Hundreds of readers make their case to save Mark Trail

We're the first to acknowledge that change sometimes doesn't come easy to newspaper readers. We're all newspaper readers ourselves.

But sometimes the things we do year after year can get a little stale, and we like to freshen them up.

That brings me to the comics page.

Mark Trail's career in journalism predates the career of every journalist from the Daily Herald who still draws breath.

The “Mark Trail” comic began its run in 1946. It follows the story of a nature photographer and writer who exposes and thwarts environmental wrongdoers, a worthy pursuit. But not much about Mark has changed in 70 years. Most notably, he gave up his trademark pipe in the '80s.

“Judge Parker” is 65 years old. Not the judge himself, mind you, but his comic strip.

The original writer and artist have long since passed away, and there has been a revolving door of artists, despite the second having lasted 41 years. A new writer took over less than a year ago.

It might look a little different these days, but the story lines tend to be well worn ground.

We're mulling whether to retire these two comics like a pair of comfortable but worn out old slippers to make way for something else.

But we'd like to hear from you first. Please email us at suggestions@dailyherald.com if you have a strong feeling on the matter. Or call us at (847) 427-4318 and leave a voicemail.

Here are a few comics we're considering as replacements:

• “Rip Haywire,” a tongue-in-cheek comedy, adventure strip

• “Moderately Confused,” a popular comic with light, topical humor

• “Thatababy,” a family-oriented strip that we've tested out before. We've heard from some of you that you'd like to see “Thatababy” return.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks for reading.

Jim Baumann

Managing Editor