CSotD: The artwork normally seen at this time will not be presented so that we may bring you this special program
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By happy circumstance, Mutts was perfectly positioned to take advantage of King Features Syndicate's decision to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month by having all their cartoons this Sunday be pink. I love Patrick McDonnell's Herriman-like artwork, and the fact that he refuses to employ any new technologies, which he discussed in the profile I did of him several years ago. I often wish he added more plot and punchline to the strip, but the fascination of the cat, Mooch, for his little pink sock is well-established and a perfect fit for the occasion.
It was interesting seeing how the other KFS cartoonists handled the event. Most, like Mike Peters of Mother Goose & Grimm, simply used pink instead of whatever colors they would otherwise have used for the day.
It made me wonder how many artists had already created their strips for this Sunday and simply changed colors, a theory that gains credence when you see cancer-obsessed Funky Winkerbean simply adding pink highlights and a themed title panel to a strip that doesn't mention the cause.
And, while Mark Trail simply replaced all the color in its normally art-heavy Sunday nature panel with pink, Prince Valiant, which also relies on its art, was more subtle, starting off with the mention and depiction of a pink sunset in a large panel.
It's interesting that the only specific mention of the cause on the KFS strips I monitor were by women artists — Hilary Price (Rhymes with Orange), Six Chix's Anne Gibbons and Sandra Bell Lundy, all of whose strips are strong on women's issues to begin with. Between Friends has even done specific work in support of breast cancer awareness, so it's not surprising that Lundy would add this themed humor, complete with URLs to helpful sites, to the day:
Meanwhile, Dead-Strip-Walking My Cage, which recently was told that the syndicate is dropping it at the end of the month, offers a little bitter insight into the whole thing, continuing an ongoing theme of reaction to the bad news, but leavens the criticism with a message at the end.
For my part, I'd have preferred to see content rather than color used to make the point — either the Funky Winkerbean approach or the direct approach of Between Friends but in normal colors, possibly with pink highlights. The all-pink approach seems a little overwhelming, like when you pick that color that looks good on the swatch but which you then regret once you've painted the whole livingroom with it. Perhaps the effect is different in a print-format comics section where the pink strips were intermingled with normal comics from other syndicates.
It will be interesting to see where this goes in the future. The NFL has made its observance of the month an annual event, with pink-highlighted equipment, fundraising at the stadiums and public service announcements on TV, which seems more sustainable than trying to play the game with both teams in pink uniforms.
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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