Archive: Barney Google & Snuffy Smith

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Mary Worth, 12/16/25

There’s a lot of hand-wringing about “grade inflation” at elite universities, which I have for the most part thought is overblown, but, I dunno: if they’re giving Ian Cameron a “University Excellence Award,” maybe things really are bad.

Family Circus, 12/16/25

Honestly love Thel’s wary expression here. She specifically told Dolly not to talk to Santa like a dumbass, but she’s clearly talking to Santa like a dumbass, and Thel’s too far away to stop her. The way the composition draws your eye to her is great, and I’m imagining a Vertigo-style dolly zoom shot on her face as she listens to this nonsense unfold.

Luann, 12/16/25

Sorry I started doing Luann on this blog again after like a decade only to become fixated on shoving the “Ugh, Brand and Toni have an active erotic life and it’s disgusting” strips in your face. This one I enjoy because I’m imagining the DeGroot parents sitting forlornly around their living room thinking “When is Brad going to come over and aim the snowflake projector at our house? He said he would do it, but where is he? He better not be fucking.

Slylock Fox, 12/16/25

What really jumps out at me in both versions of this panel is how old these pirates look. No wonder they seem so upset at this joke of a treasure! They’ve wasted the best years of their lives!

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 12/16/25

Damn, Maybelle Pratt! Turns out Snuffy Smith straight-up does not like you. It’s a good thing you’re leaving town!

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Shoe, 11/27/25

Well, I guess we just live in a world now where the Shoe bird-men will acknowledge without shame that they are in fact bird-men. Kind of insensitive to do a joke about turkeys today of all days, though. “…I would’ve hired a turkey! Of course, it would be hard to find one. Most are being dismembered right now and the rest are in hiding.”

Hi and Lois, 11/27/25

The second best thing about this panel is that everyone looks pleased about the Thurstons joining the Flagstons’ Thanksgiving dinner except Hi, who honestly seems pretty put out that he’s going to be spending the day with his ostensible best friend. The best thing is that, alone out of the family, Dot has clocked Hi’s expression, and is learning some stuff about the emotionally complex world of adulthood.

Barney Google and Snuff Smith, 11/27/25

Hey, guys, did you know that the Smifs are into age play? I personally am not thankful to have learned this. Not thankful at all!

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Shoe, 11/10/25

“48 years” is relevant here because that’s how long Shoe has been syndicated. Shoe, dimly aware of the contours of his universe, knows that his seemingly eternal and unaging existence is somehow intimately tied up with the time he spends at Roz’s. But going beyond the simple correlation he lays out here would require perception that’s beyond his abilities.

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 11/10/25

Oh, so you think it’s funny that Sparkplug’s Grandson Li’l Sparky ate the nose right off that snowman’s face? Well, what if we drop the “snow”? What if Sparkplug’s Grandson Li’l Sparky bit off some guy’s nose, and that guy was running around screaming while blood geysered everywhere, and the accursèd horse, his huge teeth masticating flesh and cartilage, said “Are you kidding? I love men !!” Wouldn’t be so funny then, would it?

Curtis, 11/10/25

Greg looks truly stricken in that final panel. He knows coffee is unhealthy, and Curtis with his innocent child’s wisdom has reaffirmed that it doesn’t taste very good either. He’s left with the knowledge that he only drinks it because he relies on its stimulant properties, and what does that say about him and his life?

Pickles, 11/10/25

Hey, we haven’t checked in with the lovable old couple in Pickles lately, let’s see what they’re up to! [checks in with the old couple in Pickles in today’s strip] I, uh. I think they’re maybe going to get a divorce, guys.