The Daily Cartoonist

As much as I miss seeing new installments of my favorite comic strips, I have to say that I approve and support whole-heartedly Trudeau’s and any creator’s decision to take a break. As a trend in the business, sabbaticals are a very positive thing. I appreciate how hard it must be to do their job, and I think it would be unfair to begrudge them a rest. Any one of us would do it in a heartbeat if we could. I hate the “misery loves company” attitude of some people who gripe that “It must be nice to take off whenever you want.” I’ll be reading and enjoying the reprints and looking forward to his return. Enjoy your break Mr. Trudeau, you have earned it.

As much as some rail against comic strip reruns and legacy strips, Trudeau’s sabbatical presents the perfect opportunity for newspapers to use Doonesbury’s space to give new comics a three-month tryout period. I hearby challenge editors to consider Sunday, March 23, 2008, through June 16, 2008, as “New Comic Strip Tryout Months.”

That’s a great idea for newspapers - replace one of the most beloved strips in the USA with…. Wait, what am I saying? That’s a terrible idea!

So why is it a terrible idea with Doonesbury reruns but not with Peanuts reruns? If “beloved” status is all it takes to keep reruns in a newspaper, then Peanuts is far more recognized for that status than Doonesbury will ever be. You won’t get consensus that Doonesbury belongs in the same “beloved” rank as Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes, and the Far Side… or in “classic” status like Gasoline Alley, Terry & the Pirates, or Prince Valiant. Doonesbury’ll be back in three months… so while we waiting, why not give other strips a chance to be seen?

Big difference between Peanuts and Doonesbury re-runs: Doonesbury appears to be free for the paper until it comes back!

And Doonesbury’s being free means newspapers aren’t loosing money to substitute tryout strips, which syndicates also usually serve to papers as free in hopes they’ll be picked up.

“I hearby challenge editors to consider Sunday, March 23, 2008, through June 16, 2008, as “New Comic Strip Tryout Months.” ”

This would require editors to actually work on comics, therefore, highly unlikely, sad to say.
And what would happen when they try out new strips? They would get reader reaction to pick one or more of them, which means they’d have to drop the same number of strips they carry to make room. This would be going out of their way to work on the comics section, which is quite literally the last thing editors want to do.

Yes, it’s a perfect opportunity for to do this, and they SHOULD do it, but don’t hold your breath.

I always save my most loved dessert for the last. I always read Doonsbury last for the same reason. But if he needs a vacation he should have one, and I’ll put up with it. BUT what happened to our hero when the cops took him in for questioning?

Why do you think a Chimp couldn’t figure out 2+5 if there were goodies attached, my grandchild could have done it at 3.

You are kidding about the chimp, right? The answer is higher cognitive functions, rather than simple memory, ah, forget it. Short answer, because the chimp doesn’t subscribe to the daily papers.

Indeed, try out new cartoons. The little guy deserves a chance. Maybe Mr. Trudeau should help out and send the papers other peoples cartoons rather than reruns of his own.

Replenish, refurb, relax! I’d be curious to see what other marshmallows Garry has cooking in his fire?

I’ve followed this amazing man’s work for longer than either of us would likely want to count. I like the edge and the uncanny timeliness of his topical work. The reflection of society is curiously so very similar to mine and I feel less alone because of his work.

Rest well, Mr. Trudeau, I believe there will be much fodder for your work in the coming months. It will be sorely needed to balance the works of media malefactors and heroes alike.

Garry’s humble fan,

John Sanford, Concord-CA

It is Doonesbury’s space, so it should have Doonesbury in it. There may be other fine comics out there, but unfortunately they need to compete with the safe, formulaic garbage that the papers think their readers should have since they will not offend the advertisers or the publishers’ golfing partners.

Uncle Duke Lives!

I just want to say thank you to Mr. Trudeau for all the great work over the years. I have been reading doonesbury since the 1970s. It is the only comic that I read every day. I don’t mind the reruns, in fact i have bought a few of the collections in paperback.

Honestly, I don’t think GT is on vacation. I think he is visiting some of the Iraqi families that do the real hard work required for an important part of these strips. And folks, the result’s gonna break your hearts.

Morin: Where did you hear this? Elaborate.

In my local paper,the star ledger in central Jersey, doonesbury is on the bottom of the editorial page.
They also do a new strip tryout every few years, and have the readers vote on what stays and what goes. Charlie Brown stayed. There is no substitute for the Doonesbury strip, and it is as beloved as Charlie Brown even if you have to read it on the editorial page. My real question is, when will GT do another play or TV special. (Yes I am that old)

It’s understandable and everyone should take a vacation regularly. But hey, I need my daily fix. Checking out Doonesbury is part of my morning routine. Never mind Hillary and Obama — can I survive until the conventions?

It is great for Garry that he can take a 3 month sabbatical to recharge the old creative juices … but did he really have to leave us at a critical point in Zeke’s scam. Aarghh!

Doonesbury’s like the Daily Show; it’s topical and current. Kinda hard to post up 12 weeks of strips when current events are part of the criteria … . Dedication is all well and right, but give the guy a break, I say; food needs spice if you want a meal not just nourishment.