11 Comics From the Comic Strip Switcheroo of 1997

On April 1, most people are highly aware of the potential for pranks. One place they don’t typically expect hijinx, however, is in their daily newspaper—but on April 1, 1997, that’s exactly where the jokes came from. No, readers that day were not met with stories about fake crimes or phony local news, but when they turned to the page featuring the comics, they quickly noticed something was definitely off.

That was the day of the great Comic Strip Switcheroo, a prank that featured 46 different cartoon artists swapping comics for the day, allowing them to imbue a brand new comic panel space with their own sensibility, humor, and drawing style. Let’s take a look at some of the strips from that day.

1. Blondie (By Jim Davis of Garfield)

2. Shoe (By Mort Walker of Beetle Bailey)

3. The Family Circus (By Scott Adams of Dilbert)

Here is the comic The Family Circus ran the next day.

4. Jump Start (By Walker & Browne of Hi and Lois)

5. Mother Goose and Grimm (By Lynn Johnson of For Better or Worse)

6. Fox Trot (By Brad and Guy Gilchrist of Nancy)

7. Dilbert (By Bil Keane of The Family Circus)

8. Beetle Bailey (By Jeff MacNelly of Shoe)

9. For Better or Worse (By Mike Peters of Mother Goose and Grimm)

10. Garfield (By Young & Drake of Blondie)

11. Drabble (Drawn by the strip's actual artist, using his opposite hand)