Telegraph Herald Cut Nine Comics, Now Adding One Back
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A couple months ago the Dubuque, Iowa Telegraph Herald cut its comics pages from one and a half down to one, dropping eight comic strips and panels in the process.
Executive Editor Amy Gilligan explained (or here):
As I observe other papers, I don’t see a lot of them running more than a page of comics content. For several years now, we have had more than a page and half of comics and a full page of puzzles. And as I look at managing my resources over the coming years, I’m taking a hard look at every general ledger line and asking this question: How does this contribute to our mission?
As I observe other papers, I don’t see a lot of them running more than a page of comics content. For several years now, we have had more than a page and half of comics and a full page of puzzles. And as I look at managing my resources over the coming years, I’m taking a hard look at every general ledger line and asking this question: How does this contribute to our mission?
I don’t have a current Telegraph Herald comics lineup – here it is from two years ago.
Amy the Editor lists the comics they cut and how they decided:
The vendors we purchase from have good data on the popularity of each strip they sell. I looked to them for advice on those that are the most widely read and those that have a lesser following and chose strictly from the latter the ones we would remove.
Here are the comic strips that will be removed from our daily and Sunday lineup beginning Sunday, March 1: Between Friends, Bizarro, Rhymes with Orange, Frazz, Crabgrass, Wumo, Heart of the City and Argyle Sweater [emphasis added] — though on that last one, we will keep it on Sundays.
What remains , from the two year old daily comics pages, are Zits, The Born Loser, Pickles, Big Nate, Frank and Ernest, Pooch Cafe (Editor Amy Gilligan didn’t cut Cartoonist Paul Gilligan’s comic strip), Baby Blues, The Family Circus, Prickly City, Pearls Before Swine, and Non Sequitur.
In the two years since that 2024 sampling Phoebe and Her Unicorn was no longer available for weekdays, the now dropped Heart of the City had replaced Phoebe.
The editor wanted everyone to know that no puzzles were harmed in the remaking of the syndicated pages.
Time jump ahead to today and the paper has learned that the daily Big Nate will cease to be offered after June 13. So they are asking readers which of the comics (or here) they cut two months ago should be reinstated:
Then I learned recently that Lincoln Peirce, the creator of Big Nate, has made the decision to retire the daily comic strip (Monday through Saturday). The last daily comic will be on Saturday, June 13. The Sunday comic will remain the same. So, we can bring back another of the eliminated comic strips. Which one? Well, that’s up to you.
Attached to this column on TelegraphHerald.com, you’ll find a poll with the comic strips we no longer run, and you can cast your vote for the one we should bring back. The options are: Bizarro, Rhymes with Orange, Frazz, Crabgrass, Wumo, Heart of the City and Argyle Sweater.
The poll lists seven of the eight previously cut strips. Not eligible is the now rerun daily Between Friends. As of this writing the poll has Frazz and The Argyle Sweater leading in the voting.
The Telegraph Herald Sunday Funnies had a bit of a different lineup than the daily. Again from two years ago:
The Sunday strips not mentioned above are Foxtrot, Pardon My Planet, Dennis the Menace, and Blondie.
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