Examples of alternatives? Glad to. Blambot(1) makes a range of great ones, especially Giant Sized Spectacular, and I'm personally partial to Loose(2).

(1) http://www.blambot.com/fonts_design.shtml (2) http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/zeptonn/loose/

These fonts (1) certainly look good but they are very different from Comic Sans, almost too pro. I think none of them capture the childish, random, non-professional feel that Comic Sans visualizes. I can understand why people loath Comic Sans but as I said, it has it's uses where more professional types fail.

I recently saw Comic Sans used in one company's printed invoices. I though it ridiculous until I discussed the topic with the people there. They actually made a very tactical decision in using the font. It was all about the feel of it.

Come to think of it, perhaps I'll found a fan club for Comic Sans. :)