Honestly, for you to even have to ask this shows how desperately out of touch you are.
BE RELEVANT! Run comics that aren't anachronisms!
Busted - 14 years ago
http://www.thesestrangeworlds.com/blog/?p=217
Mark Trail storylines identical from 1970 ...
Enis Cornmueller - 14 years ago
I saw Mark Trail kill a man behind a bar in Utica in 1956. I ain't never said nothing, because he threatened I'd be next if I opened my mouth, but my doc tells me I ain't got long left so I thought I'd clear my conscience.
Don't seem right that a killer should grace our fair countries comic pages.
Also, kids, don't smoke cigarettes or nothing.
Xenox - 14 years ago
Greetings Earthlings, I come from an intellectually superior planet known as Manhattan. We are amused by your Albanites connection to comics from the middle of the last century. Progress, it seems, does not find its way to your comics pages. And now that we know of your inferior taste we will prey upon it until we enslave every last one of you.
Keep reading Mark Trail and in the meantime I shall prepare your shock collars to curb your disobedience while your working in the plutonium mines of Manhattan.
marcia - 14 years ago
i love fbow. bring back kathy!
rose - 14 years ago
Please keep FBOFW and Frazz! One of the main reasons I get the TU is for the comics. I read at least 3
papers a day for the news, but I make sure I get the TU for the comics. The last few years, the selection
has not been as good. Out of the 27 comics I don't even look at 8 of them. I tried them when the first
came on board but they don't command my attention. Comics that could go-the sooner the better-are
Mark Trail, Lio, Knigh Lite,Over the Hedge, Cul de Sac, Dilbert, Speed bump, and Get Fuzzy.
Comics that would be nice to have again : B.C., Wizard of Id, Stone Soup, SallyForth. Please keep all the
rest . Thanks .
Sue Bryda - 14 years ago
Frazz is one of my favorite strips. It eipitomizes all a strip should be--humorous yet intelligent. I found one of my favorite authors, Carl Hiaasen, through Frazz. I was all set to hate FBOFW once it went into reruns, but just the opposite occurred. I have liked seeing the beginning of the storylines. I have never been a fan of Mark Trail. Not much happens.
I also, though, do not really like the strip, Dustin. I agree with the other people who say that this strip will grow old fast. Seeing that Mark Trail has some faithful readers, I vote to leave things the way they are. Dustin isn't good enough to lose subscriptions over.
sara - 14 years ago
I agree with many of those above who love Frazz - it is one of the best current comics you publish. I also like the old FBOFW drawings - while I'm mentioning drawings - Cul De Sac is great - along with Get Fuzzy, Knight's Life and Pearls Before Swine.
Mark Trail has been on the block before but I'm not sure the preview of Dustin is worth removing it for.
Harriett Arthur - 14 years ago
I do not find it funny that somebody is pretending to be Mark Trail. I have lived in Albany all my life. I am 87 now. I wish computers and fax machines and spandex never happened. Things were better in the old days. A comic section should reflect that.
My generation is superior to all and everything that was in style in my day should stay in style forever.
Evolution is for scientists, not newspapers. I wish they'd RERUN all the old comics so I could read them in the newspapers or in all the comic collection books I have. That way I would have a choice.
Why do newspapers hate choice?
The Real Mark Trail - 14 years ago
Hi, that man who posted before is an IMPOSTER! I am the real Mark Trail.
Fortunately for him, I agree with everything he said.
Otherwise, I would have had to beat him with my stuffed beaver.
Mark Trail - 14 years ago
Hello friends, Mark Trail, rugged adventurer here. I've been doing this gig a long time and I would appreciate it if you'd just let me retire. I've heard from a lot of my friends on the comics pages like Blondie and Peanuts that we've had our day and it's time for someone else to get a chance.
But our multinational corporations won't let us go because we make lots of money for them and editors are usually too afraid of the backlash to realize how much they've sucked the vitality out of the comics page because they pander to an audience that means very little to the advertisers and who read comics out of sentimentality rather than an actual reflection of the quality of the comics. So they knowingly put out an inferior product, which they should be ashamed of.
