The Comics Curmudgeon

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Cycle of hate

Crankshaft, 7/18/07

Ha ha! Crankshaft’s prostate is grotesquely swollen, making every waking moment a torture for him! Ha ha! Oh, the hilarity!

Adding to the funny, of course, is the revelation that the dickery that the ’Shaft displays pretty much every day is part of a majestic chain of misanthropy that spans the generations. At least Crankshaft Senior has some actual annoyance to overreact to, since presumably one didn’t send children off to stadium restrooms on their own, even in the sepia-toned days of yore. Since our hero does not require assistance to toddle off to the john in the present day, I guess Crankshaft III just wants to make him feel bad about being old and decrepit.

Actually, now that I think about it, I guess that’s supposed to be Crankshaft’s son-in-law, not son, since he’s the one with the unspeakably hateful Ukrainian mother. Pretty much everyone in this strip is a loathsome human being, is what I’m saying.

(Hey, isn’t the ’Shaft supposed to be a WWII vet? If he’s 70, that would have him going through his basic training at the ripe old age of 7. Of course, it’s possible that the ’Shaft-in-law just uses “70″ as his synonym for “I no longer bother to keep track of how old you actually are, fossil.”)

UPDATE: As several of you who are clearly smarter than I am pointed out, the little tot in the sepia-toned first panel is a girl child, which means that the horrible, horrible adult human being next to her is the ’Shaft himself. Let this be a lesson to you about not altering the facts to fit your grandiose “cycle of hate” thesis. Presumably said pigtailed tot is in fact the wife of the non-’Shaft dude in panel two, and thus he’s dishing out a little payback on her behalf.

Apartment 3-G, 7/18/07

“Yes, Nora, in my experience, there’s nothing an impoverished Oriental peasant respects more than a white man in an electric blue suit waving hard currency around and offering him the chance to choose between selling centuries-old pieces of his cultural patrimony and starving to death. The little buggers adore me.”

Something is seriously awry with Nora’s shirt in panel three. “God damn it, if I show him my left boob, will he stop nattering on about my dead husband and the filthy foreigners he forsook me for?”

They’ll Do It Every Time, 7/18/07

Curmudgeon dominance of TDIET proceeds apace: today’s entry is from faithful reader Damian Penny, who sent this entry straight out of m************ Newfoundland, before he up and moved to Halifax. It may be the first TDIET to end in a twisted pile of steel and flesh — but not the last, I’m hoping.

HONK-A is an amusing but not outrageous variation, but I dare you to find a horn that can produce a sound like HONK-K. On the other hand, I really like the way the trucker’s wordless curse symbols are all tiny-like and entirely contained within the cab.

Mary Worth, 7/18/07

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

Sally Forth, 7/18/07

So, long story short, that’s why everyone at Splash Land died of cholera.

Finally, I offer the latest in an extremely occasional series of potential LiveJournal icons from the comics, this one from today’s Crock:

It should correspond to “Mood: Incontinent”.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 11:23 am and is filed under Apartment 3-G, Crankshaft, Crock, Mary Worth, Sally Forth, They'll Do It Every Time.

228 responses to “Cycle of hate”

mere cog in the machine
July 18th, 2007 at 11:29 am [Reply]

Maybe when Batiuk finishes killing Lisa, he can give Crankshaft prostate cancer and a colostomy bag. Colostomy bags are comedy gold!
jamie
July 18th, 2007 at 11:30 am [Reply]

Ah yes, the cholera…

“here lies andy – peperony and chease”
Sanity Clause
July 18th, 2007 at 11:38 am [Reply]

I’m finding it a little strange that both Mary Worth and Mark Trail are featuring people lying on beds talking on the phone. Did somebody declare it Phone Sex Week in the comics? Enquiring Minds want to know.
ElSanto
July 18th, 2007 at 11:40 am [Reply]

Meanwhile, over in Gil Thorp, Gail Martin and Walter Cronkite have finally tracked down Neo. They are clearly debating in the last frame the time and place where they will offer him the red or blue pill, thus freeing him from the oddly drawn and bad-haired world of Milford, a.k.a. The Matrix.
zenvelo
July 18th, 2007 at 11:45 am [Reply]

Re: Apt 3g — was Tim’s work in Tibet using child slave labor to make fake Dalai Lama souvenirs to sell to unsuspecting American new age adherents?

or was he running a pedophile destination resort in an abandoned monastery?

either way, Nora’s left boob hasn’t drawn much attention….
dimestore lipstick
July 18th, 2007 at 11:46 am [Reply]

Damian Penny:
Congratulations! Well done! No wonder I
A. Related to TDIET
B. Laughed at TDIET
(As I mentioned earlier–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.”)

Cranky Winkershaft–Dang, Batuik despises and resents the elderly, doesn’t he? And orphans, and young female lawyers, and TV anchormen, and band directors, and teenagers with scholarships to Julliard, and …

Hey, Batuik. Get some friggin’ help.
Ukulele Ike
July 18th, 2007 at 11:47 am [Reply]

Between Nora’s left boob inA3G and Heather’s robe-lifting leg-cross in RMMD, it’s definitely Flash Day in Comicsland.
MyEvilTwin
July 18th, 2007 at 11:49 am [Reply]

I love love love Dawn’s hair in Mary Worth. Almost as bad as Gail’s hair (wig, I guess) in Gil Thorp!

*Ring Ring* Dawn, it’s the 1970s, we’d like our hair back, thanks!
Steve S
July 18th, 2007 at 11:50 am [Reply]

Actually, I believe Crankshaft is a veteran of the Civil War, which explains his current incontinence. Also, he fought for the Confederacy even though he was from Ohio.
Laura c
July 18th, 2007 at 11:51 am [Reply]

I’m going to attempt to call this Gil Thorp storyline. “The One” is the child Gail Martin had out of wedlock 20-odd years ago – conceived during a one-night stand with Tiny Tim – and gave up for adoption. Gail is spending her free time riding around in a limo with Batman’s Butler searching for him. She will recognize him by the unusual birthmark, shaped like a serpent, on his fingers, visible only when he makes a fist.
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 11:52 am [Reply]

MW –
Dawn should invite Drew over to her place and show him her etchings of goosy and bunny…and, of course, her Moy + Giella etching.

Hearts of Palm, by the way, serve a terrific Goose, Rabbit and Tuna Casserole.
Paperback Rifler
July 18th, 2007 at 11:53 am [Reply]

TDIET: Congrats, Damian! I was wondering howcum today’s installment actually had something that they really will do every time. And I love the “Honka, Honka Background Truck.”

Crankshaft: Well, since it’s a strip written by Tom “Master of Malevolence” Batiuk, I think that we can all safely assume that Crankshaft doesn’t merely have an enlarged prostate; rather, he has full-blown prostatic cancer. Damn Batiuk.

And regarding Batiuk’s other portrait of despair, Funky Winkerbean, I really can’t believe that he has decided to kill Lisa. When she’s gone, how is Batiuk going to rekindle that warm feeling that he got by lovingly crafting strips in which Lisa is suffering day after day after day? He would have to unleash some ungodly plagues on the rest of the FW characters to compensate. (”Let’s see . . . I’ll give every firstborn child cancer; and they’ll have a famine, and a series of tornadoes, and the river will catch fire, and we could have a cannibalism subplot . . . Oh yeah, this is gonna be GREAT!”) Either that or he’ll continue to have Lisa suffer by following her through the afterlife, in which she is reincarnated as a Dickensian orphan who has to endure neglect, abuse, and cancer.
Tom Bondurant
July 18th, 2007 at 11:55 am [Reply]

TDIET: “Honk-a” is, of course, the battle cry of the Blackhonks, the duck-based multinational group of paramilitary truckers often overshadowed by the Blackhawks.

MW: Not only is there Mark Trail-esque phone-foreplay, but Chocolate-Haired Dawn’s wildlife pictures confirm the love these strips clearly have for each other. (choke) Why can’t they just admit it…?
ElSanto
July 18th, 2007 at 11:58 am [Reply]

I add my congratulations to Damian, and heartily because that happens to me every time, too. I usually have a strict “don’t answer the phone while driving” policy unless it’s someone close to me. However, 90% of those calls are utterly trivial, and there have been times when I’ve had to end my conversation with, “Uh, I’m driving, this street is narrow, and the guy in front of me is driving like a maniac… I have to go.” Next time, I’m ending that with an “Ohhhh, y-y-y-y-e-a-h-h-h-h-h!!!”
Damian P.
July 18th, 2007 at 12:05 pm [Reply]

My only regret is that I didn’t get a “howcum?”
smacky
July 18th, 2007 at 12:06 pm [Reply]

There’s a bit of dialogue missing from today’s Mary Worth. It should say…

Dawn: It’s a date!
Crew (voice balloon coming from receiver): No it’s not!

And yes, as I’m sure it’s been mentioned (or at least thought), in Family Circus, Jeffy is about to bludgeon his father with his mother’s sword-handled vibrator. I won’t even ask what all those smudges are on his face. Yikes!
smacky
July 18th, 2007 at 12:08 pm [Reply]

Crew? I meant Dr. Drew Corey. I made his own name a “Bennifer”!
Lapsed Librarian
July 18th, 2007 at 12:08 pm [Reply]

A3G: But check out Eric’s expressions. In panel 2, he looks like he’s about to cry, but then he has this sly little smile in the third panel. I think he just noticed the open shirt.

Family Circus: If this were in strip format, the next panel would have Jeffy furiously stabbing at Daddy with his little blunt sword, while Billy and Dolly continue to look on blankly. Actually, is that a sword? It looks like he may have found it in Mommy’s nightstand drawer.
Sister Sestina
July 18th, 2007 at 12:09 pm [Reply]

Maybe it’s not prostate problems — Crankshaft could be taking heavy-duty diuretics like my mom does. Too bad my driver’s ed class didn’t cover How To Find Public Restrooms Within Thirty Seconds.
mnemonica
July 18th, 2007 at 12:11 pm [Reply]

Here’s some news from Reed Brennan Media Associates, a company that puts together comics pages for newspapers across the country:

“Due to the untimely death of creator Doug Marlette, Kudzu dailies will cease syndication with the release of Saturday, Aug. 4.
The final Sunday will appear on Aug. 26.”

http://www.rbma.com/ADVISORY/advisory.php
Zerelda
July 18th, 2007 at 12:12 pm [Reply]

A minor point about Crankshaft — I believe that panel 1 is actually the one and only ‘Shaft, not his generational predecessor. I draw this conclusion from the fact that the child is wearing pigtails, leading me to believe that the child is daughter-of-’Shaft. In panel 2, Son-in-law-of-’Shaft – plagued by his wife’s therapy bills – is offering payback on her behalf.
Darkefang
July 18th, 2007 at 12:14 pm [Reply]

A3G: If this somehow ends up with Margo belittling Tibetan monks to their faces, it could be the greatest story of all time.

DT: If by “eluded our security” you mean he walked out the front door of “CIA HEADQUARTERS” because you didn’t assign anybody to watch him, then yes, yes he did elude your security.

FC: Today’s Family Circus was so outrageously hilarious, Jeff and Bil Keane couldn’t hold it until Halloween when it would have been more appropriate. I mean, there’s no way they could justify withholding such comedic brilliance from the world for another three-and-a-half months.

GT: Trademark ponytail? I think Gail needs a new trademark.

Another good disguise is the fact that everybody in the Thorp universe is drawn differently from panel to panel. Heck, if I lived in Milford, I wouldn’t be able to recognize my parents, much less some minor celebrity.

Also, to echo everyone else’s snark: Kaz totally punched a hole through Neo’s head!

H&L: Why bother drawing three panels of a strip when you can just copy the same one three times? And why bother adding a joke to the strip when you can just paraphrase something you read in “Chicken Soup For the Soul”?
The Divine O’F
July 18th, 2007 at 12:14 pm [Reply]

Credit Where Credit is Due, Post-Coffee Edition

Congratulations to faithful reader Damian Penny! And your nom de blog is….?

