The Comics Curmudgeon

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Metapost: Reader pics, and CONSPIRACY

Hey, everybody, I’m guest-blogging over at Wonkette this week, where I’m expected to be on from 9 to 5 (it’s almost like having a real job!) so I’ll probably be posting pretty late in the evening for the next few days. But to tide you over, here’s some awesome pics of awesome readers! First off, here’s faithful reader American Idle, sporting his Gail Martin shirt at the Antiques Roadshow in Spokane:

And here’s faithful reader Calico, showing her M!B!S! pride at La Féte de la Nouvelle France in Québec City, in front of the Québec Parliament building:

Sadly, American Idle did not spot any fellow Curmudgeon readers, and Calico did not spot Thérèse.

Finally, here’s a disturbing note I received from faithful reader Vince:

So I was watching the 1971 classic film Vanishing Point today, and I was surprised to see the Rock and Roll Carole King making an appearance as one of the faith healers … Looking at the original Gail, there’s no way this is a coincidence.

Readers, I leave this to you judgement:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 7, 2007 at 01:22 pm and is filed under Gil Thorp, metaposts.

115 responses to “Metapost: Reader pics, and CONSPIRACY”

Escalator Temporarily Stairs
August 7th, 2007 at 1:24 pm [Reply]

Wow, even the microphones are alike!
FortyTwo
August 7th, 2007 at 1:32 pm [Reply]

Has anyone updated the wiki recently? We can add band members’ names and such.
Rainbird
August 7th, 2007 at 1:36 pm [Reply]

So do you think the (DT)RT artist traced the image from his TV screen, or do you think he did it from a photo. And wow, look, he added a braid so, well, they aren’t the same, are they.
Chloe The Cat
August 7th, 2007 at 1:36 pm [Reply]

Rock on Mudges!
commodorejohn
August 7th, 2007 at 1:46 pm [Reply]

Oh man. Oh man. Gail, we always knew you were real!
--MC
August 7th, 2007 at 1:47 pm [Reply]

So according to IMDB, “Vanishing Point” has a scene with Delaney and Bonnie in it. So .. is the historic Gail Martin really Bonnie Bramlett?
Canaduck
August 7th, 2007 at 1:51 pm [Reply]

Whoa…nice detective work, Vince.
El Santo
August 7th, 2007 at 1:52 pm [Reply]

Oh, man, Gail forgot her wig! Otherwise, a dead ringer. It’s like I just saw Gail Martin made into flesh.

And yeah, I think we got plenty of stuff now for Gail Martin wiki updates.
Poteet
August 7th, 2007 at 1:52 pm [Reply]

Excellent and terrifying side-by-sides. Thank you, Pope Josh. (I think your final sentence could perhaps use another “r”?)
Uncle Lumpy
August 7th, 2007 at 1:53 pm [Reply]

Arms, legs, and hands frustrate Gil Thorp’s artists terribly — they jam them in from the edges of the frame or leave them poking out at odd angles from behind props. Sometimes they get fed up and hack them off entirely.

The strip resembles a heap of casually-discarded body parts — like a Hefty bag behind the Dahmer place.
Chloe The Cat
August 7th, 2007 at 1:55 pm [Reply]

Uncle Lumpy, EWWWWWW
kevin
August 7th, 2007 at 1:57 pm [Reply]

Yes, as an illustrator myself, I completely concur. We got to get the reference somewhere, guys. I thought Gail was drawn a bit better than the average GT character, and now we all know why.
Uncle Lumpy
August 7th, 2007 at 1:57 pm [Reply]

#6 –MC –

is the historic Gail Martin really Bonnie Bramlett?

Looks like it.
ChristianPinko
August 7th, 2007 at 2:03 pm [Reply]

Wow. Do you know what this means? The artist for Gil Thorp does research for the strip.

Oh, and Gojira (post 222 from the last thread): thanks, now I’m hearing Shari Lewis sing about FOOB in my head.
Dave H
August 7th, 2007 at 2:03 pm [Reply]

Allow me to direct your attention to the abomination that is Brenda Starr, which has been running since 1940. In today’s strip she’s slapping the snot out of the fictional presidential front runner. While that’s naturally a good thing, I have a couple of questions about this strip:

What are those things hanging under Brenda Starr’s eyeballs? I thought crows feet were usually at the corners of old people’s eyes.

Second, is it really necessary to have a big asterisk in BS’s hair in every frame? I’d think after the first forty or fifty years readers would begin to recognize her.

Third, what’s the deal with killing off Lou Grant in this story arc? Was that necessary? Since Barack Obama has been shown aboard the ship for the current fundraiser is he a target, too?

Last, what kind of lazy cartoonist reuses the same graphics over and over and over with different dialog? Are the syndicates that hard up for “product” that whatever crap the creator decides to recycle is good enough for the schmucks dumb enough to read it?
Tats
August 7th, 2007 at 2:04 pm [Reply]

Bonnie Bramlett is gonna be mystified to see a sudden jump in CD sales, only to have them all returned with outraged customer reviews demanding “Tarzana Nights.”
Chloe The Cat
August 7th, 2007 at 2:04 pm [Reply]

BTW: American Idle ooo la la (hot flash)
Andrea D and The Grandstanding Oddballs
August 7th, 2007 at 2:04 pm [Reply]

DAMNIT. I knew I’d kill the thread.

Josh – THANK YOU for working on Wonkette. That’s how I found your site for the first time, and I really appreciate your work there. Honest.
OBrien
August 7th, 2007 at 2:04 pm [Reply]

If you’re going to steal from something, you’d be hard pressed to come up with a more awesome and obscure source than Vanishing Point. Can we expect Anthony to be sulking around a hospital in SF next week?
Forthillrox
August 7th, 2007 at 2:04 pm [Reply]

That is uncanny. It makes me question the integrity of the artwork in Gil Thorp.

