Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson for September 24, 2012

Wise answer, Dill.

Cul De Sac classics begins, i guess. :)

Dill has the makings of a politician (except that he’s too sensitive).

This is the earliest Cul de Sac archived in the GoComics website.   My guess is that starting from today we will have the pleasure to re-visit all the Cul de Sac strips, much like we do with Calvin & Hobbes and several “Classics” strips. As sad as it is for us that Richard Thompson’s illness forced him to retire, I have to say that this really is not much of a change for us, the readers.  As @myronmmeyer hinted a couple of days ago and others did before him, the truth is that except for a few exceptions we have been reading rerurns of Cul de Sac for several months now.   Even yesterday’s purported last strip was actually a rerun from 2007. I had remained silent as to allow other readers to fully enjoy what they believed were the last few months of Cul de Sac strips.   The sad truth, unfortunately, is that CDS ended months ago. So I must reiterate: except for colors in the weekday strips for the first years, not much will change for us, the readers. I hope people don’t misunderstand this revelation as cruelty from my part.   I know Richard would give anything to provide us with more original strips if he could.  And I know we will all be infinitely grateful to him for providing us with what he could.  Thank you Richard!  You are indeed one of the greatest artists in the history of comic strips, and for that you’ve gained a kind of immortality!

Hmmm. This strip looks like it has some potential. I think I’ll check it out.

Back to day 1. I’ve read the entire series here a couple of times and it never gets tiring. People who haven’t read it from the start are in for a treat.

As I’ve stated before, I came to Cul de Sac late, about two years ago. It immediately became one of the favorite strips in our family. I’m looking forward with great anticipation to following it from the beginning. Thank you Mr. Thompson for all you’ve done to brighten our days. Best wishes to you and yours.

I found Cul-de-Sac earlier this year when the strip was done by guest artists. One of them was Stephen Pastis. In the comments of his strip (Pearls Before Swine) there was an explanation of why guest artists were doing this strip……I checked it out and have read it every day since then……..So, for me, this is all new. Best wishes to you Richard.

what’s happening for Cul de Sac…?

Go Dill.

@gilbert09Exactly the same for me. As a new reader, I am glad to see these early strips. It is sad to hear that this is all there will be, though.

It may be more interesting, Alice, but not the required content.

Thanks, Richard it’s been fun. You have a gift for being able to really hear children.

I’m thankful to Richard for what he has provided, and also am thankful that you commenters are still available.

The “Lio” comic strip had a nice tribute to CDS in yesterday’s strip.

If you go to Richard’s Blog he explains why this is a repeat and describes the strip he had planned to draw but was unable to complete.

Also there’s a post about his Ignatz Award.

There IS a heppy land furfur awaaay.

And I’m sorry Alice, I would like an update on the avocado plant, please.

Well at least we have reruns

Just heard today and very sad to hear that Cul De Sac will be no longer. I have been reading it for years and love Alice and Petey. They will be missed along with Richards wit and humor. Take care Richard and thank you.

ack. the Oregonian dropped Hagar into the slot formally occupied by Cul de Sac. What horror…

Hagar! My hero! Pillage THEN burn!

Seriously, I too am looking forward to revisiting cul-de-dac every day here, and I hope Richard can fight through this disease.

And does Miss Bliss begin to look more and more haggard as the years go on?

Thanks for the info, @Krazy ig Katz.

Strod-

I’m trying to figure out why you felt so compelled to point out to everyone that we’ve been getting reruns for months. Anyone who looked at the copyright date in between the panels would have seen that, whether they knew of RT’s planned retirement or not. And anyone who knew of the impending retirement and the reasons for it would know exactly why we were getting reruns, and that RT would be drawing new strips for us in these last few months if he could, even if it was just a single strip here and there.

If you were trying to console us—“If you think about it, it’s not all that bad”—the tone came off as, “Now that the strip has officially ended, I can speak up and let everyone know how we’ve been cheated during the so-called final months of CdS.” I really hope you didn’t mean it that way.

Richard, best of luck as you start on DBS. I hope someday you can draw again, and I hope drawing can bring you joy again. If it’s something you feel like sharing with the world, that would just be a bonus, and great gift to us. If not, the gift to you is more than enough. Drop by GoComics and say Hi once in a while, eh?

Best wishes, Mr. Thompson, and thank you for all you’ve done for so many. The world through the eyes of a child makes everything new again.

I’m in a for a treat! :)

@RichardThompson You have a wonderful group of followers who truly care for you (myself included)! Thank you for sharing your amazing talent with us for so many years! We wish you the very best of health for many more years! God bless you and know that you are in our thoughts and prayers! And please stop by and continue to visit every now and then… ;)

I was disappointed to see that of all the comic strips only Lio bid goodbye to CDS yesterday. Mr. Thompson should have an appropriate send off from many strips.

In response to Strod’s post —

I join you in wishing Mr. Thompson well. Parkinson’s is a tough issue to handle and I’m hopeful the relief from the daily grind will help him improve his health.

I discovered Cul de Sac only a couple of years ago when my local paper ran it for about six months, then dropped it. I was delighted when I discovered I could subscribe to it online, and have been following it here for about a year.

I never did go back and read the archived scripts, though I meant to. If this is the earliest one and they will now run in sequence for the life of the strip, all I can do is thank Mr. Thompson again for the continuing pleasure of being able to follow the Otterloops and Alice’s adventures with what are to me “new” old strips.

The strip is sweet, affectionate, and very funny, and I’ll continue to thank Richard Thompson for his creativity every day!

How about rerunning all these years of cul de sac?

It would be more interesting Alice!

i will enjoy the reruns.

I totally prefer hearing about her breakfast too ;-D

This has become my very favorite comic strip. I love Alice and her brother Petey reminds me of my grandson. I am so sad that Richard has a terriable disease that keeps him from continuing this strip. It has been a joy, Thank you Richard and good luck.

That is so sad, in the year or so that I have been reading his comic strip I get to admire how wonderful stories and everything he developed to make it one of my favorites. Mr Richard Thompson is indeed a genious. this was soo good I wanted to see in a regular cartoon… hope he feels better.

I read about this strip from others comments and decided to follow…a wise decision. Loved it from the start and hold you in my prayers, Richard. You did GOOD!

In a sense, the great strips are timeless – like all great literature. “Peanuts,” “Calvin and Hobbes,” and “Krazy Kat” come up looking like new every time. So it will be with “Cul de Sac” IMHO.

A cure for excessive crabiness and grabiness ought to be pre-resubscribed for all parents and real people.

very cute. I will miss “Cul de Sac”.