What Happened to the Comic Strips ?
I used to enjoy the
daily paper as I could always turn to the comic strips to have relief from the
politics, wars, murders, crime, and general bad news of the local surroundings,
and world wide impacts on our lives.
Some of the strips had story lines that we followed daily, such as Mary Worth,
Rex Morgan, Li'l Abner, little Orphan Annie, and Dick Tracy, along with
the humor strips like Peanuts, The Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, Pogo, Garfield ,
Blondie and Andy Capp. I used to always go to the "funny paper" for humor and
relief from the daily drudge.
The other side, the
political cartoons, were usually on the editorial page, to be viewed by those
who wished to be enlightened in this venue, and have their fancies tickled by
those pundits who considered themselves to be experts on the political scene and
express them in their satirical statements on current events.
BUT NOW, the comic strips are filled with political statements, thinly disguised
as humor, in a vain attempt to enlighten the every day person with their
supposed expert opinions, couched in the vain attempt to brain wash us with
their attitudes and platitudes.
No more can we find humor in the funny paper, as it is rare indeed to locate a
strip that is based in pure humor, without a trace of political messages, hidden
within the verse or art, that lampoons the political figures or current events.
Even "For Better or Worse" had a statement by one of their main characters
wishing the war would end.
Why can't we just
have comic strips that are just funny, as the idea of something "comic" is
defined as "Characteristic of
or having to do with comedy".
Like everything else
in this modern world, funny can't be funny, but has to have a statement imbedded
within; kids can't be kids, but are pressured to be something they aren't, but
that's another story. Where are you "Smilin Jack" and "Terry and the Pirates"?
Gone by the wayside, like our humorous comic strips of days gone by. Thus
are the days of our lives.
That's my opinion and
I'm sticking to it.