Anyhow, if Calico is to spot Thérèse, she needs to tell her to get her mean Quebecoise ass back to Milborough to stop the Horror That is To Be, or at the very least, save her child from exposure to it. As if it wasn’t enough that Granthony and Elizabeth are now dating, Johnston for some insane reason, feels the need to fill us in on the details of that fateful night. The awful, dirty details of that wicked night.
Tim T.
August 7th, 2007 at 2:06 pm [Reply]

Great work, Vince! Wasn’t Eric Clapton playing with Delaney & Bonnie/Gail at about the time of Vanishing Point?
Best wishes to all CCers.
El Santo
August 7th, 2007 at 2:07 pm [Reply]

So I looked at Bonnie Bramlett’s wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_Bramlett

Her history is almost nearly as screwed up as our fake Gail wiki. I especially liked the run-in with Elvis Costello. Didn’t we envision some similar tiffs?
The Divine O’F
August 7th, 2007 at 2:07 pm [Reply]

15 Dave H: Although I still have Brenda on my comics subscription, I haven’t read it in months. I keep hoping the current stupid story line will end and they will bring back Basil.
BigTed
August 7th, 2007 at 2:09 pm [Reply]

Credit must be paid to commenter seanman, who noticed the Bonnie Bramlett resemblance way back on July 11.

And if you want to add a conspiracy-theory element to it all: The 1997 remake of “Vanishing Point” featured Jason Priestley…. who, in “Beverly Hills 90210,” costarred with Tori Spelling as Donna Martin. (And at one point had a guest actor named David Gail.)

So, yep, it’s all starting to make sense now….
The Divine O’F
August 7th, 2007 at 2:10 pm [Reply]

22 El Santo: What do you mean “fake” Gail wiki?
El Santo
August 7th, 2007 at 2:11 pm [Reply]

Umm… I meant “fake” as in, uh … gotta run!
Tats
August 7th, 2007 at 2:12 pm [Reply]

24, BigTed: I would totally be down with a “Gail Martin graduates” plotline in this summer’s Gil Thorp strips.
gh
August 7th, 2007 at 2:14 pm [Reply]

#21 Tim T. –

Indeed. And if you look to one side on the stage you’ll see Rita Coolidge singing back up.

I love that movie.
Pelagius
August 7th, 2007 at 2:16 pm [Reply]

Where’s her merkin-tail?
Inspector Dim
August 7th, 2007 at 2:22 pm [Reply]

On a random note, Yahoo has been running Classic Bloom County strips for a while now. Today’s is especially great. How I miss that strip!
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
August 7th, 2007 at 2:24 pm [Reply]

forty-two @ 2, El Santo @ 8: Anyone can edit the Gail Martin wiki if they like. In fact, there are major chunks missing — like the circumstances surrounding her first big hit, “Tarzana Nights,” which should go at the beginning of that section; and the lead-in to the troubled times later, under the “Substance Abuse” section.

To log in and edit the wiki, use the password (DT)GT. To help you remember it, it stands for (Death To) Gil Thorp.
Poteet
August 7th, 2007 at 2:29 pm [Reply]

Have I missed His recent august presence, or is it time to ask where Galactic Emperor Chennux has gotten to? Your Imperial Snarkiness, I miss you!

Also, you know you’ve reached a new level of Foob masochism when you find yourself speculating on what your own official profile would look like on the Foobsite.

Name: Poteet
Birth Date: Bite me
Friends & Influences: Steve Canyon, numerous Cumudgeons, Bucky the Cat, Satchel Pooch, sleep deprivation, caffeine
Aspirations: To survive the Foobocalypse and live to see chocolate reclassified as a green vegetable
SmartPeopleOnIce
August 7th, 2007 at 2:29 pm [Reply]

I guess this means Clambake is really Cleavon Little.

And Holy Rubber Church of Alligators! Did you know there was a remake starring Viggo Mortensen?

From the plot synposis:

When his wife goes into a troubled labor while he is on the road over 1200 miles away James Kowalski, an ex race car driver and a former Army Ranger, attempts to elude police while trying to get home.

WTF? Army Ranger? Pregnant wife?

I think my childhood just died.
Jamus The Bartender
August 7th, 2007 at 2:31 pm [Reply]

