"They weren’t funny or entertaining" I mean, that's like 90% of all newspaper comics anyway

I did not expect "and the artist who designed Todd Snap was literally a rockstar leopard furry"

The idea that Pokemon thought to themselves "Hey, this very important beloved man is dying, let's use this as a marketing opportunity" feels very sociopathic to me.

I can only imagine how bored and disgruntled the illustrator must have been when he submitted that "find Ninetales" strip lmao

A legendary artist is dying from cancer. The Pokemon Company: How can we profit from this situation?

I feel like Mario would make a better Newspaper strip than Pokémon.

Based on what you guys said, it looks like the writer didn't know if they were making a kids comic or an adults comic, making it boring for everyone. Also, it certainly looks like they were trying to be the next Peanuts, but Gerard Jones is just not as good as Charles Schulz was.

The connect the dots is supposed to be a sitting Meowth, like the art on the jungle tcg card

In my local paper they just re-ran selections from 50 years of old Peanuts strips as "Classic Peanuts" after Schultz's death. Those Gen 1 days were weird, man.

1. My name is Brock and today we're gonna make some delicious doughnuts! 2. You start by putting rice in the rice cooker. 3. ... 4. Hey wait a minute.

I remember finding this in my local library as a kid. I think I enjoyed it because I was obsessed and hungry for any Pokémon content. The funniest part about it, I'm pretty sure I was the only one who checked it out because it was always available and none of my friends knew what I was talking about when I mentioned the Pokémon comic, no, the one for newspapers.

The strips featured in this video feel more like cousins to Doonesbury or Calvin & Hobbes than an attempted Peanuts replacement.

10:50 This is the Pokemon version of "This is fine" meme.

From the title, I thought it was going to be the short lived Pokemon stage musical

I've been reading through this comic archive, and thus far only one comic has made me chuckle: [Ditto has been transforming into other Pokemon for the past few strips. Currently, it is transformed into Squirtle.] Squirtle: Don't pretend to be someone you're not, Ditto! There's only one way to be happy! Just be yourself! Ditto: You're right! [Ditto stands there doing nothing, still appearing like Squirtle.] Squirtle: Uh... what are you doing? Ditto: Just what you said... I'm being YOURSELF. The only other one that has really made me smile is the first one when Ash puts on his Halloween costume. It's like a bizarre version of Mimikyu, over a decade before that Pokemon became a reality. Other than those two "shining" moments, it's been kind of uncomfortable to read some of this comic strip. I get the feeling the author was in a very miserable stage of his life while he was writing this stuff, and some of that bleeds through into the subject matter. ...Still, it's been mildly interesting so far. I'm going to keep reading these through to the end.

I've heard stories about corporate greed backfiring before but "pouncing on the comic strip void left by Charles Goddamn Schulz the minute he dies" is certainly a new one on me 😬 (Also y'all are troopers with these translation/preservation videos, we appreciate all your work 🙏)

"We very much want to put out good content, but we don't have time. We don't want to miss this window of opportunity" I feel this quote may have been a warning for the series as a whole...

"Well, I guess we won't be seeing you in the funny papers anymore" - This cracked me up so hard I can't believe his expression and that smirk in his face lmao

15:35 "We could have reached out to him for some behind the scenes info like we usually do in our videos, but this time, we're good" Yeah, id agree on this one.

oh my god i remember this comic in the detroit free press. nobody ever talked about it so i assumed it was a weird local artist that had a tenuous relationship with copyright law? they were not great and even my 12yo self could tell they were mega cheesy

That thing about adults absolutely hating the comics checks out. I was a Pokémon kid in 2000, and every adult I knew absolutely despised Pokémon -- either because they were whack-jobs who thought it was the work of Satan, or they were just sick and tired of hearing their kids constantly talk about it.

“Here are 3 storylines to give you an idea of what it was like, ash preparing for a battle and losing, misty badgering ash for a Valentine’s Day, and brock BEING INCREDIBLY HORNY”

I mean… it’s no more unfunny than the average newspaper comic to be fair

it's so crazy to me that someone at Pokémon heard that a beloved comic artist was dying and immediately thought of ways to profit/take his soon vacant place.

I know about this series solely because the Bulbapedia infobox for Ash's Pokémon has a section for Pokémon he owned in the newspaper strip.

They're all pretty bad but tbh the vulpix one where Brock was practicing lines on her was pretty funny IMO.

