So long Jim Davies You Talentless Hack!

[Ghastly]

The L.A. Times kills off Garfield to replace it with "Brevity".

Why? Because Garfield is described as "a strip produced by a committee, devoid of originality, devoid of guts, a strip cynically DESIGNED to be inoffensive and bad, on the theory that public tastes are insipid."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Now if only he'd take that bitch Cathy with him and the whole damned Keane family. And somebody put Marmaduke to sleep while they're at it. Wouldn't hurt to go on a killing spree to put Broom Hilda, Beatle Baily, Hi and Lois, Hagar The Horrible, Wizard of Id, and BC out of our collective misery. Someone might want to tell them Charles Shultz is worm poop right now too (and hasn't been funny since '72).

There should be a law that when a comic creator no longer actually does the comic they created it should not be allowed to be run in the papers anymore.

Not that any of this really matter. Newspapers are just about dead now anyways.

[Maxim Kovalenko]

I ran across this little piece of news a little bit ago myself and had one thought run through my mind....

"Yes, there is a God!!!!"

[Nyke]

The movie killed Garfield for me. It was so good at doing that, I didn't even need to see it. The trailer was bad enough.

[The Neko]

I think the only Newspaper comics I used to even catch up on were Foxtrot, Get Fuzzy, and Non Sequitur.

YAY! GARFIELD IS DEAD!

I used to think that Cathy was a vampire. A loser vampire... who was fat. Mostly it's because she had fangs on the side of her mouth all the time. "ACK!"

[Warren]

Woohoo!

*storms Jim Davis' castle*

[Joel Fagin]

Someone might want to tell them Charles Shultz is worm poop right now too (and hasn't been funny since '72).

Peanuts isn't meant to be funny. Half the strips don't even have punchlines. I think it's just meant to be a fun and pleasant thing to read.

Yay for the LA Times, though.

- Joel Fagin

[Godoftarot]

I love Garfield...

But I haven't read it in years, so that might be why.

[Col]

It'll be interesting to see if they stick with it. Depending on how many complaints they get, we could see Garfield return. I've seen it happen before in other papers. Bravo for them stepping up to the plate though.

The paper in my area got smart. They created an extra section in the paper called "Classic Comics" and that's where you can find Peanuts, Beetle Bailey, Hagar the Horrible, and a bunch of other old ones. It's a small section, and provided a lot of room for new comics to be brought in on the main comics page. A neat idea that I think could be implimented in other newspapers, as a way of weaning people off of the old stuff.

[Dutch!]

Okay, I'm into bat now for the paper funnies. That's the last page I read in the paper, because I save it specifically for last. I actually regularly find Garfield humourous. But clearly that's just me and a few others who will probably keep to themselves...

Tis a sad day...Garfield's as old as I am...

[Carlin]

Back in the day the only reason I ever got a newspaper was to read Garfield. Now I avoid like the plauge. But I am sad to see it go. This simply cements the fact that Garfeild is dead... (how old is he anyway? They celebrate his actually birthday in the strip so he's like in his late 20ies by now. Way too long for a cat to live.) I shall always keep the old books and remember fondly how it was the first book I ever actually read. Ever. It's like a small part of me has died along with it.

However as a comicker I have to say: Kill it. If Davis was a webcomicker he would have quit long ago... No man would go for that long on one project without the promise of crap loads of cash.

[Chibiartstudios]

It's bittersweet for me. I have long loathed Garfield for basically living the steroetype of the crappy newspaper comic. Now that it's gone I am wondering if this is signaling the end of the comics page in newspapers or a rejuvination where actual talent will decide what goes into a paper.

Who knows?

But I will say this. If Davis was a webcomicker he'd get hammered popularity wise. 99% of the popular comics (including many sprite comics, so you know how seriouse I am) have better art, better writing, and better everything for that matter. Garfield has had the same lame gags running for the last 20 years. Not even worth the effort of opening a paper really.

