Comics are dead, long live comics.

[roadrunnertwice]

The Olympian's Sunday comics section has 22 comics in it. (I'm counting "Uncle Art's Funland," since it takes up valuable land that could potentially be used for something fun.)

Three of them are worth more than the paper they're printed on. One of those three is reruns of Peanuts*.

Some highlights from the rest, then: Cathy. Marvin. Beatle Bailey. Frank & Ernest. B.C.

I am positive that this comics page has not changed once during this decade. It hasn't substantially changed for the past two. Not that anyone anywhere gives a shit about the Sunday funnies anymore, but it is time for some bloodletting. Or else just mercifully shoot the patient in the head, drop the funnies entirely, and re-route the money to the newsroom. The waste has got to stop.

_____
* The other two are For Better or For Worse (still handily the second-best soap opera strip out there) and Doonesbury. Depending on your disposition, you might also chuck Prince Valiant in there, but I've never been able to stand it. Call it a character flaw.

Comments

[coldjones.livejournal.com]

I've spent more time thinking about comics than I probably should have, and reached the following conclusions:]

- A lot of the quality of the comics page depends on how hip the city you live in is. When I was in Champaign, IL, the comics page was even more bereft of funny than the one you describe: no Doonesbury, and forget about Bizarro, Boondocks, Get Fuzzy, Non Sequitur, etc. In contrast, Austin's comics page is pretty good (although it has more than a few strips that could stand to be put out of their misery, like Born Loser and Wizard of Id.)

- I don't agree with the conventional wisdom that there aren't any good comics now that Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side are over. I firmly believe Pearls Before Swine and Get Fuzzy are at least as funny as either of the two above strips... but they are edgier, and not nearly as widespread right now.

- I think part of the reason good strips haven't circulated as much as they should is because the media environment is different these days - it's not like someone looking for a good comic can't get all the Penny Arcade, Achewood, etc. they want. Heck, if it comes to it, the younger readers who might most enjoy a revamped comics page are exactly the people who aren't buying newspapers. The people who still buy newspapers are old geezers who aren't looking for "funny" so much as "familiar" and "comforting"... and I suppose Blondie and Beetle Bailey meet those criteria.

...

Looking over the above rant, it appears that very little I wrote had much to do with your specific complaint about your local paper, so pray excuse my ranting. And, in return, the next time I write a post, feel free to hijack it to whatever vaguely related topic you wish.

[froborr.livejournal.com]

But... but... if they get rid of the Sunday comics, what will we use for cheap-ass wrapping paper?

[omgwtfbftn.livejournal.com]

wait, someone likes Prince Valiant?

[roadrunnertwice]

Swear to god, I remember bad-mouthing it one time and running smack into a fan. I'll freely stipulate that I do not get that. I mean, I guess the art has a certain flair to it, but gawd, NOTHING HAPPENS, and it fails to happen in a really melodramatic manner.

Man, every time I use this icon, I marvel at its utility.

[roadrunnertwice]

I'm sorry, that lacked a certain je ne sais rant; lemme try it again.

Fuck Prince Valiant. I hated him when I was six and I hate him now.

[jonsonite.livejournal.com]

I was about to raise all sorts of objections about comics I like that are in the funny pages, but then I realize they're all during the week, not on Sunday. But now I remember one: Is Foxtrot on Sundays? Because I really like that one.

...I wish we had Boondox.

[roadrunnertwice]

Nope, Foxtrot is NOT on Sundays.

You know, now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense that the Sunday page lags ten years behind the weekday page. OF COURSE the edition that sells to the most old-timers is going to be subject to some conservative influence.

Well, actually I just pulled that out of my ass, too. But hey, I'm looking at a choice between looking up circulation figures and re-reading To Say Nothing of the Dog.