael, Elizabeth, and April, along with grandparents, grandchildren, friends, and coworkers and the everyday situations they deal with. In Never Wink at a Worried Woman, life is progressing for each character. Elly and John tenuously think of retirement while still being preoccupied parents of a preteen. Michael and Deanna grow into their roles as new parents while Michael's career gets a new boost. Elizabeth takes more steps to adulthood, by beginning her student teaching and facing the fact that Anthony is marrying another. April is racing to turn 13, busy with her band and also helping out at Lilliput's, where she makes a painful discovery about a coworker. Add in Grampa Jim's quest to maintain his aging dignity and baby Meredith's burgeoning curiosity, and you get a full dose of life. For Better or For Worse has appealed to readers for more than 25 years. It runs in more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S., Canada, and 20 other countries and is translated into eight languages besides English.

An insightful comic strip filled with edgy dialogue and thoroughly modern situations, Candorville by Darrin Bell is made for today's world. It fearlessly covers bigotry, poverty, homelessness, biracialism, personal responsibility, and more while never losing sight of the humor behind these weighty issues. The strip effectively targets the rising tide of socially conscious twenty- and thirtysomethings tackling tough issues with irony, satire, and humor, and taking a few well-aimed jabs at political correctness. The built-in culture clash among Candorville's hip residents celebrates diversity by poking a little fun at it. Lemont Brown, his childhood friend Susan Garcia, and Clyde (that's "C-Dog" to you) represent the the rapidly growing black/Hispanic perspective in the United States. Syndicated worldwide in 2003, Candorville was one of the few comic strips to launch in both English and Spanish. The strip appears in such papers as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Detroit Free Press, Rocky Mountain News, and Al Dia (Dallas Morning News Spanish edition).

Thousands of U.S. soldiers have suffered grievous wounds in Iraq, but only one of them is a Doonesbury character. This special collection chronicles seven months of cutting-edge cartooning, during which B.D.-and readers of the strip-got an up-close schooling in a kind of personal transformation no one seeks. Deprived not only of leg but also his ubiquitous trademark helmet, B.D. survives first-response Baghdad triage, evacuation to Landstuhl's surgeon-rich environment, and visits by innumerable morale-boosting celebs, both red and blue in hue. He's awed in turn by morphine, take-no-guff nurses, his fellow amps, and his family, including the daughter who hand-delivers succor, one aspirin at a time. From rebuilding tissue to rebuilding social skills to rebuilding lives, B.D's inspiring, insightful, and darkly humorous story confirms that it can take a village, or at least a ward, to raise a soldier when he's gone down. Thank you for getting blown up, offers one of B.D.'s visiting players. Replies the coach, Just doing my job.

Carried in 700 papers worldwide, including the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the Miami Herald, and the Tokyo Times, Close to Home has devout fans that range from elementary students to octogenarians. As one fan put it, "I feel like you have been looking in my window and are drawing my life!" Though by no means a Peeping Tom, John McPherson does have the unique skill of being able to take those idiosyncrasies of daily life that drive us all nuts and infuse them with razor-sharp wit. With an award-winning line of greeting cards, a top-selling block calendar, and a line of clothing, Close to Home continues to gain momentum among readers. In this latest collection John features angry letters from readers, cartoons that were killed by the editor, a glimpse inside his creative process, and never-before-seen photos of his erasers, quill pens, and his lucky drawing slippers. Who could resist it?

Sherman the dim-witted shark and his cast of characters in Sherman's Lagoon provide enough laughs for a barrel of monkeys, not that they've ever seen any. The Lagoonies, as they're known to regular comic strip readers, are a motley crew-mostly of sea life-known for their acerbic humor. There's Megan, Sherman's wife (a soft-touch despite the tough exterior). Fillmore the sea turtle makes up for Sherman's lack of intellect. Hawthorne the hermit crab resides in a beer can and is always in a ''crabby'' mood. Ernest the fish is a computer whiz, and Thornton the polar bear stumbled upon the island while floating by on an iceberg. Captain Quigley is the only human (or ''beach ape'') who resides in Sherman's Lagoon. He lost his leg to Sherman and is now out for revenge, but never quite gets close enough. To round out the cast there's Bob the bottom dweller. Enough said. Readers love Sherman and his friends for their hilarious reflections of human behavior as seen through a seawater lens. Jim balances the lighthearted antics of this quirky group by promoting the importance of marine conservation. Sherman's Lagoon is quite a catch! Sherman's Lagoon has been in syndication since 1991, currently by King Features, and boasts a circulation of more than 200 daily newspapers on five continents.

When Pat Brady puts pen to paper, readers can't resist following his original images and tight story lines. This creator pulls more material from the one-child Gumbo family than other cartoonists can with five times the number of characters and settings. That magic comes through in Brady's seventh collection, Rose is Rose Running on Alter Ego. The lively series of daily and Sunday strips revolves around Rose-devoted wife and doting mother-who, try as she might, just can't keep her biker chick fantasies totally in check. Rose never knows, as she manages her blue-collar husband, Jimbo, and their energy-fired son, Pasquale, when Vicki the Biker may show up. But when the long-haired, short-skirted babe surfaces, it's always with a breath of fresh air and a fresh take on ''normal'' family life. Besides appearing on the cover, Rose as Vicki shines throughout the collection, in six new full-page drawings created just for the book. Each shows the seemingly satisfied housewife's alter ego performing some mundane chore demanded by Rose's less adventurous life, while Brady's usual mix of family fun, frolic, and fancy gives Gumbo fans plenty of delight.

Pearls Before Swine was voted the Best Comic Strip of 2003 by the National Cartoonists Society, and in Nighthogs, the strip's third collection, Stephan Pastis proves that his strip is one of the sharpest, funniest comics in newspapers.You never know who you'll bump into at a diner at night. It could be a rat with an anger-management problem. Or an overly sentimental pig. Or a zebra with a story or two to tell about a crocodile. Or even a goat who just wants to be left alone. Welcome to Nighthogs, where the door is always open, the light is always on, and the coffee is as scorching as the humor. In this third collection of the immensely popular Pearls Before Swine, Stephan Pastis again takes us into the world of Rat, Pig, Zebra, and Goat, and he shows once more just how outrageous-and how hilarious-the unpredictable can be. Always surprising (and only occasionally depraved), Pearls Before Swine is one of the sharpest comic strips in newspapers today. So pull up a stool, have a cup of joe, and enjoy.