The Statesman is refreshing its comics lineup to better reflect our changing audience

We grew up reading comics at home, and they served a dual purpose: education and enjoyment. We had all arrived from Cuba, fleeing the communist dictatorship of Fidel Castro in the 1960s. A new land, rich with opportunity, and a new language, which none of us spoke.

"Dick Tracy," "Family Circus," "Peanuts" and other comics became essential reading because they were one of the avenues for us to learn English, along with the crossword puzzles, newspapers, billboards and local TV. A dictionary was always nearby.

As I got older, Mad Magazine became essential reading for me and its brilliant comic strip "Spy v Spy," created by a fellow Cuban, Antonio Prohías, a native of Cienfuegos, where my father-in-law, Emilio, also grew up.

Prohías' satire was so ahead of his time. He seamlessly told stories in pictures, and in the case of "Spy v Spy," without words.

Fast-forward, and many decades later, I'm now an editor and see how comics still move the heart and capture the moment. They are a vital part of the daily tradition for so many of our loyal readers. From time to time, we survey our readers, are we covering the right beats? How relevant is our content today versus yesteryear? And that includes a look at our comics. And we are making changes with several of our comics, hoping to better reflect our changing audience.

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Our refresh of the daily comics begins on Jan. 29, and we start our Sunday comics refresh on Feb. 4. Comics are very personal and vary from reader to reader. We have worked hard in this effort, taking months to prepare, because we understand the relationship that comics play in our lives.

Daily comics you can expect

Let me provide you with a snapshot of what to expect. I'll break it down into daily comics and the Sunday comics. Starting with daily, we will go from 36 to 33 comics, and also give you an improved print presentation.

You'll will continue to have daily "Argyle Sweater," "Baby Blues," "Baldo," "BC," "Blondie," "Born Loser," "Crabgrass," "Garfield," "Hägar the Horrible," "Hi & Lois," "Jump Start," "Luann," "Mother Goose," "Mutts," "Peanuts," "Pearls Before Swine," "Pickles," "Rose is Rose," "Sally Forth," "Shoe," "Wizard of Id," "Ziggy" and "Zits."

We are adding "Beetle Bailey," "Close to Home," "Crankshaft," "Curtis," "Dennis the Menace," "Family Circus," "For Better or Worse," "Frank & Ernest," "Marmaduke" and "NonSequitur." They replace "Bizarro," "Candorville," "Doonesbury," "F minus," "Frazz," "Get Fuzzy," "One big happy," "Over the hedge," "Phoebe & Her Unicorn," "Prickly City," "Red & Rover" and "Wumo."

New changes to our Sunday comics lineup

On Sundays, we will still publish 34 comics. We will continue to have Argyle Sweater, Baby Blues, Baldo, Born Loser, Crabgrass, Family Circus, Foxtrot, Garfield, Hi & Lois, Jump Start, Luann, Mutts, Peanuts, Pearls Before Swine, Pickles, Rose is Rose, Sally Forth, Ziggy and Zits.

New to our Sunday lineup are BC, Beetle Bailey, Blondie, Close to Home, Crankshaft, Curtis, Dennis the Menace, For Better or Worse, Frank & Ernest, Hägar the Horrible, Marmaduke, Mother Goose, NonSequitur, Shoe and Wizard of Id. They replace Big Nate, Candorville, Doonesbury, Dustin, F minus, Frazz, Get Fuzzy, Macanudo, Over the hedge, Phoebe & her unicorn, Pooch Café, Prickly City, Prince Valiant, Wallace the brave and Wumo.

How to see the comics on your eNewspaper

Also worth knowing: Our comics offerings on our website remain the same. The eNewspaper, a replica of our print edition, will reflect the changes of those comics. If you want to see a full selection of online comics, click on https://www.statesman.com/comics - this will take you to the main comics page at USAToday.com.

More: Your Statesman subscription includes digital copy: How to access the E-Edition

The updates we make today do not impact the cost of your subscription or delivery. Thank you once again for your continued support of the Statesman. Your subscription helps fund our local journalism, which we produce in service of you, our trusted readers. And if you are not a subscriber, we welcome you to please join our family of subscribers who help our mission to serve our community with independent and trusted local journalism. Wishing you all the best,

Manny García

Executive Editor, Austin American-Statesman

mrgarcia@statesman.com

@manny_garcia1

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin American-Statesman is updating its Sunday comics lineup