The Comics Curmudgeon

Main content:

Anti-Gail BLASPHEMY

Gil Thorp, 7/17/07

And Kaz answered and said unto her, “Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.” Gail said unto him, “Verily I say unto thee, That this night, after the drunken lout crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Or at least once, before thou art humiliated by thy girlfriend.”

(Gail’s capacity for forgiveness is infinite, of course, but just to stay on her safe side, you might want to buy some merch.)

Hi and Lois, 7/17/07

Hi and Lois has stolen Funky Winkerbean’s Cancer Test Results Mixup storyline and applied it to Hi’s car. It’s marginally funnier here.

Pluggers, 7/17/07

Pluggers don’t need some fancy big-city liberal doctors or nutritionists or people who might savor even a fleeting moment of appreciation for the food that crosses their palate to change their notions about things that they already “know.”

Sorry for the abbreviated post today, everybody, but it’s my 33rd birthday and my wife’s made my favorite birthday meal, which is (no kidding) tuna casserole. I shall be enjoying both its quantity and quality for the remainder of the evening. Till tomorrow!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 06:25 pm and is filed under Gil Thorp, Hi and Lois, Pluggers.

267 responses to “Anti-Gail BLASPHEMY”

Trotzenbonnie
July 17th, 2007 at 6:28 pm [Reply]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSH!
Hey, wasn’t Jessum Crow also 33 when there was that thrice denial thing with Peter? Did you do that on purpose?
compass rose
July 17th, 2007 at 6:29 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday!
Don, the Rebel Without a Blog
July 17th, 2007 at 6:30 pm [Reply]

Wow! That’s fantastic! I’ll remember this day for the rest of my life! TARZANA NIGHTS!
Patti
July 17th, 2007 at 6:30 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday! And I love tuna casserole, too! You know what else? Gail Martin loves tuna casserole. So, there casserole-haters :)
Chat Noir
July 17th, 2007 at 6:32 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday, Josh!

Also, can anyone explain to me whether Gil Thorp is usually this batshit insane?
Woodrowfan
July 17th, 2007 at 6:33 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday. (33, phht, a mere child).

Actually I;ve seen folks as big as a real Rhino at Golden Coral Buffet. A buddy swears he once saw a guy use his tray as his plate there…
John C Fremont
July 17th, 2007 at 6:33 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh! I hope there are no peas in that tuna casserole, ’cause that’s just not right!
commodorejohn
July 17th, 2007 at 6:34 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday, Josh, and have a wonderul tuna casserole!
commodorejohn
July 17th, 2007 at 6:34 pm [Reply]

#7 Woodrowfan – Yep. Not surprising in the slightest. Would this have been in the southern US, perchance?
The Divine O’F
July 17th, 2007 at 6:35 pm [Reply]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSH! I love tuna casserole, too! Plus, I ordered a Gail Martin t shirt in red!

And I’m so pleased that my thread-ending powers seem to have returned.

Chat noir: Yes; sometimes it’s even bat-shit insaner.
Forthillrox
July 17th, 2007 at 6:39 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday Josh! 1974 was a good year (I hit 33 recently myself)…

When I read Pluggers in the paper today, I was sure I would see something on here like: “Pluggers are gluttonous pigs”.
Rusty
July 17th, 2007 at 6:39 pm [Reply]

Pluggers often eat until they make themselves physically ill.

Pluggers habitually cram food down their piehole until they involuntarily vomit.

Pluggers’ appalling dietary habits raise the cost of healthcare insurance for you and me.

Pluggers don’t need no fancy sneezeguards on their buffets.
Dean Booth
July 17th, 2007 at 6:41 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh!

Here’s another shot at the NYer caption:

“‘It is the east, and Juliet’s red butt is the sun’? I said random, damn it!”
John C Fremont
July 17th, 2007 at 6:42 pm [Reply]

# 6 – Woodrowfan – Somewhat related – When not at University, my older daughter works at a KFC. The other day, an older guy said he didn’t want the free drink that came with his meal. Later they observed him filling his drink cup with baked beans. I immediately thought of him as a Plugger character. I was thinking of the Dog-Man, though.
commodorejohn
July 17th, 2007 at 6:46 pm [Reply]

#5 Chat Noir – Josh expounded on this in a previous post, but during sports season, GT is usually only somewhat odd with flashes of craziness (bald Brynna, Clambake.) During the summer, however, there are no sports storylines to write, so things take off in utterly insane directions like this one. If Gasoline Alley weren’t already doing the fake-a-meteorite-impact-to-stop-neighborhood-basketball storyline, it might well appear in Gil Thorp during the summer.
bats :[
July 17th, 2007 at 6:49 pm [Reply]

Doing my best to wish you a Happy 33rd, Josh, while not getting noisily sick at Plugger Horrors in Public Restaurants!

Probably a good thing you have the tuna casserole all to yourself (smashed potato chips on top? a classic touch!), rather than having to slug it out with the hoi polloi at Furr’s or Luby’s.
Victor Von
July 17th, 2007 at 6:49 pm [Reply]

“Nice to meet you. I’m Victor–”

“No you’re not!”

You see, this seems more like a situation where someone gets punched in the head.

Speaking of, what happened Louty McDrunkLout? I’ve punched people before, and they didn’t just vanish. Did he implode, sucked into the pocket dimension inside his head?
Islamorada Girl
July 17th, 2007 at 6:50 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh! May you and Amber enjoy tuna casserole and this fine Bawlmore night!
Uh-oh. Josh is a nice Jewish boy, he’s 33, he’s got a pack of disciples and uh. . . run, Josh, run! Head for the Bay Bridge! Sanctuary starts on the eastbound span!
fizzy logic
July 17th, 2007 at 6:52 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh!

Also born today:

David Hasselhoff and Phillis Diller.

The Hoff, I kid you not! Rare air, my friend. No wonder you’re the Pope. Enjoy the noodles, Pope Noodlefoot!
Eleusis
July 17th, 2007 at 6:53 pm [Reply]

HaBiDa Josh!

Gail Martin wears a wig to conceal the horrific cranial scarring she suffered during an attack on the USO show in ‘Nam.
Mack
July 17th, 2007 at 6:58 pm [Reply]

Happy tuna casserole, Josh!
fizzy logic
July 17th, 2007 at 7:00 pm [Reply]

#19 – me – Sorry for spelling your name wrong Phyllis – I just got so excited about the Hoff….
Mel
July 17th, 2007 at 7:00 pm [Reply]

Woodrowfan, remember, it is not all you WANT to eat, it is all you CAN eat…

Dean Booth, for Nyer “The dialogue needs a lot of work.”

And, Josh, put a candle on that casserole and have a good one!
Skullturf Q. Beavispants
July 17th, 2007 at 7:03 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday Josh! I too was born in 1974, the year of the Tiger. And I’ll always be two months your elder, no matter how much funnier your comics-related observations are than mine.
Islamorada Girl
July 17th, 2007 at 7:03 pm [Reply]

Like the Divine One, I have ordered my Gail Martin tee-shirt, in military green. I can’t wait until I wear it to the gym to confound all the dear old ladies who work out when I do. They already think I’m a comminus’ because of my MargoBoxcarSaturn shirt. This will tip the sweet blueheads over the edge. I feel just like GA’S Slim, ordering a meteorite online. BWA-HA-HA!
Mat
July 17th, 2007 at 7:03 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday Josh!
Skullturf Q. Beavispants
July 17th, 2007 at 7:05 pm [Reply]

Also born in the summer of ‘74: Derek Jeter, Hilary Swank, and Natasha Henstridge.
Woodrowfan
July 17th, 2007 at 7:13 pm [Reply]

commodorejohn: yep, Fredericksburg Virginia.

And a REAL plugger would have taken his free drink AND asked for another cup for his baked beans! And it’s best to get an iced tea, extra large, if there are free refills, cause you can refill it when you leave and have the tea the next day. If you refill with soda it’s flat the next day!

1974? Gad, I REMEMBER 1974! I think I still have ties from then. Yeah they’re wide as hell but still….
Whippersnapper
July 17th, 2007 at 7:17 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday Josh! I hope your tuna casserole doesn’t come with a side of meddling biddy.
Brown-eyed Girl
July 17th, 2007 at 7:18 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday Josh. May your day be filled with tuna casserole and snarkable comics.
Ukulele Ike
July 17th, 2007 at 7:18 pm [Reply]

Ah, okay…Chinese Year of the Tiger….Cancer, ruled by Moon, mutable water….the Saturn-Neptune triple opposition is over, but this morning at 11:53AM PDT these same two planets form a contra-parallel in which Saturn is as far north of the Celestial Equator as Neptune is as far south of the Celestial Equator….You’ll gain inspiration and a sense of security if you pay attention to your living situation…

….so is this just a plain tuna casserole, or a tuna-noodle casserole? ‘Cause the Mary fuckin-Worths of the world make regular old tuna, whereas I make a tuna-noodle that will just have your pants explode.

Recipe-swaps available on request.
Skullturf Q. Beavispants
July 17th, 2007 at 7:18 pm [Reply]

“Our story begins in the magical year of 1974. The Philadelphia Flyers had become the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup. A young Richard Nixon taught us how to laugh. And the domestication of the dog continued unabated.”
Whippersnapper
July 17th, 2007 at 7:21 pm [Reply]

I thought that today’s Foob was meant to be an introduction to the reminiscing that will begin in September, as the strip’s new format. We can only hope that all of Michael the Asshat’s memories are as scintillating as this one is.
Lou Shumaker
July 17th, 2007 at 7:22 pm [Reply]

Josh also shares his birthday with Declaration of Independence signer Elbridge Gerry, Jewish writer S.Y. Agnon, Erle Stanley Gardner and Hungarian poet László Nagy, and a finer bunch of men I’ve never seen.

And in honor of the mercenary nature of this site, I’ll repeat Gardner’s note on a submission to a magazine editor: “It’s a damn good story. If you have any comments, write them on the back of a check.”

Happy birthday, Josh.
Lou Shumaker
July 17th, 2007 at 7:23 pm [Reply]

And I forget to add: “If you’re having tuna casserola, I hope you’re serving them up Mary Worth-style.”
thehorseyourodeinon
July 17th, 2007 at 7:26 pm [Reply]

happy b’day Josh, a mere pup. have fun laying waste to the tuna cassarole. that rhino….oh, never mind. gail martin on my mind.
Dean Booth
July 17th, 2007 at 7:30 pm [Reply]

Pluggers: I was surprised at how changing the animal makes today’s Pluggers much more cutting. (The only association I have with rhinos is how one killed Cheeta’s mother before Johnny Weismuller could stop it.)
Kurdt
July 17th, 2007 at 7:32 pm [Reply]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_in_music

According to this The Ramones formed that Year! Happy Birthday Josh!
Skullturf Q. Beavispants
July 17th, 2007 at 7:34 pm [Reply]

Relevant to Dean’s post at #37, some of you all may be amused by this blog.
cmiked
July 17th, 2007 at 7:37 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday! Today is also my oldest son’s 7th birthday.
Trilobite
July 17th, 2007 at 7:39 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday! As a scion of the Midwest, I applaud your casserole-lovin’ ways; fie upon those who would scorn the pleasures of a good hot dish.

(Although I wish you were at least two years older; it’s just that people who are younger than me kinda freak me out.)
Foolster41
July 17th, 2007 at 7:41 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday! It’s not so strange. My whole family likes tuna casserole. My mom made it with peas in it, which isn’t one of my favorite vegis, but it’s good with the tuna. I think there were noodles involved as well.

I think Hi and Lois is hilarious, if you think of it as a parody of cancer winkerbean. er, I mean funky,

The drunk’s on the floor of course, below the camera. People are stepping all over him and continuing their conversation.
I know what the guy’s thinking: “You’re next lady”
Liz Harvatine
July 17th, 2007 at 7:49 pm [Reply]

A co-worker of mine raved about a local sandwich shop for weeks. I finally went with a group of 5 people, each ordered a different sandwich and all agreed they were the worst sandwiches we had ever tasted. One was described as “water flavored turkey”. When we told the guy who had recommended the place he said “I would eat shit if they gave me that much for that price!”
All that time I was working with a plugger. I’m so glad I finally know.
Blade Runner
July 17th, 2007 at 7:52 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh!!