Little A., I enjoyed your yesterthread disquisition on the comics we DON’T snark on. I think the general feeling is that most of them are either competent enough they don’t need to be snarked, or so awful they are beneath or beyond snarking. I generally agree with your list, except I feel (along with many other Curminions) that Rose is Rose has jumped the shark, and I’m much happier since I dropped it from my daily reading list. Also, I’ve never liked Dilbert, but then again I haven’t worked in a cubicle since 1973. And I’m dropping One Big Happy soon. It has its moments, but to me it is mostly boring.

As for my faves, I’d have to say Mutts and Doonesbury, not necessarily in that order. With Get Fuzzy usually a close third.

And yesterthread NotThatGuy, your disquisition is also excellent.

And everyone else: I LOVE Crankshaft. So there. I’m old too, you know. And I find it pretty realistic. Plus, Mr. O’F really does look a lot like Crankshaft, if Crankshaft were handsome. And by the way, I do understand why Crankshaft inspires so much primo snarking. I’m just sayin’.
joeyjoejoe
July 18th, 2007 at 12:15 pm [Reply]

Howcum Al can’t draw anyone who looks younger than 30, except when he’s trying to draw someone who looks older than 16, in which case he makes them look 9?

Howcum?!
juggernaut
July 18th, 2007 at 12:15 pm [Reply]

My oldest boy loves those giant Lego models. Apparently, so does Dawn, as her hair looks suspiciously like it came from one of the Star Wars sets.

And wasn’t Dr Studly just talking to Vera a few days ago?

Maybe he’ll impregnate all of the single women floating around Charterstone, thus setting up a zany spinoff scenario………….
StrangeRover
July 18th, 2007 at 12:15 pm [Reply]

‘Shaft: The adult in the first panel is Crankshaft, yes?

Mood: Incontinent is one of my favorite Duke Ellington tunes!
unMichael
July 18th, 2007 at 12:18 pm [Reply]

12: “Either that or he’ll continue to have Lisa suffer by following her through the afterlife, in which she is reincarnated as a Dickensian orphan who has to endure neglect, abuse, and cancer.”

She’ll come back as a bowl of petunias.
Winnie Winkle
July 18th, 2007 at 12:22 pm [Reply]

In today’s Mary Worth I am fascinated with the bunny and duck pictures behind the Ruth Buzzi lookalike. (Her name escapes me atthe moment.) I know she’s suppose to be young, butwhy is she drawn like she belongs in the flapper era? Also fascinating is Dr. Drew’s swinging bachelor pad. He’s holding a cordless phone, but his bureau has an old fashioned push button type phone. I’ve seen less depressing sheets in the county hospital. Drew has his legs spread as if some hot phone sex is going to happen, but from the conversations he just had with Vera and this one, he’d better get ready to pull the playboy out from under the bed.
AlmostAGhost
July 18th, 2007 at 12:23 pm [Reply]

that’s funny, i was just gonna say the same thing as #28… for some reason the rabbit and duck pics on the wall cracked me up.
commodorejohn
July 18th, 2007 at 12:25 pm [Reply]

#20 mnemonica – The thing that really caught my attention in that link was this:

Attention FAMILY CIRCUS SUNDAY Clients:

Over the years we’ve followed the FAMILY CIRCUS characters on many memorable family vacations. These vacation series have always been reader favorites, and are repeatedly requested by fans of the comic.

Beginning with the Aug. 5, 2007 Sunday release and continuing through Aug. 12 and Aug. 19, 2007, the FAMILY CIRCUS comic will recapture a classic vacation trip to Grandma and Granddad’s house. Bil and Jeff Keane have taken the time to make modifications to these classic strips to bring them into the 21st century for a new generation of FAMILY CIRCUS fans.

Please join us on this trip down memory lane!

Expect Spielberg tricks like adding cellphones to existing strips, I guess.
StrangeRover
July 18th, 2007 at 12:25 pm [Reply]

…Oh… and Jef Keane has completely lost the thread in the last two days.
NaughtyNatureLover
July 18th, 2007 at 12:26 pm [Reply]

Archie: Oh, the lovingly-rendered butt cheeks.

Garfield: Is this a bestiality joke? I think it’s a bestiality joke. Oh, god, I yearn for the sweet release of death.

GA: I am still totally confused by the timeline here. Slim laid down to go to sleep, then the construction equipment started banging. Then his wife said they were done, so Slim could try to sleep again. Then, the basketball started. Meanwhile, Slim had the same pajamas on the whole time. It seems like Slim either sleeps for days on end, or that whole court-n-players appeared within a few hours. Is it still the same day? At least he’s dressed now. When does he work?
Pozzo
July 18th, 2007 at 12:27 pm [Reply]

“Junior” is a pretty prosaic name for Scaduto to use, isn’t it? Shouldn’t it be something like Frizzmo or Lopoola? And isn’t “Junior” a little young to be driving? I know age is a relative thing in TDIET-land, where I’ve seen adolescents who look like they’re forty, but this kid can’t be more than 12 or 13.

That being said, congratulations and a tip of the ol’ topper (as Scaduto’s predecessor Hatlo might say) to Damian Penny. The Mudge domination of TDIET continues apace!
McManx
July 18th, 2007 at 12:28 pm [Reply]

The reason the son-in-law is upset is that Crankshaft needs assistance to catheterize himself. No wonder he’s pissed (pardon the pun).

SF – Noting Hilary is lying on her stomach means only one thing: Sally Forth never invested in an oral thermometer. No wonder Hilary looks queezy.
Mack
July 18th, 2007 at 12:30 pm [Reply]

From those framed pictures behind her, I see that Dawn’s taken a page from the Mark Trail Book of Interior Design.
Artist formerly known as Ben
July 18th, 2007 at 12:30 pm [Reply]

Congrats to Damian Penny. HONK-K sounds like it ends with a percussive sound. That’s about right.

A3G: Wonder if Eric would still cherish the notion that the Chinese love him if he spoke Mandarin.
Little Guy
July 18th, 2007 at 12:32 pm [Reply]

I wanna see a Comics Deathmatch of Curmungeon between Crankshaft and 9CL’s Dr Julii.
Trilobite
July 18th, 2007 at 12:35 pm [Reply]

I get the feeling most of Drew’s money goes to 900-number sex lines, judging from how quickly he gets into bed whenever he hears a woman’s voice on the phone.
AhClem
July 18th, 2007 at 12:39 pm [Reply]

#16 smacky –
Dawn: It’s a date!
Crew (voice balloon coming from receiver): No it’s not!

#17 smacky -
Crew? I meant Dr. Drew Corey.

I think you got it right the first time. “Crew” in this case refers to the Charterstone Mafia, i.e. Mary, Toeby, Chinbeard and the rest. They have been monitoring the conversation from Mary’s hardened underground MCC (Meddle Control Center), and decided to stage another intervention. Will Dawn soon be making an alcohol-fueled swan dive off Aldo Curve? Stay tuned!
Chat Noir
July 18th, 2007 at 12:40 pm [Reply]

FOOB: So, the message today is, tell your children they can’t do something and acquiesce after they ignore you and do it anyway? I thought Dee might be immune to the character assassination Lynn favors for those unequal to the task of being a Patterson mate.

The last several weeks of FOOB have been nauseating, but here’s a tip. Eat some pineapple salsa before reading them. Then when you throw up a little in your mouth, it kinda tastes okay.

Thanks to the Divine O’F and commodorejohn yesterthread for explaining why Gil Thorp had gone nutbaggier than usual!
Trilobite
July 18th, 2007 at 12:44 pm [Reply]

A few leftovers from Wednesday’s comics:

Judge Parker: Keith, it’s not much of a secret if you’ll blab it to any annoying kid who threatens to recite global warming statistics at you. It’s also not much of a secret if you remember that you have to file your tax return every year, and they’re probably going to want to know how much product you shipped out. And finally, it’s definitely not a secret when there’s no earthly reason to pretend it is one.

Dick Tracy: OH N–…pft, whatever. It’s nice to see that CIA agents, “Eastern Bloc” terrorists, and kidnap victims can all bond over their common distress at the thought of an elderly Baron sneaking out past curfew.
Calico
July 18th, 2007 at 12:46 pm [Reply]

I think “Honk-a Honk-a” could also be:

What Dr. Drew does to himself tonight, or what he’ll be doing to Dawn soon, or
What Curtis really thinks about Michelle now.
Sili
July 18th, 2007 at 12:54 pm [Reply]

Off topic (as usual with my rare comments):

Funnyfarm has a slight go at Foob too, today. Given that Smith usually works with about a month’s worth of buffer, I don’t think he’s just jumping on the waggon of Foob mockery.

Perhaps worth noting that Smith himself is Canadian (and that Keenspot seems to run exceptionally slowly today).
Squawk
July 18th, 2007 at 12:55 pm [Reply]

TDIET: Mom should worry less about Junior speeding or playing the radio and more about his tendency to change lanes on the interstate at a 90 degree angle.
Spiny Norman
July 18th, 2007 at 12:58 pm [Reply]

What I love about Dr. Drew’s room is his bed. He’s chosen lavender sheets to accompany his matching orange nightstands; there’s apparently no comforter, only a flat sheet and a voluminous bedskirt; and apparently, there’s no mattress, either, just a flat board posing as a bed. Either that, or Dr. Drew is weightless, because that bed’s not yielding at all beneath him. (Sleep number: 1,086.)

Also, this may just be me, but the longer you look at that picture, the more he seems to be sliding down the bed.

And what’s with his non-phone-holding hand? I mean, I know that the intention is for him to be cradling his slick-haired head and shielding it from the rock-hard pillow, but it looks more as if he’s cupping it over his ear (perhaps to drown out the deafening sound of his own ennui).
Major Hoople\'s Boarding House
July 18th, 2007 at 12:59 pm [Reply]

HONK-A HONK-A HONK-A

AUNT FRITZI IN A (weird) BIKINI !
Missy
July 18th, 2007 at 1:00 pm [Reply]

Is Mary Worth’s current focus on the “young people” some type of sad attempt to get the kids who are home on summer break interested in Charterstone? Because as a sort of young person I have to say it’s not working. Kids today don’t care about young romance. They need gang warfare, strange druggie imges, and celebrities.

In other words, Gil Thorp.
SteveRoper
July 18th, 2007 at 1:01 pm [Reply]

#22 Darkefang: granted, Family Circus is never “hilarious,” but one can usually tell what Keane himself regarded as funny (cute? warm? poignant? soul-scarring?) moments in family life. But today, I just don’t get it, even with the dad’s sweat beads popping off his face to emphasize his pirate-speak. Can anyone explain it? My wife and I raised two kids, but nothing like this ever came up.
mere cog in the machine
July 18th, 2007 at 1:02 pm [Reply]

Looking at the pablum that is served up daily in our great nation’s comics pages has made me nostalgic for Viz comics, which I read religiously when I was in England. ‘Spoilt Bastard’ was my personal favorite, but there were many others, such as ‘Sid the Sexist’, ‘Postman Plod the Miserable Bastard’, ‘Fat Slags’, and ‘Sherlock Homo’. This was some time ago, but I sure hope that at least some of these memorable strips are still in existence.
Bitter Scribe
July 18th, 2007 at 1:03 pm [Reply]

TDIET: When did bumper cars become street-legal?
Artist formerly known as Ben
July 18th, 2007 at 1:03 pm [Reply]

#20 & 30,
This from the same link:
Universal Press Syndicate has provided a correction for Cathy for Saturday, July 21. The spelling of the words travelers and whiny in the last panels has been corrected.
If you’re going to write–or read–Cathy, you need to have a handle on the word “whiny.”
Major Hoople\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Boarding House
July 18th, 2007 at 1:05 pm [Reply]

(technical question)

Why do I get additional ‘\’ before the ’s in my name everytime I post or preview?
Lettuce
July 18th, 2007 at 1:05 pm [Reply]

MW: Not sure what’s worse: Dr. Drew’s hiked-up mom jeans, or the fact Ann Reinking is willing to overlook them and join him on a date.
Artist formerly known as Ben
July 18th, 2007 at 1:09 pm [Reply]

#47, Missy,
Oh so funny. And I’m guessing (being likely a little older than you) oh so true.
Cedar
July 18th, 2007 at 1:09 pm [Reply]

I hate to say this, but judging from today’s FOOB, I’m starting to feel like Anthony is the best parent in the strip. At least he knows how to set boundaries.
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 1:09 pm [Reply]

http://www.comics.com/comics/nancy/

Some gratuitous Fritzy action completely unrelated to the gag. Love it. Actually, more gag-type comics should employ this technique. I’d take more time reading Blondie, Hi & Lois, and Crankshaft if they employed more babes-in-bikinis-for-the-hell-of-it panels.
Gabe
July 18th, 2007 at 1:12 pm [Reply]

Have I told anyone that I absolutely adore panel two of today’s TDIET? Cause I do. The look on the boy’s face, the comically shrunk convertable, the demurely cursing trucker….what’s not to love?

