I never ‘grew out’ of comic books or comic strips. I can still read Peanuts and appreciate its sentimentality then turn to Get Fuzzy and ROTFL at the anarchy. But I did ‘grow away’ from Family Circus.
Family Circus always reminded me of Sunday School – something I wanted to avoid, was glad I went to if only to see my friends and share a joke or two, left it behind with not much to show for it. That probably says more about my feelings about Sunday School than Family Circus but that’s it in a nutshell.
I liked the family, the kids are cute. But they were cookie-cutter; zero personality. It read as very one-note to me. I know it was loosely based on creator Bill Keane’s life and the boy Jeff represents his son Jeff, who has taken over the ongoing strip and that meant something to me when I was younger, 10-12 years old.
It quickly became less and less important to me and all the changes to the Mom’s hairstyles weren’t gonna change that. Same with Blondie becoming a caterer. The changes were superficial, not substantial.
Peanuts. Bloom County. Calvin and Hobbes. Even the recycled-joke-after-recycled-joke monotony of Beetle Bailey rang truer to my ears as hair grew on my upper lip.
The circus had left town and I didn’t care if it ever came back.
HEAVEN SENT 