“Cathy” is a very big comic strip.

How big is it?

So big that The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram is going to use two comic strips to replace it.

Today marks the last “Cathy” strip in the newspaper. Creator Cathy Guisewite is ending it after 34 years to spend more time with her daughter, and to follow the urges of her “creative biological clock” to try something else.

The strip chronicled the minutia of daily life for its namesake character — a woman who struggled with everything — and at its height was printed in 1,400 newspapers.

Beginning Monday, the “Cathy” spot in our daily comics page will be filled by “Pearls Before Swine” by Stephan Pastis, which now appears in our newspaper on Sundays.

Pastis, a former San Francisco lawyer, first got his strip published in 2000, and it’s now in about 600 newspapers. The strip’s four main characters are a sarcastic rat, a pragmatic zebra, a kind pig and an intellectual goat who poke fun at one another and society at large.

In his strip, Pastis has made fun of the “Cathy” strip from time to time, and now he’s taking over the “Cathy” spot.

Beginning next Sunday, “Tundra” by Chad Carpenter will run in place of “Cathy” in the Maine Sunday Telegram. “Tundra” is an outdoor-themed strip that appears in more than 400 newspapers. It’s been compared to “The Far Side” for its bizarre observations and cutting wit.

“While ‘Cathy’ has been a popular strip for many years and will no doubt be missed, we are excited about adding ‘Pearls Before Swine’ and ‘Tundra’ to our lineup,” said Rod Harmon, deputy managing editor for features.

“Readers have responded enthusiastically to ‘Pearls’ since it began running in the Maine Sunday Telegram two years ago, and we have received many requests to expand it to a daily strip in The Portland Press Herald,” Harmon said. “‘Tundra’ is an award-winning comic, and we believe its combination of humor and outdoor recreation will resonate with readers of the Telegram throughout Maine.”

 

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