Jeffrey Lindenblatt's Paper Trends: The 300 for 1990 -- Rookie Features

 Last year the rookie winner was a revival of the strip that debuted in 1934,  Li'l Abner, returning with reprints of strips from the late 1940’s. This year the top two rookies follow much the same path – they are revivals of classic strips. At least in this case, though, they are coming back with original material.

The top rookie with a strong debut of 32 papers is the revival of Walt Kelly’s Pogo. This new version is  by Larry Doyle and Neal Sternecky and syndicated by Los Angeles Times Syndicate. This is the syndicate’s first rookie top honors since Star Wars in 1979.

Coming in second is a character that believe it or not is having its fourth run in newspapers: The Batman. The reason for the revival was the big success of the new Batman film during the summer of 1989. The strip was originally done by Max Collins and Marshall Rogers; after three months the strip would be taken over by William Messner-Loebs and Carmine Infantino. It was syndicated by Creators Syndicate.

There are three other important debuts this year. Last year King Features introduced their major African American strip with Curtis; this year both Tribune and United enter the fray with Herb and Jamaal (8 papers) and Jump Start (6 papers). Also, we have the debut of a strip that would be a big success in the 1990’s but in this survey it started with a paltry 4 papers: Dilbert.

Here are all the Rookies of 1989:

Pogo – 32
Batman – 15
Phipps – 11
Norb – 9
Herb and Jamaal – 8
Word For Word – 8
New Breed – 7
Jump Start – 6
Rubes – 6
Fusco Brothers – 5
Dilbert – 4
Dillon – 3
Sibling Revelry – 3
Defunitions – 2
Wildlife* – 2
Being Here, Dad’s-Eye-View, Monkey Business, Sports Hall of Shame, Wyse Advice, Yooper Bloopers – 1

* Started in 1987, first apearance in The 300 this year

Top Strips that began between 1977-1989

Garfield (1978) – 211
Calvin and Hobbes (1985) - 175
Far Side (1979) – 163
For Better or For Worse (1979) – 129
Shoe (1977) – 116    

Top Strips that Began in 1980’s

Calvin and Hobbes (1985) – 175
Mother Goose and Grimm (1984) – 55
Marvin (1982) – 45
Sally Forth (1982) – 43
Arlo and Janis (1985) - 41