I just looked at the calendar and realized my TDIET falls on a Saturday, which means (normally) Josh won’t get to it till late Sunay. Blaaaargh, the suspense!
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 1:13 pm [Reply]

They do it….

Is Junior drving an Edsel? How cool is that? Honk-K
Lame Name
July 18th, 2007 at 1:15 pm [Reply]

TDIET — Backwards baseball caps and sweater vests? I just don’t understand kids’ clothes these days.

If Mom’s that concerned for Junior’s safety, she should get him a car with a windshield that won’t decapitate him if he’s pitched forward. Oh yeah!

Posted some Spider-Man and RMMD comments on yesterthread before I saw this one.
Gabe
July 18th, 2007 at 1:15 pm [Reply]

43: That damn Ryan Smith! He ruined Botcon!
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 1:17 pm [Reply]

I think Dawn Wesson may have Ted Forth’s original hands. Must be some bizarre transplant operation.
True Fable
July 18th, 2007 at 1:18 pm [Reply]

Little A: in response to your earlier inquiry:

Rose is Rose – I’m not a big fan of this, really. There’s something about a comic child with the face of a badger that just doesn’t grab me. Seriously, I really wish I could put my finger on just why I don’t like it, but for the life of me I can’t.
Dilbert – Don’t like this one either. It was funny to me for, oh, about a week or two back in 2002 or something.
Curtis – I do comment on this one from time to time. Sometimes it has an annoying bit of business (Curtis the Anti-Smoking Nazi, Barry the Whiny Little Pissant Narc) but for the most part, Curtis is pretty darned good.
Soup to Nutz – Don’t know, I’ll have to check this one out.
Blondie – I snark on this one too. I like some of the really really old stuff better, I must admit, but Blondie herself is a hoot when she’s allowed to be funny in her OWN DAMN STRIP. Dagwood is a perpetual doofus so I guess that makes us kindred, but I’m tired of Dag Dag Dag Daggity Dag all the time.
Jump Start – Haven’t seen this in a long time but as I recall, as the song goes, I kinda liked it. In fact, it usually makes me laugh so I guess I really do like it.
Mutts – It knows just how to tug at the strings of my heart, and I love the way the cat talks. The dog – oh GAWD, the dog’s face is just so fucking cute, I can’t resist whispering “awww…” when I read it. Yes, True Fable is a big softie when it comes to winsome lil’ dogs. It costs me in terms of asshattery points but what the hell, I am what I am. An asshat with a heart of iron pyrite.
One Big Happy – It hits more than it misses. I get a little tired of Ruthie’s relentless malapropisms but I have to admit, she’ll hit one out of the ballpark every now and then and have me just cracking up and I’m charmed all over again.

I’m so easy. :P

I think what was observed earlier is true, that sometimes when we think a strip is good, we don’t snark on it the way The Masters might entice us to do. Or, in Rose is Rose my reaction is so tepid I really don’t care to snark on it. You have overall good taste though.
Major Hoople's Boarding House
July 18th, 2007 at 1:19 pm [Reply]

#20 vs. #30

The reason that Doug Marlette was a thousand times classier than any of the Keanes.
man behind the curtain
July 18th, 2007 at 1:21 pm [Reply]

A3G — Nora’s look comes from the realization that if she’s going to get it on with Eric she’s going to have to look like a little Chinese boy.
zeeba
July 18th, 2007 at 1:22 pm [Reply]

7/18

MW: since the Dallas Morning Snooze no longer carries MW, I must live vicariously through y’all and keep up with her meddlings this way. I was a little surprised to see how Dawn Weston looks these days. Last time I saw her in the paper (I guess what, 5, 6 years ago?), she looked like a miniature Wilbur: short, pudgy, glasses, but no combover for her. Now her page boy seems to be growing out weird.

FW: http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20070718&name=Funky_Winkerbean

Why do I let myself get so emotionally involved here? I’ve only been reading this one for 30+ years. So, Jessica’s talked Darin out of looking in the p.o. box for the letter that will tell him Lisa is his mother. And by the looks of things in the last panel, (a little hand to hair foreplay, hmmm?), J’s finally gonna get the vo-de-o-do she’s been waiting for all this time.

My predictions (although all of my predictions so far have been very wrong): A coupla weeks later, Darin’s over at the Moores’ house, mowing their lawn. Lisa invites him in for lemonade or some such. He’s sad, she’s sad. He finds out she’s sad that she hasn’t been able to get in touch with her son she gave up for adoption. He’s sad that he’s never been able to find out who his birth mother is. They commiserate, put 2 and 2 together, and voila!!! They find each other at last, but alas, too late, as most likely Lisa will collapse and die in his arms.
aldos
July 18th, 2007 at 1:23 pm [Reply]

Junior should worry less about distractions and more about the fact that he’s attempting to drive sideways through traffic in the world’s smallest convertible. OH, YEAH!
Cedar
July 18th, 2007 at 1:25 pm [Reply]

#62 I’ve always enjoyed Mutts, but ever since I got a pet cat a few months ago, I have been all about that shit. I email the strips to everyone I know, and cut them out to put on my fridge. I’m now terrified that if I have kids, I’m going to be obsessed in the same way with Family Circus and Hi and Lois.

I adore Arlo and Janis. It doesn’t get much mention here, but I think it’s one of the funniest strips in the paper. I love the adult humor of it, and it really hits the mark sometimes. It can be a poignant strip. Plus, the cartoonist Jimmy Johnson has this blog-thing with writings, and commentary on older strips.
http://www.arloandjanis.com/
He just comes off as such a great guy.
mere cog in the machine
July 18th, 2007 at 1:28 pm [Reply]

62 True Fable: Wikipedia describes ‘Rose is Rose’ as having a “generally cheerful and positive outlook on life”, and quotes another cartoonist calling its creator “one of the nicest guys in comics”.
If those aren’t two reasons for hating the shit out of it than I don’t know what are.
Cedar
July 18th, 2007 at 1:29 pm [Reply]

#68 Pat Brady is a guy? That kinda makes me rethink the whole damn strip.
man behind the curtain
July 18th, 2007 at 1:30 pm [Reply]

Mw — I was about to give the MW artists profs for having them use portable phones but it looks like Dr. Drew is using a portable but the base has a keypad. For Dr. Drew tomorrow will be “Hearts of Palm”. But for now, it’s time to get his palm busy while he has Dawn on the line.
SmartPeopleOnIce
July 18th, 2007 at 1:36 pm [Reply]

Hello all,

Just back from the Mark Trail, baked quail, lobster tail, grey whale, fried kale, stuffed snail, dinner pail and bake sale. Don’t know if I’m back for long, but I thought I would say hey.

Hey.

Eh, while I’m here, what the hell:

1) Um, excuse me, Joshua. “Shaft” is not a WW-II veteran, “Shaft” is the black private dick that’s a sex machine to all the chicks. If you wish to impart a cool monosyllabic moniker on Crankshaft, might I suggest “Crank” (or perhaps “Art*”)?

(* alas, who in the Curminion will get this joke?).

2) And in response to How much did you know about Tim’s work in Tibet? is Nora making the universal sign for blowjob? Talk about head bobble. Partial kudos I suppose, for trying to hide it from us with her hand. You know, fer the children…

3) Re: Gale Martin Wiki. In the words of Lowell George: You folks are crazy
AtomicDog
July 18th, 2007 at 1:42 pm [Reply]

SF – I see that Hilary has contracted “Shatneritis”.
dimestore lipstick
July 18th, 2007 at 1:51 pm [Reply]

Cedar
It doesn’t need to be your own kids–and it doesn’t need to be strips about kids.

Ever since Get Fuzzy started, Spouse and I have repeatedly remarked on the fact that our nephew is totally a Satchel, and our niece is pretty much a Bucky. Many strips have landed on our fridge because of those similarities of personality.
Calico
July 18th, 2007 at 1:57 pm [Reply]

#55 – I think Lipz (Anthony) knows how to set boundaries too, especially by means of his carpentry skills. But I see your point.

#49 – The only time I have heard the term “slag” in relation to a human was in an ep of AbFab. Until now…!
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 1:58 pm [Reply]

71. SmartPeopleOnIceI! SPOI! You have returned!! Take your wig off and stay awhile.
olde goat
July 18th, 2007 at 1:58 pm [Reply]

MT: In revealing the nefarious accomplice’s name (“Bob! Buzzard! Bird!”), MT has dredged up memories of one a favorite Engish composition rule – “Avoid alliteration always.”
AtomicDog
July 18th, 2007 at 2:00 pm [Reply]

TDIET- Someday, I’m going to invent a convertible windshield that will actually shield the driver from wind. I’ll make millions, I tell you! Millions!
MossMoses
July 18th, 2007 at 2:00 pm [Reply]

(Doctor) Drew is all about self aggrandizement and self promotion. He was unconcerned about his father being out of touch for months and drowning half way around the world. “Oh, don’t worry Mary. He’ll be fine”. Dawn Weston is going to look really stupid asking for career advice with bukake Drew spew all over her face!
Pozzo
July 18th, 2007 at 2:00 pm [Reply]

Actually, I think that might be a picture of a swan, or perhaps a nesting heron, rather than a duck.
bats :[
July 18th, 2007 at 2:00 pm [Reply]

40. Chat Noir: yeah, it’s probably good that I don’t have kids, because if I’d been Dee, after checking to make sure the brats weren’t bleeding (necessitating even more cleaning, since I’m sure Elly merely skipped out of one house into the other (love that lack o’ security deposit!), I would’ve let them lie there under the crap that they’d brought down (literally) upon themselves…
AtomicDog
July 18th, 2007 at 2:02 pm [Reply]

76 – Tell that to Peter Parker, Lois Lane, Reed Richards and Lex Luthor.
AtomicDog
July 18th, 2007 at 2:03 pm [Reply]

Oh, and Bruce Banner. Just don’t make him angry.
kat
July 18th, 2007 at 2:09 pm [Reply]

I am greatly amused by the thought of Tibetan villagers making up stories to tell Eric Mills, Art-Buyer. “Yeah, yeah, see that monk over there? He killed a yeti with his bare hands!” “Really??” “Most certainly. Of course, this was after his days as a trapeze artist on Gail Martin’s Orient Express Tour back in ‘72.” “Fascinating.”
Calico
July 18th, 2007 at 2:09 pm [Reply]

#79 – Is it crystal, however?
NotMe
July 18th, 2007 at 2:10 pm [Reply]

looking at the bedroom decor it appears that Mark Trail and Drew Corey are in the same room, even possibly on the same bed
Sanity Clause
July 18th, 2007 at 2:10 pm [Reply]

SPOI … Don’t know if your channeling The Real Don Steel or Tom Magliozzi from Car Talk. But as far as I know, Tina DelGato is alive!! ALIVE!! … and don’t drive like my brother.
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
July 18th, 2007 at 2:11 pm [Reply]

Lame Name @ yesterthread 259: “Gold-Digging Nanny” and “Unidentified Mutating Brown Goop” would both be excellent nicknames.
Ginger Yellow
July 18th, 2007 at 2:12 pm [Reply]

TDIET: I hate to diss another Curmudgeon, but the solution to the problem is not to answer the damn phone when you’re driving.
Little A.
July 18th, 2007 at 2:14 pm [Reply]

Well, Stinky Pete, you are certainly correct, there is no accounting for taste, and taste is certainly subjective, but if there were nothing to debate, this would be an empty blog.

