Jim Meddick�s offbeat comic strip, Robotman & Monty, will be re-named Monty on April 1, 2002. Don�t let the date fool you � it�s not an April Fools� Day joke. Rather, it�s an attempt to clear up any confusion about the intended audience for this hilariously funny comic strip.

"There has been some confusion in the marketplace that has hurt the comic strip because the name �Robotman� can sound like a feature for kids or even a superhero," says Amy Lago, Vice President of Comics and Graphics for United Media. "This strip really appeals to older, well-educated fans of edgy humor and Jim has, for some time, been putting more emphasis on Monty and the other characters in the ensemble cast. It made sense to change the name to reflect the way the strip has changed over the years."

The Monty comic strip lampoons a wide range of topics. Explains Meddick, "I�ve tried to create the comic strip equivalent of �Monty Python�s Flying Circus.� The name �Monty� is a nod to the influence that show had on my humor. In my cartoon, just about anything can happen � this way, the ideas and characters always stay fresh."

For those not up-to-date on what�s happening in the strip: In an intergalactic Gladiator-inspired storyline, Robotman, who was recently abducted by aliens and trapped in an interplanetary zoo, is battling for his life in the Arena of Triskelion. His good friend Monty appears like a mystical "Obi Wan Kenobi" vision to give Robotman hints about "Star Trek" fighting moves that might improve his chances of victory. As the battle ensues, Robotman has to make a choice that will change his and Monty�s lives forever.

This quirky comic strip created by Jim Meddick in 1985 spoofs suburbia, trashes tacky TV shows and offers absurdist commentary on everything from hosing down spider monkeys to the latest conspiracy theory. Monty�s skewed sensibilities have earned the strip a fanatical following on the Web and on newspaper comics pages on six continents, making this daily and Sunday comic strip from Newspaper Enterprise Association a cult favorite among comics readers worldwide.

Monty Montahue is often at the center of this offbeat strip�s outrageously imaginative story lines. A brainy, bumbling bachelor who�s unlucky in work and in love, Monty shares his home with Fleshy, a hairless cat, and Mr. Pi, a super-logical extraterrestrial. The wacky cast of characters is rounded out by Moondog, Monty�s beer-guzzling buddy; Loco Ohno, Monty�s crazy ex-girlfriend; and Pilsner the parrot.

Meddick is a former political cartoonist for Newspaper Enterprise Association, a job he started shortly after graduating from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., in 1983. While in college, he won the Chicago Tribune Student Cartoonist Contest for his strip Paperback Writer.