The Gospel Of Josh According To Jamus
Chapter Five. Milborough At Last
And it came to pass, that the Curmudgeonites did at last land in the village of Milborough , in the mighty big nation of Canada, land of cold and half price medicines.
The ship Tarzana Nights did land in the parking lot of Gordon May’s Car Dealersship and Repair Emporium to have a look around. Gordon tried to sell Josh a used car to replace the one he almost lost in NYC. Josh said no.
With much consternation, a handful of Curmudgeonites did at last come upon the neighborhood of the cursed ones, the Pattersons. They had heard much of the Patterson’s , and it was so not good.
They laid eyes upon Michael the Narcissist. He did sit in his swimtrunks and drink beer, and write in his laptop, which was valuable to him as he risked life and limb to get it. He did look at his reflection in the laptop and sigh and smile, and mutter….
“Twenty -five thousand dollars…life is good”
All the while, his children, Meredith and Robin did eat dirt and feed it to each other.
His wife, Deanna, did ….cook the meals, do the laundry, balance the books, go to work as a pharmacist, watch the children, change Robin’s diapers and start the whole thing all over again.
“Someday, Deanna will kill the boy, Michael, ” said Spider-Brick. “Or run over him with his father’s trains”
The other assembled Curmudgeonites did walk to the park to see Anthony the Pornstache and Liz who walked away from the people of need in Mgtikwaki (sp?) to live in the suburbs and know Anthony, even though they were being really polite about the whole thing.
“Do you think they had sex yet?” the assembled Curmudgeonites asked each other.
“Nah, ” Jamus said, “Look at Liz. She’s smiling at him and holding his hand. If they had done the nasty, she wouldn’t even be returning his phone calls. Haw, haw.”
At last the assembled Curmudgeons went to the smaller house where the cursed Mother and father lived with April The Roadside. April was soon to be either grounded for drinking, or on her way to the farm with her aunt and uncle where she was truly happy, so Elly of the huge hinder was out front putting a “For Summer Rental” sign in the front yard.
John was playing with his trains, as usual, oblivious to everything.
Josh said, “A curse upon you, Pattersons. Is this how you intend to live your lives? Oblivious to the real life sufferings of others? Did you even hear about the bridge collapse in Minnesota ? I bet you didn’t. ”
“You used to be a good strip once. We especially liked the storyline with Lawrence. But now, you’ve created this crazy bubble for yourselves which makes Stepford Wives look like On The Road and Thelma And Louise. ”
“Liz had a chance to be cool once, by teaching in the northwoods, showing an appreciation for diversity, but I suppose Mgtickytacky wasn’t ….suburban enough for her tastes. Now she’s gonna be shackled to Anthony for all her days. In more ways than one if that basement cage is anything to go by.”
“Michael seems to be trapped in an adolescence of his own making. Living in the family home, never punching in from nine to five, he spends his days in his bathrobe, “writing”,while his children sit in their own filth. Miserable bastard.”
“I won’t even go on about what you did to poor April”
“Finally, there is the Mother and father. Father has been so brow-beaten, it’s all he can do to ride around the yard in his train, and Mother has the community in such a strangle hold, the town is afraid to have an original though, lest her wroth come down on them. Meantime, she shaves her sheets, feeds her dogs, spins her webs , and…..
“Um…….”
“What in hell is Dick Tracy doing in the guest room with a service revolver in one hand and a bottle of Jim Beam in the other?”
Paperback Rifler
August 7th, 2007 at 2:35 pm [Reply]

Great pics, Idle and Calico! As for Gail Martin’s appearance in that movie, well, the less I think about it, the less my head hurts.

(Previous Thread) 110. Lame Name: (re: Gil Thorpè) “Admittedly, I’ve never been in a band, but how many pairs of drumsticks could you need?”
As it turns out, drummers in concert are at risk of either breaking drumsticks or just dropping them, so it’s handy to have some extras nearby. Of course, I can’t imagine that the languorous Cliff Wrobek is going to muster up enough energy to break any sticks; I see him more as the type of drummer who is so high on hallucinogens that he needs extra drumsticks because he forgets about the ones that he is holding in his hands.

My question is, what the heck is that thing that has the drumstick and the harsh note in it? It’s not a run-of-the-mill drumstick pouch; it looks more like the muzzle of a cannon. Maybe that’s what Cliff meant when he talked about “loading up some extra drumsticks;” he clearly has some sort of jerryrigged drumstick cannon that he sets off during Gail Martin’s calypso version of “The 1812 Overture.”

Mary Worth: Livin’ on the edge . . . J’ever wonder howcum doctors get so distracted that they give you the wrong x-ray pictures and tell you that you don’t have the cancer when actually — heh, heh — your body weight is eighty-three percent malignant tumor? Well, take a lissen —

“Heyuh, Drew boy; whozzat cute li’l flapper girl you been hanging out with? Boy, howdy! She’s the spittin’ image of Lula Patoot! But she’s a little young for you, isn’t she? Have ya pulled the ol’ ‘I wanna give you a THOROUGH physical exam’ bit yet? Haw, haw; that’s a good one! Seriously, though; isn’t she too young for you? Etc., etc., etc.”

[The urge to examine him to the moon! Oh-h-h-h yeah-h-h-h-h!]

Finally, here’s a little something to keep your mouse’s scroll wheel spinning. Apologies to Chicago (the band), Chicago (the city), True Fable (who first made mention of “Blinky and the Nose”), and everybody everywhere:

Francoise plays in the park
With Blinky and the pasty-faced Nose.
Francoise plays in the park
With Blinky and the pasty-faced Nose.
Foobs are reminiscing about
Shawna Marie’s wedding . . .
Ditching both their dates . . .
And when they kissed, his shorts he messed;
Are you queasy? Yes, I am . . .
And we’ve been dreading this a long time . . .
. . . Foobocalypse . . .

Francoise plays in the park
With Blinky and the pasty-faced Nose.
For today, out of the dark
Of her basement cage down below.
Liz can have an instant family
With Bland Man and his gnome.
Maybe after all
He will finally have a hoooooome;
Is he creepy? Yes he is . . .
And we’ve been dreading this a long time . . .
. . . Foobocalypse . . .

Insipid romance is the order of the day.
Pattersaints always will be sure to get their way.
Please don’t relive when you made out,
When you made out; oh! No, NO!

Francoise plays in the park
With Blinky and the pasty-faced Nose.
She should make up a plot
To flee just as fast as she can go.
Liz and Anthony’s canoodling
Can cause constipation,
Sickening us all . . .
If we want it, really want it,
Will he drop dead? I think not . . .
And we’ve been dreading this a long time . . .
. . . Foobocalypse . . .
Cedar
August 7th, 2007 at 2:36 pm [Reply]

#10 I thought the hands in today’s Gil Thorp were surprisingly well drawn.

