Annie, Sandy, "Daddy," The Asp

The sun will come out tomorrow -- but there won't be many more tomorrows for "Little Orphan Annie." Daddy Warbucks' favorite pupil-less redhead had enough Depression-tested pluck to survive 86 years in daily newspapers, but now the orphan's outta luck. Come June 13, her clear-eyed comic strip will end as her syndicate, Tribune Media Services, sends her off into the sunset. Canceled.

"Annie," which merited a commemorative U.S. postage stamp in 1995, runs in about 20 newspapers. The strip was created by Harold Gray in 1924. The strip's current artist, Ted Slampyak, said: "It's almost like mourning the loss of a friend." (Washington Post)

Comments from online readers:

“The comics, especially the Sunday pages, were household staples when I was growing up. We all read the comics, next to the sports, of course. Dondi, Annie, Smokey Stover, Dick Tracy, Moon Mullins, etal. My late father told me about Mayor LaGuardia reading the funnies over the radio.”

“Brenda Starr, Winnie Winkle and now Annie... at the risk of sounding like a feminist (which I am not), it seams as if all the funny, insightful comic strips with strong female main characters have gone the way of the Smoo's. We can only hope that the artist who draws Annie creates a proper ending for her that doesn't result in killing her and Sandy off and doesn't leave the readers hanging.”