Baby Blues and Zits Say Goodbye to New Strips

This news feels especially personal to me because newspaper comic strips have always seemed like one of the steadier parts of daily life. Even when everything else in the paper changed, the comics were supposed to be there, waiting with the same familiar voices and rhythms. That is why hearing that Baby Blues and Zits are both stepping away from new material feels like more than just an industry update. It feels like another small piece of the classic newspaper experience is slipping away.

Rick Kirkman, Jerry Scott, and GoComics have announced that Baby Blues will begin easing into reruns, alternating new and older strips until March 2027, when it will move fully into reprints. After 37 years in syndication and more than 13,000 strips, that is an incredible legacy, but it is still hard not to feel the loss. Zits, Jerry Scott’s other long-running hit with Jim Borgman, is making a similar move, also stepping back from new daily material and leaning on its archive. Between the two of them, these strips captured family life, teenage frustration, and everyday chaos in a way that felt funny because it was so recognizable.

What makes this hit even harder is Jerry Scott’s place in the comics world. He has been a constant for more than 35 years, and his work never felt flashy or distant. It felt lived in. His characters sounded like people you knew, or maybe people in your own house. That is why this shift to reruns feels bittersweet. I understand why creators would want relief from the nonstop pressure of daily deadlines, but I still cannot help feeling that the comics page grows a little quieter every time one of these strips stops creating something new.

It also makes me think about the incredible endurance of cartoonists who kept these features alive for decades. Charles M. Schulz remains the name most people think of when it comes to a legendary original creator run on Peanuts. Russell Myers has also achieved something remarkable with Broom-Hilda, which launched in 1970 and has continued as a one-man operation for decades. And Mort Walker’s 68 years on Beetle Bailey still stands as one of the great marathon achievements in comics history.

I’ll genuinely miss seeing new strips of these comics. Baby Blues and Zits weren’t just funny panels on a page; they were part of my kids’ lives as they grew from babies into teenagers. Watching their reactions to the jokes, seeing them recognize little pieces of themselves in the characters, made these comics feel like a quiet, comforting companion through our everyday family chaos. Losing new material feels like saying goodbye to a familiar friend who’s been there for so many milestones.

For me, that is what makes this moment feel so emotional. These were not just jokes printed beside the crossword. They were part of the daily ritual. They were little pieces of consistency in a world that changes too fast. Seeing Baby Blues and Zits move toward reruns makes me realize how much I miss the idea of the funny pages as something living, growing, and quietly dependable.