In May 1997, Lebrun took over full artistic responsibilities of the strip and was the lead artist until 2005. His final illustrations appeared in the Sunday, July 31, 2005 edition of the strip. The last Lebrun signature was on the September 3, 2005 strip According to comics historian R. C. Harvey, Lebrun was succeeded by John Marshall, although Marshall remained uncredited until Sunday, January 7, 2007. Marshall had been assisting Lebrun and Jeff Parker on the daily "Blondie" since December 2002.