A letter to the editor in today’s St. Louis Dispatch complains about the character Thirsty in the Walker and Browne comic “Hi & Lois.”
From the letter:
Week after week we see episodes of the dim-witted neighbor Thirsty not doing work or angering his wife because he needs a drink. Recently, when asked about dinner the previous night with his wife, he replies it was great: Irma stayed at the table and ate and he went to the bar to drink. I’m sure there are many spouses of alcoholics who do not find this to be the least bit amusing.
The comic cited: http://hiandlois.com/comics/august-18-2018/
This is a perfect example of why comic strips need to end along with the passing of its creator, as they are a product of a bygone era. This type of material and characters were standard fare in media 40-50 years ago, but repulsive today, just as racial stereotypes from the early days of comics were. The easiest solution is to end comics done by dead cartoonists and open up the space of younger talent doing material that’s relevant to today’s audience.
I disagree. It’s not the comic strip’s fault. It’s the tone-deaf writers. Dick Tracy is better than it has been in decades. Nancy is fun again for the first time since the 70’s. Mark Trail is — uh never mind.
To quote Bill Watterson, if you’re good enough to do someone else’s strip, you should be good enough to do your own.
That’s his myopic view of how things should be done. He also has a rule not to sell plush, but should we apply that rule to everyone else?
If we used Watterson’s logic there’d be no more Superman. No more James Bond. No more Mark Trail; wait never mind.
Even Nancy’s Ernie Bushmiller took over from someone else.
The blame is on the newspapers for continuing to run this anachronistic content rather than holding the writers accountable for being relevant to the 21st century.
BTW, I meant “myopic” there as a view that suited his individual situation not as shortsighted or unimaginative.
I think it’s okay to pass on a strip to new artists as long as there’s nothing imaginative or inventive in it that only the original artist could have supplied.