Weingarten's Chatalogical Humor chat on some comics

Comments on comics from the past two weeks including Chatological Humor: Denim Friendly Since 2001; Talking Susan Boyle (UPDATED 4.24.09) aka Tuesdays With Moron, Gene Weingarten, Washington Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, April 21, 2009; 12:00 PM.

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What were they thinking?: So the comics editors brought back "Judge Parker." Okay, fine, I'm cool with that. I was wondering if Sophie was going to make the cheerleading squad. But to make room, they chose a strip to move to the KidsPost page, and the strip they chose was... "Agnes"? Um, has anyone involved with this decision actually read "Agnes"? It's often incomprehensibly edgy, certainly for the KidsPost demographic.

I have a ten-year-old daughter who likes to read some of the comics, and I can tell you without a doubt which strip most appeals to her: "Baby Blues." It manages to be truly funny but also understandable to kids. If the point of this exercise is to get more kids to look at KidsPost, they should really rethink the choice of strip.

Could you go slap the comics editors around for me, Gene?

Gene Weingarten: I am not allow to slap comics editors.

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I am not one of your sycophant groupies...: I want you to know how utterly reprehensible it is that your weekly harangue against Hagar the Horrible, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, Family Circus et al should result in your comic strip being picked up by a syndicate. Many of us cut our teeth and learned how to read from those very strips and what you don't seem to understand is that not every comic has to appeal to the tastes of a 60 year old, old fart like yourself.

So go enjoy your ill gotten fruit but know that some of us recognize the dublicity of it all especially picking on poor little PJ -- I mean heck, he's just a little kid !

Gene Weingarten: I think P.J. is something like 48 years old.

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[apropos of a previous discussion of what makes a hero]

Krypt, ON: I find it interesting that Superman would not be considered a hero here for doing good since he risks nothing and expends, for him, little effort, but would be because he does it on his own time. Sometimes. When he isn't defrauding a newspaper. Which may be the real reason newspapers are going under.

Gene Weingarten: Whoa, whoa. He is a hero. It's not a question necessarily of what you risk, it's what you sacrifice. He sacrifices privacy. He sacrifices the ability to be a fully realized person. He is definitely a hero.

Rockville, Md.: Gene,

Is there something wrong with me because I was incredibly turned on by seeing Janis topless in yesterday's Arlo and Janis? I'm a happily married 39 year old guy if it makes a difference.

washingtonpost.com: Arlo and Janis, (April 20)

Gene Weingarten: I've said it before. Arlo and Janis is the hottest comic strip maybe ever.

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Funny Pa, PR: Since you're not allowed to bring this up: the April 17 Lio was genuinely unreadable at the size the Post printed it. The only way to make sense of it was to work backwards: there was a staggering drunk spider, so the spiderweb must have had something intoxicating in it.

At first there didn't seem to be anything in the middle of the web at all. Prolonged close study revealed what I guess was a beer can. Figuring this out was not worth the eyestrain.

Gene Weingarten: This was absolutely true. It's how I had to read it to get the joke. Liz, can you link to this? Online, it will be bigger; but imagine trying to figure it out at an inch high.

and a 'new' contest, although Cavna's been doing this off and on at Comic Riffs, usually with editorial cartoons.

Chatological Humor: Swine Flu Fever; Quiet Cars; Cat Calls (UPDATED 4.30.09), Gene Weingarten, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, April 29, 2009; 12:00 PM

Several weeks ago, Chatological Humor discontinued its regular Comic Pick of the Week feature, on the theory that it would be unseemly for me to critique comic strips if I were soon to be the author of one. I promised to find a replacement feature, and here it is. It's going to be reader-generated, and the first submission is by Justin Stone.

That's what we're doing. Rewrite dialog balloons for any current comic strip; you can either post your results on a Web site like flickr or Facebook, and send me a link, or you can send it right to me at weingarten(at)washpost.com. Important: You must make your dialogue fit the existing balloons. As Justin discovered, this can be hard. Comic-strip writing is Pinteresque.

