Since 1992, the comic strip "Fisher" has been appearing regularly (and exclusively) in the pages of the Globe and Mail, to the delight of its many followers, for whom the modest adventures of Tom Fisher, his wife Alison, their son Paul, their friends, parents, pets and robot have had, at the same time, something familiar about them and something (as appealingly) strange. 

Perhaps the strangeness came from the fact that they were so familiar. Here, after all, was a comic strip very much our own, completely in synch with Canadian life: the weather, the politics, the idiom, the general mood and tenor. And, like the best of narrative strips, "Fisher" had a flow to it: Tom grew older, wiser, more wincingly aware of himself. The wit was to be found in the (sometimes exquisite) drawing as much as in his (ever so tentative) situation.

Now the publishers of the Globe, while consolidating their Life and Arts sections, have decided, for no apparent (or defensible) reason, given the small amount of space saved, to cease publication of "Fisher." In other words, a "property" unique to the paper, cultivated over two decades, during which it gained a significant (particularly faithful) readership, has been relegated, as Tom might say, to the dustbin. Was this a good business decision? We don't think so. 

We want "Fisher" back. Sign the petition below and we'll try to convince the Globe to reconsider.

(Join the conversation at #ReturnTomFisher. Read Philip Street's remarks on his creation at http://idiotmitts.blogspot.ca/2012/09/fisher-farewell.html.)

Note: Please give your name or a nickname. Anonymouses aren't distinguishable (other than by their comments) and thus aren't likely to be counted when the petition is delivered.