It mostly involves the title character, Curtis, doing things like getting in trouble at home and school, trying in many attempts to make his father, Greg, quit Smoking (a storyline which earned Billingsley the American Lung Association 's President's Award in 2000 ), trying to win the heart of aspiring diva singer Michelle, and stuffing his face.
Curtis will often fantasize at school (rather than paying attention to Mrs. Nelson) about his favorite superhero, "Supercaptaincoolman" (a superhero who is constantly defending the city against the insidious schemes of the evil "Doctor Horsehead").
Once a year, Ray will have Curtis and the gang take a hiatus one day after Christmas and focus on a special 2 week inspirational story to celebrate the Festival of Kwanzaa . Also, around the Martin Luther King Holiday the strip will discuss some aspect of Dr. King's life.
''Curtis'' featured Dagwood of the '' Blondie '' comic as part of its 75th anniversary celebration. Unlike '' Dennis The Menace '', '' Hi And Lois '', '' B.C. (comic) '', '' Family Circus '', or '' Baby Blues '', the other comic strips that participated in the anniversary crossover, ''Curtis'' took an extended storyline lasting from August 29 to September 3 , like '' Hägar The Horrible ''. Also, Curtis was featured in the 75th Anniversary strip on September 4 .
- - Main character. A rap fan with a huge crush on a girl named Michelle. He has a huge appetite and a talent for getting himself into trouble. Always wears a baseball cap any way but forward (according to the storyline, he got it at birth from his father). Also received a slave ledger from a mysterious homeless man (who gave it to him in exchange for part of Curits's enormous sandwich), which is later shown at school and sold to the history society for money so that the school can get new computers and books.
- - Curtis's younger brother. Often likes to annoy Curtis. Their parents consider Barry to be more trustworthy, while Curtis usually sees him as a brat. He whines when he has to eat his vegetables and has no qualms about mashing Curtis to a pulp when called on to do it. Also gets merit awards, which makes Curtis jealous. Has an Imaginary Friend named Oogie, who is green, has one eye, is about Barry's size, and likes to eat vegetables.
- - Curtis's mother. A housewife, she tends to get irritated by Curtis' antics, but is always supportive of him when he has a problem. Recently, she got a new hair style, which made Derrick and "Onion" think that Greg was dating another woman.
- - Curtis's father. Works at the DMV and hates his job. He gained the habit of smoking when he was a teenager, and Curtis regularly tries (unsuccessfully) to get him to quit. He and Curtis are also regularly at odds over their tastes in music (Curtis likes rap and hip-hop, and Greg can't stand it, preferring Motown).
- - Teacher. Since Curtis is the class joker, she doesn't get along very well with him.
- - Girl Curtis likes. Considered self-centered (and egotistical) by most of the other characters, she only likes Curtis as a friend and discourages his attempts to date her (though she did finally agree to do so in a June-July 2007 series). She is an excellent singer and hopes to become a famous star, currently starring in energy drink commercials.
- - Girl who likes Curtis. It's ironic that Curtis only sees her as a friend, while he chases after Michelle.
- - Curtis's cross-eyed best friend. A native of the fictional Flyspeck Island, Gunk (short for '''G'''ladimus '''U'''mfred '''N'''ostradamus '''K'''laustauviwicke) often gives some bizarre item to Curtis, with disastrous results (most often a Chameleon ). One of his quirks is his refusal to fight anybody, but he also is cat-like in his moves to avoid his nemesis's punches, because as he says afterwards, "Just because I won't fight you doesn't mean I'm going to let you hit me."
- - The local Barber , who never gets Curtis' name right (but at least every attempt either starts with a "C" or a hard "C" sound), and who claims to know nearly every famous person (and who has photos – but always with a thumb covering the famous person). He has a niece named Rose Petal, who enjoys singing, but she gets fired from every gig she enters, which is due to the fact that she has a foul mouth and a really bad attitude. She refuses to work for money she needs to pay for her rent (although it is revealed that she really needs the money to party), and ultimately, Gunther throws her out of his shop, which demonstrates "tough love". She responds with profanity. According to Curtis, she thinks the world owes her.
- - Bully . He and his friend, "Onion", make fun of Curtis by calling him "Wimpkins" amd using " Yo Momma Jokes ", and on occasion physically harass him (in one series they attempted to falsely accuse him of criminal activity). Curtis attempts to avoid them as much as possible.
- - Derrick's friend and fellow Bully to Curtis. His real name is Norman, but is self-nicknamed "Onion" for being able to "bring tears to a sucker's eyes", although Curtis once exclaimed that it was "probably because he stunk".
- Barry is almost always listening in on either phone or live conversations between Curtis and Michelle. He then, after saying something offensive about Michelle, runs off to Diane, claiming Curtis is trying to hit him "for no reason". Curtis would try to warn Diane not to fall for Barry's seemingly innocent whining but, usually Diane falls for it and treats Barry to a heaping bowl of Ice Cream while she sends Curtis to do some chores around the house. On a couple of occasions, Barry even confesses to having listened to the conversations (asking what does a certain phrase mean, or even offering to repeat what Curtis said). This prompts questions from some over whether Diane properly punishes him for lying and eavesdropping.
- Another recurring theme involves Curtis' favorite comic book superhero Supercaptaincoolman. The strip reads like a comics book in most part where Supercaptaincoolman engages in many types of adventures in his daily struggle to rid the world of his arch nemesis, The Evil Dr. Horsehead. But just as the action is about to heat up, the third to last panel suddenly shows Ms. Nelson shouting, "Mr. Wilkins!!" as she catches Curtis reading his comics while he is supposed to by paying attention in class. The last panel shows Curtis being sent to the principal's office as punishment for reading comic books in class.
- Once in awhile, Curtis and Barry, just before church services begin, would observe ladies coming in wearing weird-looking hats on their heads. Curtis would promptly make jokes about each hat they are wearing as they pass by the Pew where Curtis and Barry are sitting in. In the last panel, while Curtis is laughing over his ladies' hat jokes, Barry would warn Curtis about big trouble coming to him if they ever heard him make insulting jokes about their hats.
- One recurring theme always involves Curtis and someone else (often his brother) entering some establishment with a name like "The Don King School of Personal Etiquette " or "The Mike Tyson Institute of Good Mannerism", then finding out it's really a record store. Curtis explains that "it's really my favorite record store in disguise" and that "the locals torch the place once they find out its real identity", apparently due to the type of music it sells (usually rap music featuring an artist with a Rap Sheet ).
- The skits often show Curtis (and often Barry for mere association) being disciplined for his various antics by either his mom or dad. However, they never show the actual punishment as it takes place, but the final frame of a strip where discipline is administered will show stars and such showing where the punishment was administered.
- Another recurring theme is the first day of school strip where the reader sees the city in the first panel. Then, the next 2 panels of the view bringing the reader to where Curtis lives. The first 3 strips warns the reader about something very disturbing is happening at this time of the morning whether it is a skirmish or some other type of war. After being warned about what's to come in the third panel, the reader will taken to the last panel where the actual event takes place -- Diane forcing Curtis to get out of bed to get ready for school while Curtis would rather stay in bed and sleep away.
- A last recurring theme often takes place in Curtis's room, where Curtis plays Rap music, almost always incredibly loud (for his father's ears, at the least), and in the second panel of the strip, his father will barge into Curtis's room, shouting "Curtis, turn that rap junk down!", or something in close relation to such, and Curtis, in the third panel, usually resists with a clever comment or excuse, however this is proven to be in vain as in the last panel, Curtis closes the strip regretting trying to trick his father, usually with hand on head or Buttocks , suggesting his father beat or spanked Curtis.
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