I hope you get a good spankin’ from June Morgan.

And from Abbey Spencer and Neddy, and Angel the Hooker from Brooklyn (New York).

And from Edda, Pibgorn, and Juliette.

And I hope that Gail Martin sings to you tonight, and that you have a good tuna casserole.

Goodnight Rex, Goodnight, June. Goodnight Sam Hill, Goodnight, Moon.
Sorcerer Mickey
July 17th, 2007 at 7:55 pm [Reply]

You also share a birthday with Science Fiction author Cory Doctorow, and Disneyland!
Jamus The Bartender
July 17th, 2007 at 7:56 pm [Reply]

Dick Tracy’s Crimestopper’s Textbook Supplemental
Today’s Lesson: Josh’s Birthday
Howdy Josh. As you know i’m havin’ a rough time right now, but I wanted to wish you a happy birthday and all of that…as coincidence would have it it’s also my birthday* wink* and if you could send me a cake that would be nice…i need time to look over my FILES…..so a cake would go down nice and I would be SAW appreciative of that….also a bottle of whiskey would be nice if you can’t send the cake.
Dick Tracy
(Happy Birthday Josh, and many more besides-Jamus)
Red Greenback
July 17th, 2007 at 7:59 pm [Reply]

“I’m no fool, no siree. I’m gonna live to be thirty -three”
-Jiminy Cricket
Happy birthday Josh! Wishing you the best always. Thank you so much for this amazing blog.
Jamus The Bartender
July 17th, 2007 at 8:01 pm [Reply]

Oh, here’s a reminder that comic strips don’t have to hurt.

http://www.thrillmer.com/comics/terry101744.jpg

Without being overly-corny, let me just say it’s always been one of my favorites, drawn and written by a true master.
Happy Birthday Again , Josh.
Jamus
t.a.m.s.y.
July 17th, 2007 at 8:07 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday, Josh! My hat’s off to you. Also my wig.
Artist formerly known as Ben
July 17th, 2007 at 8:07 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday Josh. So you’re a Cancer. That could get you a cameo in Funky Winkerbean.
Buck Ripsnort
July 17th, 2007 at 8:08 pm [Reply]

Happy Burpday! I’m allergic to tuna-fish, so just gimme extra chonklit cake, please.
And dear Margo help me, I just realized I’m 10 years older than Josh! At this point, I’ll be borrowing one of Gail’s old wigs to hide the gray!
Big Sims
July 17th, 2007 at 8:09 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday Josh! Thanks so much for making the Comics readable again. Oddly enough I too had tuna tonight…
jailbird
July 17th, 2007 at 8:09 pm [Reply]

HB, Josh!

I’m surprised Mary Worth hasn’t stopped by to drop off her famous tuna noodle casserole, as it is your favorite.
Bobbie Sterne Built My Hot Rod
July 17th, 2007 at 8:11 pm [Reply]

I thought real Pluggers had brawls at the Golden Corral…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9PgIoel5qU
Citric
July 17th, 2007 at 8:12 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday! Go being 11 years older than me.

Also, Artist formerly known as Ben, I very nearly did a spit take when reading that comment, the only thing preventing it was that I read it just before drinking my beverage. A few seconds later and my monitor would have to be cleaned.

Also 2: The Quickening: It blows my mind that the round glasses and long braid are part of a carefully crafted persona. I never thought looking like some sort of hippie goldilocks would sell more records.
Motorposus
July 17th, 2007 at 8:12 pm [Reply]

Eating tuna casserole can be just as satisfying a birthday celebration as drinking old scotch in Tangier with a bunch of millionaires. Happy birthday, Josh!
ElSanto
July 17th, 2007 at 8:12 pm [Reply]

This will do nothing to help Gail’s rep.

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/7884/gailbraidoe2.jpg
Zamboni_Rodeo
July 17th, 2007 at 8:16 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh, and many snarky returns!
Bitter Badger
July 17th, 2007 at 8:18 pm [Reply]

FOOB: Mike and Dee’s horrible boy-spawn nearly swallows a tack placed by Michael himself. We mourn the averted crisis, and the sorrow it would have brought them.
Poteet
July 17th, 2007 at 8:19 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh. My goodness, you’re a mere infink. So you’ll be snarking for decades to come. How wonderful!
Artist formerly known as Ben
July 17th, 2007 at 8:21 pm [Reply]

#55, Citric,
Well that would have been a shame. And it’s not like it would be intentional on my part. Like say, if I was getting kickbacks from laptop maintenance people. ‘Cause I’m not. Heheh.

#57, ElSanto,
It looks kind of like Gail is smiling at the thought of Shemar Moore in red hot boy-on-boy action. Which, given her history…
Pinback65
July 17th, 2007 at 8:22 pm [Reply]

All the time I was married, did my wife ever make tuna casserole for my birthday? No, it was all about going out to nice Greek or Italian places. All well and good, but it never provided the white trash comfort food I so desperately craved.

Happy Birthday, Josh, you lucky bastard!
MJM
July 17th, 2007 at 8:22 pm [Reply]

Pluggers are fat pigs.

…wait, are there any pig Pluggers? If any animal screams “I would be the best Plugger ever” it’s got to be a fat, squealy pig.
VALIS
July 17th, 2007 at 8:22 pm [Reply]

Wow… regular Gail looks more different from her wigged self than any two other random GT characters do from each other. Possibly she’s a shapeshifting reptilian overlord.

But man, does she sing.
FortyTwo
July 17th, 2007 at 8:22 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday, Josh!

Wednesday’s Gil Thorp is up; Gail’s wig has nothing to do with cancer! We don’t have to make significant changes to the wiki…yet.
wunkyfinkerbean
July 17th, 2007 at 8:23 pm [Reply]

Wait. No one’s said the following yet about Pluggers:

“BLEASE?”
sasha
July 17th, 2007 at 8:24 pm [Reply]

Happies, Josh. May your snark never wither.

I loves me some Golden Corral. Not because I care about the quantity or quality of the food (although I will say I was surprised to discover that quite a bit of it is reasonably palatable). No, I love the place because I can be absolutely guaranteed that no matter what day of the week or what time of day I go, I am the thinnest female over seven years old in the place.
Team MP
July 17th, 2007 at 8:25 pm [Reply]

Tuna Casserole???????????????? (it’s a little hard to tell, but those are interrobangs) Happy Birthday Josh, but tuna casserole? That’s just gross. It’s not nearly as awesome as the Rice-a-Roni meatballs that my mom used to make me for my birthday. I love my mom.

Tuna casserole makes no sense. Speaking of not making any sense, did anyone read Family Circus today? What does that mean? Do they have the Mom confused with Anita Ward?
Team MP
July 17th, 2007 at 8:26 pm [Reply]

Tuna Casserole??? (I wish I could have used an interrobangs) Happy Birthday Josh, but tuna casserole? That’s just gross. It’s not nearly as awesome as the Rice-a-Roni meatballs that my mom used to make me for my birthday. I love my mom.

Tuna casserole makes no sense. Speaking of not making any sense, did anyone read Family Circus today? What does that mean? Do they have the Mom confused with Anita Ward?
TSN
July 17th, 2007 at 8:27 pm [Reply]

I have to admit, I’m confused by the first panel of “Gil Thorpe”. If he’s talking to Gail, why is he facing an extreme close-up of some moustachioed gentleman with long sideburns?
John C Fremont
July 17th, 2007 at 8:28 pm [Reply]

# 56 – There’s no way that “drinking old Scotch in Tangier” could beat drinking Johnny Walker in Charterstone!

You kids and your tuna casseroles and your iPods and your tacks and your Golden Corals! And your wigs. Your gaddamn wigs!
TSN
July 17th, 2007 at 8:28 pm [Reply]

Sorry. “Thorp”.
Zamboni_Rodeo
July 17th, 2007 at 8:28 pm [Reply]

Hmmm… I found an E-card that you’ll never see in Funky Winkerbean.
commodorejohn
July 17th, 2007 at 8:31 pm [Reply]

#54 BobbieSternBuiltMyHotRod – All it took was the phrase “Buffet Brawl” to completely destroy my faith in humanity. Thanks for putting the poor thing out of its misery.

#62 PinBack65 – You did not just call tuna noodle casserole “white trash comfort food.”
Trotzenbonnie
July 17th, 2007 at 8:31 pm [Reply]

Oh man! Josh is barely older than my kid!

Barkeep! A fresh glass and…oh, hell. Just leave the bottle.
Red Greenback
July 17th, 2007 at 8:34 pm [Reply]

Blease for Peace!
Bunnë
July 17th, 2007 at 8:39 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday Mr. Josh! Enjoy your tunyfish!

Meanwhile, I have to confess that I think you all have a better eye than I do for Gil Thorp — until today’s cartoon, I really didn’t think that had been a long braid stuck next to Gail Martin’s head. It looked so unlike a braid, how could it possibly be a braid? It didn’t even attach to her head in the right place. I thought it must have been one of those tall twisty lollipops.

But you folks, man, you called it. Here’s what I’ve learned: if it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, it probably wasn’t drawn by Frank McLaughlin.
commodorejohn
July 17th, 2007 at 8:39 pm [Reply]

So what are the odds, do you think, that Gil Thorp will one day be considered a surrealist masterpiece like Otto Messmer’s 1920s Felix The Cat cartoons?
slushman
July 17th, 2007 at 8:41 pm [Reply]

Wowie, Happy 33rd Birthday Josh! :D

Does your lovely wide use chips, crackers, bread crumbs or some other foodthing to top off her tuna casserole? I’m always curious about favourite topping…

:)
Enjoy!
Dean Booth
July 17th, 2007 at 8:42 pm [Reply]

GT: “Do you think that drunk was the one?” — oh, please, oh, please, let this be the beginning of a GT -Matrix crossover. Bald Bryanna could be Orpheus and Clambake could be the Seer.

#57, ElSanto: great pic.
Galactic Emperor Chennux®™©
July 17th, 2007 at 8:46 pm [Reply]

ATTENTION EARTHERS! ESPECIALLY THE ONE KNOWN AS JOSH!

HAPPY SOLAR ANNIVERSARY OF YOUR SPAWNING! IN RECOGNITION OF THIS, JUST THIS ONCE, CHENNUX WILL NOT TAKE DOWN THE KING FEATURES WEBSITE IN PURE SPITE! IF CHENNUX UNDERSTANDS EARTHER LANGUAGE ‘SPANISH,’ JOSH WILL BE ENJOYING A “CASA ROLLO,” OR A HOUSE BUN! THEY ARE TASTY, ESPECIALLY WITH TARPAPER SHINGLES! HAHA!

MAY ALL YOUR NIGHTS BE TARZANA! HAHA!

END TRANSMISSION!
Jym
July 17th, 2007 at 8:51 pm [Reply]

=v= Happy Birthday, Mr. Kotter!
Jamus The Bartender
July 17th, 2007 at 8:54 pm [Reply]

73. Zamboni, I like the one that says “I want to be your rebound” If these were real cards, i’d buy about a dozen.
Allie Cat
July 17th, 2007 at 8:55 pm [Reply]

I’ve always heard that buffet is an acronym for

Big
Ugly
Fat
Folks
Eating
Together

So, of course, I both love them, and try to avoid them. Though the Marriott in Downtown Memphis does one hell of a breakfast buffet, if you’re ever in the neighborhood.

From one 1974 baby to another – Happy Birthday Josh! Enjoy that tuna casserole and if the phone rings and it’s a Santa Royale area code – don’t answer – I think Dawn’s drunken dialing. AGAIN.
Tweeks_Coffee
July 17th, 2007 at 9:01 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday!

Man, some tuna casserole would really hit the spot right now.
Lammergeier13
July 17th, 2007 at 9:04 pm [Reply]

Happy B-Day, Josh! You’re actually about 9 years older than I am, so I can’t be depressed… not about my age anyway.

Crankshaft: That’s right, she forgot her sunglasses. Here they are, right next to the sledge hammer and chainsaw, either one of which will make the trip at first much louder but then much, much quieter.
Harold
July 17th, 2007 at 9:05 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh! And Happy Belated Blogiverary!