So, I beseech you. Let us go and let the comics section be a section that attracts new readers and young readers with contemporary and exciting content. Pearls, Get Fuzzy and Lio and Cul De Sac are great examples of what 21st Century comics should look like.
The comics page should look like its 2010, not 1954.
I will miss you all very much and wish you well.
Your friend, Mark Trail. Rugged Adventurer.
Ex Libris - 14 years ago
For Better or For Worse has become nothing more than Lynn Johnston's shameless attempt to milk a few more bucks out of a strip that should have been retired years ago. Summary of every strip that runs (whether re-run or "new"): Elly is a martyr, John is a jerk, and her children are ungrateful. Repeat ad infinitum.
Des Modus - 14 years ago
While FBOFW might have the occasional "new" strip, the reruns are the overwhelming elements. There are at least 15 published collections of Johnston's work, all available for sale from her website. If someone wants to meander down memory lane, please consider buying a collection, and give space for more entertaining, less author-as-martyr, man-hating (or specifically, ex-husband-hating) strips.
Thomas "Tommy" Kelrast, USCG (ret.) - 14 years ago
Dear Sirs,
It has been drawn to my attention that your news-paper comics editor has once again booted the suggestion of cutting the classic and timeless adventure 'strip' Mark Trail from the pages of the Times Union in favor of some navel-gazing Hollyweirdd balderdash entitled 'Dustin'.
If such an event transpires, sirs, I assure you, I personally will immediately cancel my subscription to the Times Union and raise a point of order to motion that the senior center do the same.
What the bejinks could you be thinking of? Mark Trail is a terrific tale of adventure that embodies our freedom. Where else in the news-paper can today's misguided young people inspired by the great out of doors?
Let us recall the words of the great Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote, "Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die; and none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy of life and the duty of life. Both life and death are parts of the same Great Adventure."
Now I ask you, who is fit to live. Mark Trail, to whom bravery is his second nature, and the untamed wilderness his first, or some "23-year old unmarried, unemeployed boomerang kid who lives with his parents and his proud of it?"
What has our culture become, what has our nation come to stand for when a great adventuring man like Mark Trail, is removed from the news-paper pages in favor of some apron-tied, shirkinig layabout?
I have a solution for the 'Dustins' of the world: Get a job, you bum.
- Thomas "Tommy" Kelrast, USCG (ret.)
Dave S - 14 years ago
If you're looking to reach the younger demographic, Mark Trail should go. FBOW didn't run here, if I recall, early in its inception so we haven't seen the story when the kids are really young. Pearls Before Swine is only occasionally amusing to me, with the running reptile gag pretty stale, especially the father's lack of basic English speech. Not that you'd expect him to have it....
Yero - 14 years ago
brandon, you do not know what you are talking about. Cul De Sac is one of the most beautifully drawn strips ever. Even Bill Watterson from Calvin & Hobbes raved about how beautiful it was in the book.
You should look at again with fresh eyes, it's the best comic I've ever read (including Calvin & Hobbes)
tom - 14 years ago
For the record, FBOW is not completely in reruns, but is a mix of old and newly written strips, all looking back in time. It's worth keeping.
I know that Mark Trail is lame, but it's the only action/drama strip available other than the Sunday-only Prince Valiant. Frazz is to much like all of the others, which are "comic" strips that are not very funny.
The T.U. runs 27 separate strips on its two comics pages. The paper could easily cancel one-third of them and we'd hardly notice a difference.
Raymond J. Lauenstein Sr. - 14 years ago
Mark Trail can go as far as I am concerned and so can For Better or Worse, but not Frazz. It is time to get rid of that jerk of a teenager Zits. He is not funny and just points up the worse characteristics that one sees every day from some Teens. The new strip does not look much better. Maybe you could get rid of Rex Smith, that would be an improvement.
Mary Ann - 14 years ago
We always read Fraz. It is insightful as well as very funny. Don't get rid of it, please!
