Backbench (G&M comic)

[Hipster Duck]

Why do they still print this?

 

[Therion]

I chuckled... Better than printing the Family Circus. Or Garfield. Or For Better or For Worse. Of Marmaduke. Or Hagar the Terrible. Or that waitress comic. I could go on.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Yeah, I don't really quite get the appeal of syndicated newspaper comics and very few people I've talked to (and I have talked to a lot of people about this) get them either. Considering that newspapers are constantly trying to reinvent their style and content to keep "current", I find it funny that they keep these little anachronisms drawn by senile octogenarians who are completely oblivious to contemporary society. Witness how Blondie only ceased to be a tarted up housewife in the late '90s and got a job - catering baked goods!

Anyway,

I think my big beef with Backbench is that the guy can't even freakin' draw. I'm not even asking him to be funny.

 

[interchange42]

But they're called comics, not drawings - you should ask him to be funny.

Ever since Gary Larson (The Far Side) and Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) retired, so should have 'the funny pages'.

42

 

[adma]

Witness how Blondie only ceased to be a tarted up housewife in the late '90s and got a job - catering baked goods!

For that matter, witness how the Globe quietly dropped its old comics-page cornerstone of Blondie in the last few years--and barely a peep from anyone...

 

[Hydrogen]

Curious how Dagwood, his son and the dog all looked so much alike.

 

[afransen]

The comic isn't funny, I'll give you that. I don't think any of you understand how many middle-aged women read For Better or for Worse.

I also don't understand what is so anachronistic about comics. With the rise of web comics, I'd say the genre is quite healthy.

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

I miss Alex.

 

[ShonTron]

I think my big beef with Backbench is that the guy can't even freakin' draw. I'm not even asking him to be funny.

With the departure of Larson and Watterson, the only ones that can still get a laugh or two out of me are Bizzaro or Doonesbury (though as a political cartoon, it can be painfully late responding to a current event due to syndication). At least the characters in Doonesbury age and have multiple different story lines to keep it more interesting than the others.

 

[Observer Walt]

Thanks for the reminder, "Alex" was a good one.

The Star is loaded up with an entire page of them. The National Post doesn't publish any comics at all, and I have wondered why. There are a few good ones out there which they could pick up. But yes, a few of the comics being published seem a bit lame and have run their course.

Edit: Doonesbury is also good, although obviously very heavy on U.S. politics. I have noticed once or twice that Doonesbury picks up quickly on recent events. I wonder if they sometimes throw out comics which have been previously drawn in order to quickly replace them.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Alex was clever, but also very esoteric. Come to think of it, having a niche comic devoted to London trading houses probably gave it some of its appeal, because it introduced me to a fascinating world I'd never seen before.

A syndicated comic strip that I used to really enjoy was "Ernie" - now known as the Piranha club (it sucks now). I bought a digest of Ernie comics from ca. 1990-1991 and nearly split my sides laughing.

Afransen,

Yeah, I wouldn't say that comics, as a genre, are dying. You certainly make a good case for web comics, and often the comics in student newspapers are really witty. What I'm talking about are the stuffy syndicated newspaper comics that you find in the "Funnies" section of your local rag. This includes such "gems" as: Hi & Lois, Marmaduke, Beetle Bailey, Garfield, Cathy, Hagar the Horrible, Family Circus, etc.

I don't know how many middle aged women read FboFW, but I'm sure it's sizable. I know that hipster girls read Betty & Veronica ironically. Go figure.

 

[afransen]

Newspapers will smarten-up, especially as the boomers start to kick the bucket. I think webcomics will start to influence what you see in the funnies.

 

[MisterF]

Alex was clever, but also very esoteric. Come to think of it, having a niche comic devoted to London trading houses probably gave it some of its appeal, because it introduced me to a fascinating world I'd never seen before.

A syndicated comic strip that I used to really enjoy was "Ernie" - now known as the Piranha club (it sucks now). I bought a digest of Ernie comics from ca. 1990-1991 and nearly split my sides laughing.

Afransen,

Yeah, I wouldn't say that comics, as a genre, are dying. You certainly make a good case for web comics, and often the comics in student newspapers are really witty. What I'm talking about are the stuffy syndicated newspaper comics that you find in the "Funnies" section of your local rag. This includes such "gems" as: Hi & Lois, Marmaduke, Beetle Bailey, Garfield, Cathy, Hagar the Horrible, Family Circus, etc.

I don't know how many middle aged women read FboFW, but I'm sure it's sizable. I know that hipster girls read Betty & Veronica ironically. Go figure.

I too was a big Ernie fan. The renaming to the Piranha Club was kind of a jump the shark moment wasn't it? Another one I really like, but rarely read, is Sherman's Lagoon.