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The Next Stage in the Funny Page

Manga is coming to U.S. funny pages:

"Doonesbury" and "Peanuts," make way for "manga." Come January, the Sunday funnies of several major North American newspapers will have doe-eyed women in frilly outfits, effeminate long-haired heroes and other trademark images of the Japanese comic style.

The reason? Newspaper editors want to attract more young readers. A study released earlier this year by the Carnegie Corporation put the age of newspaper readers at 53 and climbing — hardly a recipe for circulation growth. [And the rest of the industry numbers ain't reassuring either]

The outfit, Universal Press Syndicate, is gonna start things small. Just test the waters with two American made manga:

"Van Von Hunter," by Ron Kaulfersch and Mike Schwark, is a horror spoof about a warrior and his female sidekick who dress in Gothic-inspired costumes and are on a mission to fight evil.

The quirky "Peach Fuzz" explores conflicting views of reality. It depicts 9-year-old Amanda's desire to become friends with her pet ferret, Peach, who harbors delusions of being a pampered, veil-donning princess.

Okay, those sound harmless. Not that crazy raped-by-space-alien-tentacles-and-evil-tree-roots manga. Quite a relief. Call me a prude, but I, for one, feel quite strongly there’s little room for tentacle rape in newspaper comic strips, even if tastefully done. (Been getting racy enough lately as it is, what with all the bed-hopping that silver fox Mary Worth's been up to. And Rex Morgan, M.D.? Have you read it lately? Sex Organ M.D. is more like it.)

To get a head start, you can find strips of Van Von Hunter here. And ladies, a little info on that adorable Peach Fuzz here.

For those of you depressed by what this augers, grumbling and mumbling yourself into some deep, funny-page-nostalgic-funk, Slate did a nice slide-show essay earlier this week on the best strip ever, Calvin and Hobbes. Read and remember.

posted by Dr. Reo Symes at 01:00 AM

Comments

Dammit, Doc-- I *want* my crazy raped-by-space-alien-tentacles-and-evil-tree-roots manga!

Oh well. I guess I'll settle for this stuff, as long as I can get an anime chick that looks just like MSNBC's Chris Jansing. Ya gotta love the Stewie Head!

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge on November 11, 2005 01:40 AM

How absolutely typical of Stale to portray Watterson's brilliant, joyous work as your ordinary gloomy, leftist, anti-corporate rant.

Posted by: someone on November 11, 2005 02:15 AM

My wife was part of the crop of manga-ka from whence Van Von Hunter sprang, and I can say that unless you are an anime affictionado , you could probably care less one way or the other.

That is, unless you really go for anime style catgirls, in which case you need to visit the Wilde Home for Wayward Catgirls:

http://www.bewildered-art.com/catgirls

Just recognize that in spite of the fact that I am (and the wife is to a lesser extent) are Right Wing Death Beasts, we continue to love those crazy Japanese influences...

Posted by: J. Wilde on November 11, 2005 02:19 AM

For a country so small, Japan is an impressive "cultural exporter", second only to the anglosphere. (Even back when I was a kid, every girl who was anyone had all the latest Hello Kitty gear.)

Posted by: SJKevin on November 11, 2005 02:42 AM

I will always remember.

Posted by: Russ on November 11, 2005 03:13 AM

Ahhh,

You've hit on the reason why newspaper circulation fell by at least ONE. I bought my last newspaper the day they quit printing Calvin and Hobbes.

Morons.

Posted by: RightNumberOne on November 11, 2005 07:01 AM

I suppose they have to do something, but I suspect that a couple of watered-down manga strips is not going to turn the tide of millions of younger people who get their news and information pretty much exclusively from INTERNET.

Posted by: Phinn on November 11, 2005 09:01 AM

Call me a prude, but I, for one, feel quite strongly there’s little room for tentacle rape in newspaper comic strips, even if tastefully done.

What? There's always room for tentacle rape. Haven't you been reading For Better or Worse lately?

Posted by: Evil Otto on November 11, 2005 09:08 AM

There's actually some potential here.

