The (Not So) Funny Papers

Hello?  Anyone home?  Hello?

Pretty quiet here this week in DadCentric HQ.  That's probably a good thing, though.  Can you imagine if we were all here together?  We'd be singing Auld Lang Syne, knocking back one of Jason's bottles of Scotch while Metro regales us with some tales of the pranks he pulled in his youth (and not so youth).  But, alas, it appears that most are still vacationing, taking a little blogging break.  You know this shit can be hard at times as we all maintain personal blogs as well.  Trying to be entertaining, provocative, humorous...interesting... and relevant can cause some major writer's block.  So, I'd like to thank you all for dropping by since we got started back in...holy shit...October!  Wow, that was fast.  I'm sure the other guys will be thanking you all as well.  Right guys?  Guys?

Well, anyway.  I did have something to write about today.  Go figure.  There's not much in the news other than Top 10 lists of this and that.  Boorriinngg.  Gee, you liked Brokeback Mountain, huh?  Well, aren't you just the little noncomformist.  If I hear "I wish I knew how to quit you" one more time....Where was I?  Oh yeah.  So I did come across an article in today's USA Today about the comics pages making room for manga.  I used to read the comics religiously, but now, I might read them while waiting for an open chair at the barber.  I'm not ashamed to admit it, but I hardly read a newspaper anymore what with everything on-line: blogs, news services, opinion pages, etc.  But, getting back to the comics.  Like I said, I used to read them all the time.  I followed Opus and Bill the Cat from Bloom County (and Outland) and I couldn't get enough of Calvin and Hobbes.  And don't get me started on the brilliant and utterly twisted Gary Larson and The Far Side.  But once they went the way of the dinosaur, there wasn't much left - at least nothing I found as enjoyable.  Sure, Dilbert was fun...for a while, but even that got old.  And the others that remained, yikes.  Gen. Halftrack chasing the buxom Miss Buxley - hilarity ensues!  Cathy got married?  Awwwwww.  I do, however, find Darby Conley's Get Fuzzy to be quite funny.

I guess my point, if I have one is: are we nearing an end of an era when newspapers need to rely on manga and anime to entice children to become readers?  Maybe a better question is: Is there really that much of an audience for manga and anime?  Are there any decent strips left out there that will cause me to have my morning milk come out of my nose?  Or will our children look at Calvin and Hobbes or Opus years down the road much the same way we looked at strips like Alley Oop, Li'l Abner and Gasoline Alley and say, "What's so funny?  I don't get it."