Cartoons are usually classified as either strip comics or gag comics, depending on whether the narrative is told through a series of panels (including comic books and web comics) or as a single panel. Though usually seen as a form of light entertainment, cartoons can sometimes carry a striking message, paralleling the short form of literature known as the maxim.

Because of their publications in newspapers, single-panel and strip comics are perhaps the most widely-viewed of all types of narrative art. Some of the examples given below — Dilbert and Peanuts — feature a recurring cast of characters. Others may change their subjects and situations, but always carry the distinctive mark of the cartoonist’s individual sense of humor. And in the case of the New Yorker cartoons, all of them reflect the taste of the editor who chooses them for inclusion in the magazine.