No More Comics? Aack!

What will become of comic strips when the last printed newspaper rolls off the presses? Can the art form that brought us Little Nemo, Krazy Kat, The Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes endure in a digital age? Yes, indeed, it would be just tragic to lose the pages where...

By Patrick Williams

May 15, 2014

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What will become of comic strips when the last printed newspaper rolls off the presses? Can the art form that brought us Little Nemo, Krazy Kat, The Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes endure in a digital age? Yes, indeed, it would be just tragic to lose the pages where currently Doonesbury is revisiting the '70s, Get Fuzzy's creator is on permanent vacation, Charles Shulz refuses to die and Family Circle still sucks a little more life and intelligence from the universe. Listen, screw those guys. In the newspaper business, we have bigger things to worry about – like what happens to reporters and editors when the presses stop – and I say this as a guy who loves the comics, or least or did back when their creators still bothered to create. (Not looking at you, Stephan Pastis. Pearls Before Swine is brilliant.) So, I'm a little ambivalent about Stripped, a documentary that interviews more than 60 cartoonists about the future of their industry, including Jeff Keane of Family Circus. Yeah … really ambivalent. Stripped screens at 5 p.m. Sunday at The Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd.
Sun., May 18, 5 p.m., 2014

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Patrick Williams is editor-in-chief of the Dallas Observer. Before joining the staff in July 1997, Patrick worked for the Southern Illinoisan, Amarillo Globe News and San Antonio Express-News. As editor-in-chief, he oversees the newsroom and guides the coverage of both the Dallas Observer’s printed publication and online website.

Contact: Patrick Williams