This much is certain: There are going to be some changes in the Post-Gazette comics the next three months. Whether the shake-up will continue after that relies, in some ways, on you.

These changes come because "Doonesbury" cartoonist Garry Trudeau is taking a break through June 16. "Doonesbury" will continue to run on Sundays, using past strips selected by the cartoonist, but we're going to take this opportunity to continue testing new comics on weekdays.

"Doonesbury" will be back in time for the heat of the campaign season -- or, more accurately, the continued heat of the campaign season. But whether other comic strips stick around remains to be seen. As you may recall, we already have made one change -- we tried for a month, then opted to keep, "Pearls Before Swine." It replaced "Tiger," which has been in reruns and whose creator, Bud Blake, died in 2005.

We also tested "Candorville" for a month, and it got a fairly positive although muted reception from readers. We got more calls to bring back "Frank and Ernest," which "Candorville" had replaced, than we did votes in favor of keeping "Candorville," so "Frank and Ernest" lived -- for another few months at least. "Brevity," which replaced "Cathy" for the month of February, seemed to bomb with most readers. So it's out.

That does not mean "Frank and Ernest" and "Cathy" are safe; frankly, the former to me seems recycled and simplistic; the latter is the same story line it's been for years. ("Ack! I look fat in these clothes!" "Ack! Mom's getting on my nerves!" "Ack! Insert crisis here.) I personally also could do without "Mary Worth," "Rex Morgan M.D." and "The Amazing Spiderman." Although still relatively new, "Get Fuzzy" is getting on my nerves, too.

So consider the aforementioned on our endangered list as we test a few other comic strips, starting with "Tundra" (see Page C-6) for the next four weeks. Let us know what you think by sending an e-mail to magazine@post-gazette.com or by calling me, Steve Massey, assistant managing editor/features, at 412-263-1174.