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INK BLOTS
by ED McGEEAN
For Better or For Worse Moves to United Media
No sooner did the oversized September newsletter go to
press, then the mail arrived with a press release from United Media on what
may become the biggest comics news story of the year.
If you haven't heard, or it wasn't announced in your local
gazette and syndicate copyright taglines aren't part of your required reading
material, I refer to the news that CAPSer Lynn Johnston has left Universal
Press Syndicate. Effective Sept. 29, "For Better or For Worse"
began distribution worldwide by United Feature Syndicate.
Johnston told Editor & Publisher's David Astor, "More
than anything, United's enthusiasm for my work rekindled my enthusiasm for
my work."
Johnston, chosen by its members, as the National Cartoonists
Society's first woman winner of the prestigious Reuben Award for 1985 was
also a 1995 nominee for the Pulitzer Prize. In 1991 Lynn was appointed to
the Order of Canada and last March, the former NCS president became one
of a select number of comic creators inducted into the Boca Raton, Fla.
International Museum of Cartoon Art's Hall of Fame.
For many years "For Better or For Worse" has
consistently and deservedly won, or finished in the top five of every comics
poll I have seen.
It is only when you view Johnston's clean and crisp original
artwork, which she has selflessly contributed to the annual CAPS auction,
that you begin to realize the disrespect most newspapers have for readers
of their comic pages, when they reduce comics to sizes slightly larger than
a postage stamp. This is a strip that deserves the type of space fought
for and given to Trudeau and Watterson
Lynn, who began "For Better or For Worse" in
1979 told Astor, "I needed a change. I wanted to be new again."
She added that United has a "really exciting" Web site, a strong
overseas marketing operation and other attributes that attracted her.
"Like a kid leaving home, there is a lot of emotion
connected with leaving Universal," said Johnson. "I have grown
and matured with them for 20 years and they supported me with each editorial
decision I made. I now look forward to developing new business interests
with United, especially in the areas of international sales and new media.
I am excited by the change."
Johnston's Universal contract was scheduled to expire in
March 1998--declined to discuss the monetary aspects of her United pact.
She stated that her new contract will run for seven years, with a three-year
renewal clause.
Universal's vice president/editorial director and CAPS
member Lee Salem said, "We're always sorry to lose anybody, especially
someone like Lynn. She's one of the premier cartoonists of the day. We wish
her well. Salem added, "we couldn't come up with a contract that pleased
her."
Universal's publishing subsidiary, Andrews and McMeel will
continue to issue the FBFW books. So far there have been 18 titles, with
more than 2 million copies in print. Lynn's latest book, "Growing Like
a Weed," is due this fall.
(Andrews and McMeel, in my opinion, is the top publisher
of comic reprint books in the U.S. Along with Kitchen Sink Press, they pioneered
the reprinting of comics in large readable sizes and Treasury Editions with
the Sunday pages in full color.)
United's senior vice president and general manager Sid
Goldberg, called FBFW a "class act." It is one of those jewels
that comes along once in a decade and lifts comic pages to a new level,
working with her will be a pleasure for all of us. He added that United
did not approach Johnston and did not know that she was interested in making
a move like this.
Johnston will benefit by having one of the top syndicate
publicists, Mary Anne Grimes, promoting her work. Only Tribune Media Services
equals the amount of P.R. put out by United. Other syndicates would do well
to follow their lead in promoting comics.
Astor revealed that the move to United was negotiated by
Johnston's new business manager, David Waisglass, who heads Laughingstock
Licensing in Ottawa, Canada. A native of Toronto, he co-created "Farcus,"
an off-beat gag panel that ran in the L.A. Daily News and was syndicated
by Universal and has since been retired. He now represents other cartoonists--including
"Herman" creator Jim Unger, another Universal alumnus, whose rerun
panels are being syndicated by United.
Johnston said she asked Waisglass to contact United on
her behalf when she was thinking of leaving Universal.
Universal's ad in the recently released Editor & Publisher
Annual Syndicate Directory issue shows FBFW with 1,800 newspapers, while
United's press release credits the strip with more than 2,000 newspapers.
Either figure puts Lynn's FBFW among the top syndicated strips of all time
and it couldn't happen to a nicer person.
In other FBFW news, about 20 feature editors requested
substitute replacement strips for a "For Better or For Worse"
sequence that ran Aug. 20-23, featuring Johnston's gay teen character, Lawrence.
I was amazed to learn that two or three homophobic editors
actually canceled the strip because of this short and innocent story line.
The reaction was far milder than the 1993 sequence, when Lynn had Lawrence
come out of the closet. According to Universal, at that time 18 papers canceled
the strip, while over 50 asked for alternate strips. More politically correct
insanity.
©Ed McGeehan. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. | 
