Final Word from Friday, October 25, 2002
Czech readers can get a good laugh each day from the Dilbert cartoon strip in Hospodářské noviny or MF Dnes, but those looking for Czech humor have to go elsewhere. Czech newspaper cartoons are sometimes clever and insightful, but they usually aren't very funny. The cartoonists are afraid to offend anyone, are pressed to produce a piece every day, and aren't very willing to work with editors to come up with something that's actually humorous (which is why we quit running a cartoon). When HN's cartoonist, Miroslav Kemel, missed the mark in a recent cartoon, Jaroslav Plesl of Lidové noviny wrote that it was time for HN to replace him. Most of the CR's top cartoonists, including Kemel, have been around forever and have gotten complacent. It's only a matter of time before some young, aggressive - and funny - cartoonists push them aside.