But I can’t figure out what that is in the second panel. Any ideas?
Andrea D and The Grandstanding Oddballs
August 7th, 2007 at 2:40 pm [Reply]

My question is, what the heck is that thing that has the drumstick and the harsh note in it?

My initial thought, and this might prove something about just how starved I am for lovin’, was that it was the siphon of a geoduck.

If you’ve never seen a geoduck shaft, don’t Google it now. Chances are that most pictures of it are NSFW.
The Divine O’F
August 7th, 2007 at 2:40 pm [Reply]

OH, and American Idle and Calico, thanks so much for sending Josh your pictures! You are fine respresentatives of Curminionhood.
AhClem
August 7th, 2007 at 2:46 pm [Reply]

So is Gail Martin the rock n’ roll Carole King or the rock n’ roll Bonnie Bramlett? Inquiring minds want to know!

#32 Poteet -
“…live to see chocolate reclassified as a green vegetable…”
Marry me!
Perky Bird
August 7th, 2007 at 2:48 pm [Reply]

#37 Andrea D.: You must be a fan of Dirty Jobs! I think we should tell Mike Rowe that he should follow a Curmudgeon for one episode.

What with all the coffee, soda, oatmeal, etc. spewing all over the keyboards/monitors in fits of laughter, plus all the glurge-spewing/bowel-emptying that accompanies the reading of FOOB, Funky, and the occasional Family Circus, I’d say being a Curmudgeon is indeed a Dirty Job!
Rainbird
August 7th, 2007 at 2:51 pm [Reply]

Interesting that Dave H #15 brings up Brenda Starr as going downhill. I haven’t looked it up, so someone else will have to, but there was a story I remember reading about the strip where the author was out of town, and left the assitant to write the strip for a day or so. Brenda was up in a tree at the time. The asistant had to keep Brenda up in a tree for two weeks, because someting kept happening to the author.

I was at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco this weekend, and they have original art, and you can see how real artists draw all the way out past the blue-line so that everything looks better (though cut off). I have a feeling the artist for (DT)GT draws up to the blue line, but stops there.
Gojira
August 7th, 2007 at 2:59 pm [Reply]

#14 ChristianPinko: Sorry, but at least posting that got it out of my head.

Today’s GT is totally awesome. Ben Franklin, Q-Tips in a can, the incredible, two-headed Kaz-Gail, claw-held, face-obscuring notes, and, of course, “Drumsticks and stones.”

(Long Live)GT?
Squid Countess
August 7th, 2007 at 3:00 pm [Reply]

Bats , #208, previous thread:

LOLSeth:
I’M IN YR SHOWR
TAK3N A HOT 1
MAK3N YR KAT LUUK

Laughed so hard, I think I inked.

Divine O’F – I’m very fond of Mother Goose and Grim. One of my favorites is MG telling Grim, “the early bird gets the worm,” and Grim remaining in bed thinking, “I’ve already got worms.” Corny, yes, but I often think it to myself when I hit the snooze alarm.

Trotzenbonnie – I see that New Orleans has a projected heat index of 105 degrees today. Knoxville’s heat index is supposed to hit 108 degrees around 6pm. (We’re at 96/103 right now.) Knoxville! Hotter than New Orleans and Absolutely None of the Fun! Knoxville – What’s a Mojito? Knoxville – The Big Difficult!
I’m despondent.

About that word game – I think we CC’ers should dominate the game, exhaust it, and then go through its wallet. You know, If you want to.
http://hodgeproj.ltc.arizona.edu/guessword/
Cedar
August 7th, 2007 at 3:00 pm [Reply]

#37 Pictures of geoducks are terrifying Freudian nightmares
Andrea D and The Grandstanding Oddballs
August 7th, 2007 at 3:04 pm [Reply]

#40 Perky Bird – I don’t have a TV, but I’ve been assured that it’s a great show. I do feel immense pity for the computer monitors located in ‘mudgeon homes and offices. Bathed regularly in coffee and beer, I’d imagine. As long as we take the responsibility for cleaning them ourselves, I suppose that there is no harm done. Unless we’re talking Foob. There are keyboards to replace.
StrangeRover
August 7th, 2007 at 3:07 pm [Reply]

As an audio professional, I can tell you that’s the most unusual-looking microphone I’ve seen. This was no boating accident!
gh
August 7th, 2007 at 3:20 pm [Reply]

#43 Squid Countess –

Re the game: A few of us are scoring, led by Trilobite, but some guy called “kne” is slaughtering. If he’s not one of us, take him out (if you know what I mean).

Heat index here also 105 and even less fun than Knoxville. Our motto: Columbia! Where heat meets humidity! We got nothin’ else, folks.
Perky Bird
August 7th, 2007 at 3:20 pm [Reply]

#45 Andrea D:
There was a Dirty Jobs episode about harvesting geoducks–the first time I had ever heard of them. That’s why I figured you must be a fan of the show.
benro
August 7th, 2007 at 3:22 pm [Reply]

Vanishing Point is one of my all time favorite movies. I didn’t need to know that it was remade in 1997.
Andrea D and The Grandstanding Oddballs
August 7th, 2007 at 3:28 pm [Reply]

#48 – that makes sense, but we actually used to dig them up during camping trips off the coast of Washington. Before they were famous. I actually have an old print from a textbook of a fully extended geoduck. My boyfriend wants me to take it down because it makes him feel inadequate.
Brown-eyed Girl
August 7th, 2007 at 3:33 pm [Reply]

Calico and Idle — Looking good!

