Stone Soup by Jan Eliot for August 21, 2009

Give ‘em an inch, they’ll take a foot. Pretty soon, you won’t have a leg to stand on.

Jan sounds bitter about something…..

The bad news about moving in with the Doonesburys is that they age pretty much in real-time. The good news is they age gracefully. And of course, you’ll need to brush up on current events and develop a tolerance for secondhand pot smoke…

Today I saw a bumper sticker that is perfect for this week’s Stone Soup: “Stop Global Whining”

I think they’re being pretty realistic.

This cartoon size theme is getting old.

I think Jan has a right to complain, comics are getting smaller and it’s not right or fair.

This is the 2nd or third time the syndicators have done this. They claim the newspapers insist on it. Who knows. But the artists suffer. Pretty soon there won’t be enough room for stick figures.

try ‘family circus’ if you can survive the crushing boredom

I’d like to see publishers reduce the size of Soduko & really hear the bitchin’. These artists aren’t complaining enough nor are we, the audience! Some of my favourite ‘toons are so squished they are impossible to read and the artwork suffers as well.

Stone Soup just has too many people - why didn’t they practice a little birth control? Because they’ve outgrown their surroundings, it’s someone else’s fault? We have too d@rn many of these types of families expecting others to bail them out. You guys don’t like it here, Val? Then move.

(Come to think of it, I want to make absolutely certain it is understood I was kidding - NOT serious)

Ushindi thanks for making it clear! :) The first few sentences were giving me pause there..

If the comics are printed any smaller, they’ll have to wrap them around bubble gum. (Bazooka Joe, anyone?)

Growl! Yes, @Ushindi, you DID have to say you were kidding. This strip consists of ten human characters and a dog. You don’t see all of them at once, unless now and then on a Sunday.

Maybe even eleven, if you add Rena in Val’s office.

I don’t think that’s too many. Otherwise the writer doesn’t have enough leeway to move from one theme to another.

Come to think of it, how many main characters are there in Doonesbury? and he made sure they would have enough space! and he’s not limited in what he can talk about!

Hey I have been complaining to my local paper for weeks. They went from 2 big pages to 1 and 1/2. And the 1/2 is in a totally different section near the car want ads!

Leave the comics alone I say, reduce Sodoku, cryptogram and do we need two crosswords in The Star Ledger? I say NO! I love Stone Soup and hate that they are being squished.