Who here wouldn't mind to see Zonker Harris go head-to-head with Tetsuo Shima?

Posted by: Xoxotl on November 11, 2005 09:59 AM

You know, one thing they could do to get the interest of the kids is maybe try to put the newspaper on those newfangled computer boxes all the kids are talking about.

I know, it would lose some of the charm of having someone throw a sack of wet, filthy, ink-smeared garbage on your doorstep, but at least you'd still get to pay to read what people who are no smarter than you tell you how to think.

Posted by: Tom on November 11, 2005 10:26 AM

Wow. Peach Fuzz got a mention in "Ferrets" magazine.

Peach Fuzz Accolades Keep Rolling In

Kudos

Posted by: on November 11, 2005 12:09 PM

"Bloom County," the first time around - none of that "Outland" crap for me, thanks - was better.

But Calvin and Hobbes is a close runner-up.

Posted by: Knemon on November 11, 2005 03:04 PM

If anybody cares, Rex Morgan, M.D. actually has a current storyline about a badly wounded Iraq vet. It's still unclear what political statement, if any, they're trying to make.

A few months ago, they had a storyline about somebody who died of cancer after he lost his job and couldn't afford health insurance, but they didn't come out and blame either political party.

Posted by: loge on November 11, 2005 03:16 PM

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Top Headlines

Oh no! Hamas' de facto press agent at the UN complains that she can't use her credit cards or rent a card now that she's been sanctioned as a terrorist operative
Why does this keep happening to members of the "political organization" (per Tucker Carlson) of Hamas?!?!

Tucker Carlson claims that it's weird that Ted Cruz is interested in the massacre of Christians by Nigerian Muslims, because he has "no track record of being interested in Christians," then blows off the massacre of Christians by Nigerian Muslims, saying it might or might not be a real concern
Tucker Carlson enjoys using the left-wing tactic of "Tactical Ignorance" to avoid taking positions on topics. Is Hamas really a terrorist organization? Tucker can't say. He hasn't looked into it enough, but "it seems like a political organization to me." Are Muslims slaughtering Christians in Nigeria? Again, Tucker just doesn't know. He hasn't examined the evidence yet. He knows every Palestinian Christian who said he was blocked from visiting holy sites in Bethlehem, but he just hasn't had the time to look into the mass slaughter of Christians in Nigeria that has been going on since (checks watch) 2009. He doesn't know, so he can't offer an opinion. Wouldn't be prudent, you know? Don't rush him! He'll sift through the evidence at some point in the future and render an opinion sometime around 2044.
Of course, if you need an opinion on Jewish Perfidy, he has all the facts at his fingertips and can give you a fully informed opinion pronto. Say, have you ever heard of the USS Liberty incident...?
You'd think that the main issue for Tucker Carlson, who pretends to be so deeply concerned about Palestinian Christians being bullied by Jews in Israel (supposedly), would be the massacre of 185,000 Christians in Nigeria itself. But no, his main problem is that Ted Cruz is talking about it, "who has no track record of being interested in Christians at all." And then he just shrugs as to whether this is even a real issue or not.
Whatever we do we must never "divide the right," huh?
Tucker is attacking Ted Cruz for bringing the issue up because he's acting as an apologist for Jihadism, and he can't cleanly admit that Jihadists are killing any Christians, anywhere. There is no daylight between him and CAIR at this point.
One might conclude that Tucker Carlson himself isn't interested in the plight of Christians -- except as they can be used as a cudgel to attack Jews.
Just gonna ask an Interesting Question myself -- why is it that Tucker Carlson's arguments all track with those shit out by Qatarian propaganda agents and the far left? That if Jews crush an ant underfoot it is worldwide news, but when Muslims slaughter Christians it elicits not even a vigorous shrug?

Sydney Sweeney has passed from celebrity to Meme Legend

Garth Merenghi is interviewed by the only man who can fathom his ineffable brilliance -- Garth Merenghi
From the comments:

I once glimpsed Garth in the penumbra betwixt my wake and sleep. He was in my dream, standing afar, not looking my way, nor did he acknowledge me. But I felt seen. And that's when I knew I was a traveler on the right path. I'm glad he's still with us.