Gene Weingarten: Ooh, this just in. Chatological Humor might have had a beneficial, tangible effect in the world.

Last week, a chatter noted, correctly, that "Agnes" was a tone-deaf joice as the comic strip chosen to appear on the KidsPost page. Very, very true: It's excellently cynical, even nihilistic, with big words and complex themes.

Someone apparently listened. I've just heard that it goes back on the comics page, and will be replaced in KidsPost by Frazz. Much better choice. Frazz or Big Nate would have been my choices.

I disagree here, as did some other Comic Riffs commenters. Garfield or Peanuts would have been a better choice. My 11-year-old daughter doesn't read Frazz.

That darn Agnes

Pope Trashed
Washington Post Saturday, November 1, 2008; Page A13

At first I thought I must have misread the "Agnes" comic strip you published Oct. 29. How do you justify publishing such a vitriolic attack on the beloved Pope John XXIII? The comic frivolously associated him with a 12th-century mass murderer.

Anti-Catholic slants seem to be acceptable in The Post. Would you have allowed such a mention of a figure from another religion?

-- Jean Shema
Gaithersburg

Self-referentialism in today's Post comic strips

Three comic strips today benefited from some inside knowledge of reading them regularly perhaps.

Today's Pearls Before Swine builds on a week of Pastis referring to deaths in comic strips - after taking a passing swipe at Family Circus, Pastis killed himself in the strip - today he meets his syndicate rep as a giant floating head in heaven who tells him he can't kill the strip because of the ancillary products making money.

Candorville's been doing a tribute to the late comedian George Carlin all week, but today he got into criticizing obituary editorial cartoons which frequently feature a character at heaven's pearly gates. This almost certainly comes off a discussion at the Associations of American Editorial Cartoonists that Dave Astor covered.

Finally, Agnes (pick the July 12th one) is on the fact that Peanuts is still appearing in reruns years after Schulz's death.

Post changes comics without asking readers!

Shocked! I am shocked! The Post has unilaterally made a decision about its comics pages without polling its readership.

A NOTE TO COMICS READERS
Washington Post
Monday, March 12, 2007; Page C10


Beginning Monday, March 19, you'll notice that the daily comics pages have a new look and three new comics.

Two new strips will join our lineup: "Agnes," by Tony Cochran, about a witty young girl who is poor but wise beyond her years, and Tim Rickard's "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!," which features a captain and a crew of misfits in the space station R.U. Sirius.

One new panel, "Brevity," an irreverent take on almost anything, also joins the lineup, alternating with "Close to Home." And "Speed Bump" will now run seven days a week. (We're leaving the panels out this week to announce the changes, but they will return on Monday.)

The Scrabble Gram and Stickelers puzzles will become regular features six days a week.

To make room for these changes, we will say goodbye to three strips, "Mary Worth," "Cathy" and "Broom Hilda," and two panels, "The Flying McCoys" and "The Other Coast." Those comics will continue to be carried on our Web site at http://www.washingtonpost.com.

Finally, on Sunday, March 25, we will debut "Lio" as a Sunday-only strip. Creator Mark Tutulli chronicles the adventures of Lio, a curious young boy with a vivid imagination.

We realize change is unsettling but trust that you will quickly adjust to the new lineup. We hope the new design will make your favorite features easier to find. As always, we welcome your comments. Call our comics hotline at 202-334-4775, e-mail us at comics@washpost.com or write Comics Feedback, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.

Actually, I'm not sorry to see any of those strips go, especially Cathy which I actively do not read. I don't just ignore it like I do Mary Worth - I make my eyes go around it. Unfortunately, I'm not sure Agnes is ready for primetime (so to speak). I've been disappointed by Watch Your Head which seemed promising during its test last year.

Also in today's Post, Wiley took a shot at this Albany Times Union blog which suggested that product placement might be raising its ugly head on the comic strip pages, not just in comic books and movies.