Tom Tomorrow reprints correspondence that indicates that things aren’t any better for alternative weekly comics than they were a few months ago.
To no one’s surprise the “temporary” Village Voice Media suspension of cartoons continues indefinitely. I haven’t been contacted myself, but one of my colleagues got this email:
I had said we would review syndicated cartoons after the first quarter, so wanted to get back to you.
Sadly, the results were disappointing, so we’re going to have to extend our moratorium on syndicated cartoons for at least another quarter.
Wish I had better news. I hope we can resume our relationship when things finally turn around.
Well, shit.
We’re in a state of transition in the publishing world and the universe of alternative weeklies. Today, no comic strips. Tomorrow, no articles.
In related news, last week L.A. Citybeat and Blender both bit the dust.
The daily strips were the foundation of the comic industry. As newspapers go so will the strips. It’s a sad state of affairs but they have to migrate to a new platform. It’s a matter of survival.
Dumb dumb dumb.
The only reason pick up these weeklies is for a bit of quick amusement on the bus. Come for the cartoons and Dan Savage, stick around for show times. Lose the quick entertainment fix, you might as well just hang up your entire print run in the bathroom.