Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to refresh comics lineup, bring back some old favorites

Greg Borowski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·3 min read

I still read the funnies.

The comics page is one of my first stops every morning, after the newspaper lands on the porch. I have a pattern to reading them, so Pearls Before Swine is usually last, since it’s most likely to elicit a smile, a smirk or at least a nod of recognition.

Pearls Before Swine is actually relatively new, as comic strips in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel go — we’ve been running it for more than 20 years.

Greg Borowski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. News Department.
Greg Borowski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. News Department.

All of that is to say, it’s time for a refresh of our comics offerings. Like all of our sister newsrooms in the USA TODAY NETWORK, the Journal Sentinel is refreshing our comics pages based on reader input and a need to adjust to the preferences and changing tastes of comic fans.

On Jan. 29, the Journal Sentinel and jsonline.com will roll out a new lineup of daily and Sunday comics. The best news: Lots of old favorites will be making a return.

And, if you’re a regular comics reader like me, I’m sure some of the other new ones will grow on you in time. (At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of Rat and his friends in Pearls Before Swine either).

Why the shift? Reader input helped drive changes

The refresh of our comics offerings was based, in part, on reader feedback from across the country, which shaped the offerings in newspapers that are part of the USA TODAY NETWORK.

The changes do not affect subscription rates. You’ll be able to find the same comic strips in our electronic edition, or eNewspaper, which is available on our website. You can also find lots of additional comics by visiting jsonline.com/comics.

Meanwhile, our adjacent puzzles page in the weekday Green Sheet section is not changing. And for those who want more puzzles and games, you can find them at jsonline.com/games.

Comics that are sticking around

These comic strips will remain part of our daily and Sunday lineup: Zits, Family Circus, Baby Blues, Pickles, Jumpstart, Ziggy and – as noted – Pearls Before Swine.

Foxtrot will continue to run on Sundays.

New comics in the lineup include some old favorites

Here are the 10 comics that will be added as part of the refresh: Blondie, Beetle Bailey, Hagar the Horrible, Dennis the Menace, Garfield, Peanuts, For Better or For Worse, Marmaduke, Non Sequitor and Crabgrass.

Those comics will also run on Sundays (along with Foxtrot, which is only offered on Sundays).

What didn’t make the cut 

To make room for the new strips, these nine will no longer be printed in the daily newspaper: Grand Avenue, Baldo, Crankshaft, Between Friends, Arlo and Janis, Curtis, Mutts, Luann and Marvin. In addition, these Sunday-only strips will no longer be printed: Mother Goose and Grimm, Caption It!, Dogs of C-Kennel, Hi and Lois, and Get Fuzzy.

Watch for more coverage, today and on future Sundays

In today’s newspaper, and over the coming two Sundays, we’re offering several features to introduce you to the comics and the artists behind them.

Inside today’s A section, we have a breakdown of our entire new lineup. And on the cover of our Life section, we have a colorful look at the history of newspaper comics as a distinctly American art form.

On the next two Sundays, look for features about the artists behind several of the strips, including Family Circus, Pickles, Blondie and Zits.

Everyone has their favorite comic strip, of course — and the switch will give us an additional one each day in the Journal Sentinel. I suspect I’ll soon fall into a new reading pattern.

But I’m pretty confident I’ll still end up reading Pearls Before Swine last.

Greg Borowski is executive editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @GregJBorowski and reach him via greg.borowski@jrn.com.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Journal Sentinel to refresh comics lineup, bring back old favorites