NB: We sent this letter to the Chronicle probably a month ago, but they are apparently too busy publishing letters about how global warming is a myth to waste editorial page space on a critique of their comics selection. So I'll publish it here. And I'm not bitter or anything.
When I first read a recent letter to the editor decrying a Doonesbury comic strip, I thought that the writer must have been hallucinating. What is this Doonesbury of which he speaks? Is he not aware that Doonesbury is created by a living artist, which would render him ineligible for inclusion on the Chronicle’s sad, outdated comics page?
Then I remembered that once a week, the Chronicle likes to tease its readers—some of whom must read the comics multiple times each day to small children—by offering a slightly improved slate of comics on Sundays. That includes the aforementioned offensive Doonesbury.
Frankly, I’d rather be offended by Doonesbury every single day than read one more “adventure” featuring the “hilarious” antics of Sarge and Beetle. (That Sarge! What a character! And how about Miss Buxley! She’s a dish, huh?) Try explaining Sarge’s senseless violence—and Miss Buxley’s unreasonably sexy work wardrobe—to a toddler.
In fact, I’d rather do almost anything than suffer through the comics kept alive in the Chronicle. Johnny Hart has shuffled off this mortal coil, and yet B.C. continues to assault me with fat jokes and thinly veiled intolerance toward non-Christians. The Born Loser, another comic not drawn by the original artist—who passed on 16 years ago—is funny only if you enjoy stereotypes about mothers-in-law and abusive bosses.
I can’t attack Peanuts (who besides Lucy could be mean to Charlie Brown?) but I will say that when Charles Schulz died, his family expressly stated that they wanted the strip to end. Who are we to dishonor those wishes?
Unless you intend to run B.C. from 1991 indefinitely, could you please consider something relevant, funny and drawn by someone alive as a replacement? I’m not saying go from B.C. to Boondocks, but how about trying a little Zits or—dare I say it—Doonesbury?