Considering those comics

We here at The Jamestown Sun wonder if our comics page needs changes in its lineup. And we’d like your input.

No decision has been made on whether to replace any comics. None will be made without lots of consideration and subscriber feedback (more on that later).

We’ve been talking about our comics page for the past few months but have taken little action because the comics page is to a newspaper what a third rail is to a subway train; you can’t touch it without getting burned.

It is so hard to change a comic page because readers connect with comic strip characters on a deep emotional level because of the daily bits of joy they can bring into our lives. It can be very hard to cope when one of those characters is switched out for another.

This is why there are so many cases where comics are continued long past their creators’ deaths. It’s a sad thing, too, because there are a ton of new, young cartoons out there made by fresh minds that we would love to show you instead of strips that are past their time.

We’d like to know your opinion of the comics page because at least four of the strips are on their second or third artists, and two of the strips are more than 75 years old.

We want as much reader feedback on this issue as possible before we make the decision. We’re going to do this in two stages. First, we ask all Sun subscribers to send me correspondence about what comics they want us to keep and which ones should be replaced.

The best way to send this information is with e-mail. You can tell me your thoughts on the comics question by sending a message to ladams@jamestownsun.com with “ATTN: COMICS” in the subject line.

The second best way to send that correspondence is with traditional mail. You can send those letters to:

Logan C. Adams — COMICS

The Jamestown Sun

P.O. Box 1760

Jamestown, ND 58402

If you want to drop them off at The Sun by hand, go ahead. We are located at 121 Third St. N.E.

Remember to print legibly or type them. Unreadable letters will be fed to my garbage can.

On top of the correspondence, we would like to organize a few focus groups of about 12 subscribers each. I have a stack of potential comics on my desk, and I would like to hear some subscriber opinions about the candidates before we go any further.

To get your name on the list for a focus group, use one of those aforementioned means of contacting me to say that you’re interested. Be sure to list a few days of the week and times that you’ll be available to meet.

Finally, please make sure to tell all your newspaper-reading friends and family members to read this column. You wouldn’t want them to miss their chance to have a say before it is too late. Once we do make these comic changes, we plan on keeping them for a while.

You are important to us and we want you to enjoy this newspaper. Please help us get it right.

(Logan C. Adams is the assistant editor of The Jamestown Sun. He operates the Sun’s news blog at www.areavoices.com/ adams and can be reached at 701-952-8451 or by e-mail at ladams@jamestown sun.com)

Tags: comics, jamestownsun