Okay, first things first. The following are the five-digit code names of the readers who have been randomly selected to win prizes in the First Annual Reader's Poll Contest:
Labor, Tandt, Stick, Pomah, Djcoh, Nicin, Harpo, Fuzzy, Chevy, Emerg, Abcat, Aesop, Nrwin, Ahwin, Quimr, Dusty, Liver, Cpowr, Smoky, Gilly, Phish, Gecko, Eynaw, Athea, Lamar, Pluto, Smoke, Chilo, Piano, Basel, Tomas, Peace, Shake, Flexe, Satan, Chizo, Tygwr, Gumpy, Lofat, Boink, Dongr, Isaac, Amber, and Coust.The 44 of you will be awarded your choice of prizes on a first-come, first-served basis. To claim a prize, leave a message on my answering machine (520-628-8775) matching your five-letter code to your four-number suffix. Some of the above names were used more than once, and in the unlikely event that two people have chosen the exact same code name and number, be prepared to discuss your favorite books and movies as a tie-breaker. Likewise if you've somehow forgotten your numbers. And if you don't get the machine, keep trying...I'm in the middle of moving right now, and things are likely to be quite chaotic for the time being.
And second things second: none of the cartoon features are in any danger of being cancelled. Some of you were worried about this, and others devoutly hoped for the demise of certain features. All of them, however, show broad-based support. On the scale of one to nine, each of the cartoons averaged between four and six.
Based on their average rankings, the Quigmans and the Publisher's Rant are in a statistical dead heat for first place (the Rant has a higher average - thanks, folks - though the Quigs have twice the number of first-place votes). Maxine! is a strong third place finisher, based on it being everybody's second favorite. US History Backwards, Subconscious Comics and L.A. Cucaracha hold the middle third, while Zippy, Dykes and Krazy bring up the rear.
Each of those last three features had plenty of first place votes, but also plenty of last place votes to bring down their averages. To my mind, this is as it should be. People either love 'em or hate 'em; few are ambivalent, and those what loves 'em, loves 'em a lot.
In fact the rankings are quite different when only first-place votes are tallied. The Quigmans are the landslide winner, followed by Zippy. The Dykes and the Rant tie for third, followed by Maxine! and Krazy. SubCon, Cucaracha and History bring up the rear.
And third things third: you Tucson Comic News readers are an intelligent and well-educated lot, and relatively affluent at that. Only 14 percent have not attended college. Of those that did, roughly half earned Bachelor's degrees, while another third took home Master's or higher. The average income for individuals is over 26 grand, while the average household income is over 36K. We have a rough parity between married (53%) and single, homeowners (47%) and renters, as well as between male (52%) and female. The average age of Comic News readers is 37.1355. We have a lot of college students, a pile of Boomers, and a surprisingly large number of seniors.
You folks are far more likely to buy art than appliances, and tend to spend your disposable income on books and magazines, restaurant meals, and recorded music. Many of you have no television (13%), but almost nobody has no stereo. Cats are the most favored pet, but there is a surprisingly large contingent of lizard owners. No pet weasels were reported.
About a third of you have no health insurance. About half own a computer. Few do without a car, but almost everybody has a bicycle as well. Mexican food, not surprisingly, was the favorite cuisine. Chinese and Italian were tied for second, and Thai and Indian cuisine are tied for third place.
Besides being a handy tiebreaker, the questions on books, movies and music gave you something fun to fill out after all that consumer information, and gave me a wonderful insight into your personalities. Like I said, y'all are a very well-educated lot. For what it's worth, the two movies mentioned more than any others were "Blade Runner" and "Amadeus."
I really want to thank everybody who took the time to fill out the survey. Well over six hundred ballots were received, and some continue to trickle in. I will compile all the data into a brochure that will (hopefully) help me to sell more ads to the right people, and bring you more of your favorite cartoons. Almost everybody took the poll seriously (though not humorlessly) and almost nobody refused to divulge information.
And since all of you told me so many personal things about yourselves, it's only fair that I reciprocate: I'm a 37 year old male, single, no kids, with a BA in Fine Arts. I live alone, with one cat, and I made twelve grand last year. I rent my home (thanks to my new landlord for responding to last month's plea), and probably will not be buying a house in the next two years, but you never know. I have no car, and haven't since 1989. I have no television, but do plan to buy one soon. I do have a Macintosh computer, and a decent stereo. No health insurance.
Yeah, my favorite cuisine is Mex-ican. Krazy Kat is #1 with me. My favorite song is "Instant Karma", by John Lennon. My favorite movie is "The American Friend," by Wim Wenders. And favorite book? Too hard! Maybe "Vineland": by Thomas Pynchon.
A couple of other things. I inadvertently omitted the name of Dante Drago, winner of the "Funny but can't draw" category in last month's cartoon contest. And since I found myself a new place through this column, perhaps it will work for Bill Cox, the official Comic News courier. Bill is an artist and a counselor, and a victim of a drastic rent increase. He needs a new place by May 1st. Bill is looking for an inexpensive studio-type living space, hopefully near downtown, or perhaps even a small ware-house. If you've got anything like this, Bill's number is 770-1354.
Thanks again to everybody who took part in the poll. We'll do it again next year. And next month, a rip-snorting polemical Rant...