Please, Go Gentle into that Good Night

A few days ago, cartoonist Johnny Hart died. He was the creator of the strips The Wizard of Id and B.C. I am sure his death is a terrible blow to his family, and they have my sympathy.

But.

But.

Let the cartoons die with him. Please.

The plans are to continue both of the strips using a computer archive of drawings. Really, is that necessary? Is there anyone, anyone who gets up in the morning and dashes to the newspaper to find out what new, hilarious joke the Wizard of Id has in store for us today? No? No one? That's what I thought. The king is short. We get it. The wizard's wife is cranky. We get that too. It stopped being amusing about a decade ago.

Wikipedia tells me that B.C. started in 1957. Fifty years is a darn good run. And now it's time to let it go.

I'm perfectly happy to see Peanuts reruns, but that started a dangerous trend. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I had a burst of joy when I heard that the cartoonist who drew Dennis the Menace had died. (I know, I'm a bad person.) But I thought, at last we will be free! The manacles are broken! At last we we will not have to see the same stupid jokes over and over again! But no. My hopes were dashed and every day we are tortured with a new-but-oh-so-very-stale Dennis the Menace.

I find it hard to believe that in a country of three hundred million people that there are not a few cartoonists out there with some fresh ideas. Give them a chance!