More like Pop-eyes
Jonathan Sanford, Daniel B. Johnston
Washington Post November 5 2022 p A19
So these letters from the print edition on Nov. 4th continue the Post's habit of running irrelevant letters from aging comics readers (of which I am one). It's absolutely obvious, and has been for years, that the Post's Style editor has no interest in the comics pages, and the editorial page isn't interested in fact checking when it selects letters about those pages. The Post in fact dissolved its own syndicate for comics and editorial cartoons this year, leading Amy Lago, the editor of that side business to decamp for Counterpoint's new syndicate.
Back to the letters - Jonathan Sanford wrote upon the retirement of the single-client Post-only Flashbacks strip by the 79-year old Patrick Reynolds "at least get some new strips that are funny and enlightening. I suppose "Calvin and Hobbes" is no longer available." No, in fact it's not. Because Bill ended it in 1995 - 27 years ago. Daniel B. Johnston objects to Popeye's reboot (by a young cartoonist) because "When I watched Popeye on TV as a youth, I began to note its overuse of politically incorrect terminology and actions... Why not replace misogynistic "Popeye" with one of [a new female-written comic]?", but those cartoons he's complaining about were movie animation reruns from 1933 -1957, (65 years ago if you're counting) and completely irrelevant to the current comic strip which, at least on the Sundays we've seen, barely features Popeye in favor of female characters.
And Nancy, which Sanford complained about, is done by an anonymous woman cartoonist, and Mark Trail has been rebooted with a woman cartoonist doing it. I agree that the Post should revisit its comics page though, first increasing the size to make it legible, and then dropping zombie strips such as the daily Doonesbury and Peanuts, which are pure reruns and not even legacy strips
Washington Post November 5 2022 p A19
This weekend the Post ran a 2-page full-size Steve Martin / Harry Bliss cartoon in the Book World and a full-page Dabin Han strip in the Travel section - proving that some of the paper's editors get the idea that comics still attract readers.
They were supporting earlier letter writer, Michael Zarowny's opinion "The Post's daily comic section contains a number of strips that already have a loyal readership who would applaud getting an additional Sunday helping of beloved characters, such as Ray Billingsley's "Curtis," Tom Thaves's "Frank and Ernest" or Bill Holbrook's "On the Fastrack." Even giving us the Sunday retreads of "Classic Doonesbury" would be superior to "Popeye," especially if they were Watergate-era Sunday strips from when Garry Trudeau was funny." As I noted previously on this blog, Doonesbury is new on Sundays, the only day it's not a repeat.
I don't agree with the editorial cartoon letter either which disagrees with Michael de Adder drawing Kanye West as a clown due to his outspoken political beliefs - if you're a public figure and you act like a clown, it's fair game to draw you as a clown even if some members of the public such as Bridget Zarate would like to diagnosis you from afar as mentally ill and give you a pass.
Wake up, Post!
Bridget Zarate
Washington Post November 5 2022 p A19
Bridget Zarate
Washington Post November 5 2022 p A19
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