For Better Or Worse is not truly in rerun. It is new material blended in with some old. See http://www.fborfw.com/behind_the_scenes/hybrid/
Agree that Cul De Sac and Pearls Before Swine would be better choices for removal. Adam was better before the artist change. Even Peanuts, Blondie, Beetle Bailey would be better choices. These are so old, boring and predictable that I haven't read them in years.
Brandon - 14 years ago
I know read the synopsis of this Dustin strip, and I have to say it isn't funny either. Apparently, your comics staff need to find people with a sense of humor.
Brandon - 14 years ago
Do not get rid of For Better or for worse. Even though it is in reruns, I get some laughs out of it on Saturday and Sunday. (I don't get the paper Monday through Friday due to it not being delivered in my area those days, and I can't afford to buy a paper every day). I am in the routine of skipping Mark Trail every Saturday as I tried to read it once and found it horrible. I would also be for removing Knight Life: it is not funny and crudely drawn or Cul de Sac: see Knight Life. However, do not get rid of Lio as I find that funny most of the time. I think some of the people saying it is not funny do not understand that sometimes you don't need words to be funny.
Ellen Jennings - 14 years ago
Mark Trail is incredibly predictable. As Suzanne said it's the same enemy and story line - boring. I can always tell the bad guy - he has bad hair and a grimace. (And of course everyone wears the same clothes 99% of the time.) FBOFW is wonderful. I did not meet the Patterson's when the kids were little and am enjoying the adventures of this young family. Enlarging the font size for Non Sequitur would be easier on my eyes. The "humor" in Over the Hedge and Get Fuzzy escapes me. Bring back Cathy! I really enjoy the edgy strip Pearls Before Swine. Stephan hits the nail on the head most of the time.
Joan Berneri - 14 years ago
If you want to cut something, my choice would be either Knight Life, Frazz, Cul de Sac, Get Fuzzy, Pearls Before Swine or Over The Hedge.
Mark Trail and Cryptoquip are the only reason I subscribe to Times Union.
Joe Flynn - 14 years ago
A vote here to save Mark Trail. He is an "old friend" with perhaps old values; but looked forward to each day by a base of your readers who won't vote here. Mark Trail is a soothing cup of warm morning coffee among the polyglot of strained, often failed humor of some of your most recent additions.
Brenda - 14 years ago
PLEASE don't touch For Better Or For Worse! I love it, even in re-runs. I have all of the dvds as well. Mark Trail is STUPID AND BORING. Cul De Sac and Pearls Before Swine should also be replaced.
Scott - 14 years ago
Definately get rid of Mark Trail, I wish you would have included Clu De Sac in the voting as it is terrible. Frazz is entertaining and FBOFW is fun to read in the reruns.
Nancy - 14 years ago
I love Frazz! Please don't take it out. I am even enjoying the reruns of FBOW. Mark Trail is an old habit, it can go, but I would rather see you get rid of Cul de Sac or Over the Hedge.
Dan - 14 years ago
Please keep Mark Trail--it is the only adventure comic and one I have enjoyed for many years--and is NOT boring!
Gail - 14 years ago
I love For Better or For Worse, especially since the story is being retold from the beginning. I missed all that stuff before and now it is the first comic I read every day. Get rid of Mark Trail. It stinks. Never read it, don't even like the pictures. Frazz is okay, but don't get rid of Adam either.
Jm L - 14 years ago
Followed the link for Dustin - the "punchlines" remind me of an old sitcom - all it needs is a canned laugh track. Mark Trail is really the worst one. Frazz is enjoyable. Perhaps you could just get rid of Mr. Trail & for the lady who doesn't like the print size on Non Sequitur - make it bigger so everyone can enjoy the best "strip" in the paper!
Richard - 14 years ago
Frazz is worth keeping. Other to consider removing Cul De Sac, Lio, and Pearls before Swine. All Lack humor as far as I'm concerned.
Bill Ramage - 14 years ago
I like all three of these comic strips!
