Sanguine Tenacious Tidings

September 11

Fun Friday: the Comics

I like all the comics. They are the first thing I read when a newspaper comes into the house. Then I read the editorials!

When I was a child I read: Mark Trail, Dennis the Menace, Annie, Dick Tracy, and Brenda Starr. Some of those are not carried any longer in the local paper.

Now, one of my favorites is Arlo & Janis. But, I also turn to read: the Family Circus, For Better or For Worse, Baby Blues, Hi & Lois, Family Tree, Peanuts and one of the greats is The Born Loser. Family comics bring us situations that we can identify with in our own lives.They define family life in the USA.

Simplicity of art work will draw my attention to a comic. But, I love the social aspect of the family comics. I recently spent 4 weeks in the company of a teenager who has much younger siblings. Because of the age difference, she does not always understand the way younger children react to family situations. So, I handed her a copy of For Better or Worse and she exclaim, "Yes, my sisters are just like that."

Print news is no longer the requirement to receive daily up dates on world events. We need the quick updates we receive in the media of the USA. It keeps us up to date daily on world events. But, without print news we miss the extra small specifics that give us clarification of regular events. We find that in the comics.

In a recent speech President Obama gave the nation a run down on causes and effects of riots in cities in the USA. He sited poverty brought on by lack of jobs, bigotry, and poor educational tools. As he spoke I thought this is the type of in depth view points we should see in today's news. Not just the causes should be lauded but also the cures should be spoken about.

When you see a forest fire how is it presented in the news. Have you ever heard that naturalists believe that some burns are a benefit to the environment. So, burns are often controlled rather than put out.

In our family we have added news from Public Broadcasting because of panel discussions about current events, Asian news programs, and European News programs. Still the light hearted social aspects of the print comics is just not there. I found them on the internet so Fun Friday today is worthwhile for sure.