To the editor:

Before you discontinue comics we have read daily for most of our adult lives, you should be aware that “numbers alone” may not indicate which comics you are safe in dropping. You simply cannot evaluate new strips as a replacement for “old friends.”

Clearly, the humor in most cartoons is generational.

• “Baby Blues” and “Family Circus” — funny to those who’ve raised small children.
• “Zits” and “Foxtrot” — funny to those who’ve raised a teenager in the high-tech age.
• “For Better or Worse” — funny to those who’ve seen their kids grow and move away.
• “Doonesbury” — funny to those of us who came of age in the ’60s.
• “Pickles” didn’t used to be funny, but it’s funny now!

When you reach the age of “empty-nesters,” most funnies are funny because we’ve “been there, done that.” So please keep in mind that older readers like us will be sorely disappointed to no longer be able to wake up to:

• “Marmaduke,” for all of us with homes dominated by a dog.
• “Cathy,” whose relationship changes so mirror those of our children.

We are as attached to the Journal-World for our comics as we are for news and editorials.

“Pick Your Favorite Comics” offers samples of 11 potential replacements — none of which could make up for loss of “Marmaduke” and “Cathy.”

Robert R. and Lynn A. Basow,

Lawrence