I like One Big Happy very much; I like the way it is drawn; I think it is funny, much of the time; and I think little James is a great character, nobody like him in the comics that I know about. And Ruthy is a nut, but a loveable nut; I like the situations, with Library Lady and Playground Lady; in other words, this stuff appeals to me.

On the other hand that character in Zits, that piece of shit teanager whose name I don’t even know, I find him totally repulsive and obnoxious and don’t care to read about him. So I skip this strip.

Taste is subjective all right.
Islamorada Girl
July 18th, 2007 at 2:17 pm [Reply]

What kind of a blow job can Tim Mills, Freeze-Dried Tibetan Mummy get? Oh, right. He can be a junior senator from LA. Maybe even someday, president! In his frosty, desiccated way, I’m sure he could be more successful at running the country than what we have in office now. Start the campaign ball rolling now!

TIM MILLS, FREEZE-DRIED TIBETAN MUMMY FOR PRESIDENT!

Gail Martin endorses him. Do you?
Dorianne
July 18th, 2007 at 2:23 pm [Reply]

Wait, wait, wait. Dr. Drew (Mary Worth) fancies himself a ladies man, and has only ever struck out with po-faced Vera…….but he sleeps in a twin-sized bed?

AHAHAHA. Wait. This strip isn’t supposed to be funny, is it?
Gabe
July 18th, 2007 at 2:25 pm [Reply]

Little A: It’s Jeremy.
Gabe
July 18th, 2007 at 2:26 pm [Reply]

And Lana Lang, and Doctor Doom, and…
Tim McDonough
July 18th, 2007 at 2:29 pm [Reply]

If the Shaft is 70 that makes him too young even for the Korean War. Does that mean readers will now be treated to sepia-toned flashbacks of Dak To? This of course makes his kids between 40-50 years old, far too young to have been at Kent State.
andreavis
July 18th, 2007 at 2:31 pm [Reply]

Cedar #55
Bwa Ha x 7! To quote Homer Simpson, “It’s funny ‘cuz it’s true!”

Little A #89
I think I agree that teen Jeremy of “Zits” is being particularly obnoxious these days, and I find myself skimming past that strip too. But to add to your debate: I’m become a huge fan of Overboard, which was kinda weak a few years ago but has really ramped up the funny since they added Raymond the talking dog. We never discuss it here, though, so I will assume that’s because it’s the awesomest comic ever and snark-proof (tee hee)
Andsheewas
July 18th, 2007 at 2:35 pm [Reply]

Nothing says “prepare for the sexing” like Dr. Drew’s mom jeans.
Uncle Lumpy
July 18th, 2007 at 2:36 pm [Reply]

#71 SmartPeopleOnIce says –

Hey.

Hey, SPOI! Happy belated Aldoversary!
ElSanto
July 18th, 2007 at 2:38 pm [Reply]

#95 – I haven’t read it lately, but I loved “Overboard” when it first came out. The jokes really weren’t that funny, but I loved the artistic style, which was and still is quite unique. For some reason, it reminds me of Mike Allred or Mark Evanier, both of which use “underground” art motifs.

Also, it has pirates, and I was into pirates before it was cool. :)
mere cog in the machine
July 18th, 2007 at 2:38 pm [Reply]

#95 andreavis: Zits only seems to appeal to people who have teenage boys. Childless adults like myself despise teenagers and have no patience with the strip. As for Overboard, I really enjoyed the first six strips, but when it became sadly apparent that the next hundred or so were just gamely beating to death the original six jokes, I gave up in disgust.
Mack
July 18th, 2007 at 2:41 pm [Reply]

95 – I loved Overboard for years but have lost interest since it increasingly became a dog strip. Weeks can go by with little indication that they’re actually aboard a pirate ship.
Mechanist
July 18th, 2007 at 2:42 pm [Reply]

H&L: Today we’re invited to play sharpshooter and imagine shooting Trixie as she stares dully out of the window. Those crosshairs can’t possibly be part of the window.

Luann: Brad’s dad is stuck in a tree? WTF was he doing, spying on Luann and Bernice in their underwear? Yeah I bet he doesn’t want Brad to tell anyone, but the question is, how will Brad blackmail him?
Mik Holmes
July 18th, 2007 at 2:49 pm [Reply]

People need to remember about Crankshaft that even though he’s 70, there isn’t any indication that he just turned 70. This is a newspaper comic, and in newspaper comics (save Foob) nobody ages.
For the hell of it, lets say that Crankshaft started 40 years ago. Does that mean that when the strip started, he was 30? Not exactly. Does that mean that hopefully, in a few more years, he will be forced to die from old age? Unfortunately no. He’s probably been in every war imaginable, including a few fictional ones, all while being 70 years old.
Cedar
July 18th, 2007 at 2:51 pm [Reply]

As long as we’re talking about underrated comics, I’d like discuss how overrated Pearls Before Swine is. I think my main issue with the strip is how I once read an interview with Stephan Pastis, and dude come off as such a douge bag. “I’m so dark and edgy. My work is really dark and edgy. Oh, I remember this one strip my editor said I couldn’t publish because it was just too dark and edgy. I’m always taking those sorts of chances, because I’m so dark and edgy.” STFU, dude. I mean, yeah, you’re darker and edgier than, like, Beetle Bailey, but that’s hardly an amazing feat. I don’t know–I still read the strip, and it makes me laugh sometimes, but still. The tone of it changed for me from gently cynical to smug and mean-spirited somehow, and I just don’t think the strip is good and original and consistent enough to warrant that sort of attitude.

Plus, I honestly think that if he’s not careful, Pearls Before Swine is totally going to become the B.C. of my generation. Think about it–lazy artwork, corny puns, jokes my grandpa used to tell me. It’s all there.
Little Guy
July 18th, 2007 at 2:55 pm [Reply]

88: This is a classic TDIET case of the kid being [MARGO]-ed if you do and [MARGO]-ed if you don’t. Even if there’s a law against him/her/it using a cell phone while driving, you *know* the mom’s is going to [BOXCAR] the kid for not answering when she calls.
mere cog in the machine
July 18th, 2007 at 2:56 pm [Reply]

103 Commodore: I couldn’t agree more about PBS being overrated. I had no idea the creator was such a tool; now I feel entirely justified in my disdain. Dark and edgy? The guy sounds like the Vincent Gallo of comic strips.
TGrum
July 18th, 2007 at 2:58 pm [Reply]

FBOFW: I have little tolerance for uncontrolled kids in the first place. But I have to go on record and say that I loathe Michael’s and Dee’s loin fruit with a passion that grows with each sighting. They make the former Mustache almost likable by comparison. They should be sold for scientific research.
B
July 18th, 2007 at 3:00 pm [Reply]

Good lord! I knew driving while talking on a cell phone was dangerous, but i had no idea it would send you careening into a busy highway perpendicular to the oncoming traffic.
Gabe
July 18th, 2007 at 3:21 pm [Reply]

98 El Santo: Mark Evanier isn’t an artist, he’s a writer. Unless you meant his usual partner in crime, Sergio Aragones.

(Actually, Mark is a pretty good artist in his own right, but having worked with the likes of Jack Kirby and Aragones, he feels inadequate to show his skills)
Gabe
July 18th, 2007 at 3:23 pm [Reply]

I’m a childless adult, and I like Zits. So there.
Uncle Lumpy
July 18th, 2007 at 3:36 pm [Reply]

#109 Gabe –

I like Zits because it plays with the trope of the hip teen outwitting clueless nitwit parents — half the time, Connie and Walt are getting over on Jeremy, who seems utterly baffled that his parents have lives independent of him.
The Divine O’F
July 18th, 2007 at 3:41 pm [Reply]

103 Cedar: Hear, hear! I agree with you 100%, except for the very rare times that the author does crossovers.

And re Zits: I like it most of the time. I’m childless, but I remember my teen years pretty well.
ElSanto
July 18th, 2007 at 3:45 pm [Reply]

#108 — Actually, after I checked the internet to see what the heck I was talking about, I found out that I was really thinking of Evan Dorkin (the guy behind the Milk & Cheese comic books). So all this time I’ve been thinking Evan Dorkin and Mark Evanier was the same person? How did that happen? It boggles the mind. I think it was that dang “Evan—” syllable, which has foiled me for the last time!
Uncle Lumpy
July 18th, 2007 at 3:49 pm [Reply]

#112 ElSanto –

Actually, that happens Every Time. Live the dream!
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 3:59 pm [Reply]

Am I the only one laughing at the Jumble comics?

http://tinyurl.com/3aym2k

(look, ma, tiny url!)
MossMoses
July 18th, 2007 at 4:02 pm [Reply]

103. Cedar, “douge bag”? Is that the Summers Eve thing Mom talks about during mother-daughter reunions for that “not so fresh feeling”? My Puerto Rican ex boss once called me a “dootchbahg” so I can relate.

You make some valid points about the strip and no doubt the success has gone to the creator’s head. For case in point, look at Aaron Magruder. Nonetheless PBS is better than 90% of the crap in the Washington Post comics section. I prefer it to Beetle Bailey or Agnes each and every day of the week.
Motorposus
July 18th, 2007 at 4:04 pm [Reply]

Yesterthread willethompson said – “What, do you suppose, is happening in Paris with Abbey and Neddy? Have they been kidnapped by Algerian terrorists?”

When my husband’s older siblings were young tots, the family lived in Paris and had a live-in Algerian nanny. The parents went away on a vacation leaving the kids with the nanny and her husband. They returned to find that the Algerian couple had smacked the kids around, grabbed all the valuables and split. There’s a memorable photo in the family album of my husband’s sister, then 2, with a shiner. According to my parents-in-law, the Algerians were terrorists wanted by Interpol.

God, it just occurred to me what a fishy story that is. “That’s right, monsieur gendarme, Algerian terrorists beat up our children!”
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 4:07 pm [Reply]

110. UL

I’d still like to see Jeremy’s Mom grab him by the ear and drag him around a little. There’s not enough physical violence for my taste.
Justin Thomas
July 18th, 2007 at 4:07 pm [Reply]

Pearls sucks my ass, man.
Cindy the Wonderful
July 18th, 2007 at 4:09 pm [Reply]

Stephan Pastis is a God. I would screw him in a heartbeat.
Cedar
July 18th, 2007 at 4:10 pm [Reply]

Pearls is the best. Of that there can be no doubt. Everything else is like gravy off a duck’s back.
Herro!
July 18th, 2007 at 4:11 pm [Reply]

YOU GUYS YOU GUYS YOU GUYS YOU GUYS!

A real-life Blandthony made an appearance some time ago on SomethingAwful.com. Check him out!

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/fashion-swat/myspace-swat.php?page=2
Uncle Lumpy
July 18th, 2007 at 4:12 pm [Reply]

#118 and #119 –

Justin (heart) Cindy.
Cindy the Wonderful
July 18th, 2007 at 4:15 pm [Reply]

I just think he’s so hot. And to think he’s that clever on top of it is just the biggest turn-on.

