July 3, 2006

Bruce Tinsley’s “Mallard Filmore” has been removed from the Statesman-Journal (Salem, OR) in favor of Scott Stantis’ “Prickly City.”…  But Michelle Maxwell, the Life editor, kindly provided this explanation of the decision:Mallard Fillmore topped our list of the comic readers most disliked.

As a result, new features were added: Pickles, Mother Goose & Grimm, Prickly City, Stone Soup and Non Sequitur and several were dropped: Cathy, Gasoline Alley, Pardon My Planet, Frank & Ernest, Herman, Marmaduke, Baldo, The Middletons and Mallard Fillmore.Regarding the dropping of Mallard Filmore, the opinion page editor explained:We ink-stained wretches of the Opinion page hold no influence over choice of the comics, alas….  The same cannot be said for Mallard Fillmore, which had a small amount of people who listed it as their favorite.The comics page also got resized to accommodate the change in paper size, “The newspaper will be printed at a narrower width, which will make it a more convenient size.”

The Morning News has also added “Lio”, “Brevity” and “Over the Hedge” on their online comics.Regarding Lio, Mike quotes Mark: “I picked up a pen and drew in a style that I haven’t drawn in for about 20 years,” Mr. Tatulli says…. Every time I looked at his spidery pen-and-ink drawings I found something new.”And maybe because his politics were 180 degrees from my own, often depicting Abraham Lincoln as a demonic figure, I was repulsed but still appreciated the craft of his work.