In four months, you will be A THIRD OF A CENTURY OLD!!!!!!!!
dramashoes
July 17th, 2007 at 9:07 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday, Josh. If it weren’t for your blog I would never have known Gil Thorp or Pluggers even existed. More importantly, I wouldn’t have elaborate daydreams about Coach Kaz’s fist going all the way through Rhino Man’s head while he screams, “Eat a salad for once you fat lump of crap!” So thanks a bunch.
Lynngineering
July 17th, 2007 at 9:11 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday Josh! A Cancer. Should have known.
Little A.
July 17th, 2007 at 9:11 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday Josh!

And I would still like to know what happened to that telethon.
techinin
July 17th, 2007 at 9:13 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday Josh!
robshill
July 17th, 2007 at 9:14 pm [Reply]

It’s my birthday too (I’m 37, I’m not old)! My wife made me chili with rice, cornbread, iced tea, and strawberry pie. Hope you had a great day!
MJ1066
July 17th, 2007 at 9:17 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday! :)
Anonymous
July 17th, 2007 at 9:20 pm [Reply]

Pluggers can apparently quote Stalin and his attitude toward the Red Army.

“Quantity has a quality all its own.”
Mooselet
July 17th, 2007 at 9:25 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday Josh!
PeteMoss
July 17th, 2007 at 9:25 pm [Reply]

Dean Booth, was that you being interviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered today? From Ohio?
Kip W
July 17th, 2007 at 9:25 pm [Reply]

Okay, now I’m confused. In 1983, somebody (allegedly Gail, but…) recorded a different version of “Tarzana Nights” than the one cited earlier, to the tune of Lesley Gore’s “California Nights,” with lyrics credited to the Tarzana Chamber of Commerce:

Through Tarzana Park,
Let’s go down the slide together, now,
Although it’s dark
It’s gonna be warm weather, now,
Drive by Denny’s and stop (stop!)
For burgers and some fries

Love those Tarzana nights,
Drive-in hoppin’ with you,
There’s three golf courses too
Yes, I love those Tarzana nights,
At the pool where we’d swim, by the Portola gym

And there will be at the Armenian Deli, dove
Just you and me, and we will whisper words of love
While the juke box tunes play (play!)
And echo in the night

Warm ol’ Tarzana nights,
With the chance of light fog –
Sippin’ Rudy’s egg nog
I would miss those Tarzana nights
If I went on my way,
To Encino to stay

Ooh, baby,
Love you, baby,
Reseda’s nice too

Love those Tarzana nights,
Lookin’ for Jamie Foxx, ‘n actor Jeremy Hotz
And we’ll spend those Tarzana nights,
Lookin’ for Jamie Foxx…

(Fade Out)

I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like her to me. Maybe it’s all the reverb, and maybe it’s the flexi-disk it’s recorded on, which only has one side.

Anyway, happy tuna, Josh! If you already ate, happy leftovers.
PeteMoss
July 17th, 2007 at 9:26 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh. 33 is the the new 32, I hear.
Lynngineering
July 17th, 2007 at 9:27 pm [Reply]

FBOFW: While I’m here, although I’m laying low lately, I thought I had to comment on Tuesday’s Foobian Coma workout. In his effort to blast April, Michael’s taking it out on the parents as well even Queen Elly. Their house has slowly transformed into some fairy-tale cottage full of cute-to-aberrations of nature, and then it transformed further into a sweatshop, where they are made to labor for no reward by the evil King, who constantly stares in the mirror of his dreams.

Meanwhile, Michael places himself and his brood back at the old Patterson Castle, which is now King Michael’s… In his narcisstic fantasy, he can no longer distinguish between himself, his dream, his property… and certainly less so as he gets more and more paranoid as well.

But as Dee starts to pull at the grimy wallpaper its as if skin itself, and if judging by Michael’s mild change in expression, he’s experiencing something like a sympathetic pain for the vivisection of his Mother. But note he doesn’t stop Dee! Until she starts getting too close..

Yesterdays was just a few degrees off of Polanski’s “The Tenant”. At one point, the paranoid Polanski as “the Tenant” starts discovering in his wall ( by picking away) bits of a finger…. and so on… In fact, with his author at home, child and wife, etc in the story arc so far, it’s a mashup between “The Shining” and “The Tenant”. Only without the great scripts, great director, actor…. and in fact, mostly just shares in common… giving him the finger.
Don, still just Don
July 17th, 2007 at 9:28 pm [Reply]

You know, say what you want about Gil Thorp’s artwork, at least the plot hops along. Three weeks from now, we’ll still be watching Slim tent his fingers and cackle maniacally about destroying local public space, forcing the local black kids to fill their lonely hours with drugs and street crime, while he waits curbside for a UPS delivery truck. Mark Trail will still be flummoxed by the complex plotting of evil bird wranglers, and Mary Worth will…. well, I think the glacial pace of Mary Worth has been sufficiently snarked.

Meanwhile, as much as we’ve managed to recall about Gail “Trinity” Martin in the week since she arrived in Milford, she just keeps bringing the surprises. Every. Single. Day. I’ll take the bizarre summer plotting of Gil Thorp over almost any other serial comic.
Professor Fate
July 17th, 2007 at 9:35 pm [Reply]

happy birthday josh – thank you for this site. There is a Robyn Hitchcock song called 1974 the line that sticks these days is “Syd Barrett’s last sessions he can’t play any more – it’s going to be Roger now for the rest of his life”
Kip W
July 17th, 2007 at 9:39 pm [Reply]

#48 (Jamus) – Agreed on Terry. Just a couple of months back… okay, maybe four or five… I got to attend a show at an art museum in Newark (yes, that Newark) with original art by Caniff, Herriman, King, Segar, Feininger, Gould, Schulz, and (drool, slobber) McCay. (For Eisner, Kirby, Kurtzman, Crumb, Panter, and Ware, we’d have had to go into NYC and add time and complication to our trip, but I’d already gotten to see a couple rooms full of Eisner last year in Amherst, and I got to meet Kurtzman and Crumb and a bunch of other heavy hitters at a con in 1984.)

Wow, I feel ten pounds lighter after dropping all those names! Anyway, Caniff’s art was a real joy to stare at on the boards. I was hooked on the story with just one strip to look at — have to see if I have the reprints somewhere.

McCay, by the way, drew in ink without apparent hesitation or revision. Like Bob McKimson was reported to do, it’s as if he was inking pencils that only he could see. Scary.
Poteet
July 17th, 2007 at 9:41 pm [Reply]

# 18 — BWAHAHA! Islamorada Girl, you are one hilarious blasphemer.
BillJames
July 17th, 2007 at 9:41 pm [Reply]

Josh,

In keeping with the Pluggers theme:

Hippo Birdie two Ewes!

ps: I left a little present in your Paypal.
Dean Booth
July 17th, 2007 at 9:44 pm [Reply]

#94. Stalin also said, “If you eat three pieces of pie, it’s gluttony; but if you eat 17 pieces of pie, it’s a statistic.”

#96 Pete, I am from Ohio, but I don’t remember interviewing with NPR. It may have been so traumatic that I blocked it out. What was the topic?
alamo
July 17th, 2007 at 9:59 pm [Reply]

happy birthday josh.

(dt) gt — and music star, meet bob without his brain.
monsieurjohn
July 17th, 2007 at 10:01 pm [Reply]

Hey Josh — you know, Bruce Lee died when he was 33. Also Jesus.

So what I’m saying is, make it a good one.
stinky pete
July 17th, 2007 at 10:05 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to Josh
Happy Birthday to you

well, that looks pretty lame on the screen but it sounded pretty good when I sang it as I typed…
Jamus The Bartender
July 17th, 2007 at 10:06 pm [Reply]

102. And Johnston still has a job….scary, isn’t it?
wobblie
July 17th, 2007 at 10:17 pm [Reply]

Holy synchronicity! Today’s my kid’s birthday, and he’s three, which if you multiply by eleven…

Happy birthday, Josh – it’s great to know that two of the people who have the power to make me laugh out loud on a daily basis share a common day of birth. I hope it was a great one.
Jym
July 17th, 2007 at 10:22 pm [Reply]

=102= (Kip W): Amherst, you say? Is that open? I thought it’d gone all-online.
Trixie Belden
July 17th, 2007 at 10:31 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday Josh! Thanks for this site! Many happy returns of the day!
AhClem
July 17th, 2007 at 10:33 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh! To paraphrase Ed Crankshaft, “33? Feh! I have toenail fungus older than that.”

You also share a birthday, if not a birth year, with my girlfriend. We celebrated her 50th tonight. Had I known it was your birthday as well, I would have eaten an extra hot dog in your honor. (Tuna casserole doesn’t work well on a gas grill).
Trotzenbonnie
July 17th, 2007 at 10:35 pm [Reply]

May I interrupt the birthday reverie to ask:
What in the hell is this?
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://k43.pbase.com/g3/06/648106/2/57543075.ChimpDog.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pbase.com/pretorious/image/57543075&h=620&w=800&sz=74&hl=en&start=8&um=1&tbnid=Adck4RtNf9FCqM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchimp%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
He Brought Queenie Baby Jesus
July 17th, 2007 at 10:36 pm [Reply]

This GT just proves that even the characters can’t tell each other apart without resorting to their hair.
Slither
July 17th, 2007 at 10:38 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh! Enjoy the tuna casserole! I like it, too!

And, in case you wondered, more information about tuna casserole can be found on the internet.
butcherknifetotin'annie
July 17th, 2007 at 10:42 pm [Reply]

Happy Birthday Josh! Enjoy the tuna casserole; hope there are no stray dolphin parts in it…and remember, it’s trayf regardless (cheese melted over tuna?), but this Reform Jewish-raised boy never kept kosher anyway.

What? Nobody had anything to say about Tuesday’s Garfield? No comparisons to the now-famed episode of Blondie with Blondie in bed with Daisy the dog? (For those who missed it, Garf greeted John at the door wearing a woman’s bathrobe and haircurlers, expressing jealousy for John’s being out late with his grilfriend). Blondie and Daisy were only a trans-species lesbian phenomenon; John and Garf is trans-species, gay, AND cross-dressing. It’s “La Cage Aux Folles” for the bestiality-friendly.
butcherknifetotin\'annie
July 17th, 2007 at 10:43 pm [Reply]

Melkardammit! That’s girlfriend, not grilfriend!
The Avocado Avenger
July 17th, 2007 at 10:44 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday, Josh!
LTBF
July 17th, 2007 at 10:46 pm [Reply]

H&L…..Mr. Flemming looks like the major from Beetle Bailey.
Slither
July 17th, 2007 at 10:47 pm [Reply]

#113 AhClem: I know what you mean about tuna casserole on a gas grill. It usually tastes best when barbecued over hardwood charcoal.
Daktari
July 17th, 2007 at 10:47 pm [Reply]

Josh –
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Because of you, when I spotted a license plate on a car the other day, that began with DTG###, I said out loud “Death to Gil Thorp”!
Curses upon you, Josh
and enjoy that casserole.
Benicillin
July 17th, 2007 at 10:48 pm [Reply]

Okay, I know it’s Pluggers, but where is the joke here? Is it funny because it’s a fucking rhino? This is the only strip that makes me angry when I read it. But this one really ruins me because it is named a “classic.” And the fact it is labeled a “classic” makes me imagine that the first time it was printed the P.O. Box in Virginia was what, like overflowing with positive response and requests for a reprint?!? Or was it a grass-roots campaign that took years to build into a mob demanding they reissue the “funny rhino man one”…?!?!? Calling this one a “classic” reminds me of my fresman year at NIU when my roomate would break wind and proclaim it a “classic.” But HA HAA HAAA IT’S A FUCKING RHINO FER CHRISSAKES HA HA RHINO FUNNY HAAA IT HAS CLOTHES ON HAA HAAAA HAAAA LOOK AT THE FUNNY RHINO MAN AT THE BUFFET!!!!

Fuck me.

Happy Birthday Joshua.
Benicillin
July 17th, 2007 at 10:50 pm [Reply]

#107: I think John Belushi, Chris Farley, and other fat cokehead comedians died at 33 too. Thank God Josh isn’t fat.
Darkefang
July 17th, 2007 at 10:50 pm [Reply]

Archie: There’s something pretty disturbing about the fact that Mr. Lodge has erected a large castle with a fallic-shaped central tower for his daughter.

