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Has the Newspaper Revolution Over Rerun Comic Strips Begun?

Published: May 30, 2026 1 minute 9 comments

“New comics to start in June”

When I saw the headline for The Sharon (Pa.) Herald article about their comics pages I thought it just the first of what will be a number of newspapers explaining why Big Nate will no longer be appearing daily.

Turns out it was something else.

From The Sharon Herald editorial comment (or here):

Starting with Monday’s edition, there are some new additions added to The Herald’s comics sections.

Beginning that day, a slew of new comics will make their appearances in the newspaper.

Nothing out of the ordinary as far as changes to the comics page goes – other than “a slew of new comics.”

But further into the explanation we get this:

We think it’s a positive and needed change — some of the comics strips that had been running are from syndicates that are not new. Some comic strips have been in reruns for more than 25 years [emhasis added].

That last is clearly a remark about Peanuts.

Sharon Herald front pages from January 3, 2026

So are newspapers taking note that what they are paying for is not new but recycled material?

I don’t have a rundown of what The Sharon Herald’s comics pages consist but a shot from the first weekend of 2026 shows Peanuts as their lead Sunday Funnies comic strip. I’m guessing that will be replaced.

The article doesn’t say what is on its way out, but it does list the new (to them) inbound strips:

New weekday comics: Wallace the Brave, Marmaduke, Hi & Lois, Dennis the Menace, Fox Trot, Dogs of C-Kennel, Flo & Friends

New weekend comics: Baby Blues, Frank & Ernest, Nancy, Big Nate, Dogs of C-Kennel, Flo & Friends

Dogs of C-Kennel and Flo & Friends get daily and Sunday spots.

Confusion. As far as I know Foxtrot is not offered as a daily, only as a Sunday.

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Comments 9

  1. I agree that “over 25 years” is clearly referring to Peanuts, but it is worth mentioning that many papers are still running Calvin & Hobbes, which has been in reruns for over 30 years. Even worse, since the rerun cycle generally only includes the first half of Watterson’s work (for which the syndicate held the copyright), most of the rerun strips are actually over 35 years old.

    1. My understanding is the “Calvin and Hobbes” reruns are only in non-US papers. I do remember seeing reruns of the strip in Japanese newspapers (The Daily Yomiuri, specifically), but the only time US papers reran the strip was during a brief period when they were offered as part of a promotion for “The Complete Calvin and Hobbes” box set.

      1. I stand corrected: the Andrews McMeel website confirms that Calvin & Hobbes is no longer available for print syndication within the U.S. I was not able to discover when this policy started (I remember seeing Calvin in the comics section during numerous visits stateside in past decades). However, C&H is still available in the U.S. for online purposes, and both GoComics and Andrews McMeel use Watterson’s artwork as pervasive “decoration”.

    2. As far as I know Charles is correct. After December 31, 1995 Bill Watterson did not allow the syndicate to distribute Calvin and Hobbes to U.S. newspapers (I think, but am not sure, Canadian newspapers were also included).
      In 2005 Watterson gave a temporary reprieve to his standing order from September 4 to December 31 of that year as publicity for the October 2005 release of The Complete Calvin and Hobbes.
      Though the Spanish version carries no such restrictions:
      https://syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/features/calvin-and-hobbes-en-espanol/

  2. “Hi & Lois” is still getting new strips? I’m shocked! (My apologies to “Hi & Lois” fans but I haaaaaate that one.)

  3. Just a matter of time before the papers rerun the news.

    1. They always have; same stuff, different day. Only the names change.

  4. I wouldn’t have a houseful of old comics if I saw anything wrong about reruns of old strips I enjoy. Yes, they’re using space which might be used by new cartoonists, but if you showed me anything bought by syndicates in the past 25 years that rivals PEANUTS, I’d be a lot sadder than I am. I’ll tell you this: I’d much rather read reruns of Bud Sagendorf’s POPEYE or Bushmiller’s NANCY than the current versions, because I definitely wouldn’t remember reading them the first time around, and there’s no argument about which were superior works.

  5. First they came for the reruns…next, let’s start knocking out some of the zombie strips, the ones that haven’t been relevant in decades. Let’s start recruiting some new talent for the funnies.

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