Geoducks. Gosh, I learn something new here everyday. Some of which I wish I hadn’t…
name
August 7th, 2007 at 3:34 pm [Reply]

From a comic syndicate webstie

“RE: DAILIES – Beginning with the July 30, 2007 release and running through August 25, 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! ”

Any speculation as to what these modifications might be?
Charles
August 7th, 2007 at 3:43 pm [Reply]

#52, thanks for the info. I cannot wait to see Dolly dressed up as a SoCal girl, Billy as a Abercrombie jock and Jeff as a emo. PJ will remain barely a part of the Keane family, a la Maggie Simpson.

Sidenote: I just went to Wikipedia and found out that the mom’s name is Thelma. I never, EVER knew that, and I used to read Family Circus collection books when I was younger.
John C Fremont
August 7th, 2007 at 3:48 pm [Reply]

Admittedly, I was only in junior high in ‘71, but wasn’t there some rumor about Gail Martin and Bonnie Bramlett switching places and fooling their fans back then, just like in Parent Trap, but with hard-edged rock and roll, and fans instead of parents? Delaney and Bonnie would mysteriously show up to perform in the same city as Gail (this much, at least, is well documented) but onstage each would seem just a little – different?

Or maybe I just imagined the whole thing.
Mountain Mama
August 7th, 2007 at 3:51 pm [Reply]

52: Seatbelts. Lots and lots of seatbelts.

#1–I LOVE your screen name! My DH introduced me to the world of Mitch Hedberg and we still lament his passing.
SecretMargo
August 7th, 2007 at 3:54 pm [Reply]

52: From what I can tell, the main modification that’s been made is the inclusion of anachronistic shoulder belts that make the children look like they’ve been hung from the car ceiling, transforming the station wagon into a kind of grim, grade-school Gallows-on-Wheels. Though there are compensating amusements, such as when Bil hits a pothole and they ricochet off each other like porky, mewling windchimes, causing the faintest of smiles to dance across Thel’s lips.
SecretMargo
August 7th, 2007 at 3:56 pm [Reply]

55: Mountain Mama: Jinx!
mattt
August 7th, 2007 at 3:56 pm [Reply]

#52 Well, I’ve only noticed one update so far. They drew seatbelts into the road trip series. Badly. Whoo hoo.
Harry Paratestes
August 7th, 2007 at 4:01 pm [Reply]

12 Memorable Newspaper Comic-strip Deaths

http://www.avclub.com/content/node/64715

Kind of interesting article. Guess which one comes first…
Little Guy
August 7th, 2007 at 4:08 pm [Reply]

52: Flying cars! And Tang from the Automat!
Dean Booth
August 7th, 2007 at 4:11 pm [Reply]

#13 U.L., Here’s the Gail Martin version.
Mountain Mama
August 7th, 2007 at 4:14 pm [Reply]

You got me, SecretMargo!

I want my flying car, damnit. Of course, my husband says we really shouldn’t have them. “People can’t drive in two dimensions now,” he says. “Can you imagine driving in three?”

Can you still even get Tang? The astronaut drink, I mean?
Islamorada Girl
August 7th, 2007 at 4:16 pm [Reply]

FC Update: They brought Gwampa back from the dead! And they’re speaking to Grandma Thel again!

And speaking of zombies, and we were: The stunned guy in the chair in Tuesday’s strip has just realized he’s dead and hell is being trapped in Mary Worth.
Red Greenback
August 7th, 2007 at 4:19 pm [Reply]

#52-name-(teehee)- The tuna in FC is now dolphin-safe.
Mountain Mama
August 7th, 2007 at 4:21 pm [Reply]

My question about today’s MW: what kind of modern dance move is Drew going to execute in panel 2?

Or is that some kind of martial arts move? Everyday, I think this comic can’t get worse, and it does! It’s delightfully horrid!

For those interested in the Tucson get-together, please email me at dsj6424 at hotmail. Ms Divine and I would love to meet all of you!
cycling girl
August 7th, 2007 at 4:27 pm [Reply]

I mentioned this on the This Week in Milford blog. Am I the only one who has noticed that Kaz is looking more and more like a 50ish-year-old lesbian.

With that striking jawline and those earrings, if he grows out his hair on top, he’s a dead ringer for Suze Orman.
Mibbitmaker
August 7th, 2007 at 4:29 pm [Reply]

Phantom: “Canoe!”
Wise-ass Bad Guy: “I dunno. Can you?

***************************

Think for a minute: Have we ever seen Bonnie Bramlett and Gail Martin in the same room?

***************************

re: Taking Satchel to the vet — Rob can’t do that now, Bucky’s too busy being a combination of an obnoxious right-winger and an obnoxious left-winger’s idea of an obnoxious right-winger to give the pet owner time to tend to the other animal. It’s a full-time job, Bucky is.
Red Greenback
August 7th, 2007 at 4:37 pm [Reply]

“Classic” FC upgade: Bil removed the bumper stickers from that leviathan station wagon that read, “My child was kicked out of Communist Martyrs High School” and “I like Swipe”
Chris
August 7th, 2007 at 4:40 pm [Reply]

#52, Thel and Bil have the herp, Billy’s hooked on hillbilly heroin, Dolley has ADHD and gets “lost” in the red light district of town from time to time, and Jeffy and PJ are plotting to kill the rest of the family. Barfy was sold to Mike Vick’s Bad Newz Kennelz, and Granpa is looking up from Hell at the family he always despised.
Red Greenback
August 7th, 2007 at 4:43 pm [Reply]

Oh, and he also took off the upside-down KMET 94.7 sticker. I daresay.
K Bear
August 7th, 2007 at 4:43 pm [Reply]

FBOFW: I threw up a little in my mouth today. From now on, I’ll let Josh read it for me, that way I don’t have to. I’m done.
Mibbitmaker
August 7th, 2007 at 4:48 pm [Reply]

DT: You know what else is a threat to the security of the United States? Excessive ultra-close-ups!

