Here is what we need more of – a newspaper ADDING to its weekend color comics section.
The Danville (Illinois) Commercial-News has the good front page news:
Commercial-News print subscribers will be treated to a new and expanded color comics section beginning with this Saturday’s weekend edition.
Most of the comics previously published in the printed weekend comics will also be included in the new section, but there will be a large number of new comic panels and strips in the expanded section.
Among the new comics to be featured are Classic Peanuts, Garfield, Donnesbury[sic], The Lockhorns and Dennis the Menace.
Overall, there are 15 new comics in the section, in addition to 8 that had been in the previous section.
The comics section will also be included in the digital E-edition.
Also beginning this Saturday, the TV program listings…
The paper increases its weekend color comics section from 8 to 23, essentially tripling the number of Sunday comics it will carry in its Saturday print edition. That’s a trend we can support.
We don’t know what the makeup of the old section was or the complete roster of the new section.
A recent (January 24, 2024) daily comics page shows it carrying Marmaduke, Herman, Reality Check, Moderately Confused, Frank and Ernest, The Grizzwells, Pickles, Blondie, Born Loser, Hi and Lois, and Crabgrass. Whether eight of those eleven made up their Sunday Funnies is unknown.
Also unknown is if this new section is or will be part of a company-wide effort of CNHI’s roughly five dozen dailies.
Bravo! It seems to me the dying newspaper industry should double or triple down on one of its unique offerings, comic strips. I hope this is the start of a trend.