"Fox Trot" to appear sundays only

I got to today's funnies quite a bit later than normal seeing as how they're now actually yesterday's funnies. I normally save Bill Amend's "Fox Trot" for last because it's my favorite strip and has been for years, probably since Bill Watterson's "Calvin and Hobbes" officially ended (though some papers still carry reruns just as The Inquirer still prints "Peanuts" daily and Sunday).

Today an editor's note above "Fox Trot" caught my eye and drew me to it sooner...

"Fox Trot" creator Bill Amend will stop the Monday through Saturday comic strip at the end of the year. The Sunday strip will continue appearing in The Inquirer.

That's a shocker to me as I'd heard no rumors (though it's not as if I'm a comics insider or anything), but of course it's true and here's the confirming press release. Yep, the funnies continue to get less and less funny as the years go by.

"The Boondocks" had been in reruns for quite a while as Aaron McGruder took time off to concentrate on the TV version of the strip and get away from the daily comics grind. In his case, though, I had indeed heard rumors that he might make his sabbatical permanent and indeed it just recently became official. I came to enjoy "The Boondocks" even though when it first started it was as likely to annoy me as entertain.

Now that "The Boondocks" has ended (as far as original strips) The Inquirer has replaced it with a strip called "F Minus" which I've yet to laugh at (or even mildly chuckle) once, so the title seems apt. I hope the paper does a better job of filling the daily "Fox Trot" void (at least it will still appear Sundays).

My remaining favorites are "Baby Blues" and "Zits" followed by "Get Fuzzy" and at times "The Piranha Club".

By the way, what's Gary Larson doing these days?