Letters to the Editor

Dear Editer,

1/2/24

this is a short message. My question is why don’t you have comic strips? I think comic strips would be a fun addition to the Sun. don’t you think people would like to read strips like calvin and hobbes? or dilbert? Or maybe garfield and big nate. so I’ m asking that you Please add comics to the saratoga sun.

Thanks, for reading this,

Respectfully

Parker Monroe

Saratoga

From the Sun

Dear Parker -

Thank you for writing to the Saratoga Sun. We always like hearing from loyal readers. Although you did not mention your age, we were able to surmise that you are an elementary school student. So we are doubly impressed that you have reached out to us with your letter. And - thank you for the smiley face. Lets us know that you have an interest in this matter, but are not mad at us. That means a lot!

There are several complications to any paper that wants to include comics. The cartoonists seldom operate individually, or make arrangements with papers directly. They use companies that then, in turn, contact newspapers about including the comic strips. This is called syndication. The syndicating companies generally require that you publish several of their cartoonist customers, so we could not pick and choose exactly what we want. Then being a weekly newspaper presents challenges, since they generally favor papers that print several days each week. Also, not all of the popular cartoons use the same syndication company, so we would need to have a contract with several.

Let me talk about two of the comics you mentioned. Dilbert is no longer available for any print publisher. The cartoon’s creator took that strip to an online platform last March. The website is called Locals.com, and he has some kind of channel through X/Twitter. I believe both require a paid subscription. Calvin & Hobbes is no longer syndicated either, but look at a website called GoComics.com and you can still see the old steps republished daily. That site is free. Garfield is there also, although I’m not sure about Big Nate.

So Parker, I appreciate your love of the ‘funnies’ but we find the challenges - and the expense - of including them in the Saratoga Sun to outweigh including them. Although that could change someday, since we are always looking at ideas to make the paper the best version we can for our readers. We do hope you have looked at our Kid’s Scoop section. Not quite a comic, but it is intended to be a fun activity for young people like yourself.

Thank you again for writing Parker, and please stop by the office one day. We would love to meet you.

Sun Staff