Why not dump some of the ones that aren't funny like
Lio, Knight Life, Cul De Sac or Pearls before Swine?
Keith - 14 years ago
Frazz is a gem and definitely should remain in the paper. Mark Trail the weakest but I could get along without FBOFW about as easily. And I would be asbolutely delighted to see Cul De Sac or Lio dropped. I've really tried to let them grow on me, but all I get is mold. As to the proposed new strip, Dustin, it looks like yet another loser. Why even bother.
Bea Legere - 14 years ago
Leave "For better or for Worse" alone! It's still better than most of the other comics. Same for Peanuts.
Get rid of "Non Sequitur," the print is too small to read. Also: Mark Trail, Lio, Knight Life, Over the Hedge, Frazz, Cul de Sac, Speed Bump, Pearls Before Swine (which I used to like). Garfield and Get Fuzzy are also getting old.
Rick - 14 years ago
I voted FBOFW, but Mark Trail is not better and may be the worst. It's certainly boring, woefully predictable and seems to serve little to no purpose for its existence.
FRAZZ is wonderful... as Monica said above: intelligent, thought-provoking AND funny.
ADAM is exceedingly lame much of the time as well, but the worst comic you run by far, IMO, is The Pajama Diaries. I'd choose that one for "expulsion" over any others.
monica - 14 years ago
FRAZZ is intelligent, thought-provoking AND funny. PLEASE do not drop it.
FBOFW in rerun is just as good as the first version and extremely up to date (note the Connie and Ellie's brother story line that just ran). PLEASE do not drop it.
It seems Dustin could get old just like ADAM got old a long time ago. Probably would not read it.
Marlene - 14 years ago
Seriously, the "Dustin" link description does not strike me as humorous at all. The "punch" lines are predictable and not clever. But if you chose to run Cul De Sac, I can only surmise that your standards have fallen to an all time low. That strip is so bland. You should look at newer strips like Back 2 Basics (by locally born comic strip writer Matt Zalen) that runs in the Schenectady and Saratoga papers (although it only runs on Sunday at this point) for fresh and un-cliche humor. Actually, I still am upset that you dropped Cathy many moons ago. Fortunately, I can read it daily through the internet.
Oh, well, at least you have Zits and Luanne, Get Fuzzy, Baby Blues and Pajama Diaries to keep me going!
Suzanne - 14 years ago
Setting it all in the wilderness doesn't obscure the boring fact that Mark Trail beats up a boring enemy (same enemy, pretty much) every month. Not clever. Not today. Not comic. Not.
I read Frazz and For Better or Worse every day; they're clever and funny and real and, rerun notwithstanding, real.
When do we see the results?
Honestly, for you to even have to ask this shows how desperately out of touch you are.
BE RELEVANT! Run comics that aren't anachronisms!
http://www.thesestrangeworlds.com/blog/?p=217
Mark Trail storylines identical from 1970 ...
I saw Mark Trail kill a man behind a bar in Utica in 1956. I ain't never said nothing, because he threatened I'd be next if I opened my mouth, but my doc tells me I ain't got long left so I thought I'd clear my conscience.
Don't seem right that a killer should grace our fair countries comic pages.
Also, kids, don't smoke cigarettes or nothing.
Greetings Earthlings, I come from an intellectually superior planet known as Manhattan. We are amused by your Albanites connection to comics from the middle of the last century. Progress, it seems, does not find its way to your comics pages. And now that we know of your inferior taste we will prey upon it until we enslave every last one of you.
Keep reading Mark Trail and in the meantime I shall prepare your shock collars to curb your disobedience while your working in the plutonium mines of Manhattan.
i love fbow. bring back kathy!
Please keep FBOFW and Frazz! One of the main reasons I get the TU is for the comics. I read at least 3
papers a day for the news, but I make sure I get the TU for the comics. The last few years, the selection
has not been as good. Out of the 27 comics I don't even look at 8 of them. I tried them when the first
came on board but they don't command my attention. Comics that could go-the sooner the better-are
Mark Trail, Lio, Knigh Lite,Over the Hedge, Cul de Sac, Dilbert, Speed bump, and Get Fuzzy.
