Today's missing strips

For you fans missing your fix of today's "Get Fuzzy," "F Minus" and "Rose is Rose," here they are.

I've gotten a few calls lamenting we didn't pick up "The Knight Life," and comments - see above - about "Deflocked."

I'm even getting initial feedback - mixed - on "Rip Haywire," which I didn't expect for a week or more.

Keep the comments coming, I'm still watching to see how much space we'll get day to day.

I'll need to take a look at the Sunday comics, too. Not for space - it'll remain the same cramped pages - but for lineup.

Send in your likes/dislikes here or drop me a line at dena.rosenberry@gazette.com.

Taking another stab at this

OK, it's not that I have found more time in my day. But I'm getting e-mails and phone calls asking where I am (hmmm, I seem to still be here). And I suppose in this day and age of American newspapers it's natural to wonder whether I'm still here or whether I'm asking "Do you want fries with that?"

It's full speed ahead here at The Gaz and my work includes helping implement some major changes to the look of the paper and what's included in its pages.

My beloved comics have not gone untouched.

If you read the paper, in print or online, you'll notice changes beginning Monday. You can read about the whole shebang in Sunday's paper, but I'll give my blog readers a heads-up to the comics changes.

First, the comics will appear in a tab section - the same size as Go!, our Friday entertainment section.

Second, we're adding Goren Bridge and Hocus Focus to the pages. Those features have been appearing in classifieds for some time - before I got here nearly 5 years ago. (My, how time flies.)

Third, to accommodate those features, we have to drop a few comics. To start with, I'm dropping the Test Center. We've been running "Deflocked" and "The Knight Life" there - probably longer than we should have, too.

Of course, I was tempted to drop comics I would never read if it wasn't part of my job. But I don't have the same taste as Gazette readers, obviously, so that didn't seem right.

So, I went back through your comments, letters and e-mails.

Two comics we've run for a while will appear as space is available from here out: "Rose is Rose" and "F Minus." Neither have ever had a big following, and there are other strips in our selection that cover the same bases - family and sight gags.

Next, I'd already contracted to try "Rip Haywire" for 6 months. It's a new strip that harkens to the old serials. It was supposed to start running Jan. 5, but through a mixup, was left off the pages.

It will take the place, at least for now, of "Get Fuzzy." I'd prefer to drop one of the legacy strips that repeat the same jokes over and over, but apparently many readers would not. And I figure they're getting enough changes, they really don't need me messing with their old standbys on the comics pages.

And, in addition to those readers who constantly complain about "that nasty cat," quite a few regular readers have chimed in to say they have grown weary of the strip in recent months.

I'll be looking to you, the comics readers, to let me know what you think of the new lineup. If you'd rather I bring "Fuzzy" back and drop something else, let me know.

Believe me, it could have been worse. At one point I was fighting to prevent this change meaning the demise of an entire page of comics. I've managed to keep that off the table multiple times in the past 3 years. I hope you'll forgive me for sacrificing a few, even if they were among your regulars.

I'd still like to find a place for "Argyle Sweater," though. How about in place of "Dennis the Menace?"

OK, enough. Let me have it with both barrels!

Comics of a different sweater

Ha! That's one of my cats - Darth Grayder - for sure. Have I mentioned she also plays fetch? She's such an odd little bundle of fur.


Well, after a flurry of early morning e-mails, it appeared our paginators were all set to add "The Argyle Sweater" and "The Knight Life" to Wednesday's paper. (Somehow the request to add the comics beginning Monday was overlooked.)

Then the last e-mail came. "Argyle" is available only as a panel. Doh! I knew there was a reason we didn't test it last month.

So, I'll need to find another panel to test alongside it. Maybe "Speed Bump?"

In the meantime, to get the tests off and rolling and give you all a chance to see 2 other comics, we're shooting for a Wednesday (although it could be Thursday) start to "The Knight Life" and "Deflocked."

Here's a little intro to "Deflocked."

Not even an Argyle sweaterlet

Well, we were supposed to see a change in the Comics Test Center today. Apparently not.

I've sent an e-mail to our paginators asking what happened. No word yet.

But here's "The Argyle Sweater" you should have seen in today's Gazette.




And here is an example of "The Knight Life," although I don't think it's the one that would have appeared in today's paper. I think the creator, Keith Knight, has a set of strips he uses to introduce the comic to new readers.




Let me know what you think. It doesn't look like the strips will appear in Tuesday's paper, either, so I'll try to post them here first thing.

Change sooner than expected

I was told we couldn't change the comics pages this soon, but it appears the paginators were able to make the switch and place "Cul de Sac" in the spot previously held by "For Better or For Worse." It'll still take a few weeks to see any changes in the Sunday comics pages. Apparently they're now done nearly a month ahead...

"Daddy's Home" got a pretty good reception. We'll see what happens with "The Knight Life" and "The Argyle Sweater." Those two strips should begin appearing in the Comics Test Center area Monday the 8th.

Let me know what you think!

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.