GA: Uh…Derle… you do know we’re currently in this place that’s called Iraq, right…?

MW: “Aye, aye; nudge, nudge…”

RMMD: Sooooo, it’s Avery International that’s responsible for bollixing the WMD intel!

ZtP 1) Cool ‘Wacky Packs’ ref!
ZtP 2) You know Rosie O’Donnell is loopy when even a left-wing guy like Bill Griffith mocks her theories.
Dennis Jimenez
August 7th, 2007 at 4:49 pm [Reply]

62 – Pumped a lot of tang down in New Orleans – the astronaut drink, I mean.
T. Chicana
August 7th, 2007 at 4:51 pm [Reply]

34: Preach it, Jamus, preach it.
T. Chicana
August 7th, 2007 at 4:55 pm [Reply]

58: Ohhh, those hastily drawn-in seatbelts are bad. Everyone knows there’s no seatbelts in the “way back” of a station wagon! Please.
Gojira
August 7th, 2007 at 4:57 pm [Reply]

#54 John C Fremont re: the Gail Martin/Bonnie Bramlett place-swapping theory: Shades of “Bubba Ho-Tep.“
Tabby
August 7th, 2007 at 5:10 pm [Reply]

It’s just after 6:00 and the heat index is 112
I had to put cool water in the pool for the kids. Cats are all at least 3′ long. Had to run to the barn & rinse the horses off, too. Dinner = salad Tomorow’s forecast – more of the same! THanks for the cool snark, everybody!
John C Fremont
August 7th, 2007 at 5:14 pm [Reply]

Bubba Ho-Tep! One of my favorites! Ossie Davis is the best JFK ever!
I Pity The Foob
August 7th, 2007 at 5:16 pm [Reply]

Cats are all 3′ long!
I Pity The Foob
August 7th, 2007 at 5:24 pm [Reply]

I just like the way that sounds.
Red Greenback
August 7th, 2007 at 5:26 pm [Reply]

FC: It’s not the astronaut drink, But it’s my favorite Tang…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flqAvJxgKJQ
Tabby
August 7th, 2007 at 5:32 pm [Reply]

Tried to find an old cartoon I think I saw in Funny Times where you could use cats for thermometers. No luck, but Hot = long
Cold = tightly curled
Really Cold = under the covers

I’m pretty sure cats predict rain based on barometric pressure changes, too. Two of ours are Scottish Folds, and they lay around any old which-away all the time, but when the others turn their chins up as they sleep, rain’s a-comin!
StrangeRover
August 7th, 2007 at 5:39 pm [Reply]

Blondie+Elmo=Filth
I Pity The Foob
August 7th, 2007 at 5:45 pm [Reply]

Sounds like beagles, too, except for the “chins up” part.
Chloe The Cat
August 7th, 2007 at 5:46 pm [Reply]

105* at quitting time here in the big nothing at least we are not alcolou
MossMoses
August 7th, 2007 at 6:05 pm [Reply]

63. I Girl, I was wondering when someone would point out that Grandpa Circus had reanimated. I hardly recognized him without his ghostly robe…
Elenor
August 7th, 2007 at 6:12 pm [Reply]

Had a bit of a surprise this past Sunday when I looked at the Los Angeles Times comics and saw Slylock Fox! Congratulations, Bob Weber Jr.
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
August 7th, 2007 at 6:18 pm [Reply]

There are two Grandpas in the FC family. The one we see as a ghost is Bil’s dad, who was married to the beehive-haired grandma that we see around all the time (because she lives closer to the Keanes). The ones being visited in this series of… well, if not zombie strips, at least unnaturally revived… Viagra strips? Anyway. This set is Thel’s parents, as is evidenced by grandma’s curlique hair. They apparently live some distance away, if visiting them is such a production number.
Spotted HØrse
August 7th, 2007 at 6:22 pm [Reply]

#70 Red Greenback: Buddy, you’re really rockin’ the I daresay… Work it, Red! :-D

#82 Tabby: Love the cat thermometer idea! My sainted Dad had a dogmometer. 70d = playing in the sun, 80d = playing in the shade, 90d = laying in the shade, 100d+ = dog is inside in the A/C

… or something to that effect!

#86 MossMoses, #63 I Girl: Is it the ghostly Grampa? I thought that he was the mouldering half of Impeccably Coiffed Gramma. (?)
Jamus The Bartender
August 7th, 2007 at 6:31 pm [Reply]

On The Issue of the FC Grandparents: I seem to remember reading something , a foreword to a collection of strips I think, about how the real life Thelma Keane is from Austraila, but Bil approached the family vacay’s as though they had to drive cross country to visit them.
Lame Name
August 7th, 2007 at 6:32 pm [Reply]

52 — They wanted to replace the word “darkies.”
Jamus The Bartender
August 7th, 2007 at 6:36 pm [Reply]

Slylock Fox: It doesn’t matter how many differences between pictures there are, cats are always gonna steal your stuff, Mister Bulldog. And odds are they’re always gonna sell your stuff for coke. That food is going up the cat’s nose. I guarantee it. Cassandra taught me that lesson the hard way.
Gabe
August 7th, 2007 at 6:56 pm [Reply]

Jamus: In the 25th anniversary book. It had all sorts of directors commentary.
Poteet
August 7th, 2007 at 7:01 pm [Reply]