If he’s arrogant, I say bring some of that arrogance over here, big boy.
bats :[
July 18th, 2007 at 4:16 pm [Reply]

Woo hoo! Dogpile on Lynn(e)! A Paul J from New Brunswick gives her (or at least her glowing Michael and virtuous Deanna) absolute what-for in the Coffee Talk section of foob.com — being crappy parents (horrors!), harkening back to Elly being a crappy parent herself (blasphemy!), and Wobin being just a wee bit on the, um, unaccelerated side…
Stranger…
July 18th, 2007 at 4:19 pm [Reply]

I realize that cartoon physics is not quite the same as ours. But the music particles spewing out the end of the wire in Bizzaro are interesting.
Elaine
July 18th, 2007 at 4:19 pm [Reply]

Yeah, he’s definitely the cutest one of all the cartoonists. And I agree, his confidence is sexier than two spoons on a banana.
Fightin Vague Shape
July 18th, 2007 at 4:25 pm [Reply]

Pluggers: Why is the Plugger using a map when he hasn’t yet figured out the concept of a “road”?
mnemonica
July 18th, 2007 at 4:27 pm [Reply]

125: I couldn’t find the usual hidden stick of dynamite in today’s bizarro (although the bird portrait is there as well as on the wall in Mary Worth). I think the guy’s music player must be standing in for the dynamite. Those are sparks coming from the fuse.
bats :[
July 18th, 2007 at 4:28 pm [Reply]

128. FVS: The sad, sad thing about this particular Plugger is that the car on its passenger side is up on cinder blocks. Mr. Plugger is just out on his lawn, fantacizing about being somewhere — anywhere — else.
But it’s probably Golden Corral.
michael farris
July 18th, 2007 at 4:32 pm [Reply]

Those who avoid Funky Cancerbean (and enjoy emotional trainwrecks and human misery) might want to pick up the story now as Jessica is shaping up as comicdom’s Alice Adams (good hearted, well-meaning and totally, irredeemably wrong about … everything).

Should her relationship with Darin survive her cutting his reunion with his biological mother short, their pairing will be a magnificent tribute to the power of guilt, and horrible communicative dysfunction.

Or it could even be funnier, since she finally might be getting her dream of sleeping with Darin, how much do you want to be she’ll wind up pregnant (since her seductive calculations probably haven’t included provisions for birth control) and give up the baby for adoption (somehow preventing him from finding out). I am so there.
GotFuzzy
July 18th, 2007 at 4:33 pm [Reply]

Jumping on the Love It/Hate It thread:

Loves:
Get Fuzzy (as is probably obvious by my nom de blog): My first cat was exactly like Bucky in temperament, and my second cat totally Satchel-like, so I can relate to Rob in the strip.
Mutts: I’m not crazy about the way the cat talks, but the artwork is just too darn cute. And I love that McDonnell encourages shelter adoption.
Pearls Before Swine: I wondered if Darby Conley had a feud going with Stephan Pastis, as they would take shots at each other in strips and interviews, but then discovered that they are buds and this is all an act. I’m thinking the “dark and edgy” thing may have been an act, too, because he seems to take himself not so seriously. And I love the absurdist humor and the horrible puns.
Lio: It took me awhile to catch on, but the sheer lunacy and true darkness of it are great. It’s like Gashlycrumb Tinies for the 21st Century.
Dilbert: I used to read it and sigh when I worked in an office. Now that I work from home I read it and howl.
Doonesbury: Isn’t afraid to be intelligent and takes shots at hypocrisy in both parties (although you can tell his heart is more in it when he’s skewering a Republican).

Classic Loves: Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes, Bloom County (especially anything with the bunnies or the cockroaches), The Far Side. (No surprises there)

Like Them, But Not For Any Particular Reason: Rhymes With Orange, Brewster Rockit, Zits, Big Nate, Agnes, Frazz.

Like Them, But They Test My Patience: Zits, Baby Blues, Rose Is Rose.

Liked Them When I Was A Kid, Hate Them Now: BC, Garfield, Broom-Hilda, Family Circus, Dennis the Menace, Marmaduke.

Love To Snark: Gil Thorp, Mary Worth, Judge Parker, Rex Morgan, Mark Trail.

Hate With A Burning Passion, Because I Once Loved: FOOB.
queek
July 18th, 2007 at 4:34 pm [Reply]

Overboard is sort of “meh”

PBS is one of, if not the best, of the modern strips. How can you not like “love at first death roll” and the rest of the Eeta Eeta Zeeba crocs? The only one that really comes close is Get Fuzzy, and frankly, GF has gotten very inconsistant over the past several years.
GotFuzzy
July 18th, 2007 at 4:35 pm [Reply]

Oh, and I should have put Cancer Cancerbean in the Liked Then/Hate Now category.
Bootsy
July 18th, 2007 at 4:35 pm [Reply]

When the T-P first started carrying Rose is Rose, I gave it a chance but I could not figure out what all the flowers and rainbows and stars and floaty shit was about. Then I imagined that everyone involved was on acid (the writers, the characters, the readers) and that entertained me for a while but it wore off (the notion not the acid) and now I pass it over like I do Garfield.

I like Mutts because Earl is exactly like my dearly departed Cubby.

Another comic that gets little play here is Brewster Rockit. Sometimes it’s hilarious.

Little A, you’ve gotten us off on an embroidery thread!
Uncle Lumpy
July 18th, 2007 at 4:45 pm [Reply]

#131 GotFuzzy –

Dilbert: I used to read it and sigh when I worked in an office. Now that I work from home I read it and howl.

Me too. But schadenfreunde — however delightful — isn’t humor.
Andrea D and The Grandstanding Oddballs
July 18th, 2007 at 4:55 pm [Reply]

Did Paul J from New Brunswick HACK Elly’s coffe talk blog? Because he’s got three comments, all negative, and one with some rather embarrassing spelling.
Poteet
July 18th, 2007 at 4:57 pm [Reply]

# 65 — Zeeba, as someone who started reading FW just a few months ago, I SO hope you’re right this time. Not only would that plot development meet the Funky requirement for profuse hopeless tears, but it would speed up what I fear is the plan to kill Lisa so slowly that she’ll still be with us, barely, next spring. (And belated thanks for your kind cat words, and regards to Milo!)
Gabe
July 18th, 2007 at 4:58 pm [Reply]

Conley and Pastis are best buds, actually. The “feud” is all in good fun.

I love GF more than anything.

Mutts is cute and I forgive it.

PBS can def. be fun.

I remember Overboard being okay with some good moments.

I was a Dilbert addict for years, it’s kind of gotten stale, but still gets away with more murders and dirty jokes than anyone else, and you gotta respect that.

Zits is funny.

Garfield has gotten better this year than in the past 10 years, and I’ve invested too much time in my life to the orange furrball to hate him anyways.

Opus is good most of the time, but not as sharp as Bloom County/Outland.

My Cage is fun, need to add it to my Chron sub.

Heathcliff is not *bad* per se for a gag a day strip, but why the hell does everyone stand around with their hands in their pockets? That bugs me.

I don’t always agree with Prickly City’s politics, but he’s willing to skewer his own side sometimes, and Winslow is pretty funny.

I hate La Cucaracha, but then it’ll do something I love. Fresno Hilton is genius, but only if you’ve lived in the central valley (I used to).

Doonesbury is the most consistent strip for funnies ever.

I miss Far Side, Calvin, and Boondocks.
Andrea D and The Grandstanding Oddballs
July 18th, 2007 at 4:59 pm [Reply]

Unlike my spelling error, “coffe”, which is brilliant. Ahem.
Andrea D and The Grandstanding Oddballs
July 18th, 2007 at 5:01 pm [Reply]

Dude, I got on Elly’s coffe talk a couple days ago. No one told me!

And then some dumb beyotch had to go and say that Anthony is dependable, and dependability lasts, where as hot looks fade. GOD, haven’t these people heard of cosmetic surgery?
Bitter Scribe
July 18th, 2007 at 5:02 pm [Reply]

Since this thread seems to have evolved into a discussion of comics we like/don’t like, can I put in a word for Monty? It’s not easy to blend sci-fi humor and putz jokes, but Monty seems to do it effortlessly.

For the same reason, I’m also one of the few people I know who like Brewster Rockit: Space Guy! There’s an Airplane!-style silliness to it that I find endearing.
MGArchitect
July 18th, 2007 at 5:03 pm [Reply]

Seeing the Family Circus children dressed up as pirates today is really creeping me out, especially Jeffy’s apparent steroid induced Aunt Jemima headress and five-o’clock shadow.
Gabe
July 18th, 2007 at 5:04 pm [Reply]

I like Monty, too!
Chat Noir
July 18th, 2007 at 5:05 pm [Reply]

40, 106 — Bats and TGrum — If the FOOB hellions want in the closet so bad, Dee could solve her problems by just nudging the ankle-biters into there, fotograffs and all.

When Saint Michael descends from his new writing garrett, she can smile and say, “Hey, honey, Mother’s Day came early!”
Bitter Scribe
July 18th, 2007 at 5:06 pm [Reply]

Oh, and Calvin and Hobbes is the best newspaper strip of all time. Ever. Period. A blending of verbal and visual wit that has never been equaled.

God, it makes me mad that a genius like Bill Watterson hung it up because he was running out of ideas, while hacks like whoever does The Lockhorns are allowed to recycle the same half-dozen or so jokes indefinitely.
AAckTTpth
July 18th, 2007 at 5:09 pm [Reply]

Monty is a Like It Nearly All Of The Time, Love It Frequently and Hate It Not Very Often strip for me.

The Guy from the Future series could have been pretty lame, especially as the strip progresses, but it’s been consistently funny.

Great dialogue and excellent timing in three panels.

Calvin & Hobbes, Far Side and Bloom County: A+,
Lio: A
PBS: A
GF: A
Fart Party: A (Thanks Josh for pointing that one out)
Zits: B+
Mutts: B (points lost for the cutesy ones)
Frazz: B
FBoFW: F- (was an A a long time ago)
Uncle Lumpy
July 18th, 2007 at 5:10 pm [Reply]

Pirhana Club is underrecognized, because it’s set in the Scaduto era (moustaches, doctors with head mirrors, boarding houses, punchbowls at the lodge meeting, petty grifters). But it’s pretty consistently funny, and the characters are really well differentiated for a joke-a-day format.
Zamboni_Rodeo
July 18th, 2007 at 5:10 pm [Reply]

#71, SPOI: I’m fairly certain I get the “Art” reference, so all is not in vain.

Ballard St.: Okay, I admit it. I don’t get this strip at all. Ever.

BB: Miss Buxley and whoever the other woman is are lucky Killer didn’t suggest a “shirts vs. skins” game instead.

Bizarro: I didn’t get this strip when I first saw it in B&W in my local fishwrap this morning. It probably didn’t help that I hadn’t had any caffeine and only three hours of sleep. However, after seeing it in color, I can see that the woman cut dude’s earphone wire, and as sight gags go, it’s reasonably funny.

DT: Everytime I see the baron’s granddaughter, she’s got her teeth clenched in this horribly-painful looking grimace. Either her jaw is wired shut, or she must have the worst case of constipation ever.

Quigmans: Reminds me of an old episode of “Eerie, IN” where a freaky 50’s mom kept her identical twin sons sealed in Tupperware containers at night to keep them young.
Motorposus
July 18th, 2007 at 5:11 pm [Reply]

#131 Got Fuzzy – I’m with you just about all the way. Except I never liked Marmaduke.

I’m pro Zits. I like the artwork, and the jokes and situations ring true to me. Even though I don’t have teenaged children (yet), I’ve at least been a teenager, and was probably as insufferable at times as Jeremy. Like him, I should probably have been smacked a few times, but wasn’t.

I’d also like to add that I’ve been enjoying Ink Pen.
Gabe
July 18th, 2007 at 5:13 pm [Reply]

I’ve said before, I liked Pirhana Club when it was called something else, I don’t think I’ve like it as much since I started reading it again. There was this storyline about worms that…well, I peed myself.
King Folderol
July 18th, 2007 at 5:15 pm [Reply]

Cranky – When he says, “I gotta go”, Cranky doesn’t mean he has to empty out his weak bladder. He means, “I gotta go write an angry letter to the editor. I gotta go yell at my neighbors for no good reason. I gotta go scare the crap out of the local nogoodniks down at the park.” When Cranky has to pee, he just lets it run down the wrinkled tributary of his withered, gnarled leg.

A3G – The joke’s on him. The “art” that the locals are selling him are the Chinese equivalent of Velvet Elvises. If he wasn’t such a culture snob, he’d see the same “priceless” Ming vases being sold for 99 cents at the corner Wal-Mart.

