Comic strip to feature homosexual ‘prom’ date

Life Site News ^ | 4/24/2012 | Ben Johnson

[USAF80]

Young people are not more accepting. This is why we are bombarded by these stupids ads about not using “gay” to mean stupid or dumb. Young people have come up with that one all by themselves.

[dangus]

Yes. What’s odd is that FW started out as a gag strip, and then became a serial. “For Better or For Worse” was a strip that may have been created by a liberal who occasionally let her liberalism slip through, but at least was quality, and usually managed to both be serial AND funny. FW tried to upgrade bottom-of-the-barrel characters created for cheap gags into serious social commentary, and just can’t pull it off. I suspect editors keep it alive because leftists support it, but I wonder how many of its liberal supporters actually read it.

Someone once called Pogo, “the most beloved comic strip no-one actually ever read.” But my sense is that Pogo’s readership, even after several decades of decline, dwarfed FW’s.

[xp38]

Well one could view the entire New York Times as one big comics section.

[chae]

Well, it wasn’t Wonder Woman, but the reboot they did back in the late 80’s had some of the Amazons in lesbian relationships with each other.

[Dr. Sivana]

(regarding Funky Winkerbeam) I suspect editors keep it alive because leftists support it, but I wonder how many of its liberal supporters actually read it.

It probably costs less than Hagar the Horrible, the artwork is tolerable. Most important . . . inertia.

Just think of the the comic strips that have recycled the same content for decades, and have neither interesting chacters nor artwork. "Tiger" comes to mind. There are others that seem to have worn out their welcome, but still have a loyal following despite running the same joke for eons. I have run into people, and not necessarily oldsters, who just LOVE the Lockhorns, They'll Do It Every Time and Cathy.

Some of course, lost "it" after the author died or retired. Al Capp, Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson and Gary Larson had it right. Not only did those strips (Li'l Abner, Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side) benefit from ending gracefully, Abner and Peanuts were spared the indignity of being adapted to a time for which they were no longer suited.

In a sense, comic strips are the most conservative of all popular culture media. The truly iconic ones suffer with major plotline or even stylistic changes. Compare today's Blondie with Chic Young's, not even a pale imitation. (Dagwood acknowledging that his one big button is strange or that Blondie is unbelievably curvy undoes the whole joke of the strip.)

Even mundane comic strips that were never rip-roaring funny or engaging have a stake on venerability. Beetle Bailey and Andy Capp are eternal characters that we would miss if they changed noticeably. If "Bringing Up Father" were still around, could you even imagine Jiggs dressed in 21st century clothes?! He was wearing spats well into the '80s, for heaven's sake. Mutt and Jeff ditto (gloves instead of spats). Take off the spats and gloves, and they are unmade.

[drbuzzard]

>Some of course, lost “it” after the author died or retired. Al Capp, Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson and Gary Larson had it right. Not only did those strips (Li’l Abner, Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side) benefit from ending gracefully, Abner and Peanuts were spared the indignity of being adapted to a time for which they were no longer suited.

Actually I would argue that Schulz lost it before he died. His original strips were excellent, and had more appeal than just childish humor. In the later stuff it became very simplistic with worn out gags used again and again. The last 10 or 15 years of Peanuts were pretty bad.

I never read Lil’ Abner, but I fully agree that Calvin and Hobbes and the Far Side got out at just the right time. They new when their tank was empty and didn’t drive off a cliff.

[Dr. Sivana]

You are right about Peanuts. It actually started going downhill in the 70s, marked by a sad stock of new characters (e.g. Molly Volley). I allow Schulz a grace period for it because I can’t imagine the man without the strip, or vice versa. My children are being raised on the early 60s book compilations. Good stuff.

[GSWarrior]

[dangus]

Not sure what you mean by “ending gracefully,” but Schulz and Capp continued to create their strips until just before their deaths. And I’m grateful for it. Conversely, “Cathy” was retired in 2010, long before Cathy Guisewite reached retirement age.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Funky Winkerbean has been reset several times. Now it is trying to be “socially relevant” in the same way an aging ‘B quality’ rock and roll band makes a desperate effort to get publicity before they are forgotten.

Trouble is that it is as relevant as Garfield, or maybe even Marmaduke. Ziggy? Love is?

[TheOldLady]

Boop the Bank Robber’s Nose!

Don’t Let Him Get Away With It!

Donate monthly to help abolish FReepathons
Sponsors will bark up $10 for each new monthly sign-up
Another sponsor will contribute $25 for each new Dollar-a-Day donor

[Dr. Sivana]

Not sure what you mean by “ending gracefully,” but Schulz and Capp continued to create their strips until just before their deaths. And I’m grateful for it. Conversely, “Cathy” was retired in 2010, long before Cathy Guisewite reached retirement age.

I meant that Schulz and Capp didn't hand it off like Chic Young and Ernie Bushmiller (or their syndicates) did. I don't think that Mort Walker still does the strips, but he continues a long tradition of keeping the name on at least for as long as he draws air (like Reg Smythe and Hank Ketcham).

I know that Cathy ended a little while ago, but it had gotten pretty redundant only 15 years into the strip. The marriage to Irving added a little time, but it was never a stellar strip; like Family Circus, those who love it, love it. I am amazed that Scott Adams still has some stuff left in his tank. Dilbert is still a good strip. I regret that I cannot let my children look at a modern comics page.

[driftless2]

When I was a youngun, my favorite characters were those incorrigible troublemakers The Katzenjammer Kids. Virtually every strip ended with the Kids getting their behinds whacked. Imagine the outrage from the usual suspects if they did that now. I still laugh when I think the of Hans and Fritz lying across Der Mama’s lap getting theirs.

[dangus]

Best case of a comic author timing his retirement right: The legendary Johnny Hart. Died at the story board, finishing up what would be his final comic. (Probably went straight to Heaven, too.)

[Dr. Sivana]

Virtually every strip ended with the Kids getting their behinds whacked. Imagine the outrage from the usual suspects if they did that now. I still laugh when I think the of Hans and Fritz lying across Der Mama’s lap getting theirs.

I haven't seen that in years. The legendary Boston Herald (with TWO Sunday inserts) carried them, along with "Barney Google", "Bringing Up Father" and Al Smith's OTHER strip "Cicero's Cat".

Unfortuantely you are right about the kids' outcome. The spankings have gone with Andy Capp's and Cookie's cigarette butt, Mark Trail's pipe and Andy and Flo's brawls, and the entire Ching Chong comic panel.

From Wikipedia:

Notable features of the modern version include a more constructive relationship between the Captain and the boys, who sometimes have friendly conversations instead of fights. The King and his people are now Polynesian rather than African.