His readers are absolutely wrong on Keith Knight and Weingarten is right.
May 20th chat
Gene Weingarten: Good afternoon.
Jef Mallett, creator of Frazz, e-mailed me yesterday after he returned from The National Cartoonists Conference in New Orleans. During the conference, he said, a whole bunch of cartoonists went off to help build a house in the city, as part of a Habitat for Humanity project. I asked him to draw a cartoon of what a house would look like if it was built by cartoonists. Here is Jeff's drawing, along with his commentary.
What I learned from this experience:
1. Cartoonists cannot hold hammers. You've never seen so many people choke up so high on a hammer.
2. What's black and white and red all over? A Scottish-Norwegian cartoonist messing with tar paper shingles all day in the sun. Heehaw. Trust me on this one.
3. When cartoonists hammer their thumbs, what they say isn't really spelled "##%!!*."
4. Whatever you think you know about the devastation down there, you don't have a clue. And it's almost three years.
What I learned from drawing the two cartoon characters in this picture:
1. Rosie the Riveter seems to be giving us all the "up yours" gesture. I never quite noticed that.
2. I am apparently one shopping trip to Williams-Sonoma away from being as gay as a Mardi Gras float. This, too, was a big surprise.
May 27th chat
CPOW: That Knight's Life is not a funny comic. You just like it because it supports what you (and all of us) have been saying. The Pearls on the other hand IS funny.
Gene Weingarten: I am allowed personal bias.
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Fairfax, Va.: Agreed on liking Knight Life. The first replacement, about the stay-at-home dad, clearly got old quickly. The second one, while promising, seems like it was trying too hard to be The Far Side. The third one, while it may fall into that category of nerdy young black man with Candorville and Watch Your Head, seems by far to be the best. Any idea what the general reaction to the three has been?
Gene Weingarten: The Post people are pretty smart. I've liked the last two, actually. I am hoping we keep both and get rid of some antedeluvian ones.
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Baltimore, Md.: You have GOT to be kidding about Knight Life, right? Anyone who names a comic strip after himself immediately has one strike against him. And, Sunday's cartoon included jokes so old and lame even my 5 year old thought they were stupid. THIS is what the Post thought could replace Doonesbury, even temporarily? My God, ...the horror.
Gene Weingarten: Yeah, Sunday's was bad. I agree.
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Washington, D.C.: Yes, the Knight Life comic is funny, but can you answer me this question. If the Post is going to add a new comic strip, why oh why, isn't the daily Cul de Sac, by the Post's own Richard Thompson, not up for consideration?
Gene Weingarten: It should be the first choice.
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Re: The Knight Life: The art on this strip is terrible. Doesn't that bug you?
Gene Weingarten: No. I like the art.
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