Frustrations with Media

I'm getting pretty irate at something which is really only a defenition of itself...

Specifically newspaper comic strips.

All the really GREAT ones, with hilarious lines and amusing pictures and bitting, witty satire have a finite run. The creators have integrity and choose a cutoff point when THEY feel their work would start to become redundant or that they no longer have anything to add... Doubtless what the produce would still be very good, but perhaps not as great as what it once was. So they stop. They remove themselves, they take their creative genius and funnel it someplace else... someplace that is usually less accessable if it's avaliable to the public at all. Bill Waterson and Gary Larson (is anyone surprised to learn that he studied herpetology? I wasn't) are two such individuals.

And then the strips that are absolute horrible reeking works of mindless repetition of concepts that were barely worth a hint of a smile to begin with NEVER DIE. When was the last time anyone actually laughed out loud at Garfield? Or Ziggy... or that trainwreck of an attempt at humor known as Family Circus? Even the ones which aren't *that* bad need to be put down for their own good... How many times can beetle baily anger the sarge before it drives people (myself) insane with rage?

It makes sense... that the quality strips with the intelligent, quality author/artists would stop when there are questions about quality and that the mind numbing garbage would continue as long as the syndication is there... but it sure is frustrating.