FC: I don’t know what a “Forever Stamp of Approval” is, but I’m pretty sure that “ringing the bell” is an absolutely filthy phrase. I guess Thel and her sorority sisters did some “experimenting” in college.

Foob: Yeah, you’ve lived there since you were a kid. Got it.

FW: He looks like a corpse, and his mom is about to become a corpse! Please tell me that Tom Batiuk actually attempted some kind of dark humor there. Enough of that might actually redeem all the cancer cancer talk somewhat.

GA: I’m pretty sure that having both “authentic” and “real” in the title makes them cancel each other out, making it virtually certain that it isn’t actually an meteorite.

I’m also pretty certain that Slim is priming himself for a future appearance as a Mark Trail villain. This plan has to go well beyond any goofiness the writer had intended.

I should also point out that a meteorite large enough to prevent basketball playing would vaporize a few square miles, so unless Slim plans on nuking his whole neighborhood, there’s a tiny flaw in his plans.

Phantom: “Phantom moves at regular speed while others stand around slack-jawed!” … Old jungle saying.

S-M: Yesterday, Spidey is watching TV. Today, he’s eating a sandwich. What excitement does tomorrow have in store? Washing the car? Brushing his teeth?
Darkefang
July 17th, 2007 at 10:52 pm [Reply]

And Happy Birthday Josh.
Foobar
July 17th, 2007 at 10:56 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday, dude! You know, no other Pluggers has annoyed me quite as much as this one. Pluggers have no taste and no appreciation for even the very thing which prolongs their depressing lives, but dammit, they’re proud of it! Pluggers don’t care about anyone’s opinion on anything. (Which explains, among other things, the enduring success of Applebee’s.)
Bigfoot
July 17th, 2007 at 11:05 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday! Hope the tuna casserole looks nothing like what Mary Worth would serve!
lesles
July 17th, 2007 at 11:05 pm [Reply]

33, hey. i remember 33. i think that was the last time i was happy. the last flush of youth, i suppose. it all just seems to go down hill so fast after that …

i mean, happy birthday, josh. have a great day.
Smaug
July 17th, 2007 at 11:05 pm [Reply]

Josh – You’re pretty funny for such an old man. When you return, I demand comment on the fantastic, improbable Suit-of-Cookware in today’s Blondie.
Steve S
July 17th, 2007 at 11:08 pm [Reply]

This “You got someone else’s information!” mixup should be applied across the comics.

In Beetle Bailey, Beetle realizes he keeps ending up on dates with Miss Buxley because he accidentally listed her number as Sarge’s in his cell phone.

In Family Circus, Daddy Keane discovers the paternity tests were wrong and he’s not the biological father of any of the melon-headed spawn, so he does what he’s wanted to do for decades and takes off.

In Funky Winkerbean, it turns out Lisa’s test results were actually mixed up a second time, and she has a new condition that’s so rare it’s called Lisa’s Disease and results in an agonizingly slow death due to bad puns. Plus cancer.
andreavis
July 17th, 2007 at 11:12 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday, Josh! While I’m not a fan of tuna casserole (my mom always made hamburger casserole, which is essentially the same thing but with, you know, hamburger) I am always a fan of eating your favorite food on your birthday. And celebrating with loved ones. And cake! yum!
Trotzenbonnie
July 17th, 2007 at 11:15 pm [Reply]

#123 – Benicillin
Perchance, was your roommate Mason Williams?
http://www.classicalgas.com/
Edward
July 17th, 2007 at 11:19 pm [Reply]

The more I read Pluggers, the more I suspect the title comes from attempting to ‘Plug’ the hole inside them. Pluggers gorge themselves on suet and sugar because they feel empty inside. Pluggers love their trucks and their remote controls, because they feel betrayed by everything else. Pluggers lack the abilioty to really feel, so they yearn to feel anything, even pain.
PeteMoss
July 17th, 2007 at 11:23 pm [Reply]

105# Dean Booth

Tragic topic of a young soldier killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. A “Dean Booth” lives next door to his family and shared some of his memories of the soldier.
Zamboni_Rodeo
July 17th, 2007 at 11:25 pm [Reply]

#114, Trotz:

Whatever it is, it’s Photoshopped. I wouldn’t lose much sleep over it.
Gadge Cubic, Mole Preener
July 17th, 2007 at 11:31 pm [Reply]

Freetings and grelicitations on your datal nay!

Wait, that didn’t come out right.

On the New Yorker captioning front: “What do you mean, ‘Shakespeare’? I wrote this, punk!”
Gadge Cubic, Mole Preener
July 17th, 2007 at 11:33 pm [Reply]

There was also that Onion bit several years ago, wherein a character celebrating his 33rd birthday said something like, “Dude! I totally outlived Jesus!”
Trotzenbonnie
July 17th, 2007 at 11:39 pm [Reply]

#136 – Zamboni_Rodeo
……………………. Sorry. I love to spend a few minutes amusing myself with mental pictures of your nom de snark. It is one of my favorites.
Anyway, thanks. You caught me just as I was about to down a keg of Ambien. That picture really scared me.

GIL THORP – They are earrings.
http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/custom/gilthorp/cs-051031gilthorpgallery,1,6740293.cartoongallery?coll=cs-gilthorp-current

(God, I wish I could use shorter links…I keep serving up kielbasa when all I really need is a damned Vienna sausage….)
reader-who-posts
July 17th, 2007 at 11:39 pm [Reply]

BB: Damn, does everyone want to stand on top of Beetle? Is this some kind of Camp Swampy sex position?

FW: Of course Darin looks like a corpse – it’s the family resemblance to his mother!

JP: Al Gore has completely brainwashed this girl. Next week she’ll be hosting a rock concert that no one will watch.

GT: My God, in the last panel, Bob Kazinski has an expression that appears to accurately show his sheepishness at not recognizing Gail. This just goes to show you – we’ve all heard that an infinite number of monkeys pounding on typewriters will eventually write Hamlet, but now we also know that after millions of faces Gil Thorp will eventually have one facial expression drawn correctly.

MW: If this doesn’t end with Dawn Weston drunkenly plunging her car off a cliff, I’ll be severely disappointed.

Luann: Did Brad not notice he was driving near his parents’ house, or is his Dad a peeping Tom?

Spider-Man: “Wait, do you really mean that? I AM SPIDER-MAN?”
Major Hoople's Boarding House
July 17th, 2007 at 11:46 pm [Reply]

#114 Trotzenbonnie –

No, the chimp-dog isn’t Photoshopped,
he’s the model for “Coach Thorp gets a dog”, which is the next plot after Gail Martin.
Trotzenbonnie
July 17th, 2007 at 11:51 pm [Reply]

MARY WORTH – If Vera has manorexia, then Dawn has boylimia because she’ll get stuffed with Drew, figure out he’s a waste and then dump him.

That’s it. I quit.
Old Bean
July 18th, 2007 at 12:04 am [Reply]

Happy birthday, Josh!

33? Lordy, you youngsters with the pokemon and the tuna casserole and the rock and roll. I was born way back in 1973 and can’t really relate.
mumbles
July 18th, 2007 at 12:10 am [Reply]

[Happy Birthday you curmudgeon you!]

GT: Having spent a fair amount of time in Manhattan during the “Sex and the City” heyday, I’d often hear chubby-cheeked fans of the show discuss finding “The One” over the clinking of their $12 cosmopolitans in Upper East Side watering holes, “The One” being shorthand for their fairy-tale belief that there was one man in the world custom-made for their neuroses-ridden lives to make them happy.

Well apparently Walter Cronkite is a Rules Girl because he thinks that drunk is Gail’s “The One.” Good luck you crazy kids!
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
July 18th, 2007 at 12:14 am [Reply]

You say it’s your birthday?
It’s Robshill’s birthday too, yeah
You say it’s your birthday
We’re gonna have some tuna
I’m glad it’s your birthday
Happy birthday to Josh!

A3G: “The local people tell me things, Nora. Secret things… naughty things. But mostly, they tell me how much I look like Sen. John Edwards.”

Bizarro: I see that our disgruntled music lover has one of those new music players that pipe sound through plastic tubes instead of those complicated “head-phoniums.” Which still doesn’t explain why Uptight Scissors Lady would be irritated by music she couldn’t hear. I hope he kills her with those scissors.

Blondie: I don’t think anyone’s surprised to see what Dagwood dreams about. I’d like to see what Blondie is dreaming.

C’shaft: Ha, ha! Karma is hilarious! …Eh, I take it back. No, it’s not.

Curtis: It’s needlessly convoluted in a failed quest for humor, but at least Curtis seems to have gotten some insight out of his date with Michelle. I hope this isn’t conveniently forgotten later.

DT: Fourth panel… Kool-Aid Man: Oh YEEEAH!

FC: Talk Like A Pirate Day isn’t until September. I can see no reason for this strip to exist.

FBOFW: Don’t tell me FOOB: The Reminiscencing is starting early?

MT: Damn, that Sam has a tight butt. Just look at how she can bounce the Jack Elrod Vibrating Happy Fun Ball off of it!

Marvin: Ew. Is that what I think it is on E.T.’s finger? Ew. EW. EW EW EW EW EW!!!

MW: I think there are a whole lot of quote marks missing from this strip. If I put them back in, it makes a whole lot more sense.
Dawn: I’m interested in “talking to you about your work,” Drew! It might help me “decide” about my own “career!”
Drew: Of course! I love “talking about my work!” Do you want to meet for “lunch” tomorrow? Say, noon at the Hearts of Palm “restaurant?”
Dawn: It’s a “date!”

Phantom: No, the smart thing would be to shoot the purple-spandex-clad idiot who just loaded your gun for you and gave it back to you. Right in the face. That’s what I’d do.

RMMD: Man, Dick Tracy is gonna love this strip. “Oh yeah… just raise that knee a bit more, Heather… that’s the way.”

S-M: MJ has been reading the comments on CC. She really has broken the fourth wall!

ZtP: <Beavis> Heh heh heh. “Balzac.” Heh heh heh heh. </Beavis>
dreadedcandiru2
July 18th, 2007 at 12:19 am [Reply]

Cancer Cancerdeath: Ah, she should be sorry, Darin, my boy….VERY sorry….after you end up trying to ask questions about ehy you were given up to LISA’S CADAVER!!!!!!!!

FOOB: Another blond idjit….This is a setup for the ‘hybrid’ FrankenStrip as well as an argument for loicensing parents. How is it fair you need a license for a dog but any jerk can crap out a kid?
Poteet
July 18th, 2007 at 12:23 am [Reply]

7/18 Stone Soup — The intended lesson of this strip is lost on me because I totally agree with the girls. Max, blech!!!

Foob — The hell that is Dee’s life goes on and on. Just looking at her makes me want to drink heavily.
Weasel Boy
July 18th, 2007 at 12:24 am [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh!
Poteet
July 18th, 2007 at 12:31 am [Reply]

(DT)GT — I broke my own rule and looked at the new strip to see what was going on with Gail and DEAR GOD WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER MOUTH AND HER EYES AND THE REST OF HER FACE, PLEASE, MAKE IT GO AWAY AND I’LL NEVER LOOK AGAIN, I SWEAR, NEVER AGAIN, GAAAAAH…
Quäsenbo Pan
July 18th, 2007 at 12:35 am [Reply]

FBOFW: Between the thumb-tack munching, and the crushing-beneath-piles-of-poorly-drawn-family-photos, I’d say Darwin has it in for Mewedith and Wobin. Except…FOOB time is due to stand still in a few weeks. So none of them can die!!! Lord, may the ludicrous “meteorite” from GA get deflected to greater Toronto, before it’s too late! Perhaps the fireball would at least give Grandpa Chinnuts sweet, sweet release.
Dub Not Dubya
July 18th, 2007 at 1:04 am [Reply]

Happy birthday, Josh!

