Readers Watch Out for 'Dykes' Comic Strip

By: Dave Astor Updated at 11:55 a.m. ET

Which syndicated comic just celebrated its 20th birthday, just got collected in its 10th book, and just isn't known to many readers of daily newspapers? "Dykes to Watch Out For."

Alison Bechdel's feature has 60 clients -- including many lesbian, gay, and feminist publications, some alternative weeklies, but no mainstream dailies. While comics sections reflect America's diversity more than before -- and include gay characters in strips such as "Doonesbury" and "For Better or For Worse" -- these sections have yet to welcome lesbians or gays in starring roles. United Media does offer "Jane's World" by Paige Braddock on Comics.com.

Bechdel once had preliminary talks with a big syndicate, but it wanted to water down her comic. The Vermont creator isn't even focused on mainstream dailies, though she'd like more alternative-weekly clients. "The time is getting really ripe," she said. "People are a lot less frightened of homosexuality."

Not that her comic only focuses on that. "It's about life," Bechdel said, as lived by a mostly lesbian, multi-racial cast that also features heterosexual, male, and kid characters. The every-other-week, often-ten-panel strip is part character-driven soap opera and part op-ed column that includes everything from humorous criticism of Bush-administration policies to mention of the tough competition independent bookstores face from chains. To reflect that reality, Bechdel this year reluctantly closed the bookstore that served as a major setting in her comic.

The jacket of Bechdel's 10th book -- Dykes and Sundry Other Carbon-Based Life Forms to Watch Out For -- mentions this development while giving insight into what some of the comic's characters have been up to: "Curmudgeonly Mo rants about Dr. Laura, Donald Rumsfeld, [and] gay Enron execs... while her cozy counterculture community is quickly shifting beneath her feet. Her job is in jeopardy as the customer base of Madwimmin Books defects to the chains. Her ex, Clarice, is displaying symptoms of soccer mom-itis. Her best friend, Lois, has announced her new name is Louis. And her old pal Sparrow considers whether having a baby with her boyfriend will compromise her identity as a radical lesbian feminist. Meanwhile, Toni doesn't know what to do when Clarice's George W. Bush-induced depression lasts long after the inauguration, and in the wake of 9/11, her friends square off on questions of idealism, violence, compassion, patriotism, and dissent... ."

Bechdel, 43, is also writing and drawing a graphic novel about her relationship with her father. And she has freelanced for publications such as Ms., Out, The Advocate, and The Village Voice.

The self-syndicated cartoonist (dykestowatchoutfor.com) grew up in Pennsylvania and studied art and art history at Ohio's Oberlin College.

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Sherffius Resigns From Post-Dispatch

Cartoonist, Paper Say Split Was Amicable

Editorial John Sherffius resigned from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, saying he enjoyed his five years there but that his work was no longer a good fit for the newspaper.

"It was my decision," said Sherffius, when reached by E&P Online Dec. 10. He declined to elaborate about why he made that decision, but both he and a Post-Dispatch spokesman said ideological reasons were not involved.

"John is obviously a liberal cartoonist and we're a liberal editorial page," said Matt Davis, media relations manager for the paper.

The departure was amicable, according to Davis and Sherffius, whose last cartoon ran Dec. 9.

Sherffius will continue self-syndicating editorial cartoons to other clients -- doing three or four a week rather than the six he did for the Post-Dispatch -- and also work on a comic, illustrations, and a children's book. And the award-winning artist -- who plans to remain in the St. Louis area -- is looking forward to spending more time with his kids (ages 5 and 3). Sherffius is married to Stephanie Simon, a Midwest correspondent for the Los Angeles Times.

Will he eventually seek a full-time editorial cartooning position again? "I won't rule it out, though I know how difficult those jobs are to get," said Sherffius, 41. "I love the field. I'm very committed to editorial cartooning."

The Post-Dispatch will publish syndicated cartoons until hiring a replacement for Sherffius sometime next year, said Editorial Page Editor Christine Bertelson in a memo posted Dec. 10 on Romenesko (http://www.poynter.org). Bertelson also wrote a Dec. 10 note to Post-Dispatch readers in which she praised Sherffius for "the level of his draftsmanship and the boldness of his images."

Sherffius was hired from the Ventura County (Calif.) Star in 1998 partly on the recommendation of a panel of four Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonists Bertelson convened from other newspapers. Will a similar panel be used again? Bertelson couldn't be reached for comment Dec. 10, and Davis said a decision about that has yet to to be made.

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A Major Year-End Package

It's From The N.Y. Times Syndicate

Madeleine Albright, Noam Chomsky, Erica Jong, Tomas Eloy Martinez, Richard Roeper, and other notables contributed pieces to a New York Times Syndicate year-in-review package.

"Turning Points 2003" covers topics such as American foreign policy, world trade, Latin American populism, abortion, independent films, and Asian athletes in the U.S.

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Et cetera ...

"Red and Rover" cartoonist Brian Basset, whose Washington Post Writers Group comic stars a boy and his dog, was sent more than 50 e-mails praising his Dec. 7 Pearl Harbor tribute strip within two days after it ran. In the comic, Red informs Rover that "many a dog lost their boy forever" on Dec. 7, 1941. One reader told Basset: "Your strip was one of the most poignant I have ever seen regarding Pearl Harbor Day. Each time I reread it tears well up." Another used the word "masterpiece" to describe the Dec. 7 comic. "Some of the nicest notes I've ever received," Bassett told E&P Online. Basset also marked the Pearl Harbor anniversary in his "Adam@Home" comic distributed by Universal Press Syndicate.

The "MuttsMobile," a 35-foot-long pet adoption center run by North Shore Animal League America, is on location during the "Mutts: The Art of Patrick McDonnell" show at the Society of Illustrators in New York City. The exhibit, which coincides with the new hardcover book of the same name, runs through Jan. 3. Also, McDonnell is scheduled to host an online chat with The Washington Post on Dec. 19, according to King Features Syndicate. And the McDonnell-created "Gift of Nothing" (an empty box) is selling for $12. One-hundred percent of the proceeds go to Toys for Tots, the organization that provides presents to needy kids. The cartoonist (http://www.muttscomics.com) has offered to draw 10 original color illustrations for fans who find a "golden ticket" in the box.

The Salt Lake (Utah) Tribune reinstated "Judge Parker" and "Mary Worth" Dec. 8 after more than 1,200 people -- many of them older readers -- asked that the two King comics be brought back.