Joshua Fruhlinger, AKA the Comics Curmudgeon, wrote an op-ed piece for the LA Times about how the comic strip fan community is still vibrant, but increasingly not interested in the reading the comics from a newspaper.
He says:
The only place you won’t find this kind of enthusiasm is in the newspaper comics pages. Rather than nurturing a section of the paper that has a built-in and long-lived fan base, papers across the country continue to dishearten fans by cramming fewer strips into ever-shrinking spaces. Many comics aficionados have begun to sour on the whole newsprint experience.
…
But maybe one reason readers are fleeing print is because the papers don’t give them enough reason to believe print is anything special. Few comics fans would dispute that the funnies look best on paper, or that reading the comics in newsprint over breakfast is a pleasing ritual. Going back to the childhood of the modern newspaper business â?? in the graphically rich Hearst and Pulitzer papers of the early 20th century â?? one of the main attractions was always the Sunday morning treat of page after vibrant page of full-color comics. But when was the last time an interesting-looking comics page caught your eye, let alone invited you to a full-spectrum visual feast?
This was a good article on the state of the comics page. The Comics Curmudgeon is a hilarious blog that, despite its sarcasm, is a place for true comic fans. I think the subtext of the blog is how disconnected fans feel from their paper’s comics page and this gives them a place to voice their frustrations and have a laugh.
I’ve noticed a few papers are occassionally posting full or half page graphic novel style comics…too bad that kind of visual splash doesn’t translate to the comics page.