Bil Keane Must Die

[Peter Paltridge]

Reason #56:


This was apparently reprinted due to "massive demand."


In other strippy news, the last panel of this week's "Opus" was absent, and if you were wondering if the "Department of Homeland Insecurity" that snipped the punchline was real....yes, in a manner of speaking. The website works, and presumably this is the new fix for all those scatalogical gags that got Berke kicked out of papers in the past.
www.usdhi.org

[Dynamite XI]

It goes without saying that the comics page is unfortunately like a conservative Senate: you have a majority of relics who stick by tradition, by gosh!

What disturbs me is that these strips are allowed to continue instead of being allowed to die to make way for new talent. "B.C." is the latest example; they've opted to continue it without Hart using photocopies of Hart's work. And Jeff is gradually filling in Bil's shoes, so "Family Circus" definitely won't die anytime soon.

And this happens as the good strips die.

The up-and-coming strip "Lio" has summed up the sentiment:

[Zorak Masaki]

Hey, i LIKE Andy Capp! But i agree, they need to put certain strips out to pasture, and now.

[Chris]

Gasoline Alley was in the Statesman Journal until last year when they decided to put some new strips in, unfortunately some of my favorites were not picked. And B.C., Peanuts and Family Circus should definitely go down. Any word on what Frank & Ernest is going to do? Does anybody know if Bob Thaves has a relative that'll continue it?

[Peter Paltridge]

What disturbs me is that these strips are allowed to continue instead of being allowed to die to make way for new talent. "B.C." is the latest example; they've opted to continue it without Hart using photocopies of Hart's work. And Jeff is gradually filling in Bil's shoes, so "Family Circus" definitely won't die anytime soon.

And this happens as the good strips die.

The up-and-coming strip "Lio" has summed up the sentiment:

What do you mean by photocopy? Are they using old art and adding new dialogue, or has it just gone into reruns? "Peanuts" has done the same, and "Peanuts" is the only strip that I believe has every right to stay in its place. I don't want to open the funnies and not see it there. But B.C....not so much.

I think "Lio" is a good strip that is underappreciated. The Oregonian test-ran it for about three weeks last year, and I loved it. It's a breath of fresh air--basically, it's that kid with the cowlick in a series of wordless gags, and all of them worked.

[Kitschensyngk]

Uggh, I hate "The Family Circus". Every strip is like, ooh yay, what cute thing did the kids do or say this time?

Fox Trot switching to Sundays only may have served as an excuse for my local paper to drop it from the funny pages.

These days "Sherman's Lagoon", "Non Sequitur" and "Peanuts" reruns are the only strips worth reading.

[J. B. Warner]

It goes without saying that the comics page is unfortunately like a conservative Senate: you have a majority of relics who stick by tradition, by gosh!

What disturbs me is that these strips are allowed to continue instead of being allowed to die to make way for new talent. "B.C." is the latest example; they've opted to continue it without Hart using photocopies of Hart's work. And Jeff is gradually filling in Bil's shoes, so "Family Circus" definitely won't die anytime soon.

And this happens as the good strips die.

The up-and-coming strip "Lio" has summed up the sentiment:

Mark Tatulli is my new hero.

[takineko]

Man that's depressing.
I miss Far Side

[Zorak Masaki]

No wonder Liberty Meadows decided to stop being a newspaper strip and go directly for the comic book/graphic novel format, it had more chance of getting readers that way and didnt have to fight for newspaper space. While we're at it, will SOMEONE put "snuffy smith" out of its misery already! Even people in the deep south dont act that way anymore, its like the strip is permanently set in 1945 (save for a few occasional mentions of NASCAR).

[Dynamite XI]

What do you mean by photocopy? Are they using old art and adding new dialogue, or has it just gone into reruns? "Peanuts" has done the same, and "Peanuts" is the only strip that I believe has every right to stay in its place. I don't want to open the funnies and not see it there. But B.C....not so much.

Wikipedia says that they're going to reuse drawings that Hart left on his computer, and attach new dialogue to them. Comics Curmudgeon backs this up.

It's just as bad as Lynn Johnston saying that, instead of ending FBoFW at the end of 2007 as she had originally planned, she's going to stop aging her characters and continue FBoFW as a flashback strip.

[Shredder565]

Hey, i LIKE Andy Capp! But i agree, they need to put certain strips out to pasture, and now.

They forgot Garfield in that mix. I think the stripped stopped being funny in 2000. I don't even look forward to the new classic books anymore.

[dth1971]

Reason #56:


This was apparently reprinted due to "massive demand."


In other strippy news, the last panel of this week's "Opus" was absent, and if you were wondering if the "Department of Homeland Insecurity" that snipped the punchline was real....yes, in a manner of speaking. The website works, and presumably this is the new fix for all those scatalogical gags that got Berke kicked out of papers in the past.
www.usdhi.org

What year was the Family Circus "A Hug" Sunday strip first run? I guess mid to late 1990's or around 2000.

[DarthGonzo]

I hope "Peanuts" strips never stop being run. It will always deserve a spot on the comics page.

[Narf]

Okay, this is a really late reply, but I hate the Family Circus so much it's not even funny. My hatred for the Family Circus is funnier than the Family Circus, and my hatred, as previously stated, is not even funny. I remember seeing a FC comic a couple months ago. The panel was divided in half. The first half shows the family walking. The second half shows the mom sitting down, saying 'it feels good to sit down'. I'm a pretty good judge of what's funny and what's not, and I can proclaim with no remorse that that's not funny. Ah well, if we didn't have Family Circus, I wouldn't have any other things to mock.
Dennis the Menace is a little better, but not by much. Frank and Ernest is, more often than not, lame. Peanuts is eh, average. Nothing that special to me. I like Classic Peanuts, but I don't care as much for the newer Peanuts strips. I also like old Garfield, but most new Garfield is laaaaame. I'm enjoying the FBoFW reruns. So much better than the usual lame waste of space. Some B.C. is decent, but most of it I don't care much for. There are lots of other more annoying assets plaguing the comics page (Rose is Rose, Blondie, Cathy...), but I won't go into detail about those.

[AhmedtheHead]

(Also agrees that the Family Circus in unfunny and trite.)

Sherman's Lagoon and old Peanuts repeats are funny, but so is Pearls Before Swine, Curtis, and sometimes Single and Looking [originally Out of the Gene Pool].