MW – I find it odd, but not freakish, that Drew keeps his dick behind his ear. Perhaps Wilbur’s combover has shielded me from all anatomical freakishness in Mary Worth.
Motorposus
July 18th, 2007 at 5:20 pm [Reply]

#141 – Amen to both Monty and Brewster Rockit.
Keg of Curd
July 18th, 2007 at 5:21 pm [Reply]

Looking at yesterday’s post, I have to say that would be a very fitting tagline for Walker and Browne’s work. “Hi & Lois: Marginally Funnier than Protracted Death.”
Zamboni_Rodeo
July 18th, 2007 at 5:29 pm [Reply]

The Comics You Love/Hate Discussion:

These days, I can’t say there are any strips in the paper that I read actively because they’re consistently funny. Ever since I joined the Curminions, I primarily read all of them for the snark factor. That being said, here’s the ones I will take the trouble to rate:

More hit than miss: Bizarro, Rhymes With Orange, PBS, Baby Blues (I can’t help it; the Hammie-Zoe dynamic is too much like my brother and I when we were that age), Non-Sequitur (although I hate, hate, hate the current arc with a passion), Mutts, Opus, LuAnn, Doonesbury, 9CL, Zits, Diesel Sweeties

More miss than hit: Drabble, Curtis, Rose is Rose, Garfield

Best enjoyed with a healthy dose of CC snark: FOOB, Mary Worth, Gil Thorp, A3G, RMMD, TDIET, Pluggers, Crankshaft, Sally Forth, BB

Strips I should find funny bit I don’t most of the time: Frazz, Get Fuzzy, My Cage

Oh, just f*ck off and die already: FW, BC, FC, Cathy, FOOB (yes, I know I voted for this one twice; the two categories aren’t mutually exclusive), DtM, Marmaduke, Archie, DT, Hi & Lois, Ziggy, Momma, Lockhorns, Shoe

Gone, but not forgotten: Bloom County (my all-time favorite, for now and always), The Far Side, Boondocks, C&H
Uncle Lumpy
July 18th, 2007 at 5:31 pm [Reply]

#151 King F –

Answers.com on Albert Pinkham Ryder:

Because of the small number of his works and their increasing value, forgeries began to appear in his last years; and after his death the production increased until there are now about five times as many fakes as genuine works.

Do you suppose Eric’s been buying Albert Pinkham Ryder fakes in China? ‘Cause that would be so far beyond my expectations for A3G.
The Divine O’F
July 18th, 2007 at 5:34 pm [Reply]

131 Got Fuzzy: Very well put, and I like all your reasons.
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 5:38 pm [Reply]

No love for Love is…?
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 5:42 pm [Reply]

I, too, like Piranha Club, the strip formerly known as Ernie, I believe. The art alone make me laugh. The gags are often funny, too.

Pickles can make me laugh, too. The comic strip, I mean. hee, hee.
VALIS
July 18th, 2007 at 5:43 pm [Reply]

Is it just me, or did Vera made a Gail and remove her blonde wig?
The Divine O’F
July 18th, 2007 at 5:44 pm [Reply]

Well, I was hoping to catch the next thread, but we have major weather coming so I’m shutting down now. See y’all in the AM.
Little A.
July 18th, 2007 at 5:46 pm [Reply]

There’s nothing wrong with some of us expressing opinions about our favorite or unfavorite strips. We have to take a breath and get our energy back, before we verbally shit on FOOB again. (You should pardon the very mixed metaphor.) And I think that many of us find GT absolutely delightfully putrid, in other words, it’s a delight to read this ridiculously written and drawn nonsense every day. It may be the funniest strip in the papers. Has it occurred to anybody that this may, just may be deliberate? Just a thought.

And I forgot to mention, back there somewhere, that Agnes was one of my favorite strips for years. It’s not running in New York any more, The Daily News dropped it (they needed more room for rape and murder stories and Paris Hilton gossip I suppose). Maybe I identify with that little girl (not gender-wise, I am male, in case anybody is wondering), but because I was and still am a complete goofball. I didn’t live in a trailer when I was in grade school, but my family definitely lived “on the other side of the tracks” in my Bronx neighborhood (yes, there were good and bad sides of the tracks in The Bronx, in the day). We were poor, and I was unpopular in school, and a dreamer, and bright. Not homely, like Agnes, but an unpopular goofball. So maybe I identify a little bit. Also, I think the strip is funny a lot of the time. And the drawing style suits its type of humor. That’s somthing we should discuss, perhaps, how the drawing style is or isn’t appropriate to certain strips. A large part of the success or failure of a strip depends on whether the drawing style fits. Maybe this is too obvious to talk about.

And to reiterate, I also think that Boondocks, Far Side, and Calvin and Hobbs were/are among the greatest strips OF ALL TIME. (At least, before Aaron Macgruder began to farm out the art and dropped many of his characters).
Colinski
July 18th, 2007 at 5:47 pm [Reply]

TDIET: The anachronism today with the 50’s cars and the youth in a sweater vest and backwards baseball cap is really freaking me out. Scaduto’s just screwing with us now, isn’t he?
Skullturf Q. Beavispants
July 18th, 2007 at 5:47 pm [Reply]

I don’t have kids, but I was a teenage boy at one point, and Zits mostly rings true to me. I like it better than most strips on the funny pages. Somebody here said Jeremy is an unlikeable character, which may be partly true, but remember that teenagers are self-centred. They’ll do things like asking their parents for rides with no warning and no inkling that their parents have lives of their own.

As for the strips with kids younger than teenagers, some ring fairly true to me, whereas others seem to try a bit too hard to be “cute”. Many of you will probably agree that Family Circus is one of the worst offenders as far as the cute kid-isms seeming forced. At the other extreme, I thought both Peanuts and Calvin & Hobbes were very good at capturing how kids live in their own little world — a world that might make little sense to an observer, but has its own internal logic and complexity.

A kid-based strip that’s very recently begun to grow on me is Agnes. I think it does a better-than-average job of capturing how kids can live in their own bizarre world. I generally like Agnes better than One Big Happy. I still think OBH is an okay strip, but sometimes the “cute” dialogue — the malapropisms and so forth — seem a tad forced.

Two strips that I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I like, and that pretty much never get mentioned here, are Fred Basset and Mother Goose & Grimm.

A commenter here once said something along the following lines. (If it was you, please feel free to identify yourself and to correct my memory of the wording of your quip.) Fred Basset stands out on the comics pages by being an island of gentle nonsensical unfunniness in a sea of batshit insane unfunniness.

MG&G has next to zero character development, beyond the fact that the dog is a bit of a joker with an attitude. But that’s fine with me because it doesn’t pretend to be a character-oriented strip. It’s just a silly excuse for a daily joke. Actually, I guess I like F Minus for similar reasons. You can be a very effective joke-a-day strip with no character development whatsoever. Perhaps Bizarro is one of the best current examples of this, and a good example from the relatively recent past is The Far Side.

Re today’s MG&G: It apparently really is John Glenn’s birthday today (one day after Josh’s).

And congrats, Andrea D, on your comment making the Foobblog. I noticed.
John C Fremont
July 18th, 2007 at 5:50 pm [Reply]

# 30 – CommodoreJohn, for reasons I absolutely cannot explain, I own a copy of Bil Keane’s “My Turn Next” (Copyright 1977 The Register & Tribune Syndicate, Inc.) which features the family’s “memorable” (Thanks, Margo!) trip to NYC. Unfortunately, they had no car to get ticketed.

# 71 – Hi, SPOI! Art – uh, Crow T. Robot?
Joel
July 18th, 2007 at 6:05 pm [Reply]

Mary Worth has me thinking — why would a perfectly marriageable doctor/college girl sleeper-wither stuff a home plate down the front of his pants? I mean, I could see, maybe, like “hey baby, guess which base I’m hoping we’ll get to tonight.” Sure, we’ve all done that, at least those us of in the Kennedy clan, or who are Clarence Thomas. But she can’t even see him? Is this a fetish thing? I like baseball as much as the next guy, more probably, but you don’t see me shoving sports equipment down my pants about it.

Sexy blue hair though. Rowr!
Keg of Curd
July 18th, 2007 at 6:09 pm [Reply]

I don’t think Agnes is really kid-based at all, despite appearances. The kids are mostly just mouthpieces for decidedly un-childlike gags.

I sort of resent the calculated-market-ishness of Preteena, not to mention the abysmal name, but the drawing style really grabs me – deceptively simple – and it usually just rings true. Occasionally reaches hilarity just by letting the characters be themselves without any specific gag, much like Get Fuzzy is able to do.

PBS occasionally whiffs, but it’s a lot more hit than miss, and frequently good enough to print out and pin on the office door.

Lio I totally look forward to every day and am rarely disappointed. The unrequited romance with the shaggy-haired little girl isn’t overplayed and remains funny, and you’ve got the respect the sheer number of human skulls that have been added to the page thanks to Mr. Tatulli.

Things I actively, violently loathe would include Cathy, Herb & Jamaal (oh gawd how I want to wipe the smary smirky smarmity-smarm-smarm of that little toadstool, not to mention all the lame-ass quasi-mysogyny, jokes swiped from readers digest and told incorrectly, and what the fuck is on that mother-in-law’s head *argh* *foam* *rave* *gnash*), and of late, of course, FBOFW. But you knew that one.
Motorposus
July 18th, 2007 at 6:21 pm [Reply]

Keg – “…smary smirky smarmity-smarm-smarm…”
Your hilarious rant captures perfectly how I feel about Herb & Jamal!
Uncle Lumpy
July 18th, 2007 at 6:29 pm [Reply]

#163 SQB –

I like your take on Fred Basset — I don’t like the strip, but I can’t hate it. Absent the slightest trace of humor, it survives on goodwill alone.

Fred Basset is the anti-Quigmans.
Laura c
July 18th, 2007 at 6:29 pm [Reply]

I have come back to the comics again based on this site and the Houston Chron, so I don’t have any long running favorites. As a teenager I liked the soap strips (because I thought that was what adult life was really like and it seemed so glamorous!) Two strips from that period that I don’t see around any more are “Henry” and “Freddy” though I’ve been informed that “Henry” is still in some newspapers. They weren’t particularly funny. “Henry” was kind of a before-the-flood strip.
During my comic-less period my brother felt sorry for me and gave me a Calvin and Hobbes book, which I loved, and I got all the other books.
Now I like Get Fuzzy a lot. PBS is OK but I prefer the ones with the crocs. Without them it can be just dumb puns and obvious jokes. Sally Forth grows on me. In spite of having a kid, none of the kid strips really appeal, though I like Shylock Fox for the art and general craziness…I’m not sure this is in a non-ironic way.
I found FOOB boring as a child and I still find it boring. I can’t work up any emotion on it either way.
Uncle Lumpy
July 18th, 2007 at 6:31 pm [Reply]

Ouch!

Absent any trace of humor. . . .

Sorry — humour. Lost my head, there.
Jamus The Bartender
July 18th, 2007 at 6:31 pm [Reply]

Dick Tracy’s Crimestopper’s Textbook
Today’s Lesson: Comics I Think Everyone Should Read And The Ones They Should Not

Good evening Crimestoppers….it’s the ol’ detective here, they just put me on an armored truck,and we’re road-tripping our way up to Anchorage, where the Trial Of The Century will soon take place. They took my shoes and anything I might escape with, but they did let me keep the laptop as a sort of precautionary measure. I guess they want me to keep my mind busy. Makes sense. Anyway, i’ve had plenty of time to think about my life, and where i’ve been, and what i’ve got coming to me now….and if I had it to do all over again, i’d have FUCKING NUKED SAN FRANCISCO WITH THOSE FUCKING MAGMACANNONS….oh, hello nurse….pill time I see….
Yeeeahhhhh…..nicccccccccceeeeeeeee…okay…seems the topic of discussion is comics we like and don’t like…lemme start…
B.C. Ever since Johnny Hart died, something’s been missing from the strip. And I know what that is. His name is Jesus Fucking Christ Our Savior. Sure, the moral values are still there, but without the man with the nails in his hands from Gallilee leading the way, it’s all empty inside folks, and don’t you fucking forget it. I know it makes no sense for cavemen to talk about Jesus, but why do you have to be so goddamn picky about it? I don’t ask how this fine whiskey that I snuck into the truck was made to enjoy it’s fine snap. I just enjoy it. And that’s what you should all do with B.C. You mess with B.C., you mess with the Lord.
For Better Or For Worse: Yeah..this was a stumper. Since that wedding I went to in June, i’ve been keeping tabs on La Familia Patterson, and I think Jamus The Dumbass who chases women is right on this one….the Patterson’s are with some sort of Canadian mafia. Now, they’ve got all the family values I appreciate, but that was ruined when the young mom let her kids read the picture books after she told them NO, GODDAMMIT! Five upside the head will settle their hash in a hurry, lemme tell ya.
Luann: Yeah, this has been a disappointment all summer long. Two fine young ladies, usually more, and all they can do is focus on dumbass Brad the Fireman? During WW the second, Milton Canniff did a Sunday spread of his finest ladies for our boys in the foxholes. You’d think in a time of war as this, Greg Evans could do the same for our boys in the Middle East? Thanks to Greg Evans, the terrorists are winning. Just…you know, Luann and the girls frolicing around the pool in their little swimsuits…..dammit, why do they gotta put two pairs of cuffs on me…..
9 Chickweed Lane; Yeah…this is what i’m talking about. Well, not today, with that fat guy who thinks he’s from Mars or something, but on the other days when the girls are out swimming or stretching or dressed up as superheroes. Also, I could have done without the unicorn bullshit….I think that’s what finally set me over the edge with Mr. Chennux’s ship. But the rest is fine. Ms. Brooke, I salute you.

