Editor’s Note
Back in the old days — that’s less than a decade and before there were such things as blogs and interactive conversations with readers — editors used to respond to their newspaper readers with an “editor’s note.” Sometimes it clarified a point made in a letter to the editor. Sometimes it offered a correction. Sometimes it was just a simple explanation. An editor’s note was a handful of sentences; maybe a four or five paragraphs. It was always a personal link between the editor and the reader. Only difference between it and today’s blog is the immediacy and the platform. Welcome to Editor’s Note.

Jeremy’s parents are naked

November 5th, 2009 at 04:05pm Linda Grist Cunningham

I just pulled my favorite comic strip, Zits. And, it’ll stay pulled until creators Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman put some clothes back on Jeremy’s parents.

If you don’t follow Zits, none of this will matter to you. If you do read Zits, here’s why it’s gone for now. Seems Scott and Borgman ran out of sophisticated ideas and decided to riff on the tired, goofy, pudgy “Love Is…” cherubs with a series of strips titled “Love Isn’t…”

Not original, but, hey, doing a daily strip is hard work and not every idea is gonna be great. This one careened off the table to flat out dumb when they decided to take off the clothes of Jeremy’s parents.

Since I do not have the time nor the inclination to deal with the ruckus those naked parents created among some of our comics’ readers, I pulled the strip and sent a note to King Features, the syndicated distributor. Said note said: Strip pulled until the clothes come back.

Unfortunately, the Friday strip was printed in GO before I saw the Thursday one. Don’t look if comic strip nudity offends you. And on Saturday, it’s gone and the comics pages are safe again from middle-aged, saggy cherubs.

If you can’t do without Jeremy and his naked parents, we’ll post Saturdays’ strip online at go.rrstar.com.

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized

22 Comments Add your own

  • 1. monkey  |  November 5th, 2009 at 4:29 pm

    I realize that you’re trying to keep readers happy and you have to make a tough call in a situation like this, but why must the complaints of a few close-minded prudes drive editorial decisions? Just once, I’d love to see you take a stance where the needs of the majority won out.

    My guess is that the crazies who complain about cartoon nudity have no problem with cable TV violence. Always love that contradiction.

  • 2. readingmike94  |  November 5th, 2009 at 8:54 pm

    isn’t this censorship? I am just wondering where the line starts and stops. At censorship at the cost of staff convience that is the reason you censored not a very good reason if you ask me.

  • 3. Ohplease330  |  November 6th, 2009 at 7:50 am

    OMG, Linda. No wonder print based newspapers are foundering. Please stop protecting me from faux naked people!!! I realize you don’t want to deal with those narrow minded nuts of Rockford that clog your mailbox and phone line but seriously–this isn’t where the line needs to be drawn.

  • 4. Neftali  |  November 6th, 2009 at 8:34 am

    Is this comic you find so offensive? Doesn’t seem so bad to me.

    http://www.arcamax.com/zits/s-640205-857625

    Note, if you click “next’ to view today’s comic, that’s quite a bit more, um, provocative. If this was France no one would think twice. But thankfully this isn’t France.

    Still, I seriously doubt you would lose any subscribers if you chose to publish it.

  • 5. hokumboy  |  November 6th, 2009 at 9:03 am

    If the RRStar is afraid of controversy in their news and editorial sections, you can’t expect them to have any controversy with their comics, can you?

  • 6. Steve Smith  |  November 6th, 2009 at 9:20 am

    I really can’t imagine how anyone would be offended by what I see in today’s “Zits,” cartoon. The concept is an entertaining riff on the old “Love Is … cartoons. I’ve been in your shoes as an editor for the past 25 years in B2B trade magazines. We’ve run columns from time to time that tick off paying advertisers. But in the end, we all need each other. You definitely should find the time and the inclination to deal with whatever ruckus might happen. Any decision you make as an editor is bound to cause it.

  • 7. Linda Grist Cunningham  |  November 6th, 2009 at 9:24 am

    Thanks, guys, for the notes. Don’t get too serious on me over Zits. This is plain silly, not serious. Zits is back on Sunday.

  • 8. bjb  |  November 6th, 2009 at 10:12 am

    Good Old Conservative Rockford has won again. I\’m offended with dog slobber being splashed on Midge so would you please pull that comic, too.

  • 9. jon murray  |  November 6th, 2009 at 2:08 pm

    If it was just “plain silly, not serious” then I’m confused why we’ve been “protected” by removing the strip.

  • 10. Carole Santiago  |  November 6th, 2009 at 4:38 pm

    Zits is one of the best features in the RR Star. I’m not offended by a little daily dose of wisdom and humor. Please try to clean up the movie industry so we could go to a movie without being shocked/embarrassed by the nudity that is in your face. I don’t think the nudity in Zits this week was shocking. Oh, well.

  • 11. Linda Grist Cunningham  |  November 6th, 2009 at 5:39 pm

    Over at my most recent post, Truman Fable points out that it’s NOT Jeremy’s parents! It’s Jeremy and his girlfriend who are in the buff. He’s so right. As I told him, I must have gotten so discombobulated at yesterday’s navel I completely messed up. Thanks, Truman.