# 39 — AhClem, if you feel about chocolate like I feel about chocolate, our souls are already united as one.

# 32 — That’s Curmudgeons, sorry. *bangs head on wall*
Poteet
August 7th, 2007 at 7:07 pm [Reply]

# 35 — BWAHAHA! Thanks, Paperback.

Foob — So why were the Shawna-Marie wedding guests searching for the Undynamic Duo? This is so obvious that it’s probably already been said, but maybe the guests had a moment of mass clarity and were seeking to kill them.
Squid Countess
August 7th, 2007 at 7:11 pm [Reply]

LOLGeoducks:

IM IN UR SANDZ
3XPOZN MAH WNKY

I only found out about a month ago that LOLCATS existed. Which seems impossible, I know, but it’s not like we use them here, and they don’t put them on the AP Wire or Slate or TVGuide.com or The Prarie Home Companion site, or really anywhere I surf. (Not even NudeUncutMenWhoThinkOswaldWorkedAlone.com) I work in a nursing home, too, not an office, and I don’t have a cell phone or know how to text message, so all that contributes to my ignorance. Anyway, that’s why I think LOLCATS are still so hilarious – I just found them.
Poteet
August 7th, 2007 at 7:12 pm [Reply]

MW — Strips like today’s make it all worthwhile.
Harold
August 7th, 2007 at 7:15 pm [Reply]

So…are we suggesting that Bonnie Bramlett is one of the alien invaders whose secret takeover is being documented in Guille de Thorpppe?

Or…more horrifying…Kevin @ #12, are you suggesting that the rest of this strip’s horribly distorted, vaguely humanoid characters are in fact based on images of actual people????

Now, somebody find the source for Coach Kaz, so we can see if there’s an explanation for the earring!
AhClem
August 7th, 2007 at 7:28 pm [Reply]

FC Upgrades:

1. The station wagon has a DVD player.
2. Bil is a member of NAMBLA.
3. Thel’s vibrator is microprocessor-controlled.
4. Grandma gives grandpa a dose of Viagra every night so he won’t roll out of bed.
SmartPeopleOnIce
August 7th, 2007 at 7:34 pm [Reply]

Holy freaking cow Josh, you actually knew the phase “mackerel snapper”? I thought it was just something you made up.

Man, if I’m ever dying on the smashed bridge of some doomed Starship and I need someone to accept my Caput Mortuum, even if you don’t have genetically enhanced pecs and fab hair extensions I hope it’s you.

…yours…is…the…superior…intellect…
Trotzenbonnie
August 7th, 2007 at 7:46 pm [Reply]

Tang, born in 1957. Just like Mr. T.
If you want a real sugar Buzz –
http://pieofthemonth.org/archives/arch_5_tang.html
Jamus The Bartender
August 7th, 2007 at 7:52 pm [Reply]

Personal Log: Ship’s Bartender, the Tarzana Nights, Jamus The Bartender reporting 8-7-07

The Tarzana Nights had just landed in Milborough, Canada in order to spread the word of snark amongst the populace there, who were sorely in need of it as they were under the thumb of what we have come to term as the Johnston Momfia. Josh offered to go and asked for some volunteers. Poteet, Spider Brick, floating and ready for action, and myself all stood still while the other Curmudgeons smartly took one step backwards.
Ah well….Canada is nice and cool this time of year.
We landed at May’s Motors….and set out to the city park, where Anthony Caine, whom we have come to refer to as “Pornstache”, and Princess Elizabeth were spending time with Francoise, daughter of Therese, the anti-family, pro-career former wife of Anthony” Yes, dear, I promise to pull out” Caine.
We kept our distance, lest we be overcome by schmaltz, but we did hear some snippets of conversation. “We’re being very polite to one another, aren’t we?” Liz answered, “….we’re being careful”.
Spider Brick piped up, “You could learn some lessons from these two, Jamus. Did you ever get your furniture back?”
I nodded. Brick had a point. Bad as Liz had it, I don’t think any of her boyfriends stole her stuff to exchange it for China White. Far as I know. We followed the Canadian Brady Bunch to the family manse when he showed up.
He was furry, wearing his usual ensemble of a deerstalker cap and raincoat. “Slylock Fox.” I said. “Fancy meeting you here. This is a little far from your usual stomping grounds, n’est c’est pa?”
I apologized to the assembled for my bastardized French, but I figured, when in Milborough…
Slylock nodded. “Can we talk alone?”
I was about to get shirty and say something dumb like ” Anything you can say to me, you can say to my friends”, but, I really liked the Curmudgeonites and didn’t want them to share any trouble. I told them i’d meet them at La Maison Patterson later on.
“You didn’t answer my question, Fox. What brings you here? Bonnie and Boo Boo get tired of you? Run out of pairs of pictures to find six differences between?” I asked while we got some lunch from the Back Bacon stand.
Slylock waved off the insult. It was clear he was playing Peter Polite for two reasons. One, he needed me for something. Two, he was in Canada, where he had no legal standing. My first thought was he had been assigned to the Tracy case, but that was too easy. “Have you seen Cassandra Cat lately, Mr The Bartender?”
So. We had come to it. About two weeks ago, while in one of those small Avery towns, I had run into an old flame whom I was doing a good job of forgetting, but Slylock had brought it up again. “Not since she gave us both the runaround in front of that movie theater. Why do you ask?”
Slylock was playing it cool, but he was getting fidgety. “Are you sure? She’s been missing since we saw her in Averytown. You two were pretty close for a number of years. If she’d contact anyone, it’d be you. She once stole your furniture to turn it into cash….and then turn it into nose candy. Why are you protecting her?”
I watched Foxy nail me with question after question. “Okay….from this I can tell two things…one, you’re trying to put me off balance by grilling me…and two, you’ve got absolutely nothing on Cassandra, have you? She was right, you are becoming obsessed.” I said as I bit into my Back Bacon Special. “Does Tiffany Fox know about this?”
Then Slylock let me have it with a right hook.
Ever seen the eyes of a crazy man with nothing to lose? That was Slylock for about two seconds. And looking at him right then, even I wasn’t entirely sure I could beat him. Just then, Max ran up.
“Cheez boss. What’ja haveta go and hit him for? Hiya Jamus, it’s good to see ya again.” he then whispered to me sotto voce, “He’s been crazy since Cass got away from him that time…..Tiffany left him, he’s on suspension….took away his liscence….we’re here on vacation officially….here, lemme help ya up with that…”
I could understand it. Cassandra had that effect on people. Buford Bull, Slylock, Reeky Rat, Jamus…she’d played us all. Now, Tiffany left Slylock. They seemed like the perfect couple too….
After clearing his throat, Slylock apologized profusely, “I’m really sorry about that Jamus…..i’ve been under a lot of stress.” he then handed me his card, “If you would call me if she resurfaces, although I wouldn’t blame you if you tore it up…”
I stuck the card in my pocket. Never hurts to have the forces of law and order owe you something, “Sure thing pal….let’s head over to Milborough…we’re meeting some of the Curmudgeonites at the Patterson’s. Looks like there’s gonna be some sparks flyin’…”
Rat, fox and Yours Truly made tracks over to join the rest of the gang assembled in front of the Patterson neighborhood. Meredith and Robin were eating dirt while their father watched his wife do the laundry, and Dick Tracy ran out of the house in his yellow hat , boxers, socks, brown shoes, a bottle of Jim Beam in one hand, a loaded service revolver in the other, asking for amnesty. Very loudly. Then we made eye contact.
“Holy Rat Shit” Max said.
Slylock said, ” Dick Tracy? I take it you didn’t know he was here either….”
“Looks like you may make that big arrest after all, Slylock, ” I said while slowly putting a new car from Mays Motors between myself and the ol’ detective…..
Non Compost Mentos
August 7th, 2007 at 8:05 pm [Reply]