Dick Tracy: I gotta tell ya….not lookin’ too good from here. Chester used to know how to put out a good strip, and…what with my recent disagreements with the law, they’ve gotta make do with recycled storylines…but still and all…..Gretchen? The CIA building with a sign big enough to land a fucking jumbo jet on? Now, I KNOW I used to fly a spaceship from here to the moon in the sixties, but there’s plausible and im-fucking-possible.

Family Circus: Provides the moral foundation for our nation. If this one goes down, we all go down. Plus, Thel’s got herself a sweet little ass.

Funky Winkerbean: Yeah, the cancer thing is kind of a downer, but I think it’s important for kids to realize that life isn’t a bowl of cherries, but rather a series of disappointments that you’ve gotta overcome with the help of Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, and Jesus Christ. Not necessarily in that order.

They’ll Do It Every Time: I like this strip, but the guy should just re-title it to Kids Are Nothing But Dumbasses and come over to my house and draw the dumb things my son Joe does , like when I try to tell him to bake a cake with a file in it….and he just…doesn’t….get…it. Ohhh, yeahhhh.
Finally…
Blondie: Yeah….gonna miss those afternoon visits to Blondie while her goofy old man is at work* sighs*….a lot.
I gotta get some sleep now. My next entry should be when we hit Alaska tommorow, or the next day.
Till Next Time
Dick Tracy
Dean Booth
July 18th, 2007 at 6:31 pm [Reply]

A3G: Nora’s right eye has come out of its socket. (Actually, I think her eye is a misplaced cut and paste. Makes me wonder if the open shirt is the result of the same rush on putting together this panel.)

FC: Bill can’t even do the pirate language right — you don’t use ARRR for ARE.

MT: Buzzard’s full name is Bob R. Bird. Sam found out the R stands for Releases.

PeteMoss, no that wasn’t me on NPR. Thanks for asking. Re the Jumble, I do it every day — I work backward and try to guess the clue.

King Comics appear to be down. CHENNUX, how have we offended you?

And congrats, Damian! CCers rule.
Jamus The Bartender
July 18th, 2007 at 6:34 pm [Reply]

Hi gang….yeah, i’m looking at intellicast.com, and when the big yellow and red blob is coming towards your house, that means rain, and lots of it, right? I’m gonna knock off too….have a good evening.
Jamus
Little A.
July 18th, 2007 at 6:37 pm [Reply]

Actually, I take back one of my comments: a comic strip is its drawing style (as well as its “intellectual content”) (I use that term very carefully). So you can’t discuss whether a comic is appropriately drawn — it is the way it’s drawn.

I hope that makes sense.

I’m going home now.

Good night to all of you.
Trotzenbonnie
July 18th, 2007 at 6:39 pm [Reply]

#157 – Curse you PeteMoss!

My comment was going to be….

I love “Love Is”…because of their little nekkid chesties.
http://www.comicspage.com/loveis/
And the way it encourages necrophilia.
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 6:43 pm [Reply]

172. I guess it was just some other “Dean Booth” in Ohio. I forgot the name of the town.

If some journalist approaches me for an interview, like some man-on-the-street kind of thing, do you mind if I call myself “Dean Booth?” Just like to keep my options open?

Jumble Rocks!
Wee Pals Rolls!
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 6:46 pm [Reply]

175. Trotz

Love is…

Euthonizing her just because she asked you to.

Love is…

Making sure no one else can ever have her.
Tabby Lavalamp
July 18th, 2007 at 6:48 pm [Reply]

Today’s Family Circus, without the words, is simply brilliant. How can anyone not love Jeff Keane as he works through his horrendous childhood traumas in single panel comic form? The look of terror on Dad’s face as Jeffy is about to gut him like a fish? Priceless!
The addition of Jeff as a creator has raised FC from a bland waste of ink and paper to a Freudian epic of Wagnerian proportions.
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 6:54 pm [Reply]

Love is…

little acts of depravity while she sleeps.

http://www.comicspage.com/loveis/
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 7:10 pm [Reply]

Boffo can make me laugh, but I’m not sure if it’s the gag or the art.
True Fable
July 18th, 2007 at 7:11 pm [Reply]

#179 – or, “Love is… not telling anyone that you regularly shave her beard, since She is Your beard.”
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 7:12 pm [Reply]

175. Trotz.

Love is… is one of the rare comics that feature bare nipples, isn’t it? It so progressive.
Uncle Lumpy
July 18th, 2007 at 7:15 pm [Reply]

Love is. . .

. . . helping out at the funeral home.
Joel
July 18th, 2007 at 7:17 pm [Reply]

Love is… agreeing to put the braid on when nothing else is working…
Joel
July 18th, 2007 at 7:19 pm [Reply]

Oh, these were specific to the comic panel in the link. How bout, Love is… agreeing to close your eyes while he goes and gets the braid…
PeteMoss
July 18th, 2007 at 7:23 pm [Reply]

Love is…

not mentioning he has no genitalia.
Uncle Lumpy
July 18th, 2007 at 7:35 pm [Reply]

Love is. . .

. . . playing Les in her “Lisa’s Deathbead” sex fantasy.
Uncle Lumpy
July 18th, 2007 at 7:56 pm [Reply]

#187 me -

Deathbed, dammit.
Selena
July 18th, 2007 at 8:02 pm [Reply]

Re A3G : its earlier that same day…Eric told Nora this time he brought back something priceless but all it is is gossip and rumor about her husband. Does he deal in foreign performace art or something? How can local gossip be priceless?
mere cog in the machine
July 18th, 2007 at 8:15 pm [Reply]

Love is: Telling the detectives from the Sex Crimes Unit that your daughter was flirting with your boyfriend, and anyhow they never actually had intercourse.
Little A.
July 18th, 2007 at 8:19 pm [Reply]

GT: Typical great drawing today. The guy lifting what is either a five pound weight or the dispenser for a roll of elephant’s toilet paper in the first panel; has his lower right arm and hand on backwards, and Sean Pettibone’s left arm is connected to somebody six feet away off the scene; and the guy on crutches either has lost his left leg (can’t tell if that is his pants leg rolled up there) or he has a hamburger on a bun attached to his left crutch. Other than that….

You know, this comic sometimes reminds me of Slylock Fox– except that we should be asking, can you find six things right with today’s strip?

Great ar
Little A.
July 18th, 2007 at 8:20 pm [Reply]

I meant to say, great art indeed. Sorry about all the lousy grammar and crummy sentence structure.
Thorp lover
July 18th, 2007 at 8:23 pm [Reply]

Thursday’s GT: Is Gil Thorp about to embark on an Iraq storyline? And is THAT what will finally end this war?
Brown-eyed Girl
July 18th, 2007 at 8:26 pm [Reply]

I’m late to the love-hate debate. This blog has reintroduced me to some comics I enjoy but had lost track of once I moved from a 4 comic pages per day city to a town where I don’t bother to get the newspaper.

I liked Jane’s World. There was a sequence when Stephan Pastis appeared as a character. Both his personality and his artistic ability took a lot of abuse, as I recall. Very funny abuse.

I also like Out of the Gene Pool, a comic I’ve never seen mentioned here.

I have a love/hate relationship with Luann. I was, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far way, a teenage girl. Luann just doesn’t ring true to me a lot of the time. I agree with the earlier comment that “Brad gets a Life” is more interesting than the usual Luann-centric nonsense..
Citric
July 18th, 2007 at 8:29 pm [Reply]

MW: Say what you will about Mary Worth and its strange view of what’s sexy (has Giella even seen anyone under 45 in his life?), the art in old helmet hair’s house is priceless. Two bunnies and some strange bird? I totally want that on my wall!
Garrett Albright
July 18th, 2007 at 8:30 pm [Reply]

Here’s a page of newspaper comics from 1927. Note the TDIET-like strip at the bottom.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/1345?size=_original
Skullturf Q. Beavispants
July 18th, 2007 at 8:37 pm [Reply]

Very nice, Garrett. Which reminds me, this may have been posted here before, but some older TDIETs can be seen here.
Kip W
July 18th, 2007 at 8:45 pm [Reply]

#3 (Sanity Clause) – Over the next couple of days, two or three more strips are going to feature people lying in bed, talking on the phone. Then they’re all going to come together as separate elements on a big screen and sing the “Telephone Hour” number (”Goin’ Steady”) from “Bye, Bye Birdie.” It will be magic.

#9 (Steve S) – Actually, Crankshaft must have fought in the Revolutionary War. Wasn’t that the one with Incontinental Soldiers in it?

#12 (Paperback Rifler) – After Lisa dies, the whole strip will be devoted to other people weeping and wailing and throwing themselves across her grave. “She was my girlfriend!” “She was my mother!” “I used to have a crush on her!” And in between times, we’ll look into the coffin to see what further ravages Time has in store.

#30 (Commodorejohn) – Updating the family vacation to the 21st century? “Grandma’s kind of slow, but Grandpa’s really ~~lots of fun!~~ dead!”

#49 (Mere Cog) – Viz is up to about #167. Their web site — viz.co.uk, I think — has some old strips up on it and two-panel teasers for the current issue. I’d know exactly what issue they’re on, but my subscription got derailed, and the next issue hasn’t come to me yet.
Kip W
July 18th, 2007 at 8:46 pm [Reply]

I cut it in two. Long, long comments make me glaze over.

#62 (True Fable) – Rose was tedious for the first couple of years or so, when every strip consisted of Pasquale gibbering and Rose translating, with little hearts all over the goddamn place. Then one day, he started talking normally, and for the next two or three years, the strip won me over with some good jokes and exuberant drawing. Now it’s drawn by an assistant, and the exuberant bits are repetitious cliches: back to ROSE IS DULL.

#108 (Gabe) – The story is that while he was Kirby’s assistant, Mark Evanier was being pestered by a fanboy who wanted an original piece of Kirby art. Finally, he got tired of it, and made a fake Kirby page. Next time the fanboy called, Evanier stood on the other side of a locked glass door, held up the art, and burned it.

Um. Oh, yeah. comics!

Nancy – She’s what? seven years old? and already learning how to castrate! Run, Sluggo!

Marvin – When will the flashback end? All he’s doing is laboriously drawing a stiffly posed caricature, and then thinking of a stupid thought balloon, like those damned “Monster Jokes” magazines they had back in the 60s or 70s. (Frankenstein: “I have bad breath!!!”)

Comics I like: Man, I’ll have to get back to you on that. Monty amuses me. Doonesbury is still strong. Those are the two good ones in my paper, and I’m too lazy to develop the habit of checking the Chronicle for comics every day. This Modern World and Tom The Dancing Bug are good weeklies.

Comics I miss: Classic Li’l Abner and BC and Peanuts. Calvin and the Far Side. A sports panel called “In The Bleachers” that was actually funny. So many more. It’s not all the fault of the cartoonists, who are expected to be legible and funny in three or four miniscule panels.

