The Ledger, (Lakeland, FL) has added four comics to their comic line-up. They conducted a reader survey that yielded more than 1,200 responses. The new comics include Between Friends , Dustin , Pearls Before Swine and Sherman’s Lagoon.
The article didn’t mention which strips were dropped, but mentioned the low vote getters were Sally Forth , Rose Is Rose and Six Chix .
Welcome to The Ledger’s Comic Survey!
Review six new comics being considered by The Ledger Features Department and then vote to let us which one you like most. Click the “View Entries” tab above to read a week?s worth of six fresh comic strips (?Dustin,? ?Thata Baby,? ?Sherman?s Lagoon,? ?Pooch Cafe,? ?Between Friends? and ?Pearls Before Swine?) and then click on the “Vote” tab to rate them.
What Comic Are You Going to Replace?
Sometimes comic strips go stale. The best ones remain fresh, witty and entertaining. We are willing to replace some of our comic strips to make room for ones you?d prefer to see, so we are asking you to tell us your three least favorite comic strips. You can email those to features@theledger.com, with ?bad comics? in the subject line. If you do not have access to email, you can wait until Saturday and write your picks in our cut-out coupon and send back via the post office.
Speaking of classics, you may have a longtime favorite we don?t currently run. On Saturday, you are welcome to write in the name of a longtime strip that you wish we carried in the Comics section. We will be looking to see which one gets the top vote.
via http://theledger.upickem.net/engine/Welcome.aspx?contestid=30653
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Calling least favorite strips “bad comics” is pretty harsh.
Every newspaper should conduct yearly Reader Surveys regarding their comics – out with the stale strips and make room for new blood!
I even read in the article Classic Peanuts was rumored to return to the Ledger comics but didn’t get enough votes to bring it back.
A search on Google News Archive had the Ledger running Peanuts as late as December 2007 (which is how long that Archive goes). So apparently the Ledger thought that seven+ years of old Peanuts strips was enough for them. Whenever I see a newspaper drop Peanuts I view them as disrespectful to such a legacy (my opinion).
A look at their demo paper from 5/22/2007 sees that the Ledger still runs “For Better Or For Worse” which like “Peanuts” is basically in reruns.
Oops. I meant 5/22/2011, not 2007.
BTW I did a search on the Ledger’s web site and it looks like the paper did away with “Peanuts” earlier this year (probably when the strip switched syndicates) based on published letters from unhappy readers in the 3/24/2011 and 4/4/2011 editions. Nothing on what strip replaced it.
get rid of all strips in reruns they serve no purpose