FoxTrot ambles off into the daily comics' sunset

Fans of the FoxTrot comic strip have probably noticed the storyline lately has been leading up to something. That something is the end of a daily FoxTrot comic as of Saturday, Dec. 30th.

After that, fans of the family that includes the clueless Dad; the savvy, health-conscious Mom; low-key teen son Peter; high-maintenance Paige and the nerdy Jason will have to be satisfied with once-a-week visits. The FoxTrot comic will continue to appear in The Enterprise’s Sunday comic package.

Replacing FoxTrot on the daily comics page will be Baby Blues, another family strip featuring three children, though younger versions. Baby Blues has been a regular feature of The Enterprise’s Sunday comics for some time.

According to a press release from Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes FoxTrot, creator Bill Amend, who started the comic strip in April of 1988, is cutting back in order to pursue other creative outlets, which may include the FoxTrot characters showing up in other media.

“After spending close to half of my life writing and drawing FoxTrot cartoons, I think it’s time I got out of the house and tried some new things,” said Amend. “I love cartooning and I absolutely want to continue doing the strip, just not at the current all-consuming pace. I’ve been blessed over the years with a terrific syndicate, patient newspaper clients, and more support from readers than I probably deserve, and I want to assure them all that while I’ll be now a less-frequent participant on the comic pages, I’ll continue to treat my visits as the special privilege they are.”

So, watch the daily comic pages of The Enterprise for the Baby Blues’ brand of family humor and feel free to let us know what you think.

Cartoon capers

I have a theory about political cartoons on editorial pages. You may not read anything on the page, not even a headline … but you will look at that cartoon.

They’re irresistible. They stand out. It takes only a few seconds to scan them and chuckle … or groan.

I received two complaints on cartoons recently. One was on the Dec. 18 cartoon that showed President Bush on a TV screen saying, “Lady Di must reveal her weapons of mass destruction.” A man in the cartoon watching Bush said in response, “I guess the CIA really was monitoring her.”

A reader e-mailed that the cartoon “showed to what depth this Bush-hating idiot has gone.”

I was surprised that this ’toon ticked off the reader. I didn’t think it was particularly rough.

The other complaint was on the Dec. 21 cartoon that showed a Fox newscaster talking about South Dakota Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson, who underwent emergency brain surgery after a blood vessel malfunctioned. The faux Fox newscaster said, “With 10 percent of his arteries counted, we project Republicans will retake the Senate.”

I’m not surprised that one ruffled a few feathers.

It prompted one reader to e-mail that it “crossed the line of good taste. It showed an extreme lack of respect for the family of Sen. Johnson and the anxiety they must be going through while he is so gravely ill. ... ”

Valid points, but … good editorial cartoons are often as edgy as a new razor. They aren’t subtle or low-key. They hit hard. Sometimes, it seems that the blow lands below the belt — especially if your politics are being pummeled.

Three points to help readers:

1) Both of these cartoons were from artists who work for other newspapers. We subscribe to four syndicated cartoonists — two who are basically liberal and two who are basically conservative. Cartoons from local artist Andy Coughlan appear on Sundays.

2) We don’t run every syndicated cartoon we get. We have space for only about half of them, and we reject some for bad taste. It happens only a few times a year, though. These cartoons come from artists who work in the business every day. They generally know how far they can go — no nudity, no profanity, etc.

3) Since we have cartoons that reflect liberal and conservative points of view, both parties get skewered. Sen. Hillary Clinton has been in the cross-hairs more than once.

When it comes to our syndicated cartoons and columns, please don’t judge us on one day’s product. We run a broad spectrum of viewpoints, from liberals like Ellen Goodman to conservatives like Michelle Malkin. Right now, President Bush is getting hammered by almost everyone. After U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi takes over as House Speaker in January, look for her to get zapped too.

Over time, the barbs tend to even out.

Celebrate in style, whatever that may be

NOTE: This blog has been corrected to reflect that the writer of the original story is 29, not "barely 30" as described in the original posting. She had a birthday. I, obviously, misunderstood which one it was. My apologies for aging her a bit too soon.

