The Portland Press newspaper asked readers what comic strip they should run to replace the retired ‘Foxtrot.’ Here’s the results: “Wiley’s strip collected 180 votes, far outpacing the second-place comic – “Get Fuzzy,” with 92.”
180 votes. That’s it? Granted the Portland Press is a pretty small paper with a 68,100 daily circulation. (To be in the top 100 newspapers nationwide, you need at least 120,632)
180 votes out of 120,632 is a mere 0.001492141389 percent. That’s like one-tenth of one percent. Scale this up to the size of a Chicago Tribune with a 957,212 circulation, and that’s 1,428 votes. Ok. That’s more signficant.
I just wish Brewster Rockit got more votes for the Portland Press. That strip is just classic.
180 is a LOT! I didn’t think ANYONE read the paper anymore. Not only are people in Portland reading the paper, they’re taking the time to vote! Wow!
Brewster is pretty good. I love the recent spin on the planet of the doughnut people. classic. Plus, the comic is very well drawn. Always bonus points for that. I enjoy “Get Fuzzy”. I’d probably say that right now Get Fuzzy is my third favorite comic strip behind Mr. Boffo and Dilbert.
I didn’t realize that Fox Trot is only on Sundays now. Fox Trot is pretty good. But I must not be that much of a committed reader because I didn’t realize they stopped dailys until I read this blog post. I checked out Universal Press’s website to get more on this story. I’m not pleased with Bill Amend’s comments: After spending close to half of my life writing and drawing FoxTrot cartoons, I think it s time I got out of the house and tried some new things, said Amend. I love cartooning and I absolutely want to continue doing the strip, just not at the current all-consuming pace.” Gimme a break. Is it really that consuming? I suppose I shouldn’t be saying that until I try to draw a daily comic strip. But really. If my only professional responsibility was to draw a daily comic strip in order to pay the bills, then I don’t think I’d be complaining about the “all-consuming pace”. Get a grip, Bill.
Yeah, I guess 180 is a lot. But I would disagree with the “I don’t think anyone reads the paper anymore.” I know of many people who read the paper in print and especially online. Readership of newspapers has actually grown if you include the online readership. Moose, I can’t believe you like Get Fuzzy. Since when did you become one of those “cat people.” Next thing you know you’ll be listing Sylvia as one of your favorite strips. With Foxtrot being so huge, I’m sure Bill is making a living on the strip. So yeah, it’s a bit odd to hear him say it takes too much to do. But I guess when you get that big you can do pretty much whatever you want. Cuz now he can do some other strip and claim, “from the creator of Fox Trot…” I often say that comic strips should only last as long as tv shows (max 10 years) and after that they should just die out (due to lack of jokes). But foxtrot was one of those few rare ones that was pretty consistently entertaining. But if he wants to find a new avenue and new characters and settings to draw, that’s all good. It’s time for change on the comicspage.
The problem is newspaper editors’ sad devotion to the ancient religion which holds that if you hear from one person, that person’s view also represents 10 or 20 others who didn’t write in.