Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Jeffrey Lindenblatt's Paper Trends: The 300 for 1992 -- Biggest Gainers and Losers
1991 could be called the year of girl power. Both the top gainers added 13 papers to their list and both were by female cartoonists. The strips are For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnson and Cathy by Cathy Guisewite. Fox Trot was the third biggest gainer with 8 papers and both Calvin & Hobbes and Far Side continued their growth with 6 papers going to Calvin and 5 to Far Side. Also, the battle of who will have the most successful African American strip begins with Jump Start gaining 5 papers.
Top Gainers
For Better or For Worse – 13
Cathy – 13
Fox Trot – 8
Calvin and Hobbes – 6
Far Side – 5
Jump Start - 5
The continuing pattern of a last year’s rookie winners having big losses continues with Teenage Mutant Turtles losing 12 papers. Also, the Dick Tracy movie did not help the strip’s slow decline over the years; now it was falling off the cliff losing 12 papers which was almost a 50 percent drop from last year. Andy Capp continues its yearly decline with another 8 papers leaving the tavern. Also, we have a drop of 8 papers for the new strip When I Was Short. Here are the biggest losers of the year and their paper losses:
Dick Tracy – 12
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 12
Andy Capp – 8
When I Was Short – 8
Berry's World – 7
Marmaduke – 5
Herman – 5
Winthrop – 5
Pogo – 5
Broom Hilda – 5
Kudzu – 5
The adventure strip again continued its downfall with both Turtles and Tracy losing 12 papers and Batman ended with 7 papers. Almost of the adventure strips are losing papers this year. Alley Oop is still the most popular adventure strip. Is this a real success or is it because of being the NEA blanket comic strip section?
Adventure (-48) – down 25.6%
Alley Oop – 31 – (-4)
Amazing Spider-Man – 17 (-1)
Mark Trail – 15 (0)
Phantom – 15 (-1)
Dick Tracy – 14 (-12)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – 14 (-12)
Brenda Starr – 8 (-2)
Steve Roper and Mike Nomad – 7 (-3)
Mickey Mouse – 7 (-2)
Little Orphan Annie – 5 (-1)
Rip Kirby – 3 (-1)
Flash Gordon – 1 (-1)
Modesty Blaise – 1 (0)
Popeye – 1 (-1)
Ended
Batman – 7
Soap strips continue their slow decline again.
Soap (-9) – down 5.6%
Mary Worth – 55 – (-2)
Rex Morgan – 45 – (-1)
Judge Parker – 25 – (-3)
Apartment 3-G – 14 – (-2)
Gil Thorp – 9 (-1)
Heart of Juliet Jones – 3 (0)
Winnie Winkle – 3 (0)
Labels: Paper Trends
