In an online and mail-in survey, 1,083 Journal-World readers told us just how much they love their comics.

That’s the most popular survey in recent memory, besting even our Oscars contest by a wide margin.

Many of the mailed-in responses were accompanied by a scribbled note in the margin. And some wrote letters.

“When we go on vacation, you save a vacation pack for us,” wrote Ruby Dalrymple, 65, of Eudora. “When we get back I skim all the papers. But I will take all the funny papers out and put them in order and then read them, a day or two at a time until I’m caught up.

“The funny papers are important, and you can learn a good amount about what goes on in the world today.”

Dalrymple enjoys the old favorites, such as “Family Circus” and “Blondie” as well as the newer comics, including “Zits” and “Home & Away.”

So, which is the No. 1 comic, according to Journal-World readers?

There are two ways to determine that. The first is the number of survey respondents who answered either “I have to read this comic every day” or “I read this comic almost every day.” Of those, “Blondie” comes out on top, with 64.4 percent of respondents saying they are regular readers. “Blondie” is followed by “Family Circus,” “Hagar the Horrible,” “Garfield” and “Beetle Bailey,” rounding out the top five.

Then there is the other question we asked, whether we should keep or eliminate the comic.

In that poll, “Zits” is No. 1, with 79 percent of readers saying that we should keep it.

In this top five, “Zits” is followed by “Baby Blues,” “Pickles,” “Blondie” and “Pluggers.”

And who is at the bottom of the list?

Of those rated “I never read this comic” or “I don’t read this comic very often,” “Get Fuzzy” got the infamous No. 1 ranking with 64.7 percent of respondents not reading it.

“Get Fuzzy” is followed by the iconic “Doonesbury,” “Pearls Before Swine,” “Dilbert” and “Zits.”

Of those saying the comic should be eliminated, “Get Fuzzy” tops that list, too, with 52.9 percent of respondents saying it should be dropped.

“Get Fuzzy” is followed by “Pearls Before Swine,” “Mutts,” “Home & Away” and “Doonesbury.”

But before you start writing letters in support of “Get Fuzzy” or “Doonesbury,” know that we don’t plan to replace any comic, at least for now.

There was no clear edict from readers that a comic absolutely has to go. However, we will be evaluating our comics page again later this year. The survey results will help us make decisions. Thanks for participating.

Top 10 “keep” comics

1. “Zits” 79
2. “Baby Blues” 78.4
3. “Pickles” 75.3
4. “Blondie” 68.3
5. “Pluggers” 67.1
6. “Garfield” 65.5
7. “Hagar the Horrible” 62.9
8. “Shoe” 62.4
9. “Beetle Bailey” 61.2
10. “Family Circus” 58

Top 10 “eliminate” comics

1. “Get Fuzzy” 52.9
2. “Pearls Before Swine” 42.2
3. “Mutts” 39.2
4. “Home & Away” 38.5
5. “Doonesbury” 35.8
6. “Herman” 31.6
7. “Non-Sequitur” 29.2
8. “Off the Mark” 25.8
9. “Dilbert” 24.5
10. “Born Loser” 21.6

Comic (Read daily/most days) Read sometimes [Read sometimes/never]

1. “Blondie” (64.4) 19.2 [16.4]
2. “Family Circus” (61.1) 17.9 [21.0]
3. “Hagar the Horrible” (59.1) 20.0 [20.9]
4. “Garfield” (57.1) 20.9 [22.0]
5. “Beetle Bailey” (56.7) 22.8 [20.5]
6. “Shoe” (56.1) 19.2 [24.7]
7. “Hi & Lois” (54.6) 19.3 [26.1]
8. “Peanuts” (51.7) 24.0 [24.3]
9. “Pluggers” (50.0) 15.8 [34.2]
10. “Pickles” (48.5) 10.4 [41.1]
11. “Born Loser” (47.3) 24.0 [28.7]
12. “Baby Blues” (47.2) 10.0 [42.8]
13. “Herman” (43.4) 24.3 [32.3]
14. “Zits” (43.3) 8.8 [47.9]
15. “Off the Mark” (42.9) 22.2 [34.9]
16. “Sherman’s Lagoon” (42.4) 17.6 [40.0]
17. “Mutts” (39.5) 19.2 [41.3]
18. “Home & Away” (37.6) 26.9 [35.5]
19. “Dilbert” (36.9) 13.5 [49.6]
20. “Non-Sequitur” (33.1) 20.3 [46.6]
21. “Pearls Before Swine” (30.0) 15.5 [54.5]
22. “Doonesbury” (29.2) 14.3 [56.5]
23. “Get Fuzzy” (19.4) 15.9 [64.7]