This weekend, the Globe & Mail murdered a comic strip. Yup, much to the shock and surprise of all it’s fans, Fisher was laid to rest. I’ve been in a bit of a tizzy all day.
While I understand that comics don’t fit well on smart phones and some tablets and so eventually all of them may disappear from all newspapers, , I still read my newspaper on paper (I guess I’m old-fashioned that way). I am quite puzzled as to why the Globe decided to drop the two Canadian series it carried (that were, apparently unique to the Globe and appeared no where else) in favour of some imported crap (and some of the other stuff they kept IS crap).
The cartoonist, Philip Street, blogged about the end of the strip here at his blog Idiot Mittens.
I wrote him yesterday:
Dear Mr. Street:
Well, I was absolutely gutted to see Fisher disappear. I’ve been with the strip as regular reader since almost the first days (has it been that long?) and it’s been a regular part of my day, every day. (And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked my wife where are the cameras you’ve hidden in our house! I guess you can come over now and take them back <g>)(And I also have a child very much like Paul).
I cannot believe that the Globe decided to drop the two identifiably Canadian strips and keep imported dreck like “Pearls before Swine” (a strip that I refuse to even look at and have since the second week it ran).
Fisher has been a part of my morning (or evening if I didn’t get to the paper in. a.m.). I often would read it before anything else. Conversations with my wife often started off with “Have you seen Fisher today?” I even sent copies of a recent strip to fellow board members of the Association of Independent Consultants and it got a round of applause (the one where Fisher is tempted to become (freelance) consultant.
I’m going to miss all of the characters and all the groans, laughs, smiles, guffaws–and sighs and wry/sad moments as well when you tackled some more serious problems (like Ruth & Eugene’s infertility).
I hope that the characters will be given some life some other place and some other time and that you will be able continue to contribute to making every day start with a smile.
Anyways, thank you. It’s sad to see this strip go.
Farewell Tom Fisher.