Comics can be serious business

    
I learned quickly as a rookie newspaper editor that you don’t just go messing with two things very often: comics and Dear Abby.

But once in a while, with the right cover, you need to change up the offerings on the comic pages. It keeps the newspaper fresh and offers readers a different perspective, if they’re all ready for that.

Some are, some aren’t.

So I usually go about changing things slowly. I believe we have received one or two calls so far from the switching out of the daily comic “Get Fuzzy” and replacing it with “Pickles.”

Let’s just say I bought the pitch of the Washington Post Writer’s Group salesperson who convinced me more readeo

rs would enjoy “Pickles” over “Get Fuzzy.” But before I made the move, I conducted a comic poll on our website and had readers compare “Get Fuzzy” and “Pickles” as well as “Red and Rover” and “Pearls Before Swine.”

“Get Fuzzy” had the lowest score, and “Pickles” is in 400 newspapers nationwide.

We also consider comics in terms of who they are supposed to appeal to demographically, and we try to offer some comics for every demographic. “Lola” is designed for an older female m family demographic. “Family Circus” is designed for a younger family demographic. “Baldo” is designed for a Hispanic demographic, and “Between Friends” is aimed at a young to middle -aged female demographic.

“Beetle Baily,” is the classic older white guy’s comic, and “Peanuts” is pretty universal.

“Pickles” is aimed at another family demographic, one that is getting older. It also has an intergenerational feel which is focused on an older couple’s relationship with their 30-something daughter, her second hubby and grandson.

Then there are comics that don’t fit into any real demographic but are just out there, and quirky. In this category, I consider “Pearls Before Swine,” “F-Minus,” “Mother Goose and Grim,” “Dilbert” and possibly “Non Sequitur.”

"Get Fuzzy" was in the quirky category, so it was competing with others for the same audience. The comic salesperson selling “Pickles” was down on the comic saying “Get Fuzzy had lost its focus.”

That’s the best line I’ve ever heard from a comic salesperson suggesting we jettison her competitor.

Comics have become pretty big business. Most cost us between $7 to $10 per week. An additional $7 to $10 for the Sunday version. It’s a bit of a oxymoron that the comic business can be cutthroat, but that’s kind of the truth.

Overall on the comics page, I find many comics aren’t inherently funny, at least not as much as it seems they were in the past. Many are mini-dramas played out on the comics pages, with the aim to, it seems, get readers to relate to everyday situations.

There are three I will go to every day and be sure to get a chuckle, usually “Dilbert,” “Mother Goose and Grim” and “F-Minus,” so you know where my comic tastes lie.
 
Joe Spear is editor of The Free Press. Contact him at jspear@mankatofreepress.com or 344-6382.