Comics that would be nice to have again : B.C., Wizard of Id, Stone Soup, SallyForth. Please keep all the
rest . Thanks .
Frazz is one of my favorite strips. It eipitomizes all a strip should be--humorous yet intelligent. I found one of my favorite authors, Carl Hiaasen, through Frazz. I was all set to hate FBOFW once it went into reruns, but just the opposite occurred. I have liked seeing the beginning of the storylines. I have never been a fan of Mark Trail. Not much happens.
I also, though, do not really like the strip, Dustin. I agree with the other people who say that this strip will grow old fast. Seeing that Mark Trail has some faithful readers, I vote to leave things the way they are. Dustin isn't good enough to lose subscriptions over.
I agree with many of those above who love Frazz - it is one of the best current comics you publish. I also like the old FBOFW drawings - while I'm mentioning drawings - Cul De Sac is great - along with Get Fuzzy, Knight's Life and Pearls Before Swine.
Mark Trail has been on the block before but I'm not sure the preview of Dustin is worth removing it for.
I do not find it funny that somebody is pretending to be Mark Trail. I have lived in Albany all my life. I am 87 now. I wish computers and fax machines and spandex never happened. Things were better in the old days. A comic section should reflect that.
My generation is superior to all and everything that was in style in my day should stay in style forever.
Evolution is for scientists, not newspapers. I wish they'd RERUN all the old comics so I could read them in the newspapers or in all the comic collection books I have. That way I would have a choice.
Why do newspapers hate choice?
Hi, that man who posted before is an IMPOSTER! I am the real Mark Trail.
Fortunately for him, I agree with everything he said.
Otherwise, I would have had to beat him with my stuffed beaver.
Hello friends, Mark Trail, rugged adventurer here. I've been doing this gig a long time and I would appreciate it if you'd just let me retire. I've heard from a lot of my friends on the comics pages like Blondie and Peanuts that we've had our day and it's time for someone else to get a chance.
But our multinational corporations won't let us go because we make lots of money for them and editors are usually too afraid of the backlash to realize how much they've sucked the vitality out of the comics page because they pander to an audience that means very little to the advertisers and who read comics out of sentimentality rather than an actual reflection of the quality of the comics. So they knowingly put out an inferior product, which they should be ashamed of.
So, I beseech you. Let us go and let the comics section be a section that attracts new readers and young readers with contemporary and exciting content. Pearls, Get Fuzzy and Lio and Cul De Sac are great examples of what 21st Century comics should look like.
The comics page should look like its 2010, not 1954.
I will miss you all very much and wish you well.
Your friend, Mark Trail. Rugged Adventurer.
For Better or For Worse has become nothing more than Lynn Johnston's shameless attempt to milk a few more bucks out of a strip that should have been retired years ago. Summary of every strip that runs (whether re-run or "new"): Elly is a martyr, John is a jerk, and her children are ungrateful. Repeat ad infinitum.
While FBOFW might have the occasional "new" strip, the reruns are the overwhelming elements. There are at least 15 published collections of Johnston's work, all available for sale from her website. If someone wants to meander down memory lane, please consider buying a collection, and give space for more entertaining, less author-as-martyr, man-hating (or specifically, ex-husband-hating) strips.
Dear Sirs,
It has been drawn to my attention that your news-paper comics editor has once again booted the suggestion of cutting the classic and timeless adventure 'strip' Mark Trail from the pages of the Times Union in favor of some navel-gazing Hollyweirdd balderdash entitled 'Dustin'.
If such an event transpires, sirs, I assure you, I personally will immediately cancel my subscription to the Times Union and raise a point of order to motion that the senior center do the same.
What the bejinks could you be thinking of? Mark Trail is a terrific tale of adventure that embodies our freedom. Where else in the news-paper can today's misguided young people inspired by the great out of doors?
