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Metapost: Special Medium Large-tastic new Kickstarter offers!

Guys first off, extreme thanks are in order for everyone who’s pre-ordered my upcoming novel via Kickstarter. I’ve met my goal — and my stretch goal, which means that the book will be illustrated — but of course I’d love to get my book into as many hands as possible, and more presales means a better edited, better designed, and better book overall.

First, I wanted to let people who might be interested know that we have readers who’d be interested in going in on a novel-reading party in the San Francisco Bay Area, Vancouver, and New Orleans. If you live in those necks of the woods and are interested, email me and let me know and I’ll put you in touch!

I also wanted to let you know that Francesco Marciuliano, writer for Sally Forth and creator of the beloved Medium Large webcomic, has chipped in some Medium Large art that you can get your hot little hands on by sponsoring my novel To wit:

  • For $150, you get a signed and inscribed hardbound copy of my novel, plus the e-book version, plus you’ll receive your choice of a Medium Large strip from the archives. These would not be the original strips, but would be hard-drawn on better paper than the original was (and Ces adds that “frankly the art would be better after years of drawing these things”), so it’s like a … betteriginal? You could pick this infamous B.C. strip, or an entry in the glorious Teenage Girl President series, or perhaps something from Todd and Son, or your own favorite!
  • For $225, you’ll get the signed/inscribed hardbound novel, plus the e-book, plus a custom Medium Large strip on the subject of your choice (so long as it isn’t politics or pornography). Seriously, tell Ces what to draw and write, and he’ll do it!

Those of you who are thinking “But Joooosh I already bought your stupid book and now I want this, it’s not fair, I don’t want to buy it twice” fear not! If you would like one of these Medium Large strips for yourself or a friend, you can go to the Kickstarter campaign and click “Manage your pledge” (in the blue box just above the list of rewards). Then you can change your sponsorship amount and pick a new reward.

There will only be three of these rewards apiece! So you should probably act quickly if you want one. Thanks for reading this far, and thanks for sponsoring me if you’ve sponsored me. Now back to comics! (And by “now” I mean “tomorrow morning,” sorry, you will have to look at this for the remainder of the afternoon.)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 11:30 am and is filed under metaposts. |

86 responses to “Metapost: Special Medium Large-tastic new Kickstarter offers!”

  1. odinthor
    July 17th, 2012 at 11:54 am [Reply]

    H&J. — So Jamaal is saying that there used to be a time when people would do almost anything for nothing? And his intended implication is that the almost anythings which people used to do for nothing are now exclusively done for pay? Jamaal, I know this is asking a lot, but could you tell us what the hell you’re talking about?

    MT. — Rusty, you’re a lousy naturalist. Real professionals know that an animal isn’t dead until it has little x’s in its eyes and its tongue is hanging out.

    MW. — The full “Quack . . . . aaaahhhh!” would have been much more appropriate.

  2. Sequitur
    July 17th, 2012 at 12:01 pm [Reply]

    Psst, queek. Some otters are not as cute as others.

  3. Baka Gaijin
    July 17th, 2012 at 12:02 pm [Reply]

    That was the inducement I needed. A Medium Large of my choice.

    NOTE TO JOSH: Please make sure the hardcover version is sturdy enough to take out an EVILSCARYCLOWN at 10 paces. Sharpened Sheffield steel corners would be a plus. Why shouldn’t entertainment be practical, too? Why indeed.

  4. Little Guy
    July 17th, 2012 at 12:19 pm [Reply]

    “Maaaaaaaa! Josh is expanding his Kickstarter campaign by offering a signed and inscribed hardbound copy of his novel, plus the e-book version, plus a choice of a Medium Large strip from the archives for no good reason!!!!!“

  5. Little Guy
    July 17th, 2012 at 12:23 pm [Reply]

    Luann pledges $3, and the website crashes as everyone looks up her name in the Honor Roll. Tiffany pledges $1000 and mercilessly belittles her paragraph, writes in their own corrections, or just uses a magic marker to ink it out.

  6. Little Guy
    July 17th, 2012 at 12:24 pm [Reply]

    @Little Guy (#5): Tiffany pledges $1000 and everyone mercilessly belittles her paragraph, writes in their own corrections, or just uses a magic marker to ink it out…..