    Now, the rest of you can rest easy. Remember, I love Zits. Clothes or no clothes. Gotta love getting nuts over a comic strip when it would seem we ought to be saying a bushel of prayers for the families at Fort Hood. We humans are interesting beings and the world is a complicated place.

    May God bless you and may your weekend be filled with moments of joy. A mind filled with tiny moments of joy has little room for despair.

  • 12. Jason  |  November 7th, 2009 at 6:57 am

    It amazes me that when muslims kill people over comic strips we consider it outrageous and then we go and pull a comic because it shows nudity. Not only that it barely shows any nudity at all. we do not see bare breasts or anything else. we see someone with clothes off. How is it that all you conservatives are so God fearing and yet you fear the body that god gave you. you were created in his image weren\’t you? Are you afraid of him so much that you cant even look at yourselves? There is nothing wrong with the human body. In fact there is nothing even that amazing about it. there are now close to 7 billion people on this planet. Half of them look just like you. Grow up already and stop living in the dark ages.

  • 13. Seve Ballic  |  November 7th, 2009 at 10:38 am

    Linda, I’m completely embarrassed for and of you. The idea that a comic strip would be pulled due to lack of clothing is ridiculous. I’ve seen the strips and I’m more offended by your attempt to protect ME from something others find offensive. Your sense of self importance is infuriating. You need to focus on important issues in this community and it sure as H*** is not what a cartoonist is doing or not doing. Crime in this city is a joke, school are unsafe, unemployment is rampant, local politicians are completely unaccountable and the daily paper spends the time and energy to jump on a soap box and proclaim how their moral compass has saved us citizens, yet again, from brain melting obscenities. Again I am embarrassed of and for the RRStar and its staff. I believe the letter sent back to you from the Comics Editor Burford was polite and sincere but I also feel it was writing with a roll of the eyes and disbelief that someone would or could be so shallow as to be offended by the Zits strip. Just when I feel the RRStar could not be more ridiculous, you always prove me wrong.

  • 14. chris73456  |  November 7th, 2009 at 2:32 pm

    Naked comics????

  • 15. Shelly  |  November 7th, 2009 at 4:47 pm

    You say you love the Zits comics…why not fight for what you love. I wish I had the power to pull things out of the paper that I didn\’t like…like the opinion column, new statistics on unemployment, another American Solider died, or reviews of the new Lady Gaga CD. So really if enough of us complain about something in the paper you will pull it? We should look into this. Every Saturday during high school football I was offended by the fact that Boylan slaughtered another team but the picture you print is of the opposing team running with the ball. Makes NO sense to me. I\’m offended by the fact that Peanuts is still running the same stupid comics EVEN after the creator has passed. I\’m offended that Rose is Rose will abandon her family to go sit in her angry cell or whatever it is. I\’m offended that Family Circle is in the paper every day and it is the dumbest comic ever! \"Billy tracked mud in the house\" OH MY GOSH HILARIOUS! Whatever happened to \"If you don\’t like it, don\’t look at it\"? Seriously RRStar…grow a pair!

  • 16. Arnie Binning  |  November 7th, 2009 at 9:45 pm

    Please start reporting all the new. Not just what you want us to read. There are a lot of good things going on all over the world and all we get from you is the bad new. Then you pull a harmless comic strip because of cartoon nudity that doesn\’t show anything!! Shame on all of you.

  • 17. scot  |  November 7th, 2009 at 11:23 pm

    Linda, I agree with you when you say it seems silly getting nuts over a comic strip at time when we should be focusing on the problems in our community and our country. But I was upset with YOUR decision to not run the strip until the characters were dressed again. It reminded me of the time when a local TV station refused to air NYPD Blue for similar reasons. Get over yourself and stop showing your age. I would bet that you got more response from upset bloggers than you did from upset comic readers who were shocked by the “nudity” that offended you.

  • 18. Janice  |  November 8th, 2009 at 11:05 am

    I can’t believe that anyone was offended by the Zits comics from Friday and Saturday. First of all, Jeremy’s parents weren’t naked, and even though Jeremy and his girlfriend were, absolutely nothing showed. Second, it’s a CARTOON for pete’s sake! If people actually complained about it, I, too, am embarrassed that the local newspaper pulled the comic. If I don’t want to read something, I have the choice not to. And, actually, it isn’t silly; it’s serious: it’s censorship and someone telling me that they know what’s “best” for me–how patronizing. I hope in the future you will think twice about pulling a comic strip for such ridiculous reasons.

  • 19. Jet  |  November 8th, 2009 at 12:15 pm

    You know, the cherubs are not Jeremy\\\’s parents they are Jeremy and his girlfriend. I can see you put a lot of thought into this decision and clearly this is one of your favorite comics since you know all of the characters so well. Really pathetic in more ways than one Linda. Get a backbone and some reading glasses …

  • 20. hokumboy  |  November 8th, 2009 at 4:50 pm

    I’m starting to wonder if the RRStar actually ever got any complaints.

  • 21. Arnie Binning  |  November 8th, 2009 at 5:12 pm

    If there were any complaints, why aren\\\’t they in the comments section? Are we being protected there also? Maybe one of them said a bad word. Is anyone else having trouble with the security code?

  • 22. chris73456  |  November 9th, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    Unbelievable!!!!!!!!

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