L.A. Times gets rid of sarcastic cat, replaces it with hipper comic.The decision by the Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Morning daily newspaper. Established in 1881, it was purchased and incorporated in 1884 by Harrison Gray Otis (1837–1917) under The Times-Mirror Co. (the hyphen was later dropped from the name). to drop "Garfield," the most widely circulated comic in the world, in favor of a new panel by two moonlighting cartoonists has created trouble in at least one L.A. household. "My 7-year-old son is very upset with me," said Rodd Perry, who along with Guy Endore-Kaiser is a creator of "Brevity." On Jan. 3, it replaced "Garfield," a strip that his son enjoyed. The duo, producers at movie wailer agency Ant Farm, began posting the comic more than a year ago at comicsherpa.com, a Web site that enables aspiring cartoonists to get feedback from fans as they seek syndication. "Garfield" is distributed by Universal Press Syndicate Universal Press Syndicate, an Andrews McMeel Universal company, is the world's largest independent syndicate and provides syndication for a number of lifestyle and opinion columns, comics, and various other content. , which is associated with comicsherpa, and appears in more than 2,700 newspapers worldwide. "Brevity," which features bizarre scenarios and dry wit, has been picked up by about 75 newspapers worldwide, including the Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune Daily newspaper published in Chicago. The Tribune is one of the leading U.S. newspapers and long has been the dominant voice of the Midwest. Founded in 1847, it was bought in 1855 by six partners, including Joseph Medill (1823–99), who made the paper , Seattle Times, Detroit Free Press The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep". Some still refer to it locally as "The Friendly" -- a slogan from an ad campaign in the '70s. and San Francisco Chronicle The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young.[2] The paper grew along with San Francisco to become the largest circulation newspaper on the West Coast of the through United Feature Syndicate, a division of E.W. Scripps Co.'s United Media. Endore-Kaiser and Perry, who are keeping their day jobs, have about five months' worth of comics in the can. The initial deal with United Feature is for five years and can be extended for up to 10 more years. The panel's success came as somewhat of a surprise to its creators, who initially didn't have any aspirations to be syndicated. "We said as we went into this that because we live in L.A., the whole thing wouldn't be worth it if it didn't run in our hometown paper," Perry said. To make room for "Brevity," the Times chose to drop the sarcastic nap-taking fat cat after about 25 years. The character, said Times editorial aide Jennifer James Jennifer (Jenny) James, (born Jennifer Claire Reynolds) is an English actress born in 1978 in Wigan, Greater Manchester. Early life Her father left in 1980, when she was two years old, leaving her mother Shirley to bring up their child alone. , had grown too predictable. Her boss, Deputy Features Editor Sherry Stern, made the decision to drop "Garfield." Stern, who was on vacation, declined comment through James. For Endore-Kaiser, the change is welcome not only for the benefits it brings him and his partner. "Garfield is apparently the most widely-syndicated cartoon in the world and I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. anybody who likes it," he said. James said that the Times was looking to lure new readers to its comics pages. "We are trying to appeal to a younger generation which has not historically read comics," she said. She would not say how many people had called to complain about the loss of "Garfield" from the weekday paper. It still appears on Sundays. "We have been dropping a lot of well-loved comics and it's not pretty," she said, noting that when the Times dropped "Mary Worth," it received upwards of 300 complaints. "We start paying attention Noun 1. paying attention - paying particular notice (as to children or helpless people); "his attentiveness to her wishes"; "he spends without heed to the consequences" attentiveness, heed, regard at a thousand." |
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