29 Years Later, The Best Comic Strip Of The 90s Is Aging So Much Better Than Dilbert

Published Sep 2, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT

An experienced Editor representing Canada via ScreenRant’s Team Anime, J.R. has been reading manga since the first printing of Shonen Jump in North America. This passion drove him to write about anime, manga, and manhwa since 2022, having recently served as Lead Anime Editor for ComicBook.com.

His favorite moments in media coverage include reviewing the series premieres of Zom 100 and* Bleach: TYBW *Part 2 back-to-back and briefly meeting Junji Ito at a VIZ gallery event in 2023.

When it comes to achieving true timelessness, whether it’s for a pop culture phenomenon crossing generational gaps or philosophy, a big component is just how well something as simple as even a comic strip can weather changing times. While eventual successes like 1989’s Dilbert gained traction by giving readers a chance to instantly help steer it in the right direction, its staunch focus on cubicle culture and office jobs didn’t translate to an increasingly remote work environment, without getting into its more overt controversies. Despite taking off particularly from the mid 1990s until 2023, the series has continued to age poorly compared to other contemporary hits that emerged from that decade.

But not every comic strip will have *Dilbert’s *issues, and not even nearly all of them need to occupy the same niche in order to appeal to many of the same readers it had. Such is the case with 1997’s Zits, written by Jerry Scott and illustrated by Jim Borgman. But rather than focus on a static rendition of a white-collar workplace, its primary earners, Connie and Walt Duncan, aren’t even the main focus of the strip, themselves spending much of their time with their teenage son, Jeremy, the true star. Wisely focusing on Jeremy yet incorporating his family and friends as three-dimensional costars with struggles and insecurities of their own, *Zits *is poised to end its decades of great comic strips on a high note after announcing its impending conclusion earlier in 2026.

Zits survived 29 years of societal adjustments, new technological developments, by focusing on the universal experience of being a teenager in a world treating him like a kid while expecting him to be an adult. It’s not just Jeremy, though, with his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Sara Toomey, having plenty of fundamental insecurities drawing the two back together time and again. Jeremy’s friends Hector and Pierce are believable as well, with the former in particular being one of the earliest recurring members of the core Posse of teen buddies, staying ostensibly the same while changing his look in 2011.

Homework still feels overwhelming, even as kids keep trusting AI to do the bulk of their work in the present. Jeremy has always faced the urge to cheat, with entire story arcs exploring the temptation to trust others online to do the writing for him, which are just as relevant now as they were decades ago. Walt was always portrayed as an out-of-touch dad but with momentary showcases of coolness or tech-savvy tough love, reflecting how modern home surveillance technology makes it easier for a dad to catch his son breaking curfew. The means may change, but being a teenager still means occasionally rebelling or breaking the rules, and being a parent means adjusting with the times to keep up with their son’s antics.

But even beyond the additions of smartphones and ditching clunkier home PCs seen in earlier Zits comic strips, some moments encapsulate just how wonderful the series is at understanding multiple demographics at once. Jeremy and Sara’s great moment from August 27, 2000 was a moment of pure, unfiltered thought along the exact same wavelengths, about growing up in a world that’s yet to take them seriously or understand them fully. Connie has gone from a child psychologist working part-time after Jeremy’s birth, to most recently taking on a job as a counselor at his school. She still nags him to do his chores, but Jeremy still shows unconditional love for his mother, with pretty much any Zits Mother’s Day strip knocking it out of the park.

Zits has adjusted with the times, yet it has not fundamentally changed. Its characters embody similar tropes and recurring visual gags just like any great recurring Peanuts bit, from RichAndAmy’s nauseating high school codependence, or the endless repairs needed on Jeremy and Hector’s VW Microbus project. It’s remained memorable while not arousing any real controversy, and adjusted modestly to modern cultural changes without losing its heart, positioning itself well to stand the test of time.

After 29 years of great laughs and surprisingly heartfelt moments, Zits is set to end in 2026. Much like Scott’s other series alongside Rick Kirkman, *Baby Blues, Zits is winding down its run, with GoComics stating their reasons that, “it’s time to move on to other things in life: travel, painting, and an escape from daily deadlines.” With the series scaling back production and going into reruns for its weekly strips while releasing new Sunday strips until its reported end period somewhere in 2026 but no later than March 2027, Zits and Baby Blues are ready to go the way of Peanuts. *As each of these creators are all in their 70s, they’ll be able to enjoy their lives beyond their life’s work, rather than spend their final days producing content like Charles M. Schulz and many others.

But with decades of memories between each series, while showing no real sign of true decline, these series will stand the test of time in the decades to follow through collected editions. Certainly, a series such as this would ideally work well with some animated adaptations. At the very least, it’s earned a celebrated position as a strong comic strip that’ll be looked upon kindly in retrospect, with early heights such as reaching 1,700 newspapers and a broad international audience as signs of its lasting and far-reaching success. The same may not be said about ***Dilbert, ***and indeed they’re far from the same type of series, but Zits proved remarkably resilient as a persistently modern comic strip, and its eventual conclusion will be a sad day worldwide.

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1999 - 2000-00-00

Perry Zombolas, Chris Dozois, Michael Goguen, Seth Kearsley, Linda Miller, Bob Hathcock, Craig R. Maras, Jennifer Graves, Joe Vaux, Mike Kim, Rick Del Carmen, Todd Frederiksen, Andi Thom, Declan Moran, Barry Vodos, Alfred Gimeno, Mike Kunkel

Ned Goldreyer, Stephen Sustarsic, David Adam Silverman, Ron Nelson, Mark Steen, Jeff Kahn, Joe Port

Pointy-Haired Boss (voice)

Penciler(s)

Colorist(s)

Publisher(s)

Teenager Jeremy Duncan navigates school, friendships, romance, music, and the constant embarrassment of living with parents who seem hopelessly out of touch. While Jeremy views adolescence as a daily struggle against rules and responsibility, Walt and Connie Duncan try to understand their moody, distracted son.