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And it's goodbye from Horace....

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Tarquin Thunderthighs lll:
I can't speak for The Sun unfortunately, but I'd love it if they snapped up Horace. This is very sad and disappointing news, and yet another very significant nail in the coffin of newspaper cartooning.

I also think it is totally misguided, but the unfortunate reality seems to be that people who love great cartoons, as Horace undoubtedly is, appear  to be the least likely to complain when they are dropped. I'd suggest what is needed therefore is a coordinated campaign using social media to find and encourage Horace fans to speak out loudly through whatever means available (and there are quite a few), letting the paper know in no uncertain terms how much the strip is missed (this would have to be timed for after the strip stops appearing, unless the paper announces it ahead of that time - unlikely).

Editors do listen when their readers speak, sometimes even when it's only a few. I personally witnessed the resurrection of Biffo The Bear in The Beano back in the 70s (when it had a bigger circulation than most newspapers have now), after the editor took just one call from a long-time reader...in his 50s as I recall, tearfully pleading for the recently dropped Biffo to return. Roger will know that the Editor concerned, one Harold Crammond, was no soft touch, but immediately reinstated the Bear to the comic. Different times perhaps, but voices do get listened to.

Unfortunately, due to my association with a rival newspaper, I'm not really in a position to kick off such a campaign, but if I was, I'd be scouring the web for any groups or forums with Mirror connections and imploring anyone who feels this to be the misguided error it certainly is, to make their voices heard at the very top. Newspaper switchboards are usually very accommodating when it comes to imparting contact details, even for the editor.

Shame I can't get involved. I wonder where we might find anyone who can...

Roger Kettle:
Firstly, thanks for the kind words, everyone!
Steve, the strip ended in the Mirror and Record on Saturday. Andrew and I have known for the past month that August the 1st would be its last appearance. I didn't feel that I should say anything until the coffin lid was shut! We WERE asked if we'd like to produce a closing week's series but, as we'd already completed more than enough work to cover the remaining period, we declined. Basically, it would have meant doing a week's work for free (The Mirror would not have paid us for it) so we decided just to leave things as they were. I dare say I would have written something horribly corny that allowed Horace and Kitty to end up together. We made the right choice!
There already has been some response on the Horace Facebook page, which is nice, but I genuinely see no way back. A decision has been made.

Rob Baker:
Well I've been busy putting out loads of   ?#?bringbackhorace?   tweets -- it appears there's quite a few people out there who are very disappointed by the Mirror's decision.   I've written to the Mirror Editor, and also several national newspapers who I thought ought to run Horace, though I've had no responses so far.

In hindsight I should have asked first --  could Horace run elsewhere, Roger,  or does the Mirror own the copyright etc ?

Roger Kettle:
Rob, there is a SLIGHT ongoing situation regarding copyright which I hope to resolve shortly. I'd love to tell you more but I can't!

Mince:
Perhaps we should end the Horace era with some Horace caption competitions.

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