[QUOTE=Sunrazor]
One side note: I never had much respect for a newspaper that ran **Mallard Filmore ** or **Doonesbury ** on the editorial page. Comics belong on the comics pages.
[/QUOTE]
So, where do the “editorial cartoons” belong, then?
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath]
Hey, Krokodil. What if I told you that there used to be a full page of free and good comics for newspapers to publish? Dunno if the program’s still running.
[/QUOTE]
Yes, the program’s still runninng.
[QUOTE=Ferret Herder]
So, where do the “editorial cartoons” belong, then?
[/QUOTE]
Editorial cartoons belong on the op-ed pages, of course! But “Doonesbury” and “Mallard Filmore” are “editorial cartoons” only to spineless editors who haven’t the balls to stand up to readers and tell them, “Fuck you if you can’t take a joke.” When I edited my hometown newspaper, I put 'em both on the comics page and told irritated readers that if that was their biggest worry, they had a lot nicer life than I had. People quit calling after a few weeks, and we never lost a subscriber over it.
[QUOTE=NDP]
At least the editorial page is better than the classified section. That’s where my local newspaper banished both strips so they could crowd in some more letters from right-wing cranks with too much time on their hands. (Granted, in the case of “Mallard Filmore” I really didn’t mind it being stuck there.)
[/QUOTE]
The reason publishers put comic strips on the classified pages is the misguided belief that if people are tricked into opening the classifieds, they’ll accidentally find something they can’t live without, buy it, and make the classified pages more successful (thus worth more money) than before. This is complete bunk, of course, because the classifieds are a “destination page,” unlike Sports and Op-Ed – people peruse it for a specific reason, not just to see what’s there. During the brief time I edited the Coos Bay, OR, newspaper, I proved that classified use did not go up or down depending on whether a comic strip was on it. Shortly after that, I was fired.
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
A stake through the heart. But you have to stuff the mouth with garlic and cut off the head to be sure.
[/QUOTE]
No, no, no. First, we have to determine their ethnic origin…
[QUOTE=Lord Ashtar]
I just wish they’d get rid of those stupid soap opera strips. Does anyone actually read those?
[/QUOTE]
I’ve never understood those. Even if they managed to have the most dramatic, most original, most creative plot ever… I still wouldn’t care. I am sorry but you can’t really be expected to read a ten minute scene over four months. There are reasons that movies aren’t forty hours long.
[QUOTE=Sunrazor]
One side note: I never had much respect for a newspaper that ran Mallard Filmore or Doonesbury on the editorial page. Comics belong on the comics pages.
[/QUOTE]
Humor definitely belongs on the comics page. Even the soap opera strips. But Mallard Filmore or Doonesbury stopped being funny long ago. They’re just straight political commentary. Mallard is just a stream of potshots at left-wingers and Doonesbury is a stream of potshots at right-wingers. I read 'em both, but it’s rare that either one is actually humorous.
[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher]
I believe Garry Trudeau actually prefers his strip run on the editorial page; it gets shrunk too much when it runs with the other comics.
[/QUOTE]
It’s actually smaller on our editorial page than it was when it was on the comics page. I think Trudeau likes it on the op-ed page because the “serious” readers are more likely to find it there.