Annie and Sandy are riding off into the sunset

[skyvue]

There are precious few tomorrows left for Little Orphan Annie.

Phil Rosenthal breaks the news in today's Chicago Tribune:

Through more than 85 years of hardships and challenges -- spanning the Great Depression, a world war, foreign cabals, corruption at home, several kidnappings and, well, being an orphan -- she somehow always found a way to triumph.

In the changing media landscape, however, Little Orphan Annie has run into adversity not even she could overcome. The sun will come out tomorrow, but the tomorrow after June 13 will be the first in generations to dawn without "Annie" appearing in a daily newspaper.

The final Sunday panel of the strip, once seen in hundreds of papers but now run by fewer than 20, will end with Daddy Warbucks uncertain over what happened to Annie in her latest run-in with the Butcher of the Balkans. And, leaping lizards, what about her dog, Sandy? Arf....​

It's sad news, but she had quite a run -- newspapers, radio, movies, Broadway. I can't help but wonder how many people under the age of 40 are still reading the strip.

Godspeed, Annie. Give our regards to Dondi.

 

[Tango Yankee]

Wow. I didn't know the strip was still running! I never really read it... those ovals for eyes creeped me out!

 

[LizzieMaine]

That leaves only Dick Tracy and Gasoline Alley still running from the classic Golden Era stable of Chicago Tribune/New York News comics -- Annie joins The Gumps, Harold Teen, Moon Mullins, Smitty, Smilin' Jack, Winnie Winkle, and Terry and the Pirates in newsprint oblivion.

Very sad. It's been a shadow of itself for years, but go back and read the strips from the mid-thirties and they're absolutely transfixing. Whatever Harold Gray's shortcomings might have been as a cartoonist, he was a brilliant storyteller.

 

[Geesie]

Dick Tracy is also a shadow of its former self. Or rather, a vaguely surreal hilariously poorly illustrated imitation of its former self.

At least The Phantom and Prince Valiant have maintained high quality for 70+ years.

 

[Bustercat]

Gotta love "zombie strips." I'm ambivalent, It's nice to see them still around, but they're past their prime and there are so many cartoonists dying for those spots.

Could you imagine if the honeymooners was still being filmed and shown primetime, with some two-bit actor in gleason makeup?

speaking of comics...

 

[ClassicMan1966]

That leaves only Dick Tracy and Gasoline Alley still running from the classic Golden Era stable of Chicago Tribune/New York News comics -- Annie joins The Gumps, Harold Teen, Moon Mullins, Smitty, Smilin' Jack, Winnie Winkle, and Terry and the Pirates in newsprint oblivion.

Very sad. It's been a shadow of itself for years, but go back and read the strips from the mid-thirties and they're absolutely transfixing. Whatever Harold Gray's shortcomings might have been as a cartoonist, he was a brilliant storyteller.

Most newspaper comic strips are rather lame nowadays. Most of the jokes are stale like a five-day piece of bread and the plots are rather dull. Man, I missed Calvin and Hobbes.

 

[Diamondback]

Ditto on C&H, and add The Far Side to the list.

I don't know what it's gonna be like if they pull the plug on Garfield...