Brad Harper column: Changes in store for Montgomery Advertiser comics
Like some of our readers, I’ve started my mornings with Montgomery Advertiser comics since I was a kid. Back then, the comics were my front page.
Flash forward 40 years, and some of those same comics are still running in the Advertiser. That lineup is about to get a refresh.
The USA TODAY Network, which includes the Advertiser, is updating all of its publications’ daily comics pages and Sunday comics sections, both in print and in the online eNewspaper. Our digital lineups —montgomeryadvertiser.com/comics — remain the same.
The move follows a survey of reader preferences and an evaluation of how best to serve the network’s audiences. Our mission on all levels is to be the best possible source of content and local news, while recognizing the evolution of culture and tastes.
Most of the network’s papers, including the Advertiser, will make the changes on Oct. 2.
What’s new on our daily comics page:
The new daily strips are Baldo (about a Latino family), Non Sequitur (billed as “a wry look at the absurdities of life”), Pearls Before Swine (a pig and a rat offer “caustic commentary on humanity's quest for the unattainable”), Born Loser (about an old-fashioned guy who can’t catch a break) and Marmaduke (the adventures of the Winslow family and their Great Dane.)
They’ll join Ziggy, Dennis the Menace, Family Circus, Baby Blues, Pickles, Garfield, Zits, Blondie, Peanuts, Hagar the Horrible, Beetle Bailey, For Better or Worse, Crankshaft, Frank & Ernest and Crabgrass in the daily Advertiser comics.
Luann and Jump Start, which have been running on Sunday, will run daily.
What’s new in the Sunday section:
Daily comics Family Circus, Dennis the Menace, Pickles and Ziggy will be added to the Sunday lineup. Pearls Before Swine, Marmaduke, Non Sequitur, Baldo and Born Loser will also join the Sunday lineup.
Blondie, Peanuts, Beetle Bailey, Crankshaft, Luann, Baby Blues, For Better or Worse, Zits, Frank & Ernest, Garfield, Hagar the Horrible, FoxTrot, Jump Start and Crabgrass will continue to run every Sunday.
Comics will still be a full page in the Advertiser's daily editions, and the Sunday comics section is getting an extra half-page, bringing it to four full pages. Plus, you can find more comics at montgomeryadvertiser.com/comics.
I know that some fans of the strips that are going away aren’t going to be happy. But we’re also adding new strips and putting together a mix that should offer something for everyone.
A lot of things have changed since the comics were my front page, but I still enjoy reading them. Give the new lineup a try and maybe you will, too.
Brad Harper is editor of the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached at bharper1@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Brad Harper column: Changes in store for Montgomery Advertiser comics
