Clearly, no. No, it wasn't.

That might be good for at least one strip.

I dunno, if this is the response from a pretty straightforward joke, imagine if they get complex or obscure.

I'm starting to feel like Norman Lear. Half the audience likes the show because they want to see Archie Bunker fall on his face, and the other half sympathizes with him.

I think Funky Green is right, you need to disable comments for this feature. Or you guys need to be strong and not reply to any comments. The strip either stands or falls on it's own merits, and so far I'd say it stands. Leave it at that.

Also, don't you think the Far Side has too many ugly characters? Everyone in that strip should be drawn more attractively, IMO.

The Peanuts gag in that context is actually quite sly; I've always been staggered by the sheer number of people who never understood that Snoopy does not appear in a comic strip called Snoopy. Kudos. (Also, Mouse Guard r0x-- my budget for comics has gone all to hell, but I still buy Mouse Guard in hardcover. Glad to see a shout-out to it alongside Blankets, of all things.)

I’m actually quite surprised that you want the story to change in a way that completely removes the joke - that the fellow in question considers superhero comics to be “comics,” so her not mentioning any superhero comics is, to him, like not mentioning comics at all.

This reminds me with an interview I saw with the two writers/actors from the British comedy show 'The Mighty Boosh'.
One is the free and easy cool guy, and the other plays an uptight wannabe intellectual, who also wants to be cool.
Apparently they always gets asked by people who apparently love the show, why he doesn't make his character more hip and cool, and has to keep explaining that if he did, there wouldn't be a joke - they then wonder how if people don't understand that that is where the humour comes from, how can they be fans of the show.