Sorry readers. Turns out my “discovery” yesterday that RS has been running and re-running the comic strip of the long dead Charles Schulz for years was not any kind of scoop at all. Several of you informed me that it was a well known fact, and is done intentionally. Of course, that’s even sadder. Like the movie Groundhog Day, except it’s neither funny nor poignant. Maybe surrealist. Anyway the good news is that while researching the post, I discovered a couple of interesting comics by actual living artists. One actually plays on the comic in question:
Done more in the style of the underground comix I remember from my misspent youth, they imagine a post apocalypse Chuck Brown, exploring the classic male adolescent themes of revenge and heavy weaponry.
Folks, you can’t make this stuff up.
I also discovered Garfield minus Garfield:
Finally, a reason to read Garfield. And a new way to see the strip as an art project. Brilliant really. Click on either image to go the the artist website. Warning, you will never view a Garfield strip the same again. OK, maybe that’s a good thing.
Five years in the future, will we see the RS still running dead artist work, over and over, caught in a deathspiral timewarp? Look how easy it is to find better material. Meanwhile, vibrant living art and culture move on, sadly leaving the RS behind….
(Edit) Well I guess we know the answer to that question. 5 years and beyond…
