There can be only Two. Maybe Four.

Whenever a cartoonist dies his peers often then use their own venue to feature the characters of that cartoonist looking saddened at the news of his death. I have seen a few in reference to the recently deceased Johnny Hart, most notably from Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist Steven Breen. Nothing against Breen, he has a Pulitzer and I don't and I have read in the past that cartoonists get sometimes frustrated with the content they have to use when a celebrity or peer passes away. Bob Hope doing stand up for generations of deceased soldiers in heaven, anyone?

As far as I'm concerned, the only memorial cartoons that should have been allowed this cliched yet respectful practice were Walt Kelly for Pogo and Charles Schultz for Peanuts. Since they are gone, seeing any other comic characters in mourning is as welcome and original as the cartoons portraying the Statue of Liberty holding a flashlight after a New York blackout.

There is also talk of another artist continuing the B.C. and Wizard of Id strips. I'd rather that instead of new entries the Hart creations follow instead the Peanuts model and give readers reprints of classic strips from back when they were clever, insightful and hilarious.

Maybe, just maybe, I'll be willing to bend that "No Comic Characters In Mourning" rule someday in the far distant future for Bloom County creator Berkeley Breathed and Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes. A sad penguin missing his creator or a worried stuffed Tiger playing hide and seek with a non-existent Calvin would break my heart.

Tags: Johnny Hart Cartoonists

Cranky is as cranky does.