The Inevitable: We All Must Go

But before I get to that cryptic subject line, I gotta say it's simply a hoot when other cartoon characters (and other characters period) show up in a comic strip. "Luann" today chalked up a double-dose of fun with the unusual pairing of Homer Simpson and Darth Vader. Mm-hm. Weird.

There's no denying that life goes on, that we grow old and eventually die. For cartoonists, this fact is particularly poignant, since most of their lives are consumed by doing pretty much one thing, and a public grows very accustomed to that one thing being done, due to its regularity. So a movie actor or sports figure winks out like a shooting star, but they're rarely a part of day-to-day life like the men and women who ink the strips that greet us every morning. That's why many cartoonists take on apprentices to learn the craft, passing on the lines and curves and techniques, training family members or colleagues in the basics of their strip's nuances. And some artists are irreplaceable and would never dream of leaving a legacy to anyone else.

That said, you can usually tell if one of the older generation of ink and painters is starting to flag; their lines are not as graceful or the composition begins to look a little rough around the edges. Comics like "Dennis The Menace", "Family Circus", "Beetle Bailey" and "Hi and Lois" are prime examples of strips that have been around for awhile, but are starting to show little inconsistencies in their drawings. I'm not exactly sure what the contingency plan for each of these features is, but you'd be surprised how many comics in syndication today are re-runs by artists who have passed on. Is it that there aren't many new examples of daily hilarity to take their places? Or have we just grown to love them so much that we can't let them go?