  7. Baka Gaijin
    July 17th, 2012 at 12:28 pm [Reply]

    @Little Guy (#4): Oh no! I didn’t think of that. Do I have to buy a Kindle? I don’t have an e-book reader. The hardbound is really enough for me. Those Kindles don’t do a thing to EVILSCARYCLOWNS. They just bounce right off that freaky red hair and shatter in a million pieces on the floor. Not even a shard big enough to cut through a size 52 shoe.

  8. Droopy Says
    July 17th, 2012 at 12:33 pm [Reply]

    @bbofun (#y72): FW- Great- another “Africa is primitive” joke. Mr. Batiuk- may I call you Tom? Thanks. Tom- you’re a royal asshat. All your “research’ for this story has consisted of is reading old jungle comics and looking up a few place names. You didn’t even bother to check Wikipedia- or the MT. KILIMANJARO OFFICIAL TOURIST WEBSITE

    I checked, and it looks like Batyuck did some research. He just hasn’t done anything useful with it. If he’s going to have Creepy Les hallucinate, why not have him see Hemingway? Why not work the historical Stanley and Livingstone into this story? Or some African lions and leopards instead of a stowaway kitten? Why send Les all the way to Africa to annoy people, when there are so many people in America he hasn’t offended yet?

  9. Sequitur
    July 17th, 2012 at 12:37 pm [Reply]

    As if Wilbur didn’t have enough to worry about.

  10. Calico
    July 17th, 2012 at 12:40 pm [Reply]

    @Sequitur (#9):
    I’m glad he is on meds – I read yesterday that he refused medical attention.
    He should receive anything they can give him for Hep C as well.
    This makes me so sick-some people really are truly deranged. It angers me.

  11. Sequitur
    July 17th, 2012 at 12:49 pm [Reply]

    @Calico (#10): It really is deranged. I hope they nab the creep.

  12. [Old Man] Muffaroo
    July 17th, 2012 at 12:59 pm [Reply]

    @Liam (#100): I am thinking more of the mother beating Curtis.
    Now you’re thinking inside the box.

    @stopdropreload (#124): She anxiously waits for the credits to scroll to her name, only to be humiliated in front of everyone upon seeing that it’s either misspelled or absent entirely.
    Put me down for “misspelled in a particularly humiliating way that will give them something nasty to call her for the next six months to forever.”

  13. seismic-2
    July 17th, 2012 at 1:06 pm [Reply]

    Phantom: It will be amusing when Kit loses the wrestling match. He will then be unmasked in the middle of the ring, and all the fans in the arena will eagerly be waiting to see who it is. The mask will come off, and everyone will point at him and shout with profound dissapointment, “What a rip-off! We have absolutely no idea who that person is. For all we know, he might just as well be someone who lives in a cave in Africa!”

  14. Sequitur
    July 17th, 2012 at 1:09 pm [Reply]

    @seismic-2 (#13): Actually, they’ll rip the mask off to reveal Peter Parker. The crowd will yell, “What a rip! It’s that Spider-Man dude. We want our money back!”

  15. Shrug
    July 17th, 2012 at 1:18 pm [Reply]

    @Droopy Says (#8):

    “Why send Les all the way to Africa to annoy people, when there are so many people in America he hasn’t offended yet?”

    Really? Name three. . .

  16. Mr. O'Malley
    July 17th, 2012 at 1:30 pm [Reply]

    @Shrug (#15): Mary Worth, Sam Driver and Rex Morgan.

  17. UncleJeff
    July 17th, 2012 at 1:42 pm [Reply]

    DT: Mayor Armstrong is right on top of things. She watches cable TV.
    So when Chief Patton says they were “just doing some house cleaning”, her first question is not about the TV reports of gunfire at police headquarters (nice try at the cover-up, Clancy), she wants to know “Was anybody hurt?”
    (She knows Dick Tracy can’t do anything without getting somebody hurt).
    Meanwhile, was Teevo the leak that was “plugged”? We haven’t seen him since he went to Mr. Crime’s headquarters.

  18. UncleJeff
    July 17th, 2012 at 1:43 pm [Reply]

    Safe Havens: CC usually doesn’t follow this but the protagonists Samantha and Dave are getting married.

