Washington Times comics survey

The Times actually has a pretty good comics page. I frequently pick it up in Walter Reed's lobby and tear it out for Michigan State's collection. Harry Bliss' panel is particularly interesting since he'd been known as a New Yorker cartoonist before starting this, but also has been doing children's books. I don't know why they put this on their website, but not in the paper though. Seems to defeat the purpose of it...

Calling all funnies afficionados

The Washington Times is evaluating the items on our Comics page, and we'd like your input.

As it stands, we've got 17 comic strips running on our page. We want to know what you like, what you don't like and even what you feel we're missing.

Our collection ranges from a playful pair of fraternal twins and their grandmother in Grand Avenue to the saucy quips of Fred Basset and the motherly musings of Rose is Rose.

We've also got the indomitable Crankshaft, the geeky but genial Monty and the lovable pup Buckles.

And of course, we've got the daily high school dramas in the long-running Funky Winkerbean, The Buckets' family foibles and the good-natured ribbings of Herb & Jamaal .

The dashing Dick Tracy sniffs out criminals on our page, and the characters of Crock lampoon society and each other out in the desert while the cavemen of B.C. escape the jaws of dinosaurs.

Our Rubes strip is biting but side-splitting, and Bizarro is, well, bizarre.

Rounding out our team is the intrepid maid Hazel, the self-titled strip of Harry Bliss and feline frolicking in Cats With Hands.

For the next two weeks, we're asking our readers to e-mail us the names of their four favorite comic strips. We'd also like to know which ones don't tickle your funny bone and even the names of 'toons we aren't running but are worth a look.

Please send your comments to comics@washingtontimes.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

--Carrie Sheffield, Web editor, The Washington Times

Posted on March 11, 2008