From the Iowa City Press-Citizen editor: We're updating the comics. Here's why.
The funny pages are getting a makeover.
The Iowa City Press-Citizen will soon debut a refreshed offering of comics, with an updated package that incorporates many of our readers' beloved favorites but also includes several new strips that have proved popular around the country.
All USA TODAY Network publications will now provide a unified, consistent package. Network editors continuously evaluate content and best ways to serve our audiences. The selections for the new comics package were based on surveying and listening to readers across the country. Comics have historically evolved to reflect the culture and tastes of the times, and selections reflect those considerations as well.
Our new comics package will go into effect with the Monday, Oct. 2, issue of the Press-Citizen. The package will feature the same number of comics as before, 11 each day.
Four of the comics many of you have grown to love will continue to run in each edition Monday through Saturday: Garfield, Blondie, Baby Blues and Zits.
The discontinued comics are Marvin, Bizarro, Doonesbury, Crabgrass, Red and Rover, Non Sequitur and Agnes. But you'll be receiving seven comics that are new to Press-Citizen readers or returning from past years: Beetle Bailey, Family Circus, Hagar the Horrible, Dennis the Menace, Peanuts, For Better or For Worse and Pickles.
All print comics will also appear in the eNewspaper. And lots of additional comics are available to Press-Citizen readers at press-citizen.com/comics. In fact, you can still get your fix there on two of the discontinuing comics: Bizarro and Marvin.
As you'll see from the accompanying stories in the Saturday, Sept. 23, edition, we take our comics seriously. Stories delve into the history and cultural impact of this unique art form and provide a brief overview of each comic that will appear in the Press-Citizen's new package. Additional stories the next two Sundays will introduce you to some of the authors of popular comics.
These changes won’t impact your subscription rates. My mission as editor is to deliver the highest-quality product to our subscribers. This change allows further network investment in local journalism you can rely on and trust.
Brandon Hurley is editor of the Iowa City Press-Citizen and the Ames Tribune. He can be reached at bhurley@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: From the Iowa City Press-Citizen editor: Why we're updating the comics