73 Zamboni Rodeo, thanks so much for that link. I’ve bookmarked the main page and can tell those cards will give me a million laughs.
Frank Parsnip
July 18th, 2007 at 1:06 am [Reply]

I wish Daniel Clowes would take over Gil Thorp. He would make their hair bad but in a different, intentional way.
commodorejohn
July 18th, 2007 at 1:09 am [Reply]

Coincidentally, we had tuna noodle casserole over here tonight as well. Then I watched the MST3K treatment of Robot Monster, a weirdly effective no-budget horror movie. So I, for one, had a happy Josh’s birthday.
kostia
July 18th, 2007 at 1:12 am [Reply]

I’m ten months older than Josh? I’ve done nothing with my life.
Dynamite XI
July 18th, 2007 at 1:13 am [Reply]

Happy (somewhat belated) Birthday, Josh! Thirty-three is a magic number.
Zamboni_Rodeo
July 18th, 2007 at 1:21 am [Reply]

#139, Trotz: Thanks. :-D It’s damned hard to get Zambonis to barrel race. They just don’t corner all that well.
Incidentally, my favorite link-shrinking device is Tiny URL. Plug in your link, and tinyurl gives it a new, shorter one.

#141, Major Hoople: That made me snort Fresca from laughing. Now my sinuses are citrusy and effervescent.

#147, Poteet: When you’re drinking, be sure to drink a few for Dee while you’re at it. I don’t think she would do it for herself, despite the fact that she really needs to.
AppleGirl
July 18th, 2007 at 1:27 am [Reply]

Ah, 1974. What a great year for music.
The Billboard hits:

1. Barbra Streisand – The Way We Were
2. Terry Jacks – Seasons In The Sun
3. Love Unlimited Orchestra – Love’s Theme
4. Redbone – Come And Get Your Love
5. Jackson Five – Dancing Machine

I won’t even admit what I was doing that summer!
Happy birthday, Josh!
Captain Aird
July 18th, 2007 at 1:29 am [Reply]

Josh.
I urge you to enjoy the anniversary of your birth in the strongest possible terms.
Captain Arid
July 18th, 2007 at 1:35 am [Reply]

The hair surrounding the skull of the Gail Martin can be sensibly compared to the shape of a shitake-mushroom. Because people generally do not seek to be compared to fungi, a certain humor arises from this comparison. Arguably, it is compounded by the fact that the Gail Martin character is famous, and would not be expected to deliberately subject herself to ridicule. On the contrary, one would expect that she would be fashionable. Yet she is nonetheless vulnerable to ridicule.
Tats
July 18th, 2007 at 2:27 am [Reply]

A3-G: As much as I hate to give any non-Margo entity credit in this strip, “my art buying trips have won me a degree of respect in China. The local people tell me things, Nora” has got to be one of the weirdest, best self-congratulatory lines I’ve ever read. He’s like China’s answer to David Hasselhoff. I’m surprised he isn’t wearing a “big in Beijing” novelty tee.

Baldo: I’ve tried to avoid commenting on Baldo’s missing chromosome co-worker, but that mug is just too loathsome and grotesque to ignore.

FW: Oh my God. I never stop being surprised at how no one is happy in this comic strip, ever.

MW: Pity Dr. Cory and his mom jeans (fun fact: the Worthniverse exists perpetually in the senior year of 90210) can’t see Dawn’s superbly framed rabbit and goose photos, or she’d have his heart locked up for sure.

TDIET: Is Junior about to be broadsided by that semi? This is the bloodiest ending to a Scaduto strip since Arlene B. from Bethesda, MD pointed that murder victims always crawl in off the streets and get blood all over your new white sofa. Oh, yeah-h-h!!
Jack Parsons
July 18th, 2007 at 2:31 am [Reply]

Aunt Fritzi alert!

Ah, those three little wordz…
Jack Parsons
July 18th, 2007 at 3:09 am [Reply]

NY cartoon caption:
“No, I will not fling my poo at you after hours.”
Jym Ritz
July 18th, 2007 at 3:10 am [Reply]

=161= Nancy (Jack Parsons): Okay, I’m down with the Fritzi, but that strip makes no sense.
dale
July 18th, 2007 at 3:11 am [Reply]

GilThorp – Kaz should be looking for a lawyer (a personal one, the school board will be on the other side). He’s going to have to deal with the upcoming report from Martin “The Unbiased” Moon: Local high school coach and role model “Big Bob” “Fisty” Kazinski beats up young rock star fan. (I may have spelled the last name wrong, but so will Marty The Unbalanced.)
Mibbitmaker
July 18th, 2007 at 3:43 am [Reply]

Also born in the summer of 1974: the Ford Administration.

7/18:

FOOB: The children are in control! Repeat: the children are in control. Resisting is futile.

FW: What a sorry strip! She’s the Lisa’s hospital of girlfriends. Batty-ick, you are a sick, sick bastard!! 1994/2007 continues…

BBailey: PLEEEEASE tell me someone among the Walkers is an “Arrested Development” fan!

S-M: Sure, MJ, support his male chauvinism, why don’tcha? And they call Dee Patterson a doormat!

FC: Inspired by the brats in FOOB, the Keane kids take kiddie takeover a step too far.

Cranky: See, Batty-ick? You can be funny. So why not just knock off the sadism in FW, ‘kay?
Fahbs
July 18th, 2007 at 4:37 am [Reply]

Man, Hi and Lois is starting to remind me of that Star Trek episode where Dr Crusher is caught in a shrinking space bubble as the rest of the crew starts disappearing. This is the second time in a week where the background is reduced to pencil outlines and blank white space as the space time continuum collapses around Hi.
audient
July 18th, 2007 at 5:33 am [Reply]

Josh — if only I’d known you as a child. We had tuna casserole once a week and I hated it. You could’ve had all mine!

Be sure to have a Rolling Rock in celebration, “33.”
kevin
July 18th, 2007 at 5:36 am [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh!
John C Fremont
July 18th, 2007 at 6:00 am [Reply]

“Um… We’ll look at them now.” Damn it, today’s Foob just makes me angry! Go take a parenting class or something, damn it! And slap the hell out of that twerpy Robin just out of general principle!

RMMD – I never did read the rest of today’s strip. I was too distracted by Heather’s knee.
stinky pete
July 18th, 2007 at 6:22 am [Reply]

A wee dram o’snarkie:

MT: Mark tries to lounge but does not succeed.

Crankshaft: Panel 2 brought to you by Flomax.

GF: Josh, aren’t blueberry crabcakes the official dessert of Maryland?

Gli Thrpo panel 1: Why did I think of Rosie Grier?

H&L panel 3; the sniper finally zeroes in.

MW: Dr. Drew tries to lounge but does not succeed.

Pluggers: Today’s idea from Beaver Cleaver? Oh, wait…
Lars Andersen
July 18th, 2007 at 6:28 am [Reply]

I cannot imagine any sort of musician that would wilfully disguise themselves as dweebs in order to further their carreer… Wait, that is what Marilyn Manson does. Never mind.
Little Guy
July 18th, 2007 at 6:48 am [Reply]

Happy Time! Happy Time!

Happy 33rd Birthday to Josh. May all your day be FOOBish free!
True Fable
July 18th, 2007 at 6:49 am [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh! I was a junior the year you were born.

….

I am eligible to join AARP this year. Dammit. Well, turning a year older is much better than the alternative, you know.
willethompson
July 18th, 2007 at 6:52 am [Reply]

RMMD: My, Hugh is cranky, isn’t he? I think he’s going into Breck withdrawal. June, get him 250 cc of creme rinse, STAT!

(DT)GT: “So, your trademark ponytail is a wig?” “No, you meshugena goy, it’s a loaf of Challah!”

MW: Why is the woman that Jeff Jr. is chatting up wearing Knute Rockne’s helmet? Is this new fetishist attire so that he will ‘plug her hole’ or ‘run roughshod with her backfield?’

DT: “An old blind man who needs a cane to walk has eluded our security!” And you’re the CIA? On no, indeed.
ohyes
July 18th, 2007 at 6:59 am [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh! I’m sure that Amber made the tuna casserole just right. No peas. A little paprika on top?

Gil Thorp has crossed over into The Matrix, as those people wonder whether the guy who was acting out is “The One” – The One who will see through the machine-made simulacrum of human life that is Milford.
willethompson
July 18th, 2007 at 7:02 am [Reply]

…and JP: What, do you suppose, is happening in Paris with Abbey and Neddy? Have they been kidnapped by Algerian terrorists? Has Neddy tried on that french maid outfit for Cedric? Is Roger the Roadie slurping cabernet from Abbey’s navel as her sweaterpuppies turn turgid with glee? Is Aunt Rachel being sodomized with a day-old baguette by Groves? Rolly Church of Crete, they could be contemplating how to remove the parking boot from the Mercedes and it would STILL be more interesting that hearing about the secret bottling capacity of St. James’ Vinyards Pedestrian Oki Merlot!!!
Craig D.
July 18th, 2007 at 7:07 am [Reply]

JOSH:

Wait a minnit! You’re from Buffalo, NY and your favorite meal is TUNA CASSAROLE?

Dude: Beef on Weck, Chicken Wings, Mighty Taco, Ted’s Hots, sure. But TUNA CASSAROLE???

Happy Birthday from a first-time poster and fellow ex-WNYer.
man behind the curtain
July 18th, 2007 at 7:08 am [Reply]

MW — “Sure let’s meet for lunch tomorrow. meanwhile, i’ll just lie in my bed and jerk-off in anticipation of our “date’ or maybe dreaming about Vera.” C’mon Dr. Drew. Time is of the essence. get her over to your place NOW.

A3G — It’s my understanding that Eric’s “art-buying” trips to China have goten him onto a government watch list. he should take a cue from Rex and just prowl closer to home.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Josh.
Squawk
July 18th, 2007 at 7:21 am [Reply]

Ha ha, pluggers are fat! Oh wait, he’s already covered that about 28,573 times.
True Fable
July 18th, 2007 at 7:25 am [Reply]

This may be ubersnarking, this may not. Haven’t had much time to check. Maybe I will after I post, and check off the ones I unwittingly echoed.
A3G Fearing she would hear another of Eric’s boring stories, Nora prepares to feign a toothache!
Crankshaft If a seventy year old has to be taken to the bathroom like a child, then both of you are better off watching the game at home.
DtM You’re right, Dennis. Let’s kill you while you’re still a kindergartner and prevent a life of crime.
FC Take a chill pill, Bil! Don’t worry, they didn’t read Treasure Island. They read the rough draft/final copy of Mike Patterson’s next novel. Big fat pillowfighting pirates are the worst you have to worry about. Big fat Purple Prose pillowfighting pirates.
FW Batiuk, you are a twikky monkey. Hope you’re proud of yourself for this painful story arc.
FBoFW When is the last time Lynn spent time around a three-year-old? Hell, my kids were jabbering up a storm at three; most kids I know do. I think Robin’s sustained some damage from chewing on Ned Tanner.
Dee – no, no, no. You do NOT let them have what they want at this point. You send them out of the room, lock that door, and don’t let them back in there until YOU are ready to let them see the “fo-graffs.” (Wobin would have a hard time separating reality anyway.) Giving in to them for what they want when they want it, after you have said no, will only turn them into your slackard husband.
DT Oh no?
JP Oooh, let me guess! Keith thinks Mr. Caesar wants to help him expand the winery and doesn’t know he just wants to turn it into a petrochemical plant yet. But Sophie Greensleeves will figure it out Toot Sweet! (Yes, it’s spelled differently, I know, but I come a town where the only French that was offered, was done so under the bleachers by girls who knew how.)
MT No wonder these two aren’t having sex, those have got to be the hardest mattresses since B.C.
MW…mattresses that Drew Cory owns, too. He doesn’t even make a DENT in it. Meanwhile, Dawn Weston sharpens her manhunting skills. (Psst! Dawn! Don’t bother to use his bed. Stand up like you planned.)
Phantom Man, talk about cocky.
RMMD A gold-digging nanny interrogating a gold-bleached ninny. She still trumps your ace, jack.
GA Oh, just shut the [margo] up, Slim. No one would call it a crime, unless it’s about the criminal waste of air having you on the planet.
(DT)GT “The One”? Oooh, mystery and intrigue in Milford! We go from barky sticks to Clambake to Gail Martin, bing-bang-boom!
Luann I’m really enjoying Brad Gets a Life so much more than The Many Boring Crushes of Luann. No, seriously.
Girl Randolf
July 18th, 2007 at 7:28 am [Reply]

for butcherknifetotin’annie –

Actually, tuna casserole can be perfectly kosher. Fish is considered parve and not meat. It can be eaten with meat or with milk. Enjoy your dinner. I love tuna casserole.

