Few things made my mother laugh as loudly as HERMAN. Every morning she would snicker, giggle, and guffaw as she snipped the latest installment of HERMAN from our newspaper. By the time the first HERMAN book was published in 1979, her faded mementos had grown into an unruly pile in our kitchen.

       It seemed everyone soon owned a best-selling HERMAN book, with millions of fans quickly reciting their favorite gags with little prompting. In fact, each comic was so hilariously imaginative, it inspired a new generation of creators including Gary Larson (THE FAR SIDE), Dave Coverly (SPEED BUMP), Steve Moore (IN THE BLEACHERS), Scott Adams (DILBERT), and numerous others.

       When I created my own syndicated newspaper comic (FARCUS) in 1990, the comparisons to Jim Unger's work were inevitable.

       "It's OK, Mom. I know you like HERMAN better than FARCUS."

       "That's not true!" she would argue. "I love your work."

       "Yeah? Which one is your favorite?"

       "The one with the cowboy who has arrows in his back, and says 'My arthritis. It's cured!'"

       That was a HERMAN comic, but I didn't mind. I knew Jim Unger had set the bar very high.