STRIPPED (2014)

As someone who drew cartoon characters off TV soon as he was old enough to hold a crayon, I couldn't wait to watch Stripped.  A documentary about the rapid decline of newspapers - and specifically, the comics pages you once found so abundant in them - the film does a great job of succinctly covering the various stages of the comic strip, from its origins to how syndicates worked to the artists who essentially made no money for years until they caught on ... up through how comics were marketed and sold then compared to now, and even to the web comics and graphic novels that seem to be taking over as newspapers seemingly shrink their comic content daily.  Included are interviews with some of the biggest in the business (including first-time-ever voice commentary by Bill Watterson, publicity-shy creator of "Calvin & Hobbes"), and while the film ends on a positive note, I would still have liked it to be a bit longer, going a little more in-depth on both the creative and business side of the cartoonist's life.  Still good, though. (not rated)  B