"Readers continue to pour over the books..."?

Li'l Abner went on for years past its sell-by date, and degenerated into hard-right, John Bircher nastiness. Al Capp had become an embittered, hate filled man...and it showed in his work.

When Walt Kelly died, his beloved Pogo went with him, and left the stage gracefully and well loved. Years later it was revived by others who lacked Kelly's passion. The resultant strip was a pale shadow of the original, without a heart. It was not missed after its rapid demise.

Garfield went in the direction of bland, nonchallenging, repetitive material. One strip is pretty much the same as another, with a few basic themes. But Boge moi, did they ever merchandise that comic! I suspect most of its income came from selling licensing.