# Whatever happened to the good cartoonists..?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-good-cartoonists/48862>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 7, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-good-cartoonists/48862 "2001-01-07T14:07:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![seriousart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@seriousart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seriousart)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-good-cartoonists/48862/21 "2001-02-10T17:37:01Z")

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What I think is a damned shame is the fact that the strip “Shoe” is being continued now after the recent death of it’s much too young creator Jeff MacNelly.  
Granted, the strips were repetitive in nature and probably reached their peak many years ago. But man, that guy could draw! Amazing artist. Now they just got a guy filling in for him. Sad really.  
But if faced with the money it’d be hard to turn down I suppose. Shoe was syndicated to high hell at the point of his death and he was surely pulling a very large income. As his widow was faced with the decision to either 86ing the strip, or let it continue and have enough money to put her great grandchildren through college. Hard call.

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**Author:** ![pezwookiee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@pezwookiee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezwookiee)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-good-cartoonists/48862/22 "2001-02-10T21:58:47Z")

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One thing I know for sure about Bill Watterson is that he doesn’t have one of those “Calvin peeing on a racing car number” sticker in his car window.

I miss all those strips.

Anyone have any clue why there seemed to be a surge of quality in newspaper comics with those guys and then they all got out of the business within a year or two of each other? More than just coincidence?

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-the-good-cartoonists/48862/23 "2001-02-11T00:21:21Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Anyone have any clue why there seemed to be a surge of quality in newspaper comics with those guys and then they all got out of the business within a year or two of each other? More than just coincidence?

Well, I’ll let you in on a secret if you promise that you won’t tell–they were all members of the _illuminati_ and in their peer group it became fashionable to become a cartoonist some years back. These things take spells. Next year, we may see a surge in illuminati becoming singers, wearing tube socks on one arm. Stranger things have happened. 😉

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