  19. Calvin's Cardboard Box
    July 17th, 2012 at 1:44 pm [Reply]

    @Sequitur (#14):

    They will rip off the mask to reveal …. Old Man Mozz! He was just pretending to be a ghost who was pretending to be a police chief who was pretending to be a professional wrestler! He just wanted rumors of a crime wave to scare everyone out of town so he could buy up the land and build an amusement park!

    Which would entertain thousands and be an important source of jobs and tourist income for the local villages. Which …. is actually a pretty good idea. Give them alternatives to joining a drug gang. So …. hooray for Old Man Mozz!?

    My disclaimer here about how unmaskings in real life likely never are as dramatic as those in movies or in mediocre cartoons. “Well, lets see who you really are! Oh My God! It’s …. some guy …. who I don’t recognize … does anyone know this guy? No? Maybe he has some ID on him? “

  20. Sequitur
    July 17th, 2012 at 1:51 pm [Reply]

    @Calvin’s Cardboard Box (#19): Old Man Mozz. That was unexpected. But then one doesn’t expect Old Man Mozz.

  21. [Old Man] Muffaroo
    July 17th, 2012 at 1:53 pm [Reply]

    @Sequitur (#20): I thought he’d kicked the bucket!

  22. bbofun
    July 17th, 2012 at 1:54 pm [Reply]

    @Droopy Says (#8): Honestly. other than place names, and that you can climb Kilimanjaro without specialized gear, I can’t find a single fact he’s gotten right. he had the party camp at Mt. Meru, which is 30 miles away from Kilimanjaro; he has a kitten somehow survive the airplane ride (in the cargo hold) without peeing (or dying); he has poorly-maintained roads, when, in fact, the roads in the area are the equal to any in a “western” country; and he has them trekking through jungle. THERE ARE NO JUNGLES AROUND KILIMANJARO! It’s a tropical climate- the forests resemble those around the southern Sierra Nevadas.

    How do I know all this? 15 minutes of research.

    I say again- he’s an asshat.

  23. Calvin's Cardboard Box
    July 17th, 2012 at 1:58 pm [Reply]

    @Sequitur (#20):

    Noone ever expects Old Man Mozz! His …..

    OK, sorry.

    Everyone always expects the Monty Python bit! It’s chief weapon is familiarity. Familiarity, and ruthless accuracy. Two! It’s two chief weapons are familiarity, ruthless accuracy and an almost fanatical devotion to the original TV series and feature films.

  24. bbofun
    July 17th, 2012 at 2:00 pm [Reply]

    @Calvin’s Cardboard Box (#19): That was actually the cause of a disagreement between Stan Lee and Steve Ditko about the Green Goblin. No one (including the readers) (or wriyers) knew who he was- when he was revealed, Ditko wanted him to be someone Spidey didn’t know, saying that was far more likely than it being a known character (the Goblin was a master crook, not someone with a specific grudge against Spider-man in those days). Stan Lee said that the readers would feel cheated if it wasn’t someone they knew (Norman Osborne, of course). Stan won, although I think they did the ‘un-reveal’ in a different story, IIRC.

    And, of course, there’s the time in the Justice League cartoon when Luthor switched bodies with the Flash. He looked in the mirror, whipped off the mask- and had no idea who he was looking at, of course.

  25. Sequitur
    July 17th, 2012 at 2:00 pm [Reply]

    @[Old Man] Muffaroo (#21): Oh, I hadn’t heard but I wouldn’t doubt it. He’s older than you.

  26. [Old Man] Muffaroo
    July 17th, 2012 at 2:06 pm [Reply]

    @Sequitur (#25): See. Also. Too.

  27. Sequitur
    July 17th, 2012 at 2:08 pm [Reply]

    @[Old Man] Muffaroo (#26): Ah, yes. The character from Lil’ Abner and not the wise old pigmy.

  28. Artist formerly known as Ben
    July 17th, 2012 at 2:09 pm [Reply]

    Doones: I can’t believe Alex has never given either of these guys the “like a brother to me” spiel. I mean, Jeff’s mother is her grandmother. It’s not even that metaphorical.

    MW: Danger does wonders for Dawn’s boobs, I have to say. It must be nature’s flotation device.

    FW: Okay, I have no idea what that’s supposed to be about.

    9CL: Had to take