Wes Hargis and Hollis Brown have renamed their “Franklin Fibbs” feature to “Little Fibbs” and changed the premise from one centered around an older senior citizen to one around a precocious child, Franklin. According to Rose McAllister at King Features, the strip’s rework was in response to the creator’s concerns that editors were “pigeon-holing their strip as one aimed at seniors since Franklin, the lead character, was a senior citizen. Plus, the fact that they both find it fun to write and draw for a young character led them to make the change.”
The change occurred last week on the 7th of May.
The new description for the feature is:
“Little Fibbs” is about a small boy with a big imagination. In an effort to impress the love of his young life, Franklin Fibbs often finds himself telling the most fantastic tales. All the while, his efforts are being undermined by his particularly mean-spirited pet cat. The stories themselves reflect all the wonder and mystery that a child can find in his everyday surroundings.
New Character Descriptions
FRANKLIN: The precocious main character of “Little Fibbs.” Imaginative. Outlandish. Often lost in a fantasy world of his own creation.
PALOMA: Classmate and friend of Franklin’s. Object of his affection. Amused by Franklin’s stories, but much too well-grounded to ever completely buy into them.
ROSCOE: Franklin’s pet cat. Sarcastic and cynical. His main lot in life seems to be debunking Franklin’s stories.
Technorati Tags: Hollis Brown, Wes Hargis
A young boy and his cat? Good premise.
A young boy and his cat? Good premise.
An over-imaginative boy and his cat. That seems oddly familiar.
An over-imaginative boy and his cat. That seems oddly familiar.
I shouldn’t be so flippant about the change. One could knock them for trying to copy Calvin, but the comic industry has several close premises that nobody seems to mind. Calvin had many similarities with Dennis the Menace, and Get Fuzzy is a modern day Garfield. All of which were/are successful in their own right.
I shouldn’t be so flippant about the change. One could knock them for trying to copy Calvin, but the comic industry has several close premises that nobody seems to mind. Calvin had many similarities with Dennis the Menace, and Get Fuzzy is a modern day Garfield. All of which were/are successful in their own right.
Agreed, but I liked it how it was.
Agreed, but I liked it how it was.
Does anyone know how many comic strips have been successful after a major overhaul? I don’t know of any off hand, and the only thing that comes to mind is the whole “Unfit” by Mike Belkin mess.
Frankln’s Fibbs must be rearranging the deck chairs.
Does anyone know how many comic strips have been successful after a major overhaul? I don’t know of any off hand, and the only thing that comes to mind is the whole “Unfit” by Mike Belkin mess.
Frankln’s Fibbs must be rearranging the deck chairs.
After a short while, “Gasoline Alley” was proving to be a dud. The syndicate threatened to pull the comic, but gave the cartoonist one last chance, so the cartoonist decided to shake up things a bit by leaving a baby on Walt’s doorstep.
The rest is history.
Screw the similarities of “Little Fibbs” to “Calvin and Hobbes,” Its the newspaper editors who forced this change. They couldn’t see the brillance in “Franklin Fibbs” to start with. It is one of the best strips I’ve seen in a long time. Let’s hope this change keeps it around for some time to come.
After a short while, “Gasoline Alley” was proving to be a dud. The syndicate threatened to pull the comic, but gave the cartoonist one last chance, so the cartoonist decided to shake up things a bit by leaving a baby on Walt’s doorstep.
The rest is history.
Screw the similarities of “Little Fibbs” to “Calvin and Hobbes,” Its the newspaper editors who forced this change. They couldn’t see the brillance in “Franklin Fibbs” to start with. It is one of the best strips I’ve seen in a long time. Let’s hope this change keeps it around for some time to come.
Monty used to be Robotman, and that was more of a supporting character taking over the strip. Does that count as an overhaul? Here’s a link to his history:
http://www.toonopedia.com/monty.htm
Monty used to be Robotman, and that was more of a supporting character taking over the strip. Does that count as an overhaul? Here’s a link to his history:
http://www.toonopedia.com/monty.htm
Now that I’ve given the change a couple of months, I have to say that I enjoyed it better prior to Franklin becoming “little”.
Can he revert back?
Now that I’ve given the change a couple of months, I have to say that I enjoyed it better prior to Franklin becoming “little”.
Can he revert back?