Happy Birthday. Love the website.
True Fable
July 18th, 2007 at 7:30 am [Reply]

JP…I come FROM a town, etc. In fact, I come from a town so small, we couldn’t always afford English books with prepositions.
John C Fremont
July 18th, 2007 at 7:33 am [Reply]

That Foob today still makes me angry. Not just angry – Mellencamp angry! Makes me mean-mad. It hurt me and made me mad. Then it made me mean. Then it hurt me again, and I got meaner and meaner until I weren’t no boy or no man anymore, just a walkin’ chunk of mean-mad. It hurt me like that! Tommy, can you hear me?

Oh, since we’re still talkin’ Tuna Casserole (I’m pretty sure that “Talkin’ Tuna Casserole” was a Woody Guthrie song, but I swear I heard Willie Dixon do it once) it occurred to me in the middle of the night that Mary Worth probably doesn’t use peas in her tuna casserole – but if she did, she’d use mushy, colorless canned peas, probably Shur Fine.

Yes, I couldn’t sleep, and all I could think of was Mary Worth’s tuna casserole. Not just tuna casserole. Mary Worth’s tuna casserole. God must be angry at me.
stinky pete
July 18th, 2007 at 7:34 am [Reply]

117 butcherknifetotin’annie: meant to say, love the nom de snark. How are Automatic Slim and Razor Totin’ Jim?
willethompson
July 18th, 2007 at 7:35 am [Reply]

#177 Craig D. Yes, Josh is from The City of No Expectations, as am I. Feel free to drop me an email by clicking on my name and we will share the joys of trying to cheer on the Bills in the Tarheel State.
AhClem
July 18th, 2007 at 7:39 am [Reply]

#183 John C Fremont -
Dreaming about food? You aren’t by any chance married to a woman named “Blondie”, are you?

And it wasn’t Woody Guthrie, it was Leadbelly.
Kip W
July 18th, 2007 at 7:40 am [Reply]

#111 (Jym) – The Eisner exhibit was back in February of 2006. They let me take pictures, which was nice (and also how I can remember when the show was). I haven’t put those online, party for copyright reasons, and partly because readers of the comics will have seen the images anyway, but I did put up another museum show I went to, of hand-painted horror movie posters from Ghana that was at another college in the area.

By the way, I found out what’s wrong with my earlier post. The flexi-disk is really called “Tarzana’s Nights” with an apostrophe-ess at the end, and the singer is “Gail Marlin.” Yes, it’s one of the legion of Gail Martin imitators who used to clog up the Southern California airwaves. When I taped it, I didn’t notice the difference. (In fairness to me, the type is pretty small.)

Any chance we could ask Batiuk’s doctor what other illnesses he’s suffered? We might be able to predict the fates of everybody else in the strip.
benro
July 18th, 2007 at 7:40 am [Reply]

Happy Birthday Josh.

The smell of Tuna Fish always brightens my birthday celebration..
Krauthead
July 18th, 2007 at 7:40 am [Reply]

From a fellow Gen-Xer (born 1970):
Happy Birthday Josh!
ohyes
July 18th, 2007 at 7:42 am [Reply]

One of the best parts of tuna casserole is the part in cooking it when the self-adhesive gloop of cream-of-mushroom stuff oozes down out of the can into the pot and remains a perfect, vertical cylinder o’stuff.

Is that too phallic an image for a birthday ritual? My bad.
Renee J
July 18th, 2007 at 7:43 am [Reply]

Happy Birthday! I’m another 1974 person.

I just wanted to comment on RMMD. Look at how Heather sits suggestively in the first panel. In the last panel, he knows just how to get her hot under the collar. Oh, yeah!
Nate Bush, Pirate PHD
July 18th, 2007 at 7:50 am [Reply]

Wow josh, you just fell out of my age range… Tis a shame. We will never experience Tarzana Nights together.
Harry Paratestes
July 18th, 2007 at 7:50 am [Reply]

(DT) GT: Interesting tie-in: Milford is part of the Matrix, the drunk guy was Neo, as evidenced by the question “so, do you think that drunk was The One?”, therefore Gail Martin is actually Agent Martin. Whoa.
Krauthead
July 18th, 2007 at 7:52 am [Reply]

FOOB:
I was hoping that those two horrid, nasty rugrats would have been killed by those albums falling on their heads.

It would have been better if it would have gone something like this: “Oh, Mommy! Can we play with the bowling ball?”

“No, you little shits, now go scrub the toilet. Make yourselves useful”.

(Rugrat inching bowling balls near edge………CRACK!!! CRUNCH!!!!…….one bowling ball falls on each little head……..)

Dancing for joy………two dead FOOB-kids……..and skanky-Dee finds out that her eggs have dried up and Michael has no balls….Ape-will announces that she’s a lesbian and Lizzardbreath performs a hysterectomy on herself when she realizes that she has no choice now but to marry Assthony……….so no more Foob-brats, ever……oh, happy day…
ohyes
July 18th, 2007 at 7:53 am [Reply]

You know how nefarious Eric’s secretive trips to sell arms in South and Central Asia are, when his cover story is that he’s looting Tibetan art.
Nate Bush, Pirate PHD
July 18th, 2007 at 7:53 am [Reply]

(DT)GT: Obviously, in thorpeland, drunks are much better at identifying celebrities than those who are dry and sober. Also, drunks drive better and their liver magically regenerates itself.
mattt
July 18th, 2007 at 7:53 am [Reply]

#163 See, he avoids sharks because he saw a movie about sharks. So, he must have seen a movie about work because he avoids work. Basically, Nancy’s calling him a lazy ass.

And, what the? When did Aunt Frtizi turn into such a hottie? For a cartoon character, that is. That isn’t real.

Happy Birthday, Josh!
Galactic Emperor Chennux®™©
July 18th, 2007 at 8:18 am [Reply]

I LOVE THE SMELL OF TUNA CASSAROLE! IT SMELLS LIKE …BIRTHDAY!

END TRANSMISSION!
AtomicDog
July 18th, 2007 at 8:18 am [Reply]

Popeye – Olive’s big-city cousin can’t hit worth a damn.
Burning Prairie
July 18th, 2007 at 8:28 am [Reply]

#114- It’s obviously a plugger after one too many trips to the buffet.
Jennifer
July 18th, 2007 at 8:28 am [Reply]

FW: “I mean, come ON! It’s been THREE WEEKS*! If she loved you, she would have contacted you by now. No one EVER has to wait THREE WHOLE WEEKS to find out about their long-lost birth parent’s identity.”

* ‘three weeks’ denotes undefined but brief timespan and not actual passage of unknowable FunkWinkerTime
Big Sims
July 18th, 2007 at 8:37 am [Reply]

114: Trotzenbonnie,
How the hell did you get a picture of me, more importantly, how did it end up on the web?
Gojira
July 18th, 2007 at 8:40 am [Reply]

#157 AppleGirl: In 1974, I was in my mid-teens, and, cheesy as “The Way We Were” and “Seasons in the Sun” are, I liked those songs and still get a kick when they come on the radio. And I liked disco, too. To each their own, I guess.

Josh, hope it was an enjoyable birthday. So, when’s the next post?
Harold
July 18th, 2007 at 8:43 am [Reply]

Today’s Family Circus and TDIET each pack more menace than a whole month’s worth of DTN.

Family Circus, Mother Goose and Grimm, and Rex Morgan are all begging for the Dean Booth treatment.

How disturbing is Judge Parker? Who in their right mind would let a little girl wander off into the basement of a winery with a creepy guy who looks like Kordok’s disposable henchman? Those last two panels look like Mr. St. James is suggesting that while most wine improves with proper aging, some things are meant to be enjoyed while still quite young.

Today’s FOOB just repeats yesterday’s lesson: Mike and Deanna are negligent parents, their children are idiots who require constant supervision, and the Patterson house is full of things that will kill them.
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
July 18th, 2007 at 8:47 am [Reply]

JP: I foresee a “Cask of Amontillado” in Sophie’s future.
Artist formerly known as Ben
July 18th, 2007 at 8:47 am [Reply]

7/18

(DT)GT: The drunk was Neo? What does that make Kaz.

Lockhorns: “You heard me. I want to look like I’m still on drugs.”

BB: Killer thinks of himself as one of the Kennedys. That accounts for a lot.

BC: There have been a lot of anachronisms in BC over the years. This mother-in-law joke, on the other hand, really does date from when dinosaurs strode the earth.

MT: Buzzard’s wife told Mark… Hold the phone! Buzzard’s married? How? Maybe Mark was talking to Buzzard himself in a housedress.

MW: On Dawn’s wall I see a bunny rabbit, a heron, and what looks like a polar bear. In and of itself, animal pictures on the wall are fine. But these are so basic, and clustered all together, like Dawn is still learning the names. So short answer is: no, I don’t want her operating on me.

TDIET: Dictated in painful, gasping breaths to a Canadian ER nurse.

Phantom: The Ghost Who Condescends versus the Interrobang Gang.

OBH: Don’t ask, mom. You really don’t want to know.

FC: “You just ruined Pirate Day, dad.”

S4th: That is going to be one messy flume ride.

Blondie: This, folks, is what postcoital bliss looks like in the Bumstead household.

SFx: I know, I know. Dogs are man’s best friend. Snakes are icky and cold-blooded, and Genesis shows they can’t be trusted. But this indignity? It’s just not right, dammit. It’s not right at all.

RMMD: You know, I had a dream last night that Heather would uncross her legs Catherine Trammell stylee while still in her bathrobe. That dream must have been pretty vivid, because I’m still seeing it.
zachfightscrime
July 18th, 2007 at 8:53 am [Reply]

Oh, this must be the Gil Thorp where we learn that celebrities look just like everyone else in their daily life.

As opposed to every other Gil Thorp, from which we already know that EVERYONE looks like everyone else.
Nate Bush, Pirate PHD
July 18th, 2007 at 9:01 am [Reply]

Anyone else thing (DT)GT creator just made the braid a wig to piss us off, and then to call it a ponytail to irritate us even more, and to make her seem less amazing than the first panel we saw her in?

My sponsor said it is horribly self centered to think someone does something just because of you, especially when you don’t know them. But then she said in this case, she believes me.
The Divine O’F
July 18th, 2007 at 9:02 am [Reply]

Credit Where Credit is Due, Pre-Coffee Edition

57 ElSanto: Thanks for posting the link to the Enquirer story about Gail. But I couldn’t help noticing… gasp! Is that true about Rachael Ray?

114 Trotzenbonnie: I’m pretty sure it’s a Plugger after too much tuna casserole.
Calico
July 18th, 2007 at 9:05 am [Reply]

Happy Birthday Josh!

I’m not a tuna fan, but I must confess that I really enjoy Hamburger Helper, Cheeseburger Macaroni, once in a while.

Hope you had a nice time and a great meal!
Hogen Mogen
July 18th, 2007 at 9:08 am [Reply]

Happy B’day, Josh. As I understand, there’s a five star restaurant in Santa Royale that makes the most exquisite tuna casserole, the kind you can roll around in your mouth for hours and that Dagwood Bumstead salivates for in his sleep. I hear they got the recipie from some old biddy who – get this – prefers to eat alone.

Anyway – the 7/17/07 Hi & Lower (above) – I just don’t get it. The guy who thought he’d need a whole new engine will drive away with Hi’s car and not notice or something? At least he should figure something is up due to the fact that the radio is tuned to WPOK: Classic Country-Polka Hits from the 50’s to the 90’s! All the time!

I can’t get past the horrible artwork in that strip, either. I know that’s supposed to be a wall that half covers the car, but to me, it looks like half a car. Then it’s gone in the next panel for no stated reason. To top off this shit sundae with whipped cream, the joke is not at all funny.
Calico
July 18th, 2007 at 9:11 am [Reply]

Nate, between (DT)GT and Funky Depressionbean, I think I’m gonna need an Al-Anon meeting and a sponsor very soon.

