Ding-Dong, "Mallard Fillmore" Is Dead! And More Big Changes on the LAT Funnies Page

My prayers have been answered. The least funny comic in the history of comics -- and I'm including purposely unfunny "Rex Morgan, M.D." in the list -- has been axed from the Los Angeles Times.

Yes, sound the trumpets: "Mallard Fillmore" is no more, at least inside the LAT. (Sorry, Daily News readers.)

The "Mallard" dump is part of the latest Los Angeles Times funnies downsizing, which we wrote about earlier this morning. The paper has dropped its "Kids' Reading Pages" (sorry kids, you're expendable) -- where several comics, including "Peanuts" and "Heathcliff," resided. To squeeze those kid-friendly strips back on the two-page comics spread, several others had to go.



That includes "Mallard Fillmore," which I just ranted about last month:

Could it be possible? The terribly unfunny comic strip "Mallard Fillmore" appears to have become even less funny in recent months. Recently, the strip spent the entire week trying to draft an obscure economist for president. And above, the strip is making some sort of muddled point about people in China eating dogs (?!) Huh?

Look closer at that strip above. It's virtually all words, save a drawing of a dead dog and a tiny pic of the comic's namesake star. So not only is the strip unfunny, but it's not even visually appealing. Why, why, why does the Los Angeles Times insist on running such an amateur operation?

Other strips getting the ax: The liberal-leaning "Candorville" (which I kind of liked), the goofy "Mr. Boffo," and the one stirring up the most controversy this morning, Lalo Alcaraz's "La Cucaracha."



When "La Cucaracha" debuted in 2002, I wanted to like it. I really did. And some strips, especially the early ones, were pretty amusing. But more recently, the strip has had a hard time finding a laugh. Like last week's week-long collection of Anna Nicole Smith-inspired panels, like the one above.

In cutting back, it appears that the L.A. Times opted to stick with just two overtly political strips: One from the left (Doonesbury) and one from the right (Prickly City).

Also, the paper has once again shrunk down "Doonesbury" to match the size of the other strips. You'll remember they did the same thing in 2005 in the wake of a previous comics downsize. After readers complained, they unshrunk it a week later.