Throughout newspaper comic strip history, there have been cartoon series that have thrilled us, made us laugh, made us cry, and overall moved us greatly.

And then there's...um....well......

The existence of "Arnold" has what you'd call a cult following, as it didn't fit the standard definition of a normal family comic strip, especially for the 80's. It ran from 1983 to 1988 in only a handful of papers. The rest were too frightened of it.

The star character, "Arnold," was a mentally deranged little child that constantly yelled out weird and random statements. He was afraid of mayonnaise, screaming "WHITE DEATH!!" whenever it appeared before him. He also had a recurring anxiety about "wet bread."

The only other two characters to make appearances in the strip were Arnold's teacher, Mr. Lester, and his taller friend Tommy. Any other characters only shouted things from offscreen.

In the final strip, published in April 1988, a giant hawk grabbed Arnold and flew off with him. Kevin McCormick once said he had second thoughts about retiring the strip, but "alas, the big bird swallowed."

Now you've seen the strangest comic strip of all time. (Actually, in the interest of journalistic truth, "Zippy" is stranger. But this is a shoo-in for the runner-up prize.)

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