ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512080039
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
Pretend you're an average reader.
You pick up the paper each morning, scanning the front page as you walk from the paper box back to the house. Next, you scan the front of the Virginia section, check out the Virginia Tech football headline and the Extra section, then you dive inside the paper for the comics.
There are the old reliables. ``Peanuts.'' ``Garfield.'' ``Gil Thorp.'' ``Calvin and Hobbes.''
Then there are all those strips you don't read. Maybe ``Dennis the Menace'' or ``Mixed Media'' or ``Sally Forth.'' You still can't figure out which doofus decided last January that we ought to publish ``Wit of the World.''
``I certainly could do a better job picking out a new strip than those bozos down at the newspaper offices,'' you think - again.
Well, here's your chance.
``Calvin and Hobbes'' - one of the most phenomenally successful comic strips of all time - will disappear Dec. 31 when creator Bill Watterson pulls the plug on the mischievous little boy and his rambunctious stuffed tiger.
We have to come up with something to replace it. Or rather, you have to come up with a replacement.
We've already narrowed the field to five possibilities. Today we're giving you a week's worth of samples of each of them and asking you to vote for your favorite to move into ``Calvin and Hobbes''' place. (See story at right for details on how to call in your vote.)
We're also taking this opportunity to ask you to complete a quick survey to tell us your favorites among our other daily and Sunday strips. (That's also explained in the balloting story.) You'll vote for your three absolute favorites, then for your next three pretty-close-to-the-top favorites.
We'll tally the results as quickly as we can. A decision on the ``Calvin and Hobbes'' replacement will be ready for next Saturday's newspaper. It will take a little longer to sort through all the votes for the other strips, but we'll let you know the results of the survey a little later.
The five contenders to replace ``Calvin and Hobbes'' were selected by a committee here at the paper that was looking for something that "had an interesting artistic style and that seemed funny day in and day out,'' said editor Wendy Zomparelli.
While realizing that not every strip will appeal to every reader, she said, ``it's important that the comic pages have different kinds of strips to appeal to all kinds of people. That's why not every strip we choose will be put to a vote. But, given the wide appeal of `Calvin and Hobbes,' this was a good opportunity to let readers choose one of the strips that they want to see in the paper. ''
Beginning here and continuing on Page Extra are the samples of the ``Calvin and Hobbes'' replacement possibilities.
Included is a brief bit of background on each strip - pulled from the promotional material from the syndicates that are trying to get us to buy their strip:
`At the Z'
``At the Z'' features a sharp-witted monkey named Darwin, a feminist ostrich named Evelyn, a pacifist lion named Carl, a job-hunting polar bear named Miles and a laid-back zookeeper named Edsel.
``At the Z'' created by Ron Ruelle, is aimed at anyone who has been in a zoo, looked at the animals and realized he was watching a somewhat furrier reflection of his own life.
`Mutts'
Earl the dog, Mooch the cat and Earl's Ozzie - ``the guy who feeds me, gives me treats, rubs my belly and takes me for rides'' - inhabit the world of ``Mutts,'' drawn by Patrick McDonnell.
The deceptively simple structure of ``Mutts'' revolves around Earl's devotion to his Ozzie, and the little pooch's unlikely friendship with Mooch, the cat who lives next door.
`Overboard'
``Overboard,'' according to the Milwaukee Sentinel, ``follows the exploits of a merry band of pirates leading a carefree life looting, pillaging and philosophizing, with the wind at their backs and the sharks at their heels.''
Chip Dunham's strip went into syndication in 1990. It doesn't have any ``central character who is my Charlie Brown,'' Dunham says.
`Over the Hedge'
R.J. the raccoon and Verne the terrapin are always watching the neighbors in ``Over the Hedge,'' by Michael Fry and T. Lewis.
These boisterous ``Boyz in the Wood'' want to fight for their forest home against suburban interlopers, but they get distracted into watching TV through the living room window.
`Sherman's Lagoon'
``Sherman's Lagoon'' is home to a fishy menagerie led by Sherman, an overweight shark with dating problems.
Created and drawn by Alexandria native J.P. Toomey, the lagoon's other inhabitants include Megan, Sherman's significant other; Fillmore, a sea turtle who dreams of being a ninja; and The Kahuna, a philosophical Polynesian deity who imparts non sequiturs and half-truisms.
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: 5 cartoon panels. color. Chart: How to vote. color. KEYWORDS: INFOLINEby CNB