A few new offerings available for lovers of daily comics

I’m happy to share some good news for daily readers of our comics.

Starting today, we will be running the comic strip “DeFlocked” weekdays in the Lewiston Tribune and it will begin on Friday in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News. On Sunday in the Tribune and Saturday in the Daily News, we are picking up the comic “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.” This will start March 25 in the Daily News and March 26 in the Tribune.

“DeFlocked” and “Ripley’s” will replace the long-running comic strip “Dilbert,” which was discontinued by the syndicate Andrews McMeel Universal. As has been well publicized, “Dilbert” was dropped following racist comments on YouTube by its creator, Scott Adams.

As described by Andrews McMeel Universal, “ ‘DeFlocked’ stars four of the most incompatible characters to ever come together on the comics page. Like a modern-day ‘Seinfeld’ meets ‘Animal Farm,’ ‘DeFlocked’ takes on the familiar to the highly ridiculous in our everyday lives. This fresh character-driven strip captures both young and old audiences with its winning combination of pop culture humor and classic sitcom-inspired relationship comedy. In fact, none other than Larry David, creator of ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ counts DeFlocked as the one strip that got him interested in comics again. Follow these four lovable but deeply flawed characters as they come together to redefine the American dysfunctional family.”

The strip’s creator is Jeff Corriveau. He grew up reading “Peanuts,” which is where he reportedly first learned about sarcasm.

“Ripley’s Believe It or Not,” according to Andrews McMeel Universal, is “one of the longest-running comic panels in history. (It) continues to fascinate comics readers with unbelievable facts from around the world. Currently illustrated by John Graziano, these fascinating panels are read every day in nearly 40 countries. The panel gives readers a view of the unusual that earned originator Robert Ripley his fame. Ripley traveled all over the world to find the strange tidbits for his ‘Believe It or Not!’ books and comic strip.”

Starting April 3, we will be making another change on the Tribune’s daily comics page. Back in 2018, we started featuring the long-running, but reimagined comic strip “Nancy.” For a variety of reasons, it never gained popularity with our readers. In its place we have picked up the comic strip “Loose Parts,” created by Dave Blazek.

As described by Andrews McMeel Universal, “ ‘Loose Parts’ features “oddball people and animals embroiled in a variety of humorous (and ridiculous) situations. Intelligent, witty, and unrelentingly clever, ‘Loose Parts’ presents an alternative perspective that is inherently funny.”

I hope you enjoy these new comic strips and I’ll count on you to give me your unvarnished opinion.

One quick side note: When it was announced that “Dilbert’ was being dropped, I received several calls and emails asking that we pick up the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” by Bill Watterson. The popular strip was syndicated from 1985-95. It continues to be distributed internationally, but the syndicate doesn’t have Watterson’s permission to share it in the United States.

I also have another bit of good news for our digital readers. Earlier this week we added audio articles on lmtribune.com and dnews.com.

This feature will help those with vision difficulties and also will be helpful for everyone else trying to find the time to read the news amid busy lives. Click play on an article while making your breakfast or packing the kids’ lunch for school. Or maybe give it a listen on your phone while driving to work.

However it works for you, give it a try. And again, let me know what you think.

Clohessy is managing editor of the Lewiston Tribune and Moscow-Pullman Daily News. He can be reached at cclohessy@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2251.