Comments on: Diesel Sweetie to launch January 8

By: Chris Hardiman

Chris Hardiman — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 21:07:13 +0000

Quint,
As Leffite said, I did give it a year and I do have specific reasons for not liking it. I also am not saying that it should be cancelled just because I don’t like it; I’m sure some people do and I respect that.

However, in my defense, most of the comic strips that I like are pretty new, such as “Pearls Before Swine,” “Pooch Cafe,” “Lio,” “Ink Pen,” “Big Top,” “Get Fuzzy,” and “F Minus.” Furthermore, I am not a fan of the legacy strips and longtime holdovers that you mentioned. Just because I didn’t like one of the new strips doesn’t make my tastes out-of-date, especially since (a) if you read this thread there are a lot of other people who don’t like it and (b) I am actually very young.

Just because something new doesn’t mean it’s great, you know.

By: Greg Spence

Greg Spence — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:31:01 +0000

Can I just pop in and say that I kinda like Diesel Sweeties?

It’s not my favorite, for sure, and I think r steven’s online offerings are often funnier, since he doesn’t have to worry about offending the old biddies. But I think DS has an interesting, cynical wit to it. It’s far less predicatable than the bulk of what’s offered on the comics page these days, to be sure.

I mean, I turn the comics page, and Cathy Is Still Fat, Marmaduke Is Still A Big Dog, Ziggy Is Still Depressed, and Funky Winkerbean Is Still An Endless Black Void Of Human Misery And Despair (getting off-topic here, sorry). Then DS goes and makes a joke about the Gold Standard. Or explores some quirk in the relationship between technology and humans.

It’s different. Maybe too different for the newspaper comic page. I think there’s an audience for this sort of thing, but they gave up on the comic pages ages ago.

By: Lefitte

Lefitte — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:41:06 +0000

I don’t think that’s fair. Chris gave it a year (not a month) and outlined specifically what he didn’t like about it.

By: Quint Nelson

Quint Nelson — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 07:52:50 +0000

So here’s a prime example of why newspapers continue to run the garbage from the 1940′s and 50′s…King Features loves people like Chris…”I don’t like anything different, so it’s gotta go!”

By: Chris Hardiman

Chris Hardiman — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 03:27:19 +0000

Okay, I don’t want to reinvigorate the “Diesel Sweeties” flame war, but after reading “Diesel Sweeties” in my newspaper for one year now I have finally decided that I simply don’t like it. I tried to like it, I tried to give it a chance, and I gave it one whole year. But the pixellated art, the style of humor, the characters…I just couldn’t make myself like any of it, and frankly I can’t see what makes it so young and hip, other than being in a different style (and I’m young, so don’t tell me I’m too old to understand or something). Apologies to R. Stevens, but it’s not my kind of strip.

By: Sara

Sara — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 09:50:15 +0000

Well, DS already has people talking, and it’s not even out yet! Whether or not you think it’s good or bad, it’s certainly noteworthy.

Good luck, Rich! I’ve already sent a letter to my local paper (St. Paul Pioneer Press) in support of you, so hopefully we’ll see some action in the Twin Cities!

By: D. D. Degg

D. D. Degg — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 16:08:51 +0000

You may want to check out archiecomics.com, babyblues.com, baldocomics.com, bizarro.com, blondie.com, mrboffo.com, bucklescomics.com,…
Well, you get the idea. Plenty of strips list their own websites on the funny pages.

By: Ted Duffy

Ted Duffy — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 23:47:09 +0000

You know, someone said “Why would editors have such a hard time with your url but no other comic strips on thier page?” – I don’t recall seeing any other strip with their own website on it in the paper. Sure, some have their syndicate’s URL hidden in the sidebar, but “http://unitedfoowibblesyndicate.com/funnypages/drinkytheduck” is different from “pvponline.com” in the strip.

By: Dan Bielinski

Dan Bielinski — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 07:23:07 +0000

Agreed, Alan. This has been fun. Good Luck Rich!

By: Scott Kurtz

Scott Kurtz — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 07:19:45 +0000

I dunno. I think PvP is actually pretty tame compared to other things. I never use the big curse words.

But you know, papers can’t run that stuff, and that’s completely understandable. They shouldn’t have to run that stuff. It’s a family paper.

Farts are no big deal. I’m not sure why everyone gets so up in arms about it. It’s a joke 3 year olds make.

The problem is that even when you don’t use bad words or do something really explicit, you can’t talk about it in papers.

I can mention sex, without being explicit or graphic. But I can’t talk about that stuff as freely in newspapers. So the freedom is nice.

But no, I don’t expect papers to run that stuff. There are places for that. Comic books, alternative and college papers, etc.

I think it’s unrealistic for people to expect a big family paper to take on those kinds of strips.