Did the Syndicate Say No to Nu?
Cidu Bill on Feb 25th 2009
This strip, which seemed to be the lead-in to a storyline, was followed by a week of repeats. Anybody know whether there was supposed to be a week-long sequence about the abstinence lecture, and the syndicate just said no?
Filed in Bill Bickel, Zits, comic strips, comics, humor | 21 responses so far
Kit Feb 25th 2009 at 11:14 pm 1
You mean “Sasha the Math Tutor” is a repeat? And I got as distracted as Walt? What is going on?
PeterW Feb 26th 2009 at 12:30 am 2
It could be that the confirmed repeats are the backup for a controversial storyline, depending on how cowardly the local newspapers are.
But yeah. I don’t remember the tutor before.
Cidu Bill Feb 26th 2009 at 01:43 am 3
Unless I’m suffering from a week-long case of deja vu, which is of course possible, the Sasha sequence is indeed a few years old.
Jenn Feb 26th 2009 at 02:26 am 4
The LA Times labels repeats (Right now Gary Trudeau and Darby Conley are apparently vacationing together.), but “Zits” is not identified as such. I don’t remember this storyline, either. But, like Kit, I must have been sufficiently distracted to not wonder why a math tutor showed up with no previous mention. I assumed the abstinence lecture was a one-shot gag.
RatsAndJen Feb 26th 2009 at 02:49 am 5
For what it’s worth, I get Zits from DailyInk online, which is straight from the syndicate. It’s got the Sasha math tutor strips this week as well. So this is at the source, not at the papers.
Hunt Feb 26th 2009 at 09:34 am 6
It’s hard to make out, but it appears to me that the Sasha strips have a 2009 copyright date.
Mark Jones Feb 26th 2009 at 09:52 am 7
It’s not uncommon for repeats of a strip to be relabeled with the current year as the copyright date.
Powers Feb 26th 2009 at 11:34 am 8
Yes, thus why the Peanuts Classics are all copyright 2009, and why one can’t tell when FBOFW is a “newrun” or a “rerun”.
Mark Jones Feb 26th 2009 at 12:49 pm 9
I can’t tell if that’s sarcasm or not, Powers (since I don’t read either strip you mention), but I seem to recall that when most strips run reruns from recent years as filler (as opposed to a set of “classics” for a strip that’s ended), the copyright date is usually the current year (like when Heart of the City did reruns back in August or so).
Scott Feb 26th 2009 at 01:17 pm 10
I don’t remember Sasha either, but on the other hand her appearance wasn’t set up. I’d have expected a strip or two about Jeremy messing up on a test at least. I’ve always gotten the impression he does well in school - not Jason Fox level, but not anywhere needing a tutor either.
Rasheed Feb 26th 2009 at 02:00 pm 11
Since we’re on the subject of not remembering characters (Sasha is new to me, too), has Chad been throughly Chuck Cunninghamed?
Elyrest Feb 26th 2009 at 02:46 pm 12
Sasha, I had to look Chad up as I have no memory of the guy. Jeremy has a brother? I’ve been reading Zits for years and I don’t recall him.
Cidu Bill Feb 26th 2009 at 02:49 pm 13
Chad still shows up every year or two (I think the last time was a single panel, in which Jeremy realizes he’s managed to sleep through his entire visit home), so he apparently hasn’t been Chucked.
Rasheed Feb 26th 2009 at 03:47 pm 14
During Chad’s first time home, his face above his “winning smile” was above the top of the panel frame. All you saw was his square jaw and teeth. Very big overachiever.
His next time home, his whole face was shown, but he was in “scruffy student” mode, like on For Better or for Worse.
That was the last time I saw him (was that even this decade?). I must have missed that last visit.
Todd Feb 26th 2009 at 05:55 pm 15
And Chad said something along the lines of “…just what I was telling our sister.” I thought they were going to add in another sibling, and have Jeremy too self absorbed to be aware of her existence.
The only times I’ve ever seen Chad, he was drawn as Jeremy with a scraggly beard.
Patrick Feb 26th 2009 at 08:19 pm 16
Wait - Jeremy has a brother named Chad? Chad & Jeremy?
I always loved “Summer Song” and “That was Yesterday” and they were hilarious as The Redcoats on one of my favorite Dick Van Dyke Show episodes.
Thomas Skogestad Feb 27th 2009 at 05:11 am 17
This seems to be the last time Chad made an appearance:
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20061227&name=Zits
Jeremy: Chad! You’re home! How long are you staying?
Chad: Dude, I’ve been here for two weeks! My plane leaves in three hours.
Jeremy: Really?
Jeremy: I’ve got to start paying more attention around here!
Chad: That’s what I keep telling your sister.
I don’t remember seeing Sasha before, either. And now she has disappeared just as mysteriously as she appeared. If this week’s strips are reruns, then they’re specifically February reruns. Yesterday Jeremy mentioned that he’s “so over February”. (Which is a comic I don’t understand. Bleh weather rubs off on Jeremy?)
Powers Feb 27th 2009 at 08:06 am 18
Mark Jones — no sarcasm at all. I was pointing out that old strips — even 1959 Peanuts strips and 1970’s FBOFW strips — get current copyright dates when they’re published anew by the syndicate.
Now, whether those new copyright dates actually legally apply is a different story. I saw a PDF of an old NYT article from the 1890s yesterday, and the Times had put a new Copyright notice down at the bottom. I don’t care what they claim, that article is still so old that it’s in the public domain. And eventually the same will be true of Peanuts.
Mark Jones Feb 27th 2009 at 09:56 am 19
I never really thought about the legal status of the new copyright dates. I know that anything published before 1923 is public domain, so I think you’re right about the NYT article. After that it gets a little hazy, with companies like Disney trying to extend copyrights all but indefinitely.
Mark Jones Feb 27th 2009 at 10:00 am 20
That strip does seem to be the setup to a sister Jeremy didn’t know about, doesn’t it? Perhaps Chad was joking around, trying to mess with Jeremy’s mind. (”I have a sister??”)
RobynS8971 Mar 3rd 2009 at 05:24 pm 21
Having 2 older sibs partly explains the parents attitudes, by the time # 3 got to high school “I was so over parenting”.