MONDAY'S LETTERS: 'Opus' Creator Expounds on Publishers' 'Acute Terror'

The answer to Ms. Bushkoff is that the palpable fear on the part of publishers is simply one of lost subscribers. Just one flame e-mail seems to wreak panic these days. As circulation declines, it has become an acute terror. It manifests itself directly in timidity. And since many desperately want to see comics as expendable (Ha! ), we're slapped down the fastest when we offend. That would be me.

This is new.

The irony is that the very thing that should be utilized to better stem the broken levee of newspaper circulation is spice and edge.

And that is exactly what so many publishers run from. Off the cliff, some of us suspect.

Berkeley Breathed
Breathed is the creator of "Opus," which is distributed by The Washington Post Writers Group