A Farewell to Cul De Sac

I usually don’t post on Saturdays but this news is too sad not to comment on. Universal Uclick announced Friday That Richard Thompson‘s brilliant comic strip Cul de Sac would be ending next month:

On September 9, 2007, the remarkable talent of Richard Thompson hit the newspaper pages in the comic strip Cul de Sac. The buzz began even before the strip debuted; Bill Watterson emerged from his retirement to praise the strip’s writing, artwork and imagination. In May, 2011, Richard received the Cartoonist of the Year award from the National Cartoonists Society, an amazing achievement in so short a time.

But the last year has been a struggle for Richard. Parkinson’s Disease, first diagnosed in 2009, has so weakened him that he is unable to meet the demands of a comic strip. For a time, he worked with another artist, but the deadlines became too much of a task. So it is with personal and professional sadness that I inform you he has decided to end Cul de Sac. The last strip (an original) will be run on Sunday September 23, 2012.

Richard is one of the most gifted cartoonists working today, and it is unspeakably unfair that Parkinson’s Disease has forced him to discontinue Cul de Sac. We have to be appreciative of the short time Richard’s talents entertained and charmed us in the comics pages, and remember how lucky we were to have that chance.

All my best well-wishes go out to Richard and his family, and I hope we’ll see the occasional cartoon from him even as he rightly focuses on his health and well being.