The LA Times has an excellent story about the future of the comic strip, as seen by the likes of Berke Breathed, Cathy Guisewite, and Wiley Miller. They are appearing at a panel discussion in LA on Sunday.
I can’t say it better than Mr. Breathed: “ ‘I don’t think you’ll ever see another ‘Calvin & Hobbes,’ ‘Bloom County’ or ‘Doonesbury’ again,’ says Breathed, 48, who received the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1987. ‘The popularity of those strips was built on a young audience great comic strips are not built on the backs of aging readers.’
“Part of the problem, Breathed and other cartoonists say, is that newspapers, when choosing their comic strip lineup, put too much emphasis on the opinions of aging readers. As a result, stalwart strips such as ‘Peanuts,’ which continues to run as a reprint since the death of Charles M. Schulz in 2000, and ‘Blondie,’ which was created in 1930 by Chic Young, tend to remain entrenched on comics pages.
“As middle-of-the-road as ‘Blondie’ is, it’s surprising to learn that it has come to represent a divisive topic in the comic strip community. Young passed away in 1973, and since then ‘Blondie’ has been carried on by his son, Dean, and is known as an example of a ‘legacy’ strip.
“‘As an art form, comics are threatened by legacy strips,’ Breathed says. ‘The fact that papers are running [legacy strips] throughout the country is a sign that they’re desperate to cling to the readers they think they need, and they’re afraid to take risks and find the new talent.’”
To complete the vicious cycle, syndicates gauge the timidity of newspaper editors, and as a result, choose only the blandest offerings to syndicate.
That means even the bravest newspaper editor has a watered-down selection to choose from if he or she actually wants to find some new talent for the comics page.
In response, Denise Joyce, president of the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors, “says that while comics are not the huge player they used to be 20 or 30 years ago, they are definitely on the minds of features editors.”
“Regarding legacy strips, Joyce admits it’s difficult to replace them without making their fans angry. As a compromise, Joyce says her paper is running some comics online and Web-linking to others.”
Of course, once their newspaper readers discover comics published on the Web, they’re bound to discover a much wider world of comics that aren’t available in their newspapers, aren’t they? Comics that are neither watered-down nor timid.
So, in a way, people like me are indebted to the myopia of people like Ms. Joyce.
You keep sending them, Ms. Joyce, and I’ll keep keeping them.
Read the whole story.
#GuigarChristmasCountdown — Full Swing
On Tuesday, I launched this year’s daily Guigar Christmas Countdown, with a new single-panel cartoon dropping each day until Christmas. Here’s another sneak preview…
More are coming every day — each one paired with a conversation starter and full alt text. Catch them on Bluesky, Patreon chat, the Evil Inc Subreddit, or wherever holiday absurdity is legally sold.
ComicLab Sponsor
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Thanks for being here. Whether you’re here for the story, the spice, the craft talk, or the chaos, I’m thrilled you’re part of this little universe I’m building.
Hailey wants a chance to shine — but Rose has other priorities.
Captain Heroic arrives at Ralph’s Diner with Justice Ltd’s new Director of Public Engagement, Yazmine Velour, who’s recording his visit. Hailey is desperate to take their table, hoping for a little secondhand fame.
Transcript
A comic sequence inside Ralph’s Diner. Hailey excitedly asks Rose to let her wait on Captain Heroic, who has just walked in with Yazmine Velour filming him on her phone. Rose declines, explaining he’s already seated in her section. Hailey suggests Rose hide a pimple since they’re recording. Hailey directs her to emergency concealer in the storage closet and tells her to “look for an old bag.”
Panel 1
Hailey: “Let me wait on him today! Just this once!”
Rose: “Sorry, dear, he’s already in my section.”
Panel 2
Hailey: “No problem. But since they’re recording, you’ll wanna cover up that pimple first.”
Panel 3
Hailey: “I’ve got emergency concealer in the storage closet.”
Hailey (continuing): “Look for an old bag.”
Panel 4
Rose (inside closet): “There’s no old bag in—”
Rose: “Oh. I get it.”
