The creator of Calvin & Hobbes gave a legendary (some say notorious) speech called "The State of Cartooning" in 1989. I'd heard of it, but never read it until Planet Cartoon posted it yesterday.
Watterson praises the three tentpost comic strips of all time: Peanuts, Pogo, and Krazy Kat. Now that Watterson and Gary Larson have retired the field, I can't think of a single strip being produced now that I would buy a paper in order to read.
