Editing Comic strip (section)

===Second author===
Many older strips are no longer drawn by the original cartoonist, who has either died or retired.  Such strips are known as "[[zombie strip]]s". A cartoonist, paid by the syndicate or sometimes a relative of the original cartoonist, continues writing the strip, a tradition that became commonplace in the early half of the 20th century. ''[[Hägar the Horrible]]'' and ''[[Frank and Ernest (comic strip)|Frank and Ernest]]'' are both drawn by the sons of the creators. Some strips which are still in affiliation with the original creator are produced by small teams or entire companies, such as Jim Davis' ''Garfield'', however there is some debate if these strips fall in this category.

This act is commonly criticized by modern cartoonists including Watterson and ''Pearls Before Swine'''s [[Stephan Pastis]]. The issue was addressed in six consecutive ''Pearls'' strips in 2005.<ref>[http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/?DateAfter=2005-09-19&DateBefore=2009-12-18&Order=d.DateStrip+ASC&PerPage=10&x=36&y=15&Search=blondie ''Pearls Before Swine''] at Comics.com</ref> [[Charles Schulz]], of ''[[Peanuts]]'' fame, requested that his strip not be continued by another cartoonist after his death. He also rejected the idea of hiring an inker or letterer, comparing it to a golfer hiring a man to make his putts. Schulz's family has honored his wishes and refused numerous proposals by syndicators to continue ''Peanuts'' with a new author.

====Assistants====
Since the consolidation of newspaper comics by the first quarter of the 20th century, most cartoonists have used a group of assistants (with usually one of them credited). However, quite a few cartoonists (e.g.: [[George Herriman]] and Charles Schulz, among others) have done their strips almost completely by themselves; often criticizing the use of assistants for the same reasons most have about their editors hiring anyone else to continue their work after their retirement.