I need a magnifyin’ glass

“Gotta get my magnifying glass out to read these here Sunday comics,” I said.
The Mighty Mezz, the beloved Daily Messenger newspaper in Canandaigua, where I worked almost 10 years following my stroke, the best job I ever had, is being squeezed by the cost of newsprint.
Evidence of this is squeezing six pages of Sunday comics onto four pages.
Each page is 20&1/2 inches by 11 inches, so a single double-sheet (four pages) is 20&1/2 inches by 22 inches.
During my employ the Messenger bought its Sunday comics as part of a package.
Now they print them themselves. Probably cost less.
Six pages is one full 20&1/2-inch sheet by 22 inches, plus a half-sheet at 20&1/2 by 11.
Going from six to four pages dumps that half-sheet.
The whole time I was at the Mighty Mezz I heard about the exploding cost of newsprint.
I’m sure other factors were at play, mainly getting news from other sources, particularly television and the Internet.
I’m guilty of this myself.
Although I remember the TV news often stealing stories from the Messenger, and then reporting them as if they had done the spadework themselves.
The Messenger was mainly local, so their competition was the local TV news.
The Internet is more national, although it could do local with a local output.
But I don’t see anything yet, although the Messenger is now a local Internet output. —They were during my employ, when I did their web-site.
So how do you compress six pages of comics into four pages?
Mainly shrinkage.
Some can be run full page-width; e.g. Peanuts and Beetle Bailey.
Each are around 9&3/4 inches wide, although Peanuts is 4&1/2 inches deep, and Beetle Bailey only 3&1/2.
Some were switched to vertical, e.g Doonesbury and Blondie.
Doonesbury is 13&3/4 inches deep, Blondie is 15 inches deep.
That leaves holes on the right side of each page about 6&1/2 inches wide.
We have a slew of comics to still run, assuming we don’t delete any; e.g. Dilbert, Spiderman, Shoe and Prince Valiant.
Also B.C. and Garfield among others.
So shrink each comic to fit, a simple computer function.
Except in so doing you make the text inside the word-blurbs so tiny, ya need a magnifying glass to read ‘em.

• “Canandaigua” (“cannon-DAY-gwuh”) is a small city nearby where we live in Western NY. The city is also within a rural town called “Canandaigua.” The name is Indian, and means “Chosen Spot.” —It’s about 15 miles away.
• I had a stroke October 26, 1993.
• I retired from the Messenger almost five years ago.