If you want your comment out of moderation, email me your first and last name and I’ll reinstate it. Cuss words have been modified or deleted.

Secondly, for the love of Pete – can we discuss the topic without getting personal? Apparently not. I have several feelings about the topic and many of you have participated on this thread. The difference is I don’t trash talk them, even when they speak negatively toward my work here on this blog. Quite frankly, if you don’t like the conversation here, please feel free to not visit.

And with that, thanks for killing yet another discussion on a topic not even related to the flame war.

Newspaper ad revenue has been in an accelerating nose dive since about ’06, while newspaper circulation has been on a continuous downslide from a peak in ’93. The only conclusion to draw from these lasting trends is that the newspaper industry is in decline and headed for death. Even the most optimistic estimates would have the newspaper industry a shadow of its former self in the near future, a more sane analysis would put the industry at 10-3% of its current size within a decade. Meanwhile, internet ad revenue will likely match and then surpass total newspaper ad revenue within the next 1-2 years (possibly even this year), even with very conservative estimates.

Rall is luring young artists to the world of print syndication with the siren song of the days of a $50 billion a year industry, but it is not that anymore (it’s not even a $37 billion a year industry as he erroneously quotes), it is not even a $30 billion a year industry today, and shrinking fast. Regardless of whether anyone likes it or not, the days of the financially successful syndicated newspaper cartoonist are coming to an end, and soon. Within the next 10-20 years this will be a dry well.

Meanwhile, financially successful web comics are booming. As the internet continues to grow and mature and as more and more people learn the techniques for maximizing revenue from their web comics an increasing percentage of comic artists will be making their living on the web.

By all appearances, Rall wants people to join him on his sinking ship out of some sick, perverted need for validation of his life’s worth and his career choices. But it would be a mistake of the highest order to ignore the strong trends of recent history and follow his lead on a path toward artistic mediocrity, financial oblivion, and irrelevancy.

Also, just wanted to say that I’m totally for the debate – I always like following these things.

@everybody writing long paragraphs: Dudes, even if you disagree with Ted, please learn something from him and use blockquotes or some other formatting on your opinions for easier reading.

Congrats to Dana Simpson. Read your samples and many of them actually made me chuckle. I can’t wait to see what else trickles out of your brain.

They are separate worlds. They have different readerships, different demographics, and different methods of making moolah from it.

But in terms of pure convenience, it is simply not worth it to work on a career on newspaper comic strips. Simply because they’re going the way of the dinosaur. FAST.

In a few years, we’re going to laugh at this argument ever been made.

Will you marry me?