Not gonna lie, despite the awful "unfunniness" of the strip, it does have some interesting creative ideas. The Original Series protagonists on a more "real" setting like an school, the philosophical Metapod and even the dynamic between Delia and Ash's Pokémons, actually seems like funny scenarios for an self-contained comedy about the Pokémon world. Too bad it was in a format that it just simply wouldn't work. It's was more appropiate for an American cartoon from that 2000s era. And, as someone already said, I also think that Mario with his extended world (Donkey Kong, Wario, etc.) and I dare say Animal Crossing, are more fitting for a comic strip. However, can we talk about for a second about how morally and ethically dubious is that TPC and in no small part its three thirds (Nintendo, GF and specially Creatures) actually wanted to take Schultz's place in the comic strip world when they learned that he was about to DIE? And even worse, that they rushed the strip when it was announced that he passed? I don't know people, but that seems too scummy for me. Although, he did already announced his retirement in advance, and his very last strip (a farewell Sunday strip) was published the very day AFTER he died. So, who knows, maybe TPC wanted his place when his retirement was announced.

That Kadabra chilling during the arson comic is HIGH ART

"Sadly, the creator of Charlie Brown was dying... So the corporate leaders saw an opening and got together to take his place" bro this sounds so grim 😭😭😭

Boy, never thought I'll see these strips again after many years. I remember seeing them on an old magazine we used to recieve every Saturday through the newspaper line we were once subscribed to. Back then, I found it amazed to see a popular Nintendo franchise adapted to the comics, and this was before I discover they did the same with Metroid, The Legend of Zelda and even Star Fox. Then after they disappear, always wondered what happened, and well, decades later, now I know. Still, glad this was archived.

this is so cursed. the artwork isn't good, it isn't funny, it was made to capitalize off of a man's death, and it was written by a genuine creep. i don't usually say this about anything bc even bad art has effort that was put into it, but honestly it's for the best that no one remembers this...

That's so weird, I used to read the newspaper comics (as a child) a lot back than and never even seen it.

Did the Japanese executives not know about Peanuts beforehand? Because Peanuts is pretty popular in Japan.

Other than a couple odd creative choices, I really can't blame this for being anything else than a bog standard comic strip. Not all of them are Calvin and Hobbs, not all of them are Far Side. Hell, not all of them are even Garfield back in its heyday or as oddball as Heathcliff is now. At best, you'll get a small chuckle worthy slice of life observation from a talking animal, or talking baby, or something. At worst, you'll have something where the guy is so creatively bankrupt, they take audience submissions and just scribble something based on it (cough cough Pluggers). It could have been funny if it was written by someone who knew the ins and outs of Pokemon and could put some inside observation Pokemon humor. But then again, who is that for? Adults at the time only thought Pokemon as a dumb fad, and I doubt any kids at the time were as avid comic strip fans as I used to be at the same age. Then again, there was a weird TMNT comic strip, and that seemed to last a while being done in house at Mirage.

Peanuts has humor, but it's not what makes the comic. What made Peanuts great was that it had heart. Something like this, manufactured by a corporation and expected to succeed, is the antithesis of Schultz's Peanuts. It was doomed to fail. R.I.P. Mr Schultz.

“But uh this time.. we’re good” lol

Why does this video give me vibes of a Defunctland episode

Already knowing about Gerard Jones as a DC comics reader, I shuddered when his name was first brought up here!

11:13 That one wasn't THAT bad. No worse than other Comic Strips are today. 12:38 DID YOU KNOW? Meowth didn't always stand up. Most art of Meowth before the Anime got popular, had them in a sitting position as the Meowth seen with Team Rocket was not the norm and in fact quite different. Even other Meowth in the Anime walked and sat like cats did.

Ash's mom getting up at 3 am actually made me chuckle

4:13 What EarthBound comics?

I like that the Metapod in the strip you spotlighted at 8:58 is in front of the comic: it's ambivalent even about which panel it ought to be in.

It was ill timed. With peanuts, people grew up with Charlie Brown.

I feel like a few of the old "Brawl in the Family" strips got that sunday newspaper vibe these guys were going for.

Ash and Misty as classmates? Sounds like a good way to end up with a destroyed school.

Can someone help me find the Victreebel at 8:30

Idk, those comic strips were pretty amusing by comic strip standards. Nothing in the paper is fall-down, laugh out loud funny. They're ongoing stories with quick, small punchlines at the end. I feel like nobody at DYKG has actually read a recurring comic strip before.

15:25 Whoa, whoa, whoa! You’re telling me KZfaq actually did something right for once?!?

That 3am comic is actually hilarious.

Why would they hire a superhero comic writer to write newspaper comics? I understand they're the same type of art format, but they are drastically different types of writing media.

They should had focused on their comedic trio they already had.. that being team rocket. Idk if people would had cared still, but seeing incompetent villains try and fail again and again was already a proven method.

