The L.A. Times took advantage of the end of the "Cathy" comic strip to also ax a second strip, "Rex Morgan, M.D.," and turn the space over to the puzzle "Kenken."
You'd think the LAT would know better by now. The paper has already dramatically reduced its comics count in recent years -- even dropping a page from the daily and two pages from the Sunday edition. And everytime the paper dumps another strip (such as "Sally Forth" last year), it hears an outcry from readers.
This time was no different. Yeah, I had no idea people actually still read the serialized comic strips -- and apparently neither did the LAT, which had cut all of its serialized strips up until "Rex Morgan" -- and now has none. Read some of the reaction here.
Here's reader Kirk McDonald's reaction:
I'm sure I am not the only faithful reader of the LA Times' Comics pages who is disappointed to learn of the sacrifice of two more slots for daily strips to yet another inane puzzle game that appeals to only a handful of readers. Unless I’m grossly mistaken, I find it hard to believe that there was a large segment of the Times’ readership clamoring for the addition of Kenken to the comics pages.
I have been a loyal subscriber to the Los Angeles times for nearly 30 years, and the number one reason I continue to subscribe is for the Comics page. It’s the first thing I read every morning (since the “news” is already stale by the time the paper is delivered, thanks to television and the Internet). But seeing as how the daily strips have been reduced from 43 in 2002 (including Dilbert, in Business, and In the Bleachers, in Sports) down to just 30, and the Sunday format taken from 28 down to 23 (and divided into an ad-infested, ridiculous 2-part travesty), I am seriously reconsidering my continued loyalty.
I gotta admit, I had never heard of the "Kenken" puzzle until the L.A. Times installed it.
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