For what it’s worth, yesterday my 10 year old son and I looked over the last couple of weeks of Popeye-with-his-head-in-a-cow strips. I used this father-son bonding time as an opportunity to explain the term “completely batshit insane.”
Brown-eyed Girl
August 7th, 2007 at 8:17 pm [Reply]

Bubba Ho-Tep! What a totally whacked out story. I loved it.
Poteet
August 7th, 2007 at 8:23 pm [Reply]

I recommend a visit to Wonkette just to take a gander at that Oklahoma license plate. They’ve come a loooong way from when every night his honey lamb and him sat around talking and watching the hawk making lazy circles in the sky.
Poteet
August 7th, 2007 at 8:32 pm [Reply]

Meanwhile, over in STEVE CANYON, Steve is about to get mixed up with yet another glamorous woman. The fourth since January, as I recall. And even when a woman moves out of the plot temporarily, she may reenter at any time. Steve gets more action in a week than Sam Driver gets in a decade, and almost always, the women go after him, not vice versa. Oh yeaaaah!
Dr. Mabuse
August 7th, 2007 at 8:41 pm [Reply]

#95 Poteet:

So why were the Shawna-Marie wedding guests searching for the Undynamic Duo?

I guess Liz is the proverbial “bride at every wedding”. Shawna-Marie is getting married, but Elizabeth is the center of attention. I can imagine all the guests all abandoning the bride just as she’s cutting the cake, because Where’s Elizabeth???? Quick, we have to find her!
Uncle Lumpy
August 7th, 2007 at 8:51 pm [Reply]

#106 Poteet –

Since January, Steve Canyon has completed a series introduction and two story arcs — a Latin American adventure with Copper Calhoun, and a U.S.-based intrigue featuring sultry Delta. Judge Parker has taken us through two days in Paris (one of them action-packed) and two excruciating days at the winery.

And Caniff wasn’t shy about drawing the ladies, either.
LTBF
August 7th, 2007 at 9:57 pm [Reply]

107-When she went to Anthony and the accent marks’ wedding, she couldn’t go by herself. She had to rent a hot looking gay guy who was a fabulous dancer in order to get everyone to notice, including the accent marks, who got jealous with Anthony.
jayjaybear
August 7th, 2007 at 11:28 pm [Reply]

The Bonnie Bramlett character from Vanishing Point is definitely the source model for that panel of Gail Martin. Bonnie’s website has a larger photo of that scene. Look at the hands!
Poteet
August 8th, 2007 at 12:53 am [Reply]

# 107 — Dr. Mabuse, your theory is tragically plausible. Time Freeze, you cannot arrive soon enough.

# 108 — Geez, Uncle Lumpy, you’re right. And I guess maybe it’s not fair to say that Sam doesn’t get much action because time seems to be very different in his dimension. When he does get action, one torrid night could last for three months.
Gadge Cubic, Mole Preener
August 8th, 2007 at 10:09 am [Reply]

American Idle? That’s Professor Ian Cameron, in the flesh! (I will assume he left his Withering Contempt(tm) at home.)
Fruity Bev
August 8th, 2007 at 3:22 pm [Reply]

Gail Martin IS Bonnie Bramlett – and he braid comes from Rita Coolidge in the background! JayJayBear nailed it.
Shmork
August 8th, 2007 at 5:17 pm [Reply]

It’s all the more disturbing that art in GT is actually based on our reality.
Doodee
January 31st, 2008 at 10:23 am [Reply]

Thanks for sharing

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