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Dear Editor: Bring Back Non Sequitur

The number of newspapers dropping Non Sequitur over a lapse in judgment is approaching double digit dozens. Now fans and readers of Wiley‘s comic are expressing disappointment in the newspapers’ actions and requesting the return of one of their favorite cartoonists.



Halltoons by Ed Hall

I hope you will reconsider! Non Sequitur is probably one of the most enjoyable comics in the newspaper…The artist who produces Non Sequitur is innovative, unique and totally interesting. He has apologized and said it would not happen again. I guess his word is not enough for those “people who know who they are” out there who can’t stand anything different or thought provoking Please do not discontinue “Non Sequitur.” It is the best comic strip on the page.

Good grief! Is everything offensive? What kind of sheltered life are we leaving to the poor snowflakes among us? Be bold! Resume publishing Non Sequitur and add Mallard Fillmore!

Many of the responses mentioned Mallard Fillmore and Doonesbury, though not in the positive manner as the reader above.

Others suggested a temporary, not permanent, punishment.



Non Sequitur is humor, fantasy, parables

Some are replying with their pocketbooks.

To be sure there were those who agreed with the decision made by newspapers.

Those who disagreed.

And those who demanded the drop before the paper officially did so.

While some understood but will miss Non Sequitur all the same.

Last weekend the comic artist Wiley Miller made the mistake of actually writing out what he was thinking and the N&R has responded both quickly and appropriately…“Non Sequitur” outstripped other comics by being both well-drafted and able to pull the veil off many of our current absurdities. Just going to have to rely on “Doonesbury” until it, too, gets axed for crossing some other PC line.



above: today some newspaper subscribers missed the beautiful art of Wiley.

More than a few compared the comic to the very public tweets and statements of President Trump:

Wiley speaks Truth to Power.

Some accuse the newspapers of unnecessary censorship and cowardice.

The N&O has reached a new journalistic low in self-censorship with its decision to drop “Non Sequitur” from its comic pages…But you can’t stop there — Dennis the Menace has some very troubling themes concerning corporal punishment of children, and Blondie indulges in blatant and dated stereotypes of women. The N&O has got a lot of work ahead of it to make its comic pages inoffensive to its readers! After careful rereading of my favorite comic strip in the Bangor Daily News, I find the BDN’s censorship offensive. What happened to freedom of speech and protection of satire and humorous expression of political differences? It does seem rather spineless and petty that The Sun would remove one of the smarter and more insightful cartoons from its publication.

For some fans it’s the editors’ lack of knowing the good comics from the bad.

Bless your heart, I know you can’t help not having much of a sense of humor. You need to leave the comics alone — quit changing them — and do not remove “Non-Sequitur.” I need to see how the bears will again try to trap the humans.

The Dallas News published a quintet of letters damning, praising, and suggesting replacements.

The San Diego Union-Tribune also published a number of letters both pro and con.

Daytona Beach News-Journal letters run the gamut from dismay to approval to a paper wimping out.

But, by far, most of the letters bemoaned the loss of an excellent comic and supported Wiley.

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