Im shocked someone is actually talking about this or even remembers this. Sadly i'm one of those odd people who has some kind of ' nostalgia' for the comic since i remember reading through my physical copy that my parents brought me. Even as a kid i found it kinda odd, like i don't remember if i found it funny but it stuck out to me as strange and a weird product. Like it didnt match any of the other pokemon media i had. I dont even remember if i found it funny, but i did find it fascinating. I did somewhat enjoy the artstyle though (i still like how Pikachu is drawn) and i'm guessing it stuck in my mind because i immediately knew what this video was about from the thumbnail. I dont even know how i found it online in the first place or why i asked my parents to get it. It remains in a strange part of my mind that every once in a while I'll remember it. As mentioned in the video, it's not widely mentioned or talked about so its just something that i think about every once in a while. I still have it though, probably rotting in storage. Sometimes when im sorting through my stuff i restumble upon it but never feel the need to take time to flip though it. Maybe next time though ill re-read it for a 'laugh'. Thank you for highlighting this weird comic. Always wanted to learn more about it. Also thank you for preserving it as well. Its odd but media like this should be kept around.

That's kinda disgusting to try and capitalize on someone's death.

I really wanted to see the lost & discarded existential dinosaur movie...

Pokémon comics with newspaper boomer humour has to be one of the most cursed things ever.

of course the writer of Batman: Fortunate Son is responsible for this

Wow thats just messed up in so many ways

I'm no expert, but maybe Charles Schultz deserves a little more reverence than "[he dead]".

The humor isn't the worst. Honest, some of these strips are chuckle worthy. No, the BIGGEST downfall for this is the simplest one: adults back then didn't know about Pokemon. It was unfamiliar to them so they would have to try to grasp half the crazy stuff happening on panel most of the time. Peanuts worked wonders because it was immediately relatable to the American everyday life, and in some cases just the human experience. It wasn't even meant to be funny half the time, in fact it got pretty sad rather frequently. It's just... you could connect with those kids, with Charlie Brown's bad luck, Peppermint Patty's insecurities, Snoopy's daydreaming and so on. Here? Characters feel pretty extravagant and are harder to pin down amidst the wacky animals with superpowers which is a death sentence if you want to draw an older new audience into it. Funnily enough, I DO think nowadays with the universal exposure of the series something like this comic strip could work. Well, at least if it was better executed that is.

I always love learning about comic strips. It'll be pretty cool if you guys launch a channel dedicated to preserving comic strip history.

The strip about Ash's mom waking up at 3am isn't bad given context

I just like how it feels like a villain's story from the beginning, even though of course is not that.

They should have gotten Nobuhiro Watsuki to illustrate instead of Benimaru Itoh, jeez did that arrest throw me for a loop lol

13:50 - Trying to figure out if $25,0000 is more or less than we think it is.

Kinda wish they'd revisit the general concept. They could definitely do a solid Pokémon newspaper comic strip, I know I'd love to see it.

Knowing the author did what he did, I don't think I could ever read his writing without feeling icky the entire time

I actually own a physical copy of this comic strip collection! A little over a decade ago now, I spent a month in Japan through a study-abroad program with my college. On that trip, I happened upon a lone copy of "Pikachu Meets The Press" for ¥1000 at a Book-Off somewhere in Tokyo. I had no knowledge of its creation or history. I bought it simply for its oddness and novelty---a collection of Pokémon newspaper comics I had never heard of, and the only English book in a Japanese bookstore. Thank you for providing me the context and history for this obscure piece of Pokémon media after all these years!

8:36 seriously though where THE FUCK is Victreebell supposed to be?

I feel that Pikachu: Meets the Press is trying too hard to be the next Peanuts. It tries to pander for an American audience on how Ash and his friend goes to into wacky high jinks in a somewhat urban society. It has Pokemon in there, but it doesn't feel like Pokemon. Like why does Ash and his friends go to school? Sure he did go to school in the Sun and Moon Anime but the school does tackle topics that is relate to Pokemon World. Meet the Press on the other hand, just have them go into normal school to where it feels more out of place to see Ash read about U.S Government and History. What made Peanuts is how it tackles the everyday lives of children. Sure it's a humorous tone which children may like, but adults can relate to the children struggles and how it doesn't confuse or dumbs downs it's audience. Personally, I feel Pokemon Adventures/Special did a better job adapting the World of Pokemon, not just it dark themes, but it's tone and characters.

my favorite is the one where pikachu fucking kills santa

Congratulations, that joke at 15:30 was funnier than the entirety of this comic strip!

lol, "this time... we're good" can't blame you on that one

Admittedly, Metapod feels like a classic newspaper comic book character in these. It's like it's mandated that every comic has one character who exists to give depressed soliloquies. That being said, I think a comic like this could have worked as a way to explain what Pokemon actually were to the parents of kids who play Pokemon, but the writer would have to be dedicated to playing the games and reading some official sources. The game mechanics give an extra layer of personality to the Pokemon that I think the media misses a lot.

I'm still impressed by the fact that DYKG pivoted successfully from random trivia vids to actual journalism.

