Ever wonder why newspapers devote an entire non-revenue producing page, every day to a "silly group of pictures" called "cartoons"?

It may not be direct money, but savvy publishers have a better reason for running comics than for money alone.

Newspaper owners and publishers have known for years that the time to "hook" the reader is at an early age. They know that though the newspaper keeps the same name, journalists will change, quality of writing will change, advertisers will come and go, but to keep a newspaper alive, it needs loyalty.

Cartoons create a kind of devoted loyalty that is difficult to explain. It falls under the auspices of "a picture tells a thousand words". A good cartoon slowly seeps into the public psyche and does not leave. Word of mouth is developed. Advertisers hear about it. Even if the paper may (or may not) be of the highest standard of journalism text, it does contain their favorite cartoon that a reader "has to see".

We are all creatures of habit. If we start reading a local daily paper at age six, due to the comics, we probably wll still be reading the same paper at age 56.

The publisher and editor also knows that even after loyalty has been created, the average reader wants some comic relief as most news is bad news. If the reading gets too rough, he/she can always flip a few pages to the comics and smile.

A savvy newspaper wants a majority of cartoons to be "family-friendly" but also wants a mix of "somewhat controversial" or "different", though certainly reader-friendly to offset and appeal to college and post-grad level readers who may only have time to skim the paper, but will always go straight to their favorite cartoon, often before reading the news.

If not for Peanuts by the late great Charles Schulz, newspaper comics would probably not be so well-read or talked about. What did Charles know that other cartoonists did not?

Schulz knew that no matter how famous or successful we got, we still were in touch with that little boy/girl loser inside all of us as a child. He produced Charlie Brown to reflect that "inner loser". It worked.

Gary Larson understood clearly that college students and baby boomers liked comics too. And they didn't always like mainstream rated "G" comics. It was an experiment to create one that dealt with the intellect and it worked.

Many cartoonists have tried to reach the level of another Peanuts or Far Side. It is not an easy task. Schulz had an inventory of tens of thousands of strips over the years and Larson had over 5000 before retiring. Both capitalized on licensing their products onto calendars, greeting cards, mugs, and other products.

Cartoons exist because the public wants them to exist. If the public didn't want them, the editor would cut the page in a minute. It is a costly page and no advertising is sold on it. It is only there to build loyalty as I mentioned. To the editor, the fact that it makes us smile is simply icing on the cake; as long as we keep buying the paper.