By: Dave Astor There has been "a lot of reaction" to the dropping of "Shoe" and "Rex Morgan, M.D.," said a Washington Post editor, but the newspaper doesn't have exact numbers yet.
The Post pulled those two comics, along with two others, to make room for "Candorville," "Frazz," and "Prickly City" (E&P Online, Jan. 3). Shirley Carswell, the Post's assistant managing editor for planning and administration, explained why these changes were made when reached today by E&P.
Carswell said one reason why "Shoe" was dropped is because the Tribune Media Services (TMS) strip is no longer done by its original creator, the late Jeff MacNelly. She added that a reason for the pulling of the King Features Syndicate-distributed "Rex" is that serial strips usually have a smaller audience than humor comics.
The three other aforementioned strips were brought in because they're relatively new to syndication, have already built followings, and increase the ethnic and ideological diversity of the Post's comics pages. For instance, Carswell noted that "Prickly City" (by Scott Stantis of Universal Press Syndicate) has a "right-of-center voice" that differs from "left-of-center voices" (such as "The Boondocks") already in the Post. "Candorville" is by Darrin Bell of the Washington Post Writers Group and "Frazz" is by Jef Mallett of United Media.
Carswell added that there has been little reader reaction so far to the "Ask Amy" advice column replacing "Dear Abby" (though the latter Universal feature will still run twice-weekly in the paper) and astrology columnist Holiday Mathis of Creators Syndicate replacing Jeraldine Saunders of TMS in the Post.
Why "Ask Amy," by the TMS-syndicated Amy Dickinson? "I read her when I spent some time in Chicago, and I think she has a nice style," replied Carswell. "She also does a lot of reporting."
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