
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 31, 1994                   TAG: 9501030031
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IS THERE LAUGH AFTER `THE FAR SIDE?'

As most everyone knows by now, cartoonist Gary Larson decided to retire his incomparable and vastly popular comic strip at the end of 1994. And while the consensus seems to be that nothing can quite replace ``The Far Side's'' talking cows, befuddled scientists and other wildlife, a number of cartoonists are willing to give it a shot. We are going to introduce you to some of them.

At the same time, in order to offer more variety to our comics readers, we're making some other changes in our daily and color Sunday funnies.

Beginning Monday in the daily Extra comics, we will bring you four new panels, ``Dilbert,'' ``Wit of the World,'' ``Sally Forth'' and ``Mixed Media.'' These replace ``Beetle Bailey,'' ``Shoe'' and ``Andy Capp'' - all of which had relatively low ratings in our last reader survey. Not to fear, though: Fans of Beetle and Shoe still can catch them on Sundays in color.

Additionally, beginning Jan. 8, our Sunday comics will include ``Non Sequitur,'' which also runs in the daily comics, and ``Wit of the World,'' which replaces Sunday's ``Blondie'' panel. (The Bumsteads will remain in the weekday pages.)

So, allow us to introduce you to some new faces.

``Dilbert'' by Scott Adams. Dilbert is an engineer and inventor with an active imagination and an inactive social life. His companion and best friend is Dogbert, a furry, egg-shaped sidekick who guides Dilbert and adds meaning to his owner's life - the meaning of sarcasm, cynicism and snide humor.

On the job, Dilbert is a model employee - easily hoodwinked. He's content to plod along toward retirement with a gold watch (probably an imitation Timex) dangling in his distant future.

Trying to meet women is as difficult for Dilbert as trying to make contact with a creature from another planet. In fact, his chances for meeting an alien are significantly higher.

Adams, when not cartooning, is an engineer and project manager in the science and technology department of a major company. ``Dilbert is a composite of the engineers and techies I have worked with for the last several years,'' says Adams.

``Sally Forth'' by Greg Howard. Sally is a woman who is facing the daily trials and tribulations of balancing her family life with her career. Howard, who introduced his character to syndication in 1982, is aiming for a sophisticated but humorous portrait of the modern family.

In 1988 Howard received a ``good guy'' award from the National Women's Political Caucus. This group seeks to increase the number of women in elective office, and every year it names 10 men who have made notable contributions to the advancement of women in politics, business, entertainment, labor and the media. The only cartoonist among the "good guys" who received the award, Howard was cited by the NWPC for his "sensitive and humorous portrayal of the conflicts and victories that touch the lives of working women.''

``Wit of the World'' will bring us humor from a different part of the world every day. ``Wit'' contributors, who hail from 50 countries, have had their work appear in publications such as The New Yorker and Mad in this country and Punch in Great Britain. The daily panels reflect timely humor on events from the Olympics to elections, as well as on everyday life. With ``Wit,'' Southwest Virginians will be sharing a laugh with comics readers from France to Turkey and from Russia to Australia.

``Mixed Media'' by Jack Ohman skewers the absurdity and self-absorbed silliness that clutter today's communications channels. Fair game ranges from Barney to Beavis and Butt-head, Madonna to the movies, talk shows to technology. ``The media machine produces so many intrinsically cartoonable subjects and characters that it seemed a waste not to harness them," says Ohman. And he reveals Americans' ability to see through the hype.

While still in college in the early '80s, Ohman became the youngest political cartoonest ever to be nationally syndicated. He says that ``Mixed Media'' allows him the chance to explore the mass culture outside of politics.

We hope you enjoy these new panels. In a few weeks, we will ask you to respond to a survey about the overall content of our comics pages. But in the meantime, we'd like to hear from you. Call our reader comment line at 981-3173. InfiNet subscribers or those with other access to the Internet may E-mail Roanoke Times & World-News Managing Editor Bill Warren at BWARRENINFI.NET.

by CNB