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.
Today’s performance reviews didn’t just evaluate employee performance — they completely eliminated the need for Dr. Muskiday’s "inter-office orgy" plan. Turns out, nothing clears the emotional air quite like brutally honest feedback.
Upcoming Events
If you’ve ever thought about stopping by to say hello, these two events are genuinely special opportunities to do that.
Since I’m no longer doing the traditional comic-convention circuit, chances to meet up in person have become pretty rare — which makes days like the Moore College Comics Expo and the NCS Cartoonist Showcase all the more meaningful to me.
Philadelphia
Moore College Comics Expo
Saturday, April 11th
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
https://moore.edu/events/2026-moore-comics-expo/2026-04-11/
Columbus, Ohio
Cartoonist Showcase — Billy Ireland Museum of Comic Art
Saturday, August 8th
1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
https://nationalcartoonists.com/showcase/
I always enjoy putting faces to names, chatting about comics, and hearing what you’ve been reading (or creating). So if you’re anywhere nearby, I’d love to see you there.
And who knows — with travel getting trickier these days, these kinds of appearances may end up being even fewer and farther between… which makes this a pretty great time to take advantage of one.
Transcript
Panel 1:
Cassie Cruz: “The clouds are disappearing! But how?!”
Giant Tess: “Heh.”
Giant Tess: “Since everybody was standing around, I decided to make good use of the time by handing out the annual performance reviews.”
Panel 2:
Giant Tess: “Believe it or not, I actually softened the wording from last year.” In the office, all of the co-workers are furious, (clockwise from upper left: Miss Match, Count Spurlock, Psy-Chick, Lightning Lady, Iron Dragon, Desdemona, Holo-Clone Miss Match, and Catnip).
Detailed Alt Text
Panel 1:
Dr. Muskiday (a small, fly-like scientist with wings and large red eyes) hovers near Cassie Cruz, the branch manager, who is walking briskly into the office. Cassie looks surprised and says, “The clouds are disappearing! But how?!” Standing nearby is Giant Tess, a tall, muscular woman in a green superhero outfit with a cape and a large “G” emblem on her chest. She calmly holds a stack of papers and explains, “Heh… Since everybody was standing around, I decided to make good use of the time by handing out the annual performance reviews.”
Panel 2:
The scene cuts to the open office floor in complete chaos. Employees are reacting violently and emotionally to their performance reviews (clockwise from upper left: Miss Match, Count Spurlock, Psy-Chick, Lightning Lady, Iron Dragon, Desdemona, Holo-Clone Miss Match, and Catnip). MIss Match is surrounded by flames, Psy-Chick is shouting angrily, Lightning Lady is generating crackling energy around her hands, and others are arguing or throwing things. Papers are scattered everywhere, chairs are overturned, and computer monitors are damaged. Despite the destruction, Giant Tess stands calmly in the foreground, still holding her papers, and says, “Believe it or not, I actually softened the wording from last year.” Cassie stands beside her, taking in the mayhem.