#206 – yeah, yow! Heather’s leg is making me feel just a bit better. I love the way she’s picking on Hungover Hugh. I just hope he doesn’t get so riled up that he barfs all over the kitchen.
Hogen Mogen
July 18th, 2007 at 9:12 am [Reply]

Another thing I don’t understand about the Hi & Louis calvacade of crap is that Mr. Fleming attributes qualities of superior intelligence to the garage staff merely for changing a battery. It’s not like they did anything particularly spectacular. If the battery was dead, the proper remedy is to replace it, so what’s the big deal?
Calico
July 18th, 2007 at 9:13 am [Reply]

Hogen –
“shit sundae with whipped cream”

This is what Dee is ready to serve her stupid husband and brats who never listen. With tacks, of course.
Hogen Mogen
July 18th, 2007 at 9:17 am [Reply]

Poor Hugh. He’s hung over and stuck in Rexworld. That means that hangover will stay for months. Hung over – on what? He, Heather and June all drank from a single bottle of wine consumed over dinner and several hours.

On the other hand, somehow he managed to get drunk off of it, too. June spiked his drink, I tell ya. Pete the chauffer/corporate manipulator probably hatched the whole plan, including sabotaging Milton’s plane.
Hogen Mogen
July 18th, 2007 at 9:18 am [Reply]

Gasoline Alley: For what a real meteorite of that size costs, could you not just soundproof your apartment?
Ribinin
July 18th, 2007 at 9:30 am [Reply]

Happy birthday Josh!

People, we are used to thinking of tuna casserole in terms of MW, and there is so much more. I’m sure that the Lovely Amber makes it SO much better than that.

I was tempted to ask for her recipe, but maybe not. I prefer to think of her tuna casserole as the one against which all others fall short. Other tuna casseroles can only aspire to such greatness.
Artist formerly known as Ben
July 18th, 2007 at 9:32 am [Reply]

#117 & 184,
You guys still having a ball, down by the Union Hall? Count me in!
Calico
July 18th, 2007 at 9:35 am [Reply]

#217 – I am certain Mrs. C’s casserole is lovely.

Mary is going to be jealous!
mere cog in the machine
July 18th, 2007 at 9:38 am [Reply]

FOOB: There is such a lovely sense of continuity in today’s strip; almost a “circle of life” feel. There is Mrs. Foob, Jr. tooling around with the vacuum, her megalomaniacal children racing around, her layabout husband off working on his next “novel” ( Mike’s “novel” and John’s “trains” are simply different codewords for cruising the internet for underaged boys). In no time at all Deanna’s ass will grow exponentially larger, hair will sprout from her legs, and Mikey can finally fulfill his fantasy of fucking Elly. It’s all so reassuring.
--MC
July 18th, 2007 at 9:47 am [Reply]

Happy Birthday, man.
“After Bob levels an assailant..” is the greatest first-panel exposition caption ever, and should be required on every comic strip from here on out, or at least on “Ziggy”.
Anonymous
July 18th, 2007 at 9:48 am [Reply]

Between RMMD, MT and MW today, I’m absolutely speechless.

Oh, OK – a Plugger On-Star system is the harpy-shrew-chicken-woman sitting in the front passenger seat.

FC – As usual, WTF???
Paperback Rifler
July 18th, 2007 at 9:50 am [Reply]

Happy Birthday, Josh! Funny thing, y’know, it’s my birthday too, yeah. Well, give or take two months.

All this tuna casserole talk made me think of the following, which is to the tune of “Let the Good Times Roll” by The Cars. There’s not much to it; but hey, it’s free!

Tuna casserole
Cooked with onions and peas
Tuna casserole
Make it dolphin-free, please

You could serve it like Mary Worth;
Eat it on the day of your birth

Tuna casserole . . .
Tuna casserole . . .
Casserole —
CAS-SER-OLE!

Well, hope you had a happy birthday anyway.
Fightin Vague Shape
July 18th, 2007 at 9:57 am [Reply]

MW: What Ninja-cowl said:
“I’m interested in talking to you in person about your work, Drew! It might help me decide about my own career!”

What Blue Streak heard:
“Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, Drew! Blah blah blah sex blah blah sex blah sex!”
Calico
July 18th, 2007 at 10:00 am [Reply]

#99 – All work and no play make Mikey a dull boy.
Which really doesn’t change anything from the past.
Mamzelle Hepzibah
July 18th, 2007 at 10:08 am [Reply]

GT: Isn’t denying that someone is who they say they are the cardinal sin of standup comedy?
Never teh Bride
July 18th, 2007 at 10:08 am [Reply]

Happy birthday! Perhaps, like Hekkie, your ideas about life have changed over time. This may be just the day to reflect one that. Aren’t comics just wunnerful in how much they teach us?
Gadge Cubic, Mole Preener
July 18th, 2007 at 10:10 am [Reply]

#171: And just look at Marilyn Manson’s career now…
michael
July 18th, 2007 at 10:10 am [Reply]

Happy Birthday!

I like the dried, semi-burned corners and edges of a tuna casserole myself.
Islamorada Girl
July 18th, 2007 at 10:12 am [Reply]

336: Here’s a concept! Mike, Stepfordeana and hellspawn check into the Overlook Hotel for the winter, so Mikey Boy can work on his Avast Last novel. Hilarity ensues, with a special guest appearance by Howard Erk as the bartender.
Bootsy
July 18th, 2007 at 10:12 am [Reply]

Pope Noodlefoot, I hope you stayed far away from the stove while Amber made the casserole. Or maybe you made it. I shouldn’t assume.

And does tuna casserole have noodles in it? I blush to confess I’ve never had tuna casserole, and I’m way older than you (but apparently slightly younger than True Fable).

You share a birthday with my brother, and I hope it was relaxing and fun. (we dined on soft shelled crab and wood fired oyster pan roast last night, not to make anyone jealous).
mnemonica
July 18th, 2007 at 10:19 am [Reply]

Happy birthday yesterday, Josh!

Mary Worth has a tribute to Bizarro today, with the cleverly inserted pictures of rabbits and a bird. Really, I think this might be true.

173 True Fable: I was just a sophomore the year Josh was born. Well, a junior, too, but that was later in the year. Thanks for making me feel young!

118 butcherknifetotin\’annie (Melkardammit! That’s girlfriend, not grilfriend!)
… but what about us grilfriends?!
Bitter Scribe
July 18th, 2007 at 10:21 am [Reply]

This Pluggers isn’t funny, but it is profound. It sums up the American obesity epidemic in one sentence.
commodorejohn
July 18th, 2007 at 10:22 am [Reply]

A3G – Please, please, please let him have discovered the Plateau of Leng…

BB – Wait, so the one with the late 60s hairdo is female?

DT – I’m lovin’ this bold-brush-stroke-font speak.

FC – As has been pointed out already, Talk Like A Pirate Day is September 19th.

FOOB – Any remotely intelligent child of either age would stop trying once they got up on the office chair and realized that it’s about the worst thing in the world to balance on, and would have gone and got something else to stand on, or just climbed up the bookshelf like I did at that age. However, these two numbskulls sprang from Michael’s loins, so they proceeded nonetheless and got booked in the head for their troubles. It’s satisfying, really.

FW – Is this Darren’s bedroom, or Lisa’s? Logically Darren would be moping in his bedroom, but in that case, what’s with the purple bedspread, wrought brass bed frame, and lavender curtains?

GA – Okay, so this storyline has gone from being about a man who buys a meteorite to fake an impact to stop neighborhood basketball to being about a man who buys a meteorite to fake an impact to stop neighborhood basketball at the behest of his shoulder-devil. Could this possibly get any weirder? I’m sure it can and will.

GT – Geez, Kaz, even I know the difference between a ponytail and a braid! And, as many before have wondered, is panel three a Matrix reference, or what?

HTH – Dammit, Honi used to be a character, not a prop.

JP – Sophie’s eyes open wide as she contemplates the idea of that much wine. I guess she really is related to Neddy.

MT – Robert Byrd is a hunting guide? I guess the Senate doesn’t pay too well.

MW – AHH SCARY

Marvin – I don’t usually read this strip, but I checked out the past couple days when I read mention of E.T. And yeah, sweet Chennux, what is with his finger? Do they not realize what that looks like? Also, yesterday, Marvin admits that it’s spent 25 years making jokes about a baby pooping his diaper.

RMMD – “You don’t understand me! You’re not the boss of me!”

Edison Lee – addresses outsourcing in a manner that completely avoids addressing outsourcing. Several months, of course, after other strips like Prickly City addressed outsourcing in an intelligent and humorous manner. God, I hate this strip.

Zits – Maybe I should apply at the theater. The grocery store where I work expects me to look neat despite lugging dusty boxes around all day and expects me to be polite and cheerful despite having to deal with imbecilic management and RETRIEVE CARTS FROM EVERY GODFORSAKEN CORNER OF THE PARKING LOT WHERE SOME DUMBASS HAS LEFT ONE.
Harold
July 18th, 2007 at 10:28 am [Reply]

Guille Thqrpppppe: I’m hoping that Gail and Walter Cronkite are heading off to consult with Zathras, who will inform them that the drunken lout is “Not the One! Not the One.”
Paperback Rifler
July 18th, 2007 at 10:28 am [Reply]

161. And it’s the best kind of Aunt Fritzi alert: Not just a bikini-clad Aunt Fritzi appearance, but an entirely gratuitous, bikini-clad Aunt Fritzi appearance! Ah, these are the salad days, my friends!

Mark Trail / Mary Worth: While I think that most of us could have predicted that Mary Worth pillow talk would turn out to be a bazillion times less sexy than Mark Trail pillow talk, who thought that we would ever see the day when Mary Worth would feature more animal portraits than Mark Trail? I do, however, like the notion that Buzzard has a wife. I wonder if she just sits at home all day waiting for Buzzard to come home to roost. I also wonder if she has a rolling pin that she calls a “Buzzard beater.”

(THTI)Foob: “And that’s how I found out that my father-in-law had hundreds of hidden camera pics of his daughters showering. He confessed when I confronted him about it; and he even said that he used to make train noises when he looked at them. You know: ‘Chugga chugga woo woo!’ and that sort of thing. And that’s when I knew that I was right to change my appearance to look like a man; ’cause when I disappear into the wilds of Saskatchewan, man, I DON’T want to be found.”

Family Circus of the Damned: No snark from me today; I just wanted to share that today’s installment made me think of my favorite pirate song:
Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Impanema goes walking
And when she passes
Each one she passes goes,
ARRRRR!

Gil Thorpè: Speaking of singing, jasbeattie, on his inspired This Week in Milford blog, raised the possibility that the hairy-armed, pearlie-wearing, not-ever-coaching Kaz might serve as Gail Martin’s bodyguard sometime during this storyline. I hope that’s the case, because then we can all sing along. Ready?

AND AHHHHHHHHEEEEEEAHHHHHHHEEEEEEAHHHHEEEEE
WILL ALWAYS LUHUV YOOOOWOOHOOWOOHOOAHHHHEEEE
WILL ALWAYS LUHUV YOOOOOOO . . .
Nina
July 18th, 2007 at 10:33 am [Reply]

1974 a very good year Let’s see… it started with a really heavy winter snow, spring came and we lost our house in a flood. I got married. Moved to England, froze my ass off there. Rain every day. Got pregnant. (not by design) By September I was ready for the year to be over! yes good good memories.
Antigone
July 18th, 2007 at 10:33 am [Reply]

Well, it looks like that, not content with the cancer storyline, Tom Batiuk is upping the depressing quotient by making sure that Lisa dies before she and Darin find out they’re mother and son. Although if he manages to work in the line “”Gone! And I never called her mother!” all will be forgiven. (Batiuk could do worse than start stealing plot material from East Lynne; it’s suitably depressing.)
MossMoses
July 18th, 2007 at 10:34 am [Reply]

Kaz bears an uncanny resemblance to Lion-O of Thundercat fame. Those shadows on his cheeks are obviously cat fur.

http://www.phys.ufl.edu/siegel/lion-o2.jpg

Is Heart of Palms Restaurant in Santa Royale proper or Cap City? “I love talking about my work”. What a narcissistic blowhard! His favorite topic of conversation is (Doctor) Drew Cory. How could such a selfless philanthropist like Doc Jeff raise such a self absorbed, superficial cretin? Doc Jeff’s former wife must have been quite a piece of work…

Bob Bird is the word! How did Mark Trail latch onto the one guilty party from a list of many “people raising game birds” and since when is any license required for farmers to raise ducks?
Poteet
July 18th, 2007 at 10:35 am [Reply]

# 230 — What a great idea, I-Girl! Except I can’t force myself to imagine Michael doing anything nearly as interesting as what Jack did when he went crazy. I can only imagine Michael wandering around the Overlook moaning loudly and repeatedly banging his head on the walls. But wait a minute…I CAN imagine Dee finally snapping and doing him in with a large sharp knife. Happy ending!
Poteet
July 18th, 2007 at 10:36 am [Reply]

# 198 — Your Imperial Excellency, may we enquire as to when your birthday is, and how you celebrate it?
mere cog in the machine
July 18th, 2007 at 10:42 am [Reply]

NANCY: Is it wrong to have a sexual obsession involving a cartoon character? I’ve always been attracted to this person, but the bathing suit picture is really putting me over the edge. I especially like that he kept his hat on, too. Mmmmm, Sluggo…..you MELT me.
dimestore lipstick
July 18th, 2007 at 10:46 am [Reply]

Josh: Hope your celebratory birthday hotdish was pleasant and plentiful. I’m a tuna casserole fan, too. Unless it’s Mary’s, of course.

