My 52-year morning “romance” with the newspaper’s comics page is endangered by Cheryl Harrington’s letter (July 18) requesting cartoon “Bizarro” be banished, claiming it is “cruel” and “crude.”

What’s at stake for me? Every morning, coffee at hand, I fold the comics page vertically, separating the left side comics from the right side prose items, plus Cryptoquip, Jumble, Sudoku, “Family Circus” and “Bizarro.” It’s done to prevent me from seeing “Bizarro” until successfully completing Cryptoquip and Jumble. Reading “Bizarro” is my puzzle-solving reward.

I’m one of many who purchased a limited edition T-shirt designed by “Bizarro’s” creator, Daniel Piraro, to raise money for the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, committed to ending animal abuse.

Piraro has won The National Cartoonist’s “Best Newspaper Cartoon Panel” an unprecedented three years in a row (2000, 2001, 2002). He’s also won the prestigious Ruben Award for “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year” from the National Cartoonist Society in 2010. Today, “Bizarro” appears in more than 350 daily and Sunday newspapers.

I sent the newspaper’s editor a letter of appreciation when he began publication of “Bizarro,” appreciated by many for its detailed-driven artwork and off-the-wall humor. It is recognized for its appeal among audiences who enjoy alternative humor.

At 84 years of age, I have, as we all, a limited number of breakfasts, enjoyed while I’m clothed in my “Bizarro” T-shirt, working away for success on my Cryptoquip and Jumble in order to then reverse the page and marvel at the morning’s “Bizarro” offering.

There’s a boon to be appreciated in the fact humor has many faces.

John Benoit

Manchester