Now that's some Merenghian prose.
Garth Merenghi on the writer's craft

Greetings, Traveler. If you still have not experienced Garth Merenghi -- Author, Dream-weaver, Visionary, plus Actor -- the six episodes of his Darkplace are still available on YouTube and supposedly upscaled to HD. (Viewing it now, it doesn't appeared upscaled for shit.)
I think the second episode, "Hell Hath Fury," is the best by a good margin. Try to at least watch through to that one. It's Mereghi's incisive but nuanced take on sexism.

TJM Returns with a discussion of Auteur Theory.

Podcast: The elections! NYC, Virginia, New Jersey, Texas, California, and the future prospects of the Republican party...

Update on Scott Adams:

Scott Adams had approval for this cancer drug but they hadn't scheduled him to get it. He was taking a turn for the worse. Trump had told him to call if he needed anything, so he did. Talked to Don Jr (who is in Africa) , then RFK Jr, then Dr Oz. Someone talked to Kaiser and he was scheduled. Shouldn't have needed it but he did and he says it saved his life.
Posted by: Notsothoreau

"Trump" goes trick-or-treating

Funny retro kid costumes, thanks to SMH
Good to see people honoring Lamont the Big Dummy

Four hours of retro Halloween commercials and specials
The first short is the original 1996 appearance of "Sam," the dangerous undead trick-or-treater from Trick r' Treat.

ICYMI: Australian journalist actually presses Kamala Harris when she repeatedly dodges questions about Biden's mental fitness
Kamala admits she didn't have the stamina to run for president, while continuing to insist he had the mental capacity to serve as president. He was too frail to run but perfectly strong enough to govern. Yeah sure whatever lying whore.

On Wednesday, we'll see the "Beaver Super-Moon." Which sounds hot.

Podcast: Historian and Pundit Robert Spencer joins us for a wide-ranging discussion about the Islamists in our midst: Mamdani in NYC, all across Europe, and others.

Full Episode: The Hardy Boys (and Nancy Drew) Meet Dracula
I don't remember this show, except for remembering that Nancy Drew was hot and the opening credits were foreboding and exicting

According to Grok, Latrine John-Pissoir has never failed to mention she is "black" (or "queer") during her book interviews
She may not know what the hell her book is about, but she definitely knows that "every day I wake up black and queer." Join the club, sister!

Schmoll: 53% of New Jersey likely voters say their neighbors are voting for Ciattarelli, while 47% say the cheater/grifter Mikie Sherrill
The "who do you think your neighbors are voting for" question is designed to avoid the Shy Tory problem, wherein conservative people lie to schmollsters because they don't want to go on record with a likely left-winger telling them who they're really voting for. So instead the question is who do you think your neighbors are voting for, so people can talk about who they themselves support without actually having to admit it to a left-wing rando stranger recording their answers on the phone.

Hackers take over University of Penn website, calling the school a "dogshit elitist institution full of woke retards" and threatening to release its admissions files to prove illegal racial discrimination
No lies detected so far

Live Now: Dana Loesch is interrogating Heritage President Kevin Roberts on his insistence that the gay Nazi Nick Fuentes is an absolutely essential "conservative" voice whose ideas we must take seriously and who we must absolutely not exclude based on his Naziism

TJM Complains about Wreck-It Ralph The very topical premiere of TJM's YouTube Channel.

Interesting football history: How the forward pass was created in response to the nineteen -- 19! -- people killed playing football in 1905 alone
The original rules of football did not allow forward passes. The ball was primarily advanced by running, with blockers forming lines with interlocked arms and just smashing into the similarly-interlocked defensive lines. It was basically Greek hoplite spear formations but with a semi-spherical ball. As calls to ban the sport entirely grew, some looked for ways to de-emphasize mass charges as the primary means of advancing the ball, and some specifically championed allowing a passer to throw the ball forward.