I had to stop this week and consider my column topic.

After all, there’s plenty of serious news I could weigh in on — a massive, $787 billion economic stimulus plan comes to mind.

Perhaps it seems frivolous of me to focus on the Globe funnies.

NAAAAH.

I received more than 150 responses from our readers to my request a couple of weeks ago for their top three favorite strips and their three most disliked strips.

Out of all of my requests for reader input, this one by far has resulted in the most feedback.

And, after reading all of those responses, I’ve decided Globe comics are important.

Just ask Fran Cook:

“I love to read the comics in the newspaper ... thanks for taking our laughs seriously.”

For some readers, the daily comics have become an escape during these dark economic times.

Lloyd Livingston of Riverton, Kan., says: “Overall the comics bring some laughs, even for a little while.”

I put the comic discussion in full gear after making the announcement that we were dropping “Lio,” a strip that I have received complaints about for the past two years. That strip, by the way, was added after the creator of “Foxtrot” decided to take weekdays off. He now only draws a Sunday cartoon.

Anyway, you’ll notice “Lio” is gone and “Zits” is in.

Here’s Kay Adams’ reaction:

“I’m glad Lio is being canceled. At first it was kind of off the wall, cute and thought-provoking. It gets worse every day.”

And Louise Stover says:

“I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad you are taking ‘Lio’ off the comic page. I was considering discontinuing my subscription just because he was in the comics. It was just a little too much and creepy.”

Many of the responses I received were similar. However “Lio” does have some fans out there and I heard from 10 or 11 of them.

Rick Campbell opines:

“My dear madam, this is an outrage! What shock and dismay swept across my very soul when I turned to your comic page Monday morning to find ‘Lio’ had suddenly gone missing.”

I think Rick was having some fun with me, but there are a few serious ‘Lio’ fans out there, and I’m sorry I can’t always make all of our readers happy.

I don’t know all the ages of those who responded, but I think it was probably a pretty good cross-section.

Hands down the four strips mentioned most as favorites were “Beetle Bailey,” “Blondie,” “For Better or Worse” and “Stone Soup.” Hey, look at that. We have bipartisan readers here. They chose from the left and the right sides of the comic aisles.

I predicted “Beetle Bailey.” Afterall, “Beetle Bailey,” created by Mort Walker, was based on his experiences at Camp Crowder in Neosho. Yes, Camp Swampy is our own Camp Crowder. Then, I remembered a little tidbit I had read in Wally Kennedy’s column. It’s possible that “Blondie” also has ties to our area. Wally reported that according to “Angling in the Archives,” a book by former Globe editor Charles Gibbons, Joplin is cited as the hometown of the comic-strip family in a story that appeared in the Globe in August 1946.

The revelation was made in an article by Bob Considine in the July 1946 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine about the artist, Chic Young, whose comic strip at that time appeared daily in the Joplin News Herald.

Considine quoted Young as saying he “believes the Bumsteads live in the suburbs of Joplin.”

Who knew?

Except for “Lio,” it was more difficult to see a clear pattern on what readers don’t like. “Non Sequitur” and “Cathy” received a considerable number of thumbs down.

But a big thumbs down was directed at us because we use a portion of the Sunday funnies pages for a house ad. That’s something I can fix.

Give me a few weeks for some study and we’ll replace that house ad with at least two more Sunday strips. “Doonesbury” was most frequently listed as a strip people said they wanted.

I also promised readers if they would write me about their comic preferences, I would put their names in a hat and draw out for prizes. We’re giving away five of our Joplin Globe funny papers aprons.

The winners are:

Crystal Blomgren, of Joplin.

Jo Kriekhaus, of Joplin.

Norma Frieden, of Lamar.

Bob Eddy, of Carl Junction.

Lois A. Johnson, of Joplin.

I’ll put these in the mail to you later in the week, but you are welcome to drop by the office on Monday or Tuesday if you prefer. I would love to meet you.

Eddy wrote that too often (most of the time) the news is sad, depressing or tragic.

“I read it first, then sports, breeze through the politics and financials (lately just for laughs) and always save the best (the comics) for last. Thanks for the best part of the paper.”

From where I’m sitting, I’d say it’s the readers who are the best part of the paper.



Carol Stark is editor of The Joplin Globe. Address correspondence to her, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, Mo. 64802 or e-mail cstark@joplinglobe.com.