Well. I’m thinking of adopting a nom de snark. I’m kind of wavering between “Hatlo’s Hat,” “Elvis ‘23′ McSplat” and something I haven’t thought of yet. Time will tell, I guess.

Crud, it’s still long.
Joel
July 18th, 2007 at 8:51 pm [Reply]

Comics I like: Sorry Josh has spoiled me. There simply isn’t any comic that is intrinsically funnier than the eviscerating mockery of a terrible one. Good is bad, bad is good, we’re through the frickin looking glass here people, make it hurt so good, come on baby make it hurt so good, sometimes unfunny don’t hurt like it should…
I have lost my soul.
Skullturf Q. Beavispants
July 18th, 2007 at 8:51 pm [Reply]

“Hatlo’s Hat” would be a good nom de blog.
Herro!
July 18th, 2007 at 8:58 pm [Reply]

Re “Love Is”…when I was a kid, I came across a Xeroxed copy of a cartoon, obviously altered, that said “Love is…holding each other up after all these years.” And the picture showed the little boy holding up one of the girl’s sagging breasts, and the little girl was holding the boy’s flaccid phallus up with a string. I never understood that cartoon.

I still don’t.
AT
July 18th, 2007 at 9:10 pm [Reply]

Drew is looking a little TOO comfortable in today’s strip – in a very “sex offender” sort of way. Mark my words, comic rape is soon approaching, followed by about a week of Mary lambasting the victim for being a “gussied-up tart that was asking for it.“
Joel
July 18th, 2007 at 9:12 pm [Reply]

OK, I’m gunna go ahead and say that the “love is” cartoons are actually creepy. I understand that there’s a certain naturalist Adam N Eve quality about it, but well, lets just say its a fine line, and you cross it when you spend more than a decade in syndication pointing out that love is naked children of opposite sexes hanging out and looking at each other romantically.

Nuh uh. No sir. Creepy.
MetalBruceAZ
July 18th, 2007 at 9:15 pm [Reply]

So let me get this straight: Li’l Doc Drew is a (presumably) well paid physician, yet all he can afford to wear are MOM JEANS?

Ever seen a “GQ” Drew? Oh, wait, I almost forgot–you’re a DOCTOR … therefore your reading material consists of ancient copies of “Redbook,” ancient issues of “People”and the latest copy of “Bowels Weekly.”
Major Hooples Boarding House
July 18th, 2007 at 9:19 pm [Reply]

# 127 – Fightin Vauge Shape asks about today’s Pluggers:

Why is the Plugger using a map when he hasn’t yet figured out the concept of a “road”?

Why did Jerry Mathews* of Nashville, TN rip off a Castrol Oil commercial?

* Not to be confused with Jerry Mathers as the Beaver**

** Although a beaver would be a good Pluggers character.
Todd 2.0
July 18th, 2007 at 9:31 pm [Reply]

MW: “Do you want to meet for lunch tomorrow? Say, noon at the Hearts of Palm restaurant?”

Drew’s note to self: Make sure date understands she is meeting you for lunch at the Hearts of Palm restaurant, not the Hearts of Palm transmission shop.
Buck Ripsnort
July 18th, 2007 at 9:35 pm [Reply]

Comics I hateity-hate-HATE– the dying throes of FOOB, of course, and Notfunny Cancerbean, but beyond that, forever and always, the inane blandness of Marvin. 25 years of this shit!
And I haven’t bothered w/ Luanne since Aaron narrowly and implausibly avoided Coming Out. And it’s time for Cathy to just die already.
BTW, I’ve always enjoyed the writing of A3G, but what’s the deal w/ this week’s crappy, self-parodying exposition. We all know it’s leading to Tim working for Free Tibet (With Purchase), and Margo rescuing him from a Chinese jail. With head-bobbling and finger-pointing.
reader-who-posts
July 18th, 2007 at 9:46 pm [Reply]

MW: You would think that the “Hearts of Palm” restaurant may have hearts of palm on the menu somewhere, but knowing Mary Worth it will probably serve vague gray blobs of food-like substance.
Dean Booth
July 18th, 2007 at 9:49 pm [Reply]

RMMD: For the robe lovers among us (SFW).
Hammertime
July 18th, 2007 at 9:53 pm [Reply]

I’m hoping Crankshaft backs his school bus into Lisa Moore’s hearse during the funeral procession…now THAT would be funny.

IF Crankshaft was in WWII, and was 18 in 1945…he was born in 1927 and would be 80!! I pity the school that has bus drivers that old.
Artist formerly known as Ben
July 18th, 2007 at 10:03 pm [Reply]

Weighing in on the whole like/dislike thing:

I’ve been thinking about the place of snark in all this. There are strips I can roast the hell out of and still enjoy. From reading this blog I’ve picked up a genuine, if bemused, affection for Gil Thorp and Apartment 3G. Yes, by the time clambake left, my eyes were a tad moist.

Non-ironic (although it’s hard to draw the line) faves include both Mark Tatulli strips (Lio and Heart, Get Fuzzy, Pearls, and sometimes but not always . Boondocks was very good, although without Riley and Grandpa it could have easily become a leftist Mallard. Classics include Peanuts espesh from the fifties and sixties, and B.C., back when Hart was enjoying it.

Don’t ask about Crock.
commodorejohn
July 18th, 2007 at 10:34 pm [Reply]

#71 SmartPeopleOnIce – “Art?” That wouldn’t be an MST3K reference, would it?

Love is…nonstop public nudity and Funky Winkerbean-caliber smirking.
LTBF
July 18th, 2007 at 11:07 pm [Reply]

Several weeks ago, Les was telling the ex-bully football coach how his wife got knocked up in high school and gave up the baby for adoption. Not something I’d share with co-workers, but that’s his call.

Then we see the coach commenting on how Lisa gave up her baby the same time the principal adopted Darrin and the artist made fun of him for not being able to put two and two together.

So why hasn’t Les the genius figured this out?
LTBF
July 18th, 2007 at 11:27 pm [Reply]

I have read Foob and hated it for years and ws thrilled to find a site where others hate it as well.

I was never in the band so I never got into Funky and only check it occasionally.

Of the oldies, I like Blondie the best. Beetle is take it or leave it, mostly the same jokes. I actually like Snuffy Smith.

Of those in the 30 year range, Hagar is funny to me. Maybe I identify with his marriage. Garfield is getting better with the Liz love angle. Sally has improved since it became less feminist. LuAnn is OK when she isn’t being whinny.

The only “out there” strip I enjoy is Pealrs, though I can see it going down the Dilbert path if it isn’t careful.

Pickles is a new “traditional” strip I enjoy.

On the hate side….

Oldies…Dennis has jumped the shark. Marmaduke I don’t read anymore FC I read out of habit but would rather not.

Mid age strips…Cathy is unreadable (sticks arm in the air to bitch about it). Baby Blues doesn’t do much for me.

Out there….Get Fuzzy I don’t because the artwork hurts my eyes. Non-sequitor is the same and my politics are to the right of the author’s.

The only “serious” one I read is the Phantom and it isn’t as good as it once was. I wish they’d kill thi one and let the kid take over. That would be an interesting story as he takes revenge on his father’s death.

I’m trying to get into another serious one. My paper has Judge Parker, Mary Worth and Rex Morgan…any suggestions on who to read?
blake
July 18th, 2007 at 11:59 pm [Reply]

what the hell is wrong with (some) of you people? one big happy is a pathetic waste of ink. kids’ malaprops are never funny, at least to anyone not the kid’s parent, and those stuffed into a kid’s mouth by a cartoonist are even less so.

o.b.h. makes cathy(md) look like pogo, for god’s sake. wise up!

your pal,
blake
Frank Parsnip
July 19th, 2007 at 12:40 am [Reply]

MW: Unlike Mark Trail, I don’t think Dr. Drew’s going to try to rub one out while she’s still on the phone with him. Dr. Drew’s entire groin area has been drawn with a rather disturbing Ken-Dollesque flatness right to the point quite low down where we see where the Drew’s plastic legs are inserted.
Hey_Ari
July 19th, 2007 at 1:22 am [Reply]

Say, Is the little Cranklet an escapee from the foobiverse?
CHA5NCE
July 19th, 2007 at 1:30 am [Reply]

Question: Will Mary Worth take responsibility for introducing McDickhead into the tempting virginal environment of Charterstone? Or will she just shrug it off like she did when she killed Aldo?
Jack Parsons
July 19th, 2007 at 2:07 am [Reply]

12: I think that we can all safely assume that Crankshaft doesn’t merely have an enlarged prostate; rather, he has full-blown prostatic cancer.

Truth is stranger than fiction: zillions of old men have very very slow prostate cancer and very few last long enough to die from it.
Christopher
July 19th, 2007 at 2:39 am [Reply]

Ewwwww! Dr. Corey lounging in bed.

Blech blech blech.

Why do they keep showing me that?
Christian
July 19th, 2007 at 3:18 am [Reply]

What’s the problem with hateful misanthropy? The other strips Josh mocks are mockable, but Funky Crankbean are well-drawn. They’re just evil and nasty.

Misanthropy is fun!
scan
July 19th, 2007 at 7:01 am [Reply]

I love to talk about my…granny pantylines.
kitkat
July 19th, 2007 at 7:57 am [Reply]

Ah, FOOB. Is it me, or was it unbelievably depressing to watch dear Mrs. Mike Patterson attempting to be a stay-at-home mom? Cleaning, not quite. Discipline, nope. Safety, Nuh-uh. Potty training? …definitely not. She is a world of fail.

And her punishment? Getting that uncomfortably warm feeling of being shat on by an ungreatful toddler sitting in your lap while your daughter attempts to be precocious ranks pretty high in my book. The “MMMM” sounds he makes are just the nails in her coffin of pain.
micedwhale
July 19th, 2007 at 8:56 am [Reply]

I don’t know if anyone has caught this yet. I also can’t believe I am commenting on a strip that I only started reading because of this site but… OMG DR. DREW IS CONTRIBUTING TO THE DELINQUENCY OF A MINOR. If you will recall last Wednesday’s strip Dawn is only 20, today she is clearly sipping on a nice glass of what looks to be a 2006 Boone’s Farm Sangria. It was a good year for Boone’s Farm though. Oh how Mary is going to give him a good platituding when she finds out.
SmartPeopleOnIce
July 19th, 2007 at 1:33 pm [Reply]

#75 (PeteMoss) #97 (Uncle Lumpy) – Back at ‘cha.

#86 (Sanity Clause) #148 (Zamboni_Rodeo); #164 (JC Fremont) #213 (commodorejohn) – In my best Richard Keil voice: You are correct, sir(s). I will never doubt the Curminion again.

It’s weird though, being away a few months. Who are all these new people? This is not my beautiful wife! How did I get here? It’s like the time I came back from college at Christmas and my dog had died and instead of telling me my parents just replaced it with a toaster over and thought I wouldn’t notice. Stupid mange. I would have said something, but it was a sweet toaster oven.

Or maybe it’s like waking up from a coma. But was it a Mason Storm coma or a Beatrix Kiddo coma? Since this is a choice all of us may have to make at some point, let’s consider the pros and cons of each:

Mason Storm Coma:

Cons: Bad hair day, the prequel took some liberties with the whole O Sensei thing (Morihei Ueshiba in Wrigley Field?), risk ending up on The View with Dolph Lundgren.

Pros: Kelly Le Brock (rowrrl!)

Beatrix Kiddo Coma:

Cons: Holds sword like sausage (Uma, sweety, elbows in), some misunderstanding of the difference between sifu and sensei, that whole “Buck” thing.

Pros: Uma. UMA!

And the winner is…wiggle my big toe.

O-Ren Fruhlinger. You and I have unfinished business.
Goses
July 19th, 2007 at 3:15 pm [Reply]

If that’s Mary Worths idea of sexual tension, I’ve got a whole new appreciation for Muder She Wrote.
twin mattress
December 18th, 2009 at 8:46 am [Reply]

Another cool comic strips thanks..

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Cycle of hate

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