Lack of originality in comics

[jducoeur]

Okay, I have to say that I'm appalled here. Check out the two new strips that the Globe is thinking of adding. Is it just me, or are both of these blatant third-rate retreads of existing strips? Not only do they show an absolute lack of originality, they each manage to miss the point of what made their precursors genuinely funny, with the result that one comes across as trite, and the other simply dumb.

Geez, I knew that the comic-strip form was suffering. But if this is the best choice they're getting from the syndicates, we're definitely in the end times for the medium...

Comments

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Yup.

[hakamadare.livejournal.com]

who reads comics (http://moderntales.com/) in print (http://www.blanklabelcomics.com/) anymore (http://www.brunostrip.com/bruno.html), anyway (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript)?

-steve

[jducoeur]

Granted, I don't do so very often any more. But man -- the online stuff demonstrates that there's plenty of good stuff to say, even in strip form. I expect the newspapers to gravitate towards more watered-down stuff, but geez...

[43duckies.livejournal.com]

Ugh. You're right. Too bad there's not a third "none of the above, keep looking" option. I can't bring myself to vote for either of those, even as the lesser of two evils.

[cheshyre]

And the suckiest thing is that there are some good original comics out there, even from the syndicates. I'm particularly fond of Frazz for example...

[marysdress.livejournal.com]

So for what it's worth, I think it was a bad two weeks of Red and Rover. At least I hope it was, because the first book of collected strips was really funny. Perhaps not cutting edge, but amusing nonetheless with a little bite. The cartoonist is the guy who does Adam at Home.

That said, of all the "domestic" strips out there I wish the Globe would pick up Baby Blues. That one still amuses me, and it's been going for years.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I think "Red and Rover" is kind of cute. I would certainly prefer "Baby Blues", though. I like "Baldo", too.

[tafkad.livejournal.com]

FWIW, while Red and Rover isn't the best out there, we have it in The Washington Post, and it does have its charms.

[leanne-opaskar.livejournal.com]

We have Pardon My Planet out here ... it's actually not too bad. Sort of a cross between Six Chix, Bizarro, and the Far Side. Not the greatest strip ever, but hey.

For what it's worth, I still read comics in print, as well as online.

[its-just-me.livejournal.com]

The both are bland, dull, and painful to look at. I'd have to say that Pardon My Planet is the least bad.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

One challenge the Globe faces is that a lot of the other comic strips available already have market-exclusive contracts with the Herald.

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

"Pardon My Planet" has had a few clever strips, so that's where my vote will be going. I just want them to give me a way to vote out that horrid new strip about the conservative girl with the fucked-up lips! I swear, I thought she was sucking a pacifier for the first several weeks they ran it.

[tafkad.livejournal.com]

Ugh! You're talking about Prickly City! Many, many Washington Post readers are trying to get it removed from our comics pages.

[leanne-opaskar.livejournal.com]

I like Prickly City. It skewers both sides equally well, although depending on what time you read it at, you may miss the skewering of a particular side.

FWIW, I've read Prickly City Sunday strips. I believe the young girl is supposed to be of African descent, hence the large lips.

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

They don't look large. They look pasted on. They look like something landed on her face. They look...

Oh hell, the guy's just a bad artist.

[snarkyman.livejournal.com]

It's almost as if The Globe hired the comics editor from The Boston Herald.

[siderea]

That's exactly what I was thinking!

[siderea]

Time to write in Sinfest?