The New York Times Comics Page

Cafe Society
1

The New York Times is notorious for its lack of that traditional, virtually essential element of the daily newspaper, the Comics Page. Even the staid Wall Street Journal has its editorial-free “Pepper and Sale” cartoon. USA Today has a one-panel gag. Virtually every other newspaper I know of has a comics page – The Washington Post, the LA Times, the Chicago Tribune.
First, can anyone tell me why this is so. They might feel that it is not consistent with the dignity of the “newspaper of record”, but that hasn’t stopped any other U.S. Newspaper from doing it. So why should the NYT be any different?

Secondly, the NYT has had comics, on very rare occasions. These are always one-time gigs, not regular features:

1.) circa 1976, the NYT Sunday Magazine had a light feature on the very last page called “Endpaper”, and one time Jules Feiffer ran what he blatantly called “The New York Times Comics” — “Hodgkins of State”, a very cramped and word-intense single page of guys in business suits discussing policy. It was (intentionally) dull as a stone.

2.) When Christmas Day fell on a Sunday circa 1988, they gave Gary Larson the cover of the Sunday Magazine. He drew the caroon of the Dog family at home Christmas morning, opening presents. "Oh great, thinks the dog dad, “another collar!”, as junior chases a windup toy around the tree, under which we see packs of throwing sticks and the inflatable mailman.

3.) about a year or two ago there was a comic strip written by Kevin Smith about how he met and married his wife.
Have there been any other cases of comics in the NYT?

2

About once a month, Mark Alan Stamaty does a full-page book-oriented strip on the last page of the Sunday Book Review.

The op-ed page runs a Tom Tomorrow strip every once in a while.

3

But The New York Times is different from all other papers. Just ask them.:smiley:

4

The NYT’s equivalent of as comix page is Metropolitan Diary, every Monday in the Metro section. And I’ve been in it, once!

I have to call my Mom, who gets the Phila. Inquirer, to find out what’s going on with Brenda Starr. Has she finally dumped her obviously gay Mystery Man and run off with Hank O’Hare?

5

There was a strip once about this, in, I believe, Non Sequitur: the title was “The Man With The Easiest Job In The World”. The drawing was of a man sitting in a nice office, with the title “New York Times Comics Editor” on his door, and a giant plaque with the word NO! on his desk, facing the door.