Does this new comic have a web site?

[Carlin]

Well the art bit can be debated to no end. It's one thing to have good art and another to have detailed art. It all comes down to style and how much do you really want to put into a comic. I bet Davis could do much more detailed art but it's just not practical when doing a daily comic. Although lately... I have to admit. I'd rather read sprite comics. *shudder* But I shall always have those memories of days gone by...

[Chibiartstudios]

My problem isn't that Davis uses simple art. It's that he uses boring simple art. Heck. He seems to sometimes even reuse the same pannel again and again. How many times have you seen the big GF in that one sitting pose at a 3/4 view? But more than even that things are always very static these days. The collors are bland and uninteresting and even Prime Evil, a relative nobody in the comic world does better with using interesting characters.

And storrytelling wise, it's been decades and NOTHING to my knowledge has been resolved. Jim is still sad and single, Garfield is still fat, and Odie is still getting knocked off the table.

So thats why I can't stand the art. Calvin and hobbes used simplified art too. And it was GOOD.

Oh Bill... When will you come back home to us?

[[geoduck]]

My local Gannett rag ditched Garfield years ago, and evidently no one complained enough to bring it back. They still use the Gannett-supplied Sunday funnies, which include Garfield and a bunch of other warmed-over pap.

[Bustertheclown]

Hey, here's a story for y'all.

I often daylight as a guest speaker in the classroom, teaching the kiddies the fine art of cartooning. You have no idea how powerful the title of "Cartoonist" is in getting you work, when whispered into the ear of an elementary or middle school teacher. Honestly, the majority of my meager income for the last two years came in the form of fellowship gigs in schools and after-school programs. I highly recommend to anyone who thinks they know enough to teach and has no fear of public speaking that they seek out a program that brings in artists as visiting speakers. If I were still doing it, I'd have work right now, guaranteed.

Anyhoo, as you would expect, I bring reference material with me as teaching tools. The reference material usually consists of some sort of Mark Kistler book, some sort of superhero book from my collection, an array of children's comics, and always collections of TWO notable comic strip artists from history. To save you from guessing who those two are, I'll tell you. Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) and Winsor McCay (Little Nemo).

Here's where the story gets interesting, although I'm sure you all can guess where I'm going with the plot. You see, even on up into the high school level, whenever I hold up the Calvin and Hobbes books, and especially the work of Winsor McCay, what I'm usually met with is a roomful of blank stares. Blank stares! BLANK. STARES.

I'm sure you're asking yourself "How can this be? I can understand Winsor McCay, given that he was dead by 1934, but Bill Watterson?! Calvin and Hobbes only ended it's run nine years ago, and it was one of the most BRILLIANT and POPULAR comic strips ever to make the syndicates truckloads of money!"

Well, I agree. It is indeed a travesty. But here comes the punchline. When I ask these blankly staring kids "who's your favorite comic character?" the answer I invariably get is that bastard child between a non-funny sellout and Satan, Lord of Below himself. Yup. 100% of the time I ask the question, the roaring answer bellowed back at me is "Garfield!!!"

Tragic, no?

Incidently, Ghastly, you left one entry off of the "For the love of God, let it DIE!!" list. Blondie. I suspect it's because every single female character in that strip is STACKED like a brick house! That's the only reason why I read it, but I'd be willing to let it die, and just draw naughty pictures of Blondie characters myself, since that's much more entertaining than any of the strips have been for about three generations now. After all, 75 years is a good run in anyone's book, right?

Speaking of generations, make that three forgotten entries. Dennis the Menace and Gasoline Alley should get the axe, given that the original creators are an octogenarian and a corpse, respectively. For crying out loud, Gasoline Alley began its run in 1918!!!

Syndicates never let strips die of their own accord. These effing strips too often outlive their creators by decades, and we readers end up every sunday with tears in our eyes, wondering why the funnies have never been so funny. I can only hope this move by a major national newspaper will spark a revolution.

