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The Expiration Date of Comics
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Written by Alexander Most
Though traditionally hated, school mornings in my household were times of celebration, not for the drudgery of the day to come, but for those precious ten minutes my eyes would skim and delve into the genius that was the comics page. I would laugh almost to tears, I would grin at the heartwarming antics of adorable anthropomorphic critters. In the years since I have continued to follow this tradition, I have recently noticed a disturbing trend which my now mature (sort of, I read comics after all) mind can now understand, some comics are just getting too old; their gags have run dry, but they are still being published, taking up space which new innovative creations could be utilizing.
The most recent example is Garfield. I love Garfield. I grew up on Garfield; the majority of my attempts at humor are derived from the antics of Garfield. But recently the comic has become stale. I can no longer open treasured anthologies, because the new comics in the paper are essentially the same recycled jokes over and over and over again. I’ll give Jim Davis credit, he has been trying hard to open up new material, giving the protagonist Jon a girlfriend thus opening swaths of humor. But in the process, he made his comic lose some of its magic and unique identity. At 32 years of age, the comic is past its expiration, but it continues to be printed.
Unfortunately, this trend is evident in many comics in the newspaper; Dagwood has been going on for 75 years passing creative control from father to son. Marmaduke and Beetle Baily are others comics where the adorable gag and characters have simply run their course, it is time for their genius to be left to anthologies and give new comics and chance in the pages. The magic of a comic needs to stay intact; As much as we want to see the Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes back in the papers, when we look back on their relatively short runs, we remember a time when every day brought innovation, when never did your eyes skip over the strip after noticing a familiar punch line.
The fact of the matter is that there is genius sprouting up everyday. In the last decade we have had Candorville and Pearls Before Swine appear. Both are brilliant comics which capture the modern mood of cynical and snarky comedy. We have had Lio that has worked in an alternative form, with little to no dialogue, exploring new forms of comic humor. The fresh ideas and comics are out there, but with limited space and many comics staying in the papers for generations swaths of creativity are overlooked.
We have to give papers credit though, they need business, and a famous long loved comic like Garfield is far more likely to attract readers than an experimental new comic about a trekkie journalist who twitters constantly. Newspapers are in the dumps, and they do need all the business they can get just to keep their head above water. But papers cannot sacrifice art and innovative humor merely for devoted readers, as it is the new strips that will draw in and keep the new generation of readers.
There is an expiration date on every comic, and far too many last beyond slowly curdling the magic of the strip. I love Garfield, but its time that Jim Davis put down the pen and let a new artist draw the next character that captures the world’s imagination. In the words of Bill Watterson “It’s a magical world,…Let’s go exploring!”
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Photo credit Leah Worthington
WEEKLY CAPTION CONTEST:
March 9th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
I love that you think of original ideas for articles, and you have great follow-through. Keep up the good work:).
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March 9th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
This was brilliant. As a faithful reader of the Sunday comics, I completely understand what you’re talking about and agree 100%. The only qualm I have is that you present the notion that Lio is in some way entertaining, when in reality it’s just really weird
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March 10th, 2010 at 8:48 am
The beauty of the comics is that there is something for everyone. I agree that Lio has a lot to offer, but find Candorville uninventive. I’m also losing interest in Get Fuzzy. Either way, as someone who grew up on Garfield 15 years before you did, I agree it’s time to send some of these cartoons on their way!
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Martin B Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 8:56 am
Candorville “uninventive”? The comic strip that sent its main character upriver in Vietnam on an Apocalypse Now journey in search of John McCain’s lost honor, ending in a Lewis Carrol-like encounter at a mystical cafe? The comic strip that had its main character go back in time to meet Thomas Nast, the comic strip that had its main character become God to a colony of mold spores on his shower wall… “uninventive”?
Call it what you will, but “uninventive” is not a word I would use about that strip.
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