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Proofing Sunday comics

Our composing room puts our comics pages together. It’s our job in the newsroom to check their work and make sure the right comic is placed in the right spot on the right day. The great thing about this is that we get to read the comics ahead of time.

This can be especially helpful when an anniversary of some sort is approaching, and I get to see how the cartoonists handled it. For example, I proofed the Sept. 11 comics section weeks in advance. I was able to give my reporter, who was working on a Sept. 11 story, the comics section for that day. Nearly every cartoonist addressed the anniversary. With this advance knowledge, she was able to address this in her package.

Above, I’m proofing the comics section for Jan. 1, 2012. I will check each comic to make sure it has the correct date. We wouldn’t want to run Jan. 8 Pearls Before Swine on Jan. 1.

Here’s a glimpse of the first Sunday comics of 2012.