[Christwriter]

I ran across this little piece of news a little bit ago myself and had one thought run through my mind....

"Yes, there is a God!!!!"

Now I could have told you THAT.

Garfeild is boring. Marmaduke is boring (and is nausiatingly drawn to boot). Hagar...I kind of like because that's my Dad, essentially.

Right now I'm reading three newspaper comics--Zits, Spider-man and Apartment 3-G. Garfeild does not come in there. Neither does Penuts, Dennis the Mennis or anything else. Mostly because the "creativity" there is dead, dead, dead.

The best desision (theoretical, as he never announced it) I've seen an artist make in years was when David Weber decided to stop writing Honor Harrington novels. I HATE that I might not get another Honor book, because the series had reached it's peak...but I'm glad. The greatest travesty the world could be forced to endure is Honor defiled by a bad novel. The other example is Terry Goodkind--pretty good novel-series ruined by carrying the characters one book too far.

The best sign of a GOOD writer is knowing when it's time to fold. Unfortunately, the newpaper comic-artists haven't figured that out yet.

CW

[Bustertheclown]

The best sign of a GOOD writer is knowing when it's time to fold. Unfortunately, the newpaper comic-artists haven't figured that out yet.

Not all comic strippers have sold their souls and artistic integrity for a century's worth or residual checks. Both Bill Watterson and Gary Larson quit at the height of their popularity and arguably well before they could have visibly lost their edge. There have been others in decades before who knew when to call it quits, too. It's just that those who DON'T know when to call it quits NEVER call it quits and even seem to make arrangements to have their properties continue to ravage comic pages in perpetuity for centuries after their deaths.

[Joel Fagin]

You know the really depressing thing about this discussion is that no one will bring up the epitome of what everyone's wishing for - a little New Zealand comic strip called Footrot Flats, locked out of the US by the syndicates that control the newspaper comics.

Heavens to Betsy! The characters even aged!

No strip is better, although Calvin and Hobbes is, I'll allow, an equal.

- Joel Fagin

[JexKerome]

The best sign of a GOOD writer is knowing when it's time to fold. Unfortunately, the newpaper comic-artists haven't figured that out yet.

Not all comic strippers have sold their souls and artistic integrity for a century's worth or residual checks. Both Bill Watterson and Gary Larson quit at the height of their popularity and arguably well before they could have visibly lost their edge. There have been others in decades before who knew when to call it quits, too. It's just that those who DON'T know when to call it quits NEVER call it quits and even seem to make arrangements to have their properties continue to ravage comic pages in perpetuity for centuries after their deaths.

Odd. I tought most comics carried on beyond their authors as a direct result of the Syndicates' control, who pretty much own everything in a comic strip, author included. I don't know about Gary Larson, but Bill Watterson had that huge fight to regain control of Calvin & Hobbes; otherwise we'd still be seeing it, but with the genius gone, and like Peanuts, with other artists doing it instead of the original.

Of course, Davis is and has always been the guy who's in it only for the cash, and he certainly won't stop milking his cash cow.

[Dotty]

Double-edged sword here, for me.

Growing up, I loved Garfield. Heck, part of me still loves Garfield. Calvin & Hobbes totally kicked its ass while I grew up, but Garfield was awesome.

Then...I dunno. I guess somewhere inside of me, my comic tastes matured. One day I picked up the paper, smiled at Calvin & Hobbes (which still runs in some papers), dodged past Shipwrecked, smiled at Peanuts, and landed on Garfield. I didn't smile. I didn't laugh. Part of me didn't notice, and part of me died on that day.

R.I.P, Garfield, cause while I was young...you were awesome. I -still- watch the halloween and xmas specials every year, but as I grew up, I learned you were created to be a mass marketing tool to make Jim a very rich man.

Something about that realization killed Garfield for me. It still holds a place in my heart....but not like it used to.