I am seriously disappointed by your decision to drop “Doonesbury,” and to a lesser extent, “Fred Basset.”

“Doonesbury” is perhaps the best social and political satirical strip since “Pogo” and “L’il Abner.” Your reasoning for dropping it is specious, and the comparison to “Peanuts” doesn’t make sense. The “Doonesbury” reruns have allowed readers to understand the background of the characters, since many may never have seen the early strips.

Your explanation in last Sunday’s paper about the focus on marijuana use is ludicrous. Like it or not, it’s fast becoming the law in many municipalities, including Portland. Satire is supposed to be provocative, and the alleged line crossed you mentioned last Sunday stifles debate.

You should be ashamed to have fallen into that trap and have lessened your journalistic credibility. If your readers are so concerned about children seeing the strip, why not move it to the editorial page? I recall it has been featured there previously, although I cannot recall if it was your papers that took that route.

As for “Pooch Café,” I have looked at the strip three days in a row now and have not seen anything remotely humorous or interesting about it. Reruns of “Peanuts” have run their course and, frankly, are boring.

If you are really trying to liven up the comics page, drop “Peanuts” and “Mark Trail,” which strip is only interesting and relevant on Sundays, and reinstate “Doonesbury” and “Fred Basset.”

Warner Price

Harpswell

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