Let us recall the words of the great Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote, "Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die; and none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy of life and the duty of life. Both life and death are parts of the same Great Adventure."
Now I ask you, who is fit to live. Mark Trail, to whom bravery is his second nature, and the untamed wilderness his first, or some "23-year old unmarried, unemeployed boomerang kid who lives with his parents and his proud of it?"
What has our culture become, what has our nation come to stand for when a great adventuring man like Mark Trail, is removed from the news-paper pages in favor of some apron-tied, shirkinig layabout?
I have a solution for the 'Dustins' of the world: Get a job, you bum.
- Thomas "Tommy" Kelrast, USCG (ret.)
If you're looking to reach the younger demographic, Mark Trail should go. FBOW didn't run here, if I recall, early in its inception so we haven't seen the story when the kids are really young. Pearls Before Swine is only occasionally amusing to me, with the running reptile gag pretty stale, especially the father's lack of basic English speech. Not that you'd expect him to have it....
brandon, you do not know what you are talking about. Cul De Sac is one of the most beautifully drawn strips ever. Even Bill Watterson from Calvin & Hobbes raved about how beautiful it was in the book.
You should look at again with fresh eyes, it's the best comic I've ever read (including Calvin & Hobbes)
For the record, FBOW is not completely in reruns, but is a mix of old and newly written strips, all looking back in time. It's worth keeping.
I know that Mark Trail is lame, but it's the only action/drama strip available other than the Sunday-only Prince Valiant. Frazz is to much like all of the others, which are "comic" strips that are not very funny.
The T.U. runs 27 separate strips on its two comics pages. The paper could easily cancel one-third of them and we'd hardly notice a difference.
Mark Trail can go as far as I am concerned and so can For Better or Worse, but not Frazz. It is time to get rid of that jerk of a teenager Zits. He is not funny and just points up the worse characteristics that one sees every day from some Teens. The new strip does not look much better. Maybe you could get rid of Rex Smith, that would be an improvement.
We always read Fraz. It is insightful as well as very funny. Don't get rid of it, please!
For Better Or Worse is not truly in rerun. It is new material blended in with some old. See http://www.fborfw.com/behind_the_scenes/hybrid/
Agree that Cul De Sac and Pearls Before Swine would be better choices for removal. Adam was better before the artist change. Even Peanuts, Blondie, Beetle Bailey would be better choices. These are so old, boring and predictable that I haven't read them in years.
I know read the synopsis of this Dustin strip, and I have to say it isn't funny either. Apparently, your comics staff need to find people with a sense of humor.
Do not get rid of For Better or for worse. Even though it is in reruns, I get some laughs out of it on Saturday and Sunday. (I don't get the paper Monday through Friday due to it not being delivered in my area those days, and I can't afford to buy a paper every day). I am in the routine of skipping Mark Trail every Saturday as I tried to read it once and found it horrible. I would also be for removing Knight Life: it is not funny and crudely drawn or Cul de Sac: see Knight Life. However, do not get rid of Lio as I find that funny most of the time. I think some of the people saying it is not funny do not understand that sometimes you don't need words to be funny.
Mark Trail is incredibly predictable. As Suzanne said it's the same enemy and story line - boring. I can always tell the bad guy - he has bad hair and a grimace. (And of course everyone wears the same clothes 99% of the time.) FBOFW is wonderful. I did not meet the Patterson's when the kids were little and am enjoying the adventures of this young family. Enlarging the font size for Non Sequitur would be easier on my eyes. The "humor" in Over the Hedge and Get Fuzzy escapes me. Bring back Cathy! I really enjoy the edgy strip Pearls Before Swine. Stephan hits the nail on the head most of the time.
If you want to cut something, my choice would be either Knight Life, Frazz, Cul de Sac, Get Fuzzy, Pearls Before Swine or Over The Hedge.
Mark Trail and Cryptoquip are the only reason I subscribe to Times Union.
A vote here to save Mark Trail. He is an "old friend" with perhaps old values; but looked forward to each day by a base of your readers who won't vote here. Mark Trail is a soothing cup of warm morning coffee among the polyglot of strained, often failed humor of some of your most recent additions.
