'Raising Duncan' Comic Ends

By: Dave Astor United Media has dropped "Raising Duncan," according to Chris Browne.

The cartoonist told E&P he'll miss doing his partly autobiographical comic, which starred a loving couple bringing up a dog as if it were the child they never had. But Browne added that he'll now try his hand at children's books. And he'll continue doing "Hagar the Horrible" -- created by his father, the late Dik Browne -- for King Features Syndicate, which distributes that strip to more than 1,900 newspapers.

"Raising Duncan," launched in 2000, was in about 40 papers before it left syndication. Browne said United could have canceled the comic a couple of years ago, but was willing to give it more time to try to build an audience.