One of our writers recently wrote a light feature story including her opinion about holiday attire. The story, which appeared in last Thursday's feature section, pretty much ripped every item of holiday-themed clothing including T-shirts, sweatshirts, ties, socks and vests with a special emphasis on the sartorially offensive Christmas sweaters.

The story got a lot of attention and a lot of e-mails from, primarily, irate readers. It also earned her an in-house award at last week’s staff meeting.

For those of you whose jaws just dropped at the thought of an opinion piece even appearing on the feature page, much less winning an award, please let me explain. The story did exactly what newspaper stories are supposed to do – it so enthralled readers that they felt compelled to read it and it so infuriated many of them that they felt compelled to respond. In journalism circles that’s a home run. As she explained, in a follow-up e-mail to many of her detractors, the point was to, hopefully, make people giggle over their cereal bowls in the morning and, maybe, take a side in the fashion debate.

Debate is the appropriate word. Readers need to recognize that the bylined story, which did not appear on our opinion pages, represented the opinion of the fashion-conscious 29-year-old reporter who wrote the story. It did not appear on our opinion pages as the official newspaper opinion and it certainly didn’t represent the opinion of everyone in the newsroom.

Though there are many positives in being a barely 30-year-old, the compulsion to be a fashion slave isn’t one of them. When I turned 40, more than a decade ago, I especially remember the feeling of empowerment it gave me because, among other things, I decided I no longer had to put up with a lot of . . . garbage . . . that people seem to dish out.

Though we certainly want to hear from our readers, and I wouldn’t label the story in question as garbage, I would encourage everyone to take stories such as this a little less seriously. Allow stories such as this to make you pause, make you consider – and make you form your own opinion. And always feel free to share that opinion with us.

Another article, somewhat of a rebuttal to the anti-holiday clothing story, is set to run in the feature section this week. We hope as many readers take the time to read and respond to that story.

Now, the burning question: Do I own any Christmas sweaters? No, not any more, though I have in the past (along with puff-paint T-shirts in the ‘80s). They are now replaced with appropriately festive but relatively plain red sweaters and shirts in my closet. My choice is not because of any fashion mandate, but rather because I am what is politely referred to as a “big woman” and, because, as a professional I think having Santa and reindeer on my clothing might inhibit me being taken seriously. I do, however, have some holiday T-shirts, reserved for wearing with jeans on weekends. My wardrobe is my wardrobe because it is what I choose to wear, comfortably and confidently because I have a brain and can make up my own mind.

I encourage others to do the same regardless of any fashion dictates or opinions of others (unless it is, of course, your best friend telling you that dress actually DOES make you look fat.)

The world, especially during the holidays, would be a very dull place if everyone simply wore a basic black dress paired with those oh-so-fashionable pointy toed shoes, which, in my opinion, are the real fashion crime against all women.

The letters keep coming

If you thought the Opinions pages looked different last week, you were right. Something was missing. In a sense, you were.

Our readers were busy with the holidays, and they weren’t writing letters to the editor. It happens almost every December and during the summer, when folks are on vacation.

Fortunately for us — and you — the drought is over. The e-mail and snail mail bring us your thoughts, and we put them in Readers Write.

As I’ve said before, letters are one of the best-read things in our paper. Lots of readers turn to them first, along with other items like a favorite comic or sports scores.

Readers like letters because they come from people like them, not journalists. They are often about local issues, not something terrible on the other side of the world. They are mostly written in plain English. They are the unfiltered thoughts of their neighbors, not the carefully chosen words of a politician.

The Enterprise runs every letter we get with only a few minor restrictions — one every 30 days, no personal stuff, etc. Also, you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts. We have to be careful not to perpetuate hearsay or Internet rumors.

Otherwise, if we get it one day, you read it on another. You can write any time, but your letter will stand out more when we aren’t getting a lot. You can e-mail letters to ttaschinger@hearstnp.com or mail them to Readers Write, P.O. Box 3071, Beaumont, Texas, 77704.

How about it, readers? Want to reach thousands of people with a few strokes of the pen or keyboard? That section of the paper is waiting for you like a blank canvas. Put something memorable there.