PLEASE don't touch For Better Or For Worse! I love it, even in re-runs. I have all of the dvds as well. Mark Trail is STUPID AND BORING. Cul De Sac and Pearls Before Swine should also be replaced.
Definately get rid of Mark Trail, I wish you would have included Clu De Sac in the voting as it is terrible. Frazz is entertaining and FBOFW is fun to read in the reruns.
I love Frazz! Please don't take it out. I am even enjoying the reruns of FBOW. Mark Trail is an old habit, it can go, but I would rather see you get rid of Cul de Sac or Over the Hedge.
Please keep Mark Trail--it is the only adventure comic and one I have enjoyed for many years--and is NOT boring!
I love For Better or For Worse, especially since the story is being retold from the beginning. I missed all that stuff before and now it is the first comic I read every day. Get rid of Mark Trail. It stinks. Never read it, don't even like the pictures. Frazz is okay, but don't get rid of Adam either.
Followed the link for Dustin - the "punchlines" remind me of an old sitcom - all it needs is a canned laugh track. Mark Trail is really the worst one. Frazz is enjoyable. Perhaps you could just get rid of Mr. Trail & for the lady who doesn't like the print size on Non Sequitur - make it bigger so everyone can enjoy the best "strip" in the paper!
Frazz is worth keeping. Other to consider removing Cul De Sac, Lio, and Pearls before Swine. All Lack humor as far as I'm concerned.
I like all three of these comic strips!
Why not dump some of the ones that aren't funny like
Lio, Knight Life, Cul De Sac or Pearls before Swine?
Frazz is a gem and definitely should remain in the paper. Mark Trail the weakest but I could get along without FBOFW about as easily. And I would be asbolutely delighted to see Cul De Sac or Lio dropped. I've really tried to let them grow on me, but all I get is mold. As to the proposed new strip, Dustin, it looks like yet another loser. Why even bother.
Leave "For better or for Worse" alone! It's still better than most of the other comics. Same for Peanuts.
Get rid of "Non Sequitur," the print is too small to read. Also: Mark Trail, Lio, Knight Life, Over the Hedge, Frazz, Cul de Sac, Speed Bump, Pearls Before Swine (which I used to like). Garfield and Get Fuzzy are also getting old.
I voted FBOFW, but Mark Trail is not better and may be the worst. It's certainly boring, woefully predictable and seems to serve little to no purpose for its existence.
FRAZZ is wonderful... as Monica said above: intelligent, thought-provoking AND funny.
ADAM is exceedingly lame much of the time as well, but the worst comic you run by far, IMO, is The Pajama Diaries. I'd choose that one for "expulsion" over any others.
FRAZZ is intelligent, thought-provoking AND funny. PLEASE do not drop it.
FBOFW in rerun is just as good as the first version and extremely up to date (note the Connie and Ellie's brother story line that just ran). PLEASE do not drop it.
It seems Dustin could get old just like ADAM got old a long time ago. Probably would not read it.
Seriously, the "Dustin" link description does not strike me as humorous at all. The "punch" lines are predictable and not clever. But if you chose to run Cul De Sac, I can only surmise that your standards have fallen to an all time low. That strip is so bland. You should look at newer strips like Back 2 Basics (by locally born comic strip writer Matt Zalen) that runs in the Schenectady and Saratoga papers (although it only runs on Sunday at this point) for fresh and un-cliche humor. Actually, I still am upset that you dropped Cathy many moons ago. Fortunately, I can read it daily through the internet.
Oh, well, at least you have Zits and Luanne, Get Fuzzy, Baby Blues and Pajama Diaries to keep me going!
Setting it all in the wilderness doesn't obscure the boring fact that Mark Trail beats up a boring enemy (same enemy, pretty much) every month. Not clever. Not today. Not comic. Not.
I read Frazz and For Better or Worse every day; they're clever and funny and real and, rerun notwithstanding, real.