I grew up reading comic books. I learned to read the newspaper by reading the funny pages. Andy Capp, Bloom County, Peanuts, Doonesbury, and Calvin and Hobbes.<\/p>\n
Those were staples of my childhood.<\/p>\n
Some of the most enduring characters in American pop culture come from those ink-drenched pages. Prince Valiant. The Katzenjammer Kids. Beetle Bailey. Rip Kirby. Li’l Abner.<\/p>\n
The last decade, comic books — sorry, graphic novels — have experienced a renaissance. <\/p>\n
The writing is brilliant, the art is compelling. Every conceivable genre is represented, from action adventure to romance and comedy.<\/p>\n
Literary comics outsell literary novels and half the movies in the cineplex this summer are strip-minded from Marvel or DC.<\/p>\n
But let’s face it, the comics page in the newspaper is a different story. It’s a disaster, a mind-numbing collection of drab humor, soap opera, Catskills-era gags, and crummy art. <\/p>\n
The Peanuts strip remains on life support, years after Charles Schulz passed away. <\/p>\n
Garfield is stale as a week-old plate of lasagna. Dilbert, a source of razor-sharp cubicle wit years before The Office premiered, has been reduced to a schtick.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the old greats — Prince Valiant, the Phanton, Dick Tracy — are a total mess. The plots are inscrutable, the writing vapid and the art is atrocious.<\/p>\n
Many a day, the best offerings are Shoe…or Wizard of Id. And that’s not saying so much.<\/p>\n
I know we have a lot to worry about these days, but the demise of the Great American Funny Pages kind of stinks.<\/p>\n
How do we train a new generation of kids to read newspapers if they’re not scrambling for their morning dose of Calvin and Hobbes? Or jonzing for the latest Far Side cartoon?<\/p>\n
As newspapers reinvent themselves, they should think about demanding that the big comics syndicates find some new talent, or cultivate some home-grown artists.<\/p>\n
Surely one of those brilliant comic books teams would love to create a daily strip with national exposure. <\/p>\n
In the meantime, we’ll all have to suffer along with Hi & Lois…and roll our eyes as poor Dagwood tries to milk one more joke out of one more sandwich.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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