As we all know, i am not a functioning member of the adult world. I do not read the news. i do not watch the news. i do not create news. news is sad for the most part and when i do read it, i just get sad. or angry. better off to stay uninformed.
I do like newspapers though. They smell nice and you can lift off the newsprint with silly putty. but if i don't read news, why would i like the newspaper? well, where else can you start your day with loads of comics, the jumble, and crossword puzzles all in one place? no where, that's where.
So i read, i enjoy, i smile, rarely i giggle if something is worthy. Most of it is at least light-hearted or includes some sort of snarky musing about daily life. My favorites at this point are F-Minus. (see the link) I think that guy is a genius. Also pretty reliable are Get Fuzzy and of course, Peanuts.
There has always been some sort of underlying irritation that i found when i read the comics, though, and i try to ignore it, but alas, i cannot. I will no longer stand for "comics" that address serious life issues or make vast overly political statements.
For example, For Better or for Worse, never a favorite of mine, but one that used to at least not harrass me with death every morning. The past few weeks have been all about the grandfather that has alzheimer's and how this girl wants to get her wedding in before he dies. Really? REALLY? this is a comic? lest i look it up and give you the webster's dictionary of comic, i think we can all agree that this is uncalled for. if i wanted to wake up to death and sickness, i would not seek out the comics, i would beeline for the obituaries. (which i think my mom does...and she calls me depressing for listening to morrissey. well anita, just get yourself in check)
Also, things like doonesbury, which just had a whole thing full of bushisms as their strip, is often far too political for me to enjoy with my unassuming bowl of cereal. but at least this time the dumb things bush said were funny; sometimes the politics can just be obnoxious. it's not that i have no political views; it's that i don't like discussing them..or reading about others' for that matter.
i mean really, what happened to the days when i would be handed the comic section as a little kid and could understand and enjoy at least 95 percent of the comics there? even if things like F-minus went over my head, it at least is funny to someone, and doesn't make me paranoid about my grandparents dying. i don't want to stifle any sort of artistic license; it is a great way to get out your opinions and frustrations, but there is a proper outlet for these things. and it is not next to snoopy or anywhere near my crossword puzzle. is it too much to ask to keep the comics just a bit comic?
2 comments:
Newspaper print comics are really on the decline. The days of newspapers making mountains of money are pretty much over, so now newspapers are getting tighter on budgets, which makes things tighter for companies that syndicate comics, and by the time you get to comic strip artists, so much blood has been squeezed from the stone that there's little money to be made in having your comic syndicated.
When you factor in that fewer people are reading them in newspapers, the chance of your comic becoming a national sensation like Peanuts or Garfield is pretty much impossible now. Plus there's a big push to make it "marketable" rather than "readable".
Also, since your chance of being picked up by a syndicate is pretty slim, fewer artists are willing to invest the time and money trying to "make it big".
Good comics are pretty much only to be found on the web now; artists stand to make more money building up a cult following and selling the merchandise themselves. There's no syndicate, so the financial returns don't have a middle man, and since there's no restrictions, comics tend to stay within the artist's scope.
I'd recommend:
Count your Sheep - http://www.countyoursheep.com
Ugly Hill -
http://www.uglyhill.com
Indexed -
http://indexed.blogspot.com/
Questionable Content -
http://www.questionablecontent.net
Princess Planet -
http://www.transmission-x.com/_princess_planet/
Perry Bible Fellowship -
http://www.pbfcomics.com/
Some of these are story-based, so you might need to "Start at the Beginning" (which there is always a link to).
I got a bunch more if you're interested =)
pbfcomics.com
no longer printed weekly, but the best comics i've ever read...
newpapers are fun... but all the good comics these days are written by nerds on the internet.
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