November 23, 2003
Opus returns

As promised, Opus has returned to the Sunday comics page. You'll have to find a dead-tree version of it to see for yourself, as I can't seem to locate one online, but I'm looking forward to future installments.

There's good news and bad news in the Chron story about Opus's reappearance.


We do know that the strip will be bigger. Physically.

It will cover a half-page in the comics section, an unusual amount of space in a business where the trend has been to squeeze more comics into less space. To make room, the Chronicle will drop Sunday versions of Monty, Apartment 3G and La Cucaracha, although all three will continue to run Monday through Saturday.


That half-page size allowed Berkeley Breathed to include a lot of visual detail, which is a very good thing, but I'm annoyed that I won't see Monty on Sundays again. I've been a fan since the early days of the strip, when it was "Robotman", and I think it's generally one of the better Sunday offerings. Oh, well.

On a side note, I'm moderately surprised that the only one other strip (Heart of the City) made mention of this momentous occasion. Maybe Opus really had been gone too long.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on November 23, 2003 to Society and cultcha | TrackBack
Comments

It was better than half of what was in the comics by virtue of 'Not Sucking', but he's got a ways to go to get back in form. I miss Robotman, and I think the strip isn't as good as it was.

Given that Mary Worth, Judge Parker, Gil Thorp, and B.C. are still there, I'm sorry they dropped Monty and La Cucaracha.

Posted by: Michael on November 23, 2003 11:26 AM

"Out of the Gene Pool" also mentioned the return of Opus, however, that might not be avalilable in the Houston Chronicle. I'm surprised UComics.com didn't pick up the strip, however, it might happen later.

Apartment 3G? Does anybody read that? In any newspaper?

Monty / Robotman is one of the better strips that is not in a New York newspaper. I can understand why you're not happy that it was taken out of the Chronicle on Sunday.

Posted by: William Hughes on November 23, 2003 4:19 PM

Apparently, Breathed and his syndicate have specifically decided not to offer the strip online, at least according to the article in the Chronk.

Posted by: Greg Morrow on November 24, 2003 9:17 AM