The Dilbert esque metapod jokes were ahead of their time feels like a modern day shitpost

Thank you for archiving and drawing attention to things that have mostly been forgotten.

I remember reading these comics. So much so that I bought the book with all the strips in it.

You missed the humor of the comic at 9:33 - -Ash's mom is watching the news (BORING) -Jigglypuff sings her to sleep -Ash takes out his earplugs and changes the channel to POKé SMACKDOWN

i thought this was gonna be sponsored by Palworld for a second there lol.

That suddenly got very dark. At least none of the strip's fans had their days ruined when that particular piece of news dropped, considering there likely were none to begin with.

Am i crazy, or are all the strips this vid singled out for being unfunny... kinda funnier than most of the strips that were left in the background? 9:05 - carried entirely by the face Psyduck makes at the end. That made me chortle. The inanity of Metapod's speech kinda works in the strip's favor here because it's more relatable when Psyduck gets a headache 9:34 - going by how this strip is narrated, I feel safe to say the video writer just lowkey missed the intended joke. See, Jigglypuff sings in the background and causes Ash's mom to fall asleep, and Ash was using earplugs to protect himself from the effects and then change the channel to his liking. 10:50 - i kind of imagined a less funny version of this strip while reading it... like I expected Mrs. Ketchum to have a cornier punchline but instead she started "this is fine"ing and it took me by surprise 11:14 - i mean... by modern-day-Garfield standards, it clears? (Coincidentally, _Garfield_ theoretically might have told this joke better, because then it'd've had one less panel that it clearly didn't know what to do with.) Okay, these might not be comedy *gold,* but this strip still gets points for its unique art style. I've never seen any other official _Pokemon_ product give their monsters this varied a range of expressions - it feels fresh despite being decades old. I thought this would be a point we could all agree on, but then Mr. DYKG goes "We guess some days Itoh-san _does_ miss, this art is jank af" and i can't do this anymore man ù_ú. No wonder this channel doesn't usually host reviews. I think the only claim in this I gelled with was that the "Where's That Pokemon?" assignments were too easy.

Well dang, now I wish this has succeeded and I was able to see pokemon in the Sunday newspaper comics

2:47 I had no idea Charles Shulz would be brought up in this video.

wow, I haven't thought about this in years, but I totally remember it being in the paper when I was kid. I'd read the newspaper and comics while I was eating breakfast before school. I even cut a few out and saved them, I remember some strips about Clefairy needing to shrink down and deliver a birthday present to Diglett in its burrow. Never very funny, but some of the pokemon drawings were cute. that teaser at the end for the 'even weirder' thing and picture of Mewtwo makes me wonder if the next video is going to be about the weird stage play. I vaguely remember seeing the pokemon stage show with some friends as a kid.

I HAD A COPY OF THIS AS A KID, it's been sitting on a shelf for as long as I can remember. I also had weird Where's Waldo styled pokemon books, what a childhood I had.

Well, that strips look like typical bizarre comic strips in newspapers, but Pokemon.

It's important to preserve even bad work, as it helps to showcase the cultural landscape at the time. So the efforts to preserve this and make a video about it is deeply appreciated.

In the Metapod encounter comic, there's a Rapidash shaped cloud in the last panel.

Dang, talk about paying for your hubris.

They weren't funny or entertaining, yet Garfield persists

I actually remember this comic. I used to cut it out from the paper to save for later, since I was just happy to see a Pokémon comic running in the newspaper.

“Let’s try to make Pokémon more appealing to adults but make it so there’s no context as to what the world of Pokémon is and make it different from what their kids know about Pokémon.”

Those strips were like... bubble gum comics. Bazooka Joe. I've never laughed from that, but the bubble gum was good for a long car ride! Just enough flavor to build up a big gum wad and then work the jaw muscles for a while.

I don’t know if its just me but the microphone is picking up a hissing sound. Not sure if the microphone is broken or its an editing error

"In early 2000, Charles Shulz was dying of cancer -- his comic writing days were over. "Pokemon's corporate leaders saw an opening..." Creepy.

To be fair I've also never seen a funny Peanuts comic before

Literally just had to use Jessie and James as an us VS the world style comic and they would have won the west. Odd. So very odd. Every step of this was odd. So many leaps in logic. It's so bad it's hilareous. Now I know why my mom has Peanuts and Pokemon collectable smuckers jars from this era, though. I wasn't old enough to remember. I always thought that was such a strange collection. Makes sense now.

I used to have the collection of these. The first time I went to MCM a guy had boxes of them and was selling them for £1 each. Looking it up now it doesn't seem like there's many copies of them around so my guess they got pulped. It was a really bad comic so I'm hardly surprised. The story behind it is wild though.

what papers, and cities / states this release in? I'm curious who would have known about this?

which song is used at the beginning of this video? it's the TLOU theme but I can't find that exact version