The sun is setting on Little Orphan Annie's comic strip

These days, Little Orphan Annie really does have a hard knock life. Annie, the comic strip, is going to have its final run on Sunday, June 13. After 86 years of being featured in newspapers around the country, the red-haired orphan will no longer have a home among Blondie, Pearls Before Swine, Zitsand the like.

The timing of Little Orphan Annie's departure is bittersweet. She is known primarily as a Depression-era comic heroine (even though she actually debuted during the Roaring 20s, when the economy was well... roaring), a role model we could look to for a laugh even during the worst of times. The little girl in Little Orphan Annie--the strip's name was later shortened to Annie--was so beloved that she inspired a radio serial in the 1930s, a Broadway musical which debuted in 1977 and a feature film in 1982.

But when the comic strip ends on June 13, chances are, few people will notice. Annie is now only featured in 20 newspapers, according to the New York Daily News.