It gets an A in readers' books

It has a large fan group - and a pretty adamant one, too - so "F Minus" will take the place of "Diesel Sweeties" on our pages Aug. 11.

Still looking at other strips, though. Another change or two is/are likely in coming weeks.

Anyone following "The Knight Life" by Keith Knight? Keith was supposed to be at Comic-Con in San Diego, which I missed this year. Too much going on this year.

If his syndicate will let me, I'll sample that strip next.

out of town but smiling

I'm on the road, in Seattle, but I'm checking comments.  I'll be off kayaking in the San Juans for a few days, but will try to get a connection and post something afterward.  Seems our "F Minus" fans are missing their strip.

I'll check out the strips in the Seattle  Times and Post-Intelligencer and see how we stack up.  Then I'm off to Bismarck, N.D., for a curling bonspiel.  We'll see what they're laughing at up in Bismarck, too.

Whoo-hoo!

I've heard from a few of you - "Agnes" fans, too - who already are missing their snicker or belly laugh of the day, and we're just 4 days into this test.

So here's today's "F Minus." It's like being in our newsroom and someone mentioning Kansas (Go Jayhawks!).

We take a break from comics

to bring you this photo, which will appear with a Tuesday Life story about Wheezie and Zak's 1st birthday. It's a good day when you can get paid to put a photo of a two-headed bearded dragon in the paper.

True to life

Again, I couldn't get a "Candorville" strip to load, but you can see Darrin's work at his web site and, of course, the dailies that will appear in The Gazette through July.

I got a message yesterday from Brian saying "Diesel Sweeties" will no longer be syndicated after mid-August. And I'm still wondering what to do with "For Better or For Worse." So, if you like any of the test comics or have something you'd like to see us try, let me know.

I'm bummed about "Diesel," but I understand creator Rich Stevens' decision. He has been creating print and online versions of the strip, which is a lot of work even if it did bring in bags more money. And apparently it didn't.

I'll keep reading it online and sharing DS merch with friends in the office. Keep it up, Rich! Maybe I'll see you at Comic-Con again.