By Saundra Keyes
Advertiser Editor

Yes, Dagwood, there are some new kids on the block today. Also a talking monkey, a self-centered rat and a janitor who's a role model at his elementary school.

In other words, we're changing our comics lineup.

We know the funny pages are serious business for many readers.

And we know familiarity — finding your favorite column, feature or comic in the place it's always been — is one of the pleasures of reading your newspaper.

But from time to time, we think it's wise to freshen our comics pages by introducing new characters and artists.

We're doing that today by adding five strips and retiring five others.

We know some of you will miss favorite characters, and we've provided several ways to get your feedback if that's the case. (For details, see Island Life story.)

We're also confident that you'll find new favorites among our additions.

They include two family strips, "Jump Start" and "One Big Happy," and two with animal characters. "Bo Nanas" features a talking monkey in human situations, and "Pearls Before Swine" stars a know-it-all rat and a slow-thinking pig.

We're also adding "Frazz," named for a songwriter-turned-janitor who's the most-respected educator at his elementary school.

On weekdays, those strips will be joined by "Go Figure," which chronicles the world of psychiatrist Norman Floyd.

We chose the new lineup over a period of several months, evaluating reader suggestions, promotions from comics syndicates, and strips we'd seen in other papers.

"Bo Nanas," which debuts nationally today, caught Features Editor Elizabeth Kieszkowski's eye when she learned it was the product of a fellowship that nurtures aspiring cartoonists. (We also liked the book club plot line in a sample strip and the fact that the artist practices 'ukulele in his spare time.)

We loved the sophisticated drawing and witty plot lines of "Pearls Before Swine," the creation of a California lawyer who syndicated the strip in 1999.

"Frazz" found an advocate in Patrick Kelly, our executive editor's 9-year-old son. Asked to evaluate "Pearls Before Swine," Patrick also flagged the sample strips for "Frazz," which we hadn't noticed in the promotional kit.

"One Big Happy" was suggested by a Kailua reader, Dr. Linda Chiu, who said the strip's positive, 'ohana-oriented message and multigenerational characters would be a good fit for Hawai'i. Her lobbying included asking the syndicate that handles it to send us samples.

I was the lobbyist for "Jump Start," which features a couple who balance their careers as police officer and nurse with the challenges of raising two children. The strip's creator, who began sketching cartoons when he was 3, hopes to be a role model for young people and has lent "Jump Start" characters to several public-service campaigns.

As we introduce these strips, we're retiring five other Sunday comics: "Born Loser," "Frank & Ernest," "B.C.," "Marvin," and "Family Circus." Fans of "Family Circus" will still find it on our daily comics page.

Because our daily and Sunday lineups differ, the new strips will sub for different comics on weekdays. The Monday through Saturday page will no longer feature "Quigmans," "Cats With Hands," "Hi & Lois," "Six Chix," "Buckles" and "Ziggy." Fans of "Ziggy" will still find it in the Sunday comics.

These decisions weren't research-based, but neither were they whims of the editors involved. We all know our task is not to tailor comics pages to our own interests, but to those of a range of readers.

Our goal is to offer a mix that appeals to children, teens and adults. We work to blend old favorites and contemporary themes, offbeat and gentle humor, realistic and fanciful subjects. We look for diversity in characters as well as plot lines.

We hope you'll agree that our new lineup achieves such a mix.

Just as we'd ask Dagwood to get acquainted with his new neighbors before judging them, we're asking you to get acquainted with our new comics characters before deciding whether we've succeeded.

As always, we're interested in your opinions.