From the editor: Enquirer's comics refresh brings back some old favorites

True story.

When I started at The Enquirer in 1998, I was a bit star struck. Still roaming the newsroom were some of the writers I had grown up reading – bylines like John Erardi, Howard Wilkinson and Jim Knippenberg.

But sitting in a corner office of the Enquirer’s former newsroom at 312 Elm Street was the legend: Jim Borgman. Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist. The artist behind “Zits,” which today is one of the most widely distributed daily cartoon strips.

I’ve been a lover of comics my entire life, and Jim was one of my heroes. At Forest Park High School, my government teacher, Mr. Noltemeyer (I still can’t bring myself to use his first name), required his students to compile a notebook of political cartoons during the semester. While some considered this academic torture, I couldn’t wait to get started. Each day I’d dutifully cut out the Borgman cartoon, mount it on a piece of notebook paper and summarize the current event or politician Jim was skewering with his sharp wit and lethal ink pen.

The opportunity to meet Jim had me nervous. What would I say to play it cool and sound intelligent? I rehearsed my half of the dialogue in my head. “Hey, Jim, good one today!” Ugh. No. Too predictable. “Hey, Jim. Huge fan. Honor to be working with you.” Sigh. Too stiff.

Before I was able to polish my repartee, Jim emerged from his office one evening and walked toward my desk, which was close to the main entrance of the newsroom. No, he can’t be coming to see me, I thought. But there he was, a rumpled heap of genius standing right in front of me. Maybe he heard there was a new guy and wanted to say hello. Even better – maybe he wanted to grab coffee!

“I just ordered some food,” Jim said. “When the delivery guy gets here, can you let him in?”

And with that, my first meeting with greatness was over.

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A newspaper – the classic, ink-on-paper version – has always delivered more than the news of the day. The daily habit includes horoscopes and puzzles. Advice columns and “Today in History.”

And of course, the comics.

We continue that tradition today – with a slight refresh on the horizon. Beginning Jan. 29, we’re retiring a few strips that have fallen out of popularity and bringing back some classics we’ve lost along the way. These changes to our comics lineup follow a survey of readers across the USA TODAY Network.

So what can you expect? We’ll be saying goodbye to Frazz, Get Fuzzy, Hi & Lois, Red and Rover, Speed Bump, The Middletons and Wumo.

Joining our lineup will be Baldo, Born Loser, Crankshaft, Family Circus, Frank & Ernest, Hagar the Horrible and Luann.

Our Sunday lineup also will change in a similar fashion, with two additional strips joining the roster: Non Sequitur and Foxtrot.

I realize some of our readers won’t be happy with these changes, especially if their favorite strip didn’t make the cut. I get it. A good comic strip is like an old friend. But please understand this refresh – which standardizes the lineup across similar-sized publications in our network – allows The Enquirer to maintain the number of daily strips while managing our costs so we can continue to invest in local news gathering. I call that a win-win.

And don’t forget – more than 50 comic strips can be found online at Cincinnati.com/comics.

•••

By the way, Jim eventually would return the favor. When I left The Enquirer in 2006 to be the editor of the Reno Gazette-Journal, Jim drew a caricature of me pulling the handle of a slot machine. Instead of bars or cherries, the machine hit on three pieces of baklava. This son of a Greek mother has displayed it proudly ever since.

Enquirer Executive Editor Beryl Love writes a biweekly column that takes you behind the scenes at The Enquirer. Occasionally, he shares his thoughts on local issues, particularly as they pertain to a free press and open government. Love also serves as regional editor for the USA TODAY Network Ohio. Email him at blove@enquirer.com. He can’t respond personally to every email, but he reads them all.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Enquirer editor Beryl Love announces change to comics lineup