A comics Q&A

Answers to the comics questions we hear most often:

Q. Why are you putting "Mallard Fillmore" and "Candorville" on the comics page, when "Doonesbury" is on the op-ed page? Shouldn't all political strips be in the same place?

A. "Doonesbury" has been a staple of The N&O op-ed page for decades. That's a tradition that our editorial-page staff wants to preserve. And the need to leave sufficient space on the page for articles precludes adding a second or third comic strip there.

Q. But I don't think politics belongs on the comics pages.

A. We group the political "Mallard" and "Candorville" together at the bottom of the second comics page. That way, readers who don't like politics on the comics pages can avoid that spot. It's worth remembering that there have always been strips, such as "Pogo," that dabbled in politics on the comics pages.

Q. Why can't you run reruns of "Calvin & Hobbes," like you do with "Peanuts"?

A. "Calvin" is not available for syndication to newspapers in the United States. If it was, we'd consider it, because we get this question a lot. That said, though, we don't think you want to get too many "classic" (aka rerun) strips in your lineup. Right now, we have "Peanuts" and "For Better or For Worse." Neither is as popular as it used to be, but each still has a good number of fans.

Q. What's the deal with "For Better or For Worse," anyway? It looks weird. And I thought it ended.

A. The original strips -- with new material and the characters older -- ended in August. The strips now are "new-runs" -- redrawn versions of the original strips, with the characters now back as they were when the strip was first introduced. It's a decidedly different approach, and some papers -- most notably The Washington Post -- have dropped it. We're keeping it for now.

Q. I don't want my children seeing certain content in the comics. Shouldn't these be for kids?

A. Absolutely, some should be for children, and we have a number of them, including "Mutts," "Garfield," "Family Circus" and "Red & Rover." But there have always been strips for grown-ups, too, from the serials such as "Mary Worth" to satirical humor like "Lil Abner." But we do help parents with our lineup by grouping all the family strips on the first comics page and the more grown-up fare on the second.

Q. Instead of doing a poll, why don't N&O editors use their judgment to pick the strips they think are best?

A. This obviously wasn't a scientific poll; readers themselves selected whether to participate. We use reader feedback as just one factor in making decisions. We make the final calls, but it's nice to solicit opinion from customers.

Q. Why did The N&O drop "Fox Trot" on weekdays and "Boondocks" every day?

A. We didn't. Those strips were stopped by their cartoonists, who decided to quit producing them. "Fox Trot" does still offer new Sunday strips, which we run.

Q. The creator of "B.C." died, yet The N&O still runs it. But the creator of "Kudzu" died, and The N&O dropped it. Why the difference?

A. "Kudzu" was discontinued by its syndicate when Doug Marlette died. It was not passed on to a new artist, as "B.C." was when Johnny Hart died. Often, older strips continue on with the original creator's children or a new artist. Such comics are known as "legacy" strips, and we have several of them, including "Shoe," "Blondie," "Dennis the Menace" and "Hi & Lois."

Q. Why aren't the same comics in the Sunday N&O that are in the daily N&O?

A. Space and money. Sunday comics take up more room and cost more because of the larger color drawings. In addition, some strips are Sunday only, while others are Monday-Saturday only. Sunday comics also are produced further in advance. In the coming months, we'll look at possibly making changes to our Sunday lineup. But not now. Should "Marmaduke" remain on Sundays even though it isn't in the daily paper? Should another comic get a Sunday spot? Send your comments to comics@newsobserver.com.

Q. Why doesn't The N&O have any comics on its Web site?

A. We're looking into that and hope to add some. Stay tuned.

Q. I just don't like any of the new comics. Anyone who likes them must be a screwball. Get rid of these awful things!

A. That's why we have a mix. You probably like some of the older strips. That's fine. We even group all of them together for you on the first comics page. Read those you like and skip the rest.

Q. Why do you run those dumb, old, dated strips? Get some new blood!

A. You'll want to head to our second comics page, where we offer the newer strips. Feel free to skip right past those old-fashioned ones. We never said every reader had to read every comic. Pick and choose.