Baby Blues begins a four-week run in tomorrow's Post-Gazette. Click photo for larger image.

Who doesn't have a favorite comic strip? It could be the classic "Peanuts," "Mutts" with its talking animals, the political "Doonesbury," edgy "The Boondocks" or the swimsuit-challenged "Cathy."

And fans aren't afraid to voice their opinions about their favorite funnies. In early 2000, the Post-Gazette heard from more than 11,000 readers when it ran a survey of its daily and Sunday strips. And later this year the PG will again ask readers to vote on the paper's comics.

People are drawn to strips in which they recognize themselves, says Rick Stromoski, creator of "Soup to Nutz" and president of the National Cartoonists Society, an international organization for professional cartoonists.

"They want to see something that relates to them and that strikes them funny," he says. "That's why 'Dilbert' is so successful. People read it and say, 'That's my boss,' or 'That's my co-worker.' They have empathy for those characters."

Comic strip characters also provide a sense of comfort and familiarity, says Lucy Shelton Caswell, a professor at Ohio State University and curator of the school's Cartoon Research Library. In his 1947 history of strips, "The Comics," Colton Waugh wrote that a popular strip requires continuing characters the readers can make friends with. "That is key to why people care and why they get so angry when a strip is dropped from a paper," Shelton Caswell says.

		More information After the six months of sampling, the PG will launch another comics survey. But if readers want to respond to the "new" strips before then, they can send comments to the Post-Gazette at 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh PA 15222 or via e-mail to onthego@post-gazette.com.

She cites as an example of the bond between reader and strip the story line from "For Better or for Worse" when Farley the dog died. Creator Lynn Johnston received many letters in response. "Some were really hateful: 'How could you kill off the dog?' Others sent sympathy cards and photos of their own dogs," Shelton Caswell says.

"[People] know comics are a reliable break from their day. Again, it has to do with friendship, but it's also a visit of the familiar that people really enjoy," she says.

Starting tomorrow, the PG is giving readers a chance to make some new friends within its comics pages. A month ago, Aaron McGruder announced he is taking a six-month break from his strip, "The Boondocks," which the PG carries seven days a week. In its place in the daily pages, the PG will run samples of strips that haven't appeared in the paper before. Tomorrow will begin a four-week run of "Baby Blues," a strip by Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman about the funny parts of parenting. That will be followed by "Over the Hedge," "Watch Your Head," "Lio," "Girls & Sports," "Red & Rover" and "F Minus."

Beginning next Sunday, "Get Fuzzy," which already runs daily, will fill "The Boondocks" slot on Sundays.