History ComicStrip / Curtis

A daily comic strip by Ray Billingsley, ''Curtis'' has appeared in newspapers [[PrintLongRunners since 1988]]. It centers on an urban black family, most notably the title character, 11-year-old Curtis Wilkins. Also included are his brother Barry, their parents, and a small number of secondary characters.

[[caption-width-right:350:The main cast.[[note]] Clockwise from right: Curtis, his brother Barry, father Greg, and mother Diane.[[/note]]]]

A [[LongRunners long-running]] daily comic strip by Ray Billingsley, ''Curtis'' has appeared in newspapers since 1988. It centers on an urban black family, most notably the title character, 11-year-old Curtis Wilkins. Also included are his brother Barry, their parents, and a small number of secondary characters.

A [[LongRunners long-running]] comic strip begun in 1988. It centers on an urban black family, most notably the title character, 11-year-old Curtis Wilkins. Also included are his brother Barry, their parents, and a small number of secondary characters.

** She crosses over with RichBitch, given how obscenely wealthy her parents are. She recently sunk one grand on a foot cleaning treatment involving koi fish. Which backfired when her feet ender up killing half the fish and traumatized the rest.

* IllTakeTwoBeersTwo: Type two in the March 2, 2019 strip. The look on the face of the guy taking their order is priceless.

* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Subverted on both counts in a series of strips where Curtis and Barry find an unmarked videotape belonging to their parents. It is implied in one panel that [[spoiler: it's a sex tape.]] However, it turns out that it's [[spoiler: an old episode of SoulTrain that their parents appeared on, which also serves as the "how they met" story for Diane and Greg.]] After watching the tape, Curtis and Barry have a newfound respect for their parents, i.e. that their parents actually did something "cool" in their eyes.

The strip is noted for being one of the first major comic strips to feature a largely black cast, starting a wake of other such strips including ''Herb and Jamaal'', ''ComicStrip/Jump Start''... and, of course, ''ComicStrip/TheBoondocks''.

The strip is noted for being one of the first major comic strips to feature a largely black cast, starting a wake of other such strips including ''Jump Start'', ''Herb and Jamaal''... and, of course, ''ComicStrip/TheBoondocks''.

A [[LongRunners long-running]] comic strip begun in 1988. It centers on an urban black family, most notably the title character, 11-year-old Curtis Wilkins. Also included are his brother, Barry; their parents, and a small number of secondary characters.

** We seem to have seen the last of these; what happened is that Barry finally told Diane what Curtis was doing and, well, [[DisproportionateRetribution she spanked him for]], I don't know, not respecting his elders or insulting God or something that June Cleaver would have handled by a DopeSlap and a comment about not making fun.

* DiabolusExMachina: Resident school [[TheBully bullies]] Derrick and [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname "Onion"]], who seemingly wait to ambush Curtis when he needs some conflict in his life.

* TheFreelanceShameSquad: One of the strip's running gags is, the annual Back To School shopping trip, where Diane takes Curtis shopping for clothes and (ostensibly to hand him clothes to try on) opens the dressing room door on Curtis (who always has his pants down) wide enough for a crowd of bystanders to laugh loudly at the sight.
** Diane [[ParentalObliviousness never seems to make the connection]] between this sad fact and [[NeverMyFault her son's reluctance]] to shop with her.

* MadLove: Curtis is crazy about his "girl" Michelle, even though she doesn't feel the same about him, even ''hiring an airplane to write that out in the air for him to see''. His crush on Michelle also sometimes enters StalkerWithACrush territory with at least one comic strip having Michelle tell Barry that she keeps on seeing Curtis ''everywhere'' she goes and that she's scared to even go to the bathroom because of this.
** Not to mention the fact that he is apparently able to break into the apartment building she lives in for visits, even though there seems to be plenty of security.

* ParentalHypocrisy: Curtis' dad has become terrible at this, especially when criticizing Curtis about money. A guy who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day and refuses to even ''consider'' quitting ''even after nearly burning the apartment down'' after falling asleep smoking really shouldn't criticize his son for trying to sponge money, especially when the same son points out ''several'' times how much the habit costs. It comes to a head in a 2015 strip when Curtis asks to sell his old typewriter on eBay, and he gives it to him, saying it's not worth much; only to demand a lion's share of the large price Curtis gets from doing so.

* VerySpecialEpisode: Early strips focused on Curtis trying to get his dad to quit smoking, Curtis finding a crack baby in a trash bin, etc.

The strip is noted for being one of the first major comic strips to feature a largely black cast, starting a wake of other such strips including ''Jump Start'', ''Herb and Jamaal''... and, of course, ''TheBoondocks''.

* RealityEnsues: In a recent sequence, Gunk decided to dive into a freezing cold river to rescue trapped dolphins only to end up being treated for hypothermia after being mistakenly declared DOA by EMTs who forgot about the mammalian diving reflex. While glad to see his friend had survived, Curtis was not happy with being put through the emotional wringer by screw-ups.

** Curtis playing rap at full blast with his dad, Greg, screaming, "Curtis, turn that rap junk down!" Inverted in one strip where Greg and Diane play 1970's songs from when they were younger. This has become problematic in recent years, as Greg and Diane act clueless about '80s and '90s music that nowadays would be what people their ''own'' age grew up on, while Curtis [[TotallyRadical uses slang and enjoys entertainment of a sort twenty years or so out of date]].

** Curtis playing rap at full blast with his dad, Greg, screaming, "Curtis, turn that rap junk down!" Inverted in one strip where Greg and Diane play 1970's songs from when they were younger. This has become problematic in recent years, as Greg and Diane act clueless about 80s and 90s music that now would have been what they were exposed to growing up, while Curtis uses slang and enjoys entertainment of a sort twenty years or so out of date.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: In one comic, when Gunther's Uncle Junie died, Gunther said that his uncle's last wish was if the family had to remember him with tears, it would be better to just forget about him.
**Diane [[ParentalObliviousness never seems to make the connection]] between this sad fact and [[NeverMyFault her son's reluctance]] to shop with her.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: In one comic, when Gunther's Uncle Junie died, Gunther said that his uncle's last wish was if the family had to remember him with tears, it would be better to just forget about him. Yeah, I have no idea what they were thinking... NOT a good message for kids.