TDIET–substitute Me for Junior, and Hubby for Mom, and oh, they certainly will do it every time. My husband called me during a thunderstorm, at a time when he knew I was negotiating a nasty highway construction zone. His vital message?
“Be careful. It’s storming.”
Little A.
July 18th, 2007 at 10:49 am [Reply]

General thoughts which will probably be ignored as usual, as are my comments about Sluggo Smith (maybe most of you are too young to remember Sluggo in his heyday, which was around 1947-1954), since many of us are preoccupied with snarking on FOOB and GA and (what would we do without it) GT.

There are strips that NEVER get mentioned here, or very rarely (I’ve only been reading th is blog for a few months.
Such as, Annie.

This does not neccesarily mean that the strip is good, it may mean that the strip is so awful it is below contempt, not even worth snarking at (or on? What’s correct?) Maybe Rhymes With Orange is another one. Girls and Sports is Another.

Here is a brief list of some strips running in New York that I think stink and don’t get mentioned here much if at all: Out of the Gene Pool: execrably drawn and totally mindless. Sherman’s Lagoon. Pearls Before Swine. F Minus. Zits. I can’t stand it, nor the way it’s drawn.

And I know this is a snarking site, but here’s a list of strips which I think have some or much merit a lot of the time, in no order at all, actually the order in which they are listed in the paper ( some are mentioned here from time to time, some not very often or never): Rose is Rose, Dilbert, Curtis, Soup to Nutz, Blondie, Jump Start, Mutts (of course!), One Big Happy (doesn’t seem to be particularly admired on this blog, but it’s one of my favorites). I mention these things just for the record, in case somebody wants to respond and tell me what he or she thinks, and why. A challenge to debate, as it were.
Klipper
July 18th, 2007 at 10:57 am [Reply]

#222 Anonymous: I concur, WTF is up with family circus?
stinky pete
July 18th, 2007 at 10:57 am [Reply]

244 LA, well, the comics you like are yours to like, and same for the ones you don’t. It’s like arguing about taste in music – tastes are tastes. What’s to debate?
Nina
July 18th, 2007 at 11:00 am [Reply]

Happy Birthday Josh, and many, many more.
Calico
July 18th, 2007 at 11:03 am [Reply]

#239 – One of my best friends from college dated a brain surgeon for a while in AZ – after they split she told me was one of the most boring fellows she had ever met.

But not as boring as Mike Patterfart, though.

Maybe Drew will show some doctorly cutting techniques at the restaurant – Dawn will immediately turn into a vegan and change her career path, raising organic herbs in a Northern Cal commune.
NotThatGuy
July 18th, 2007 at 11:05 am [Reply]

#244, I love Sherman’s Lagoon, Pearls Before Swine, and Zits. And Mutts, but a friend of mine told me he couldn’t stand Mutts because of the way the cat talked. And I think Doonesbury is one of the best comics ever, certainly in its ability to be consistently good even after all these years, but of course there are lots of folks who think it’s too political.

For a comic to become prime snarking material, it has to generate feelings: confusion (in the case of (DT)GT), betrayal (Foob), frustration (MW). In the case of Mary Worth, Rex Morgan MD, and Apt 3-G, the snarkage pulls directly from the conceit inherent in a supposedly “realistic” soap-opera strip whose characters only nominally react in anything near a human manner. The unsnarked strips are either too consistently good (Get Fuzzy) or just not bizarrely ridiculous enough (Curtis).

I notice you don’t like a few of the comics I think are brilliant. So another point is a strip must generate similar feelings of confusion, etc. to reach a snarking threshhold. Josh will bring up a variety, but most of them are because a specific day was out of character or otherwise remarkable, unlike (DT)GT, which is alien every single day.
Calico
July 18th, 2007 at 11:07 am [Reply]

MT – Buzzard and his wife are Pluggers.
NaughtyNatureLover
July 18th, 2007 at 11:13 am [Reply]

#244

In many cases, the strips that get snarked on regularly are determined by what the Houston Chronicle carries, as I believe that’s where Josh reads them. That’s where I read them. Many of the strips you mention aren’t carried there [Rose is Rose, Soup to Nutz, Annie, Girls and Sports].

Many of the ones you mention that don’t see snark are, IMNSHO, just too generally blah to inspire much snark. Sherman’s Lagoon and Mutts, for example. I read those every day, and if you asked me on any given night what comics I read that morning., I don’t think I would ever recall either of them.

Also, what NotThatGuy said.
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 11:19 am [Reply]

244. Little A

Confession time:

I usually enjoy Sherman’s Lagoon, Pearls Before Swine, F Minus, Zits, Dilbert, Get Fuzzy, Piranha Club, Doonsbury.

I sometimes enjoy Rose is Rose, Curtis, Jump Start, One Big Happy, Drabble, Heart of the City, Quigmans

There’s one strip that I very seldom will read if it’s put in front of me and that’s Cathy. My problem with Cathy is that it requires reading way, way too much asinine text to get to a lame punch line. I can tolerate lame punch lines if I don’t have to wade through too much to get there. If I have to work through it, it better be a little bit funny, not just Winkerbean-smirk funny.

Some comics I read just because I like the art work and not so much because I think it’s funny. How about you?
Jym
July 18th, 2007 at 11:21 am [Reply]

=174= DT (willethompson): Actually, he’s eluded security at the phony CIA, since (as has been mentioned), the real CIA doesn’t have a gigantic “CIA Headquarters” prop sign on the roof. Soon we’ll discover that Pruneface III is wearing a Dick Tracy mask.

=180= FC (True Fable): You can adorably alliterate that further by replacing “big fat” with “plugger.”

=197= Nancy (mattt): In the olden days, Fritzi Ritz was the star of the strip, and used to compete with Blondie, lounging around in her underwear. Somehow her niece took over the strip. The new artist has supposedly based the revamped Fritzi on his wife, or so he says.

=224= MW (Fightin Vague Shape): Nice Far Side tribute, but that was his end of the conversation with Vera. For Dawn, he’s put his pants back on.
Don, still just Don
July 18th, 2007 at 11:23 am [Reply]

Congratulations, Damian P., on your TDIET!

Oh, and happy birthday, Josh.
Tad
July 18th, 2007 at 11:26 am [Reply]

Happy birthday yesterday Josh, and thanks one Hell of a lot. You’ve got me checking out the Gil Thorp website to see how this Gail Martin thing is gonna resolve itself (I’m hoping for a last minute show saving maneuver involving Kaz wearing a wig and sunglasses singing “Tarzana Nights” to a tearful crowd in Raceda) . If there was one thing I thought I could count on in life it was not caring about Gil Thorp. First Clambake and now this: what on earth is going on?
Mechanist
July 18th, 2007 at 11:31 am [Reply]

Family Circus and the Pirates: Dolly, Billy, and PJ have the dull look of zombies. Meanwhile Jeffy, the only visibly armed member of the gang, appears bent on violence. I can only assume he’s aiming for blunt trauma, since that thing in his hands looks more like a lead pipe than a sword.

Or perhaps it’s Thel’s little battery-powered friend.

It seems that Jeffy has hypnotized his siblings into serving as his agents of destruction. Dad’s not faking those sweat-blobs flying off of his head.

Given that FC is creidted to Jeffy and Dad these days, surely this strip is a dark sign of Keane family relations, both in print and in the real world.
Calico
July 18th, 2007 at 11:36 am [Reply]

Stuff I like and don’t snark on, in no particular order:

Buckles
Get Fuzzy
Doonesbury

Loved (and still do, in retrospect) C & H, The Far Side, Peanuts.

I adore DTWOF.

Really liked “Ethan Green”, drawn by Eric Orner – he went on a hiatus to pursue other projects – don’t know exactly what he is doing now.

And, you may not know this (or perhaps you do) that the brother of one of my favorite drummers is a professional cartoonist:

http://www.clivecollinscartoons.com/
Calico
July 18th, 2007 at 11:50 am [Reply]

#180 – Ugh, here we go, segueing / being dragged kicking and screaming into the Mike/Photo reminiscence bullshit. I can smell it coming from hundreds of miles away.

However, if Dee torches the place as many of us would like, we won’t have to stomach said photos!
My hat is off, BTW, to the artist of Shortpacked for the recent parody (and inspiration for such an idea).
Lame Name
July 18th, 2007 at 12:38 pm [Reply]

Hope your tuna casserole was birthday-licious, Josh!

S-M — It’s ironic that Peter Parker has issues with his wife being the breadwinner when he’s doing a little gender-bending himself. Specifically southern belle. That’s at least a three-alarm swoon he’s starting in panel one. Oh, my heavens! Vapors!

I’m disappointed that we don’t get to see more of Spidey’s sandwich from yesterday. I was looking forward for more adventures of Spider-Man vs. the Unidentified Mutating Brown Goop! That goop had ten times the personality of Spider-Man, and could easily have been just as formidable a foe as a brick. And even if it was just a sandwich, watching Spider-Man eat it would still have been more entertaining that listening to him and MJ whine about their marital issues.

RMMD — “Gold-digging nanny!” Oh, snap! Good one, Hugh! But, uh, why are your fingers coming out of your shoulder in panel two?
Braniff
July 18th, 2007 at 12:54 pm [Reply]

Happy birthday–and best wishes for many more happy birthdays to come!!!
Anonymous
July 18th, 2007 at 2:25 pm [Reply]

Tune casserole?!
You are hereby officially a Plugger For Life!
B
July 18th, 2007 at 2:55 pm [Reply]

Happy belated Josh!
If no one has already pointed this out – it looks like Hi got his expressions mixed up. He looks more surprised asking about his car than he does finding out he needs a new engine.
Elwood83
July 18th, 2007 at 5:51 pm [Reply]

In Pluggers, isn’t that the same ‘rhino man’ who was hocking his TV before? I guess we see now what he spent his 2 bucks on..
Andrew
July 18th, 2007 at 6:44 pm [Reply]

Wow. I didn’t think anyone else liked tuna casserole. The only time it’s made at my house is on my birthday.
mattt
July 18th, 2007 at 7:30 pm [Reply]

253 Well, huh, I did not know that about Fritzi. Thanks, Jym.
Harold
July 18th, 2007 at 7:32 pm [Reply]

Little A. et. al., I think we’ve been through this before, but from my time here I think the rule, as I understand it, is:

The strips that get snarked on are the strips that get snarked on.

The strips that do not get snarked on are the strips that do not get snarked on.

“Snarking” can be done by any commentor at any time.

To move a comic from the “not snarked on” to the “snarked on” category, all that is necessary is for a commentor to snark on that comic.

Links to comics are always appreciated.
Rande
July 19th, 2007 at 6:37 am [Reply]

re: MW

You get the feeling that Drew starts a lot of his sentences with “I love talking about my”

No, but I do get the feeling that Dawn starts a lot of her sentences with, “I’m sorry about my hair.”

Please read the posting and discussion policies before posting. You are not required to supply an e-mail address to comment; however, doing so decreases the likelihood of your comment being flagged as spam. E-mail addresses will never be made public or seen by anyone but the site writers, who may use them to communicate with commentors.

Archives:

Comment of the week:

Main navigation:

Main content:

Anti-Gail BLASPHEMY

267 responses to “Anti-Gail BLASPHEMY”

Leave a Reply

All the cool kids…

Randomly Selected Post O’ Mystery