The Original Office Humor: 10 Funniest “Dilbert” Comic Strips

Illustrated by Scott Adams, the “Dilbert” comic-strip series launched in 1989. It portrayed a deadpan, sarcastic look at life in a cubicle farm in a white-collar, suburban atmosphere. Throughout its 26-year lifespan, its pretty much become a household name, and is the barometer by which all other work-focused cartoons are judged. It has since ballooned into more than just a newspaper comic strip, with books, television shows, a video game, and tons of merchandise released on the market. It became so successful that it expanded beyond its native United States, and now runs in a staggering 2,000 newspapers and in 65 different languages.

So what’s its appeal? For starters, it depicts experiences we all can relate to. From a micro-managing boss, to annoying coworkers, malfunctioning office equipment to embarrassing office experiences, we see ourselves in Dilbert, the comic’s title character and the one who is always dealt a difficult, unfortunate, and frustrating hand of cards. But more so than that, it allows us to laugh at those experiences, and just knowing there are others out there whose experiences echo those of our own make our joint laughter that much more powerful. The comic strip is simple in its foundation, but its ability to unite the employees of the world’s vastly different regions is one way of showing us that, even on our worst days EVER, there are others who are dealing with it, too.

To celebrate the series, here are 10 of the funniest “Dilbert” comic strips.