Daily strips now come to you in full color

The comics get a new look today —- they’re in color.

We know how much readers like the Sunday comics in color. With recent upgrades of our presses, we are now able to offer daily color comics. We hope you will find them more enjoyable.

This will mean some changes in where you’ll find your favorite features in Living. The crossword puzzle, Jumble, sudoku, bridge column and horoscope will move to the TV grid page, usually on page 3.

The comics page usually will be on the back of the section, but sometimes it will be inside.

Unfortunately, we will have room for only one page of comics. Longtime readers will recall that we used to have only one page of comics, but added the extras in 2001, when the weekday Journal and Constitution newspapers were merged.

It’s never easy to drop comics; Even the least popular strip has many fans. But we tried to be fair and make the best decisions possible. In an online survey in November, readers were invited to share their comics preferences. We asked how often they read each strip, their favorites and their least-liked comics.

Using the data from more than 3,600 reader responses, we compared the likes and dislikes of readers in various age groups and eliminated comics each group liked the least. The result: Folks from every generation of readers have lost a few of “their” comics, but each group also keeps its most-liked and most-read strips.

But before we make the final decision, we want to hear from you one more time. When you check out the comics today, you’ll see a space with instructions on how you can vote to return two of the dropped comics. Go online to cast your ballot before midnight Thursday. We’ll tally your votes on Friday and arrange for the two top comics to be back on the page next Monday.

New York Journal publisher William Randolph Hearst introduced Sunday color comics in 1896 by promising “pages of iridescent polychromous effulgence that makes the rainbow look like a piece of lead pipe.” That’s a bit extreme; we simply hope our colorful daily comics page will brighten your mornings.

To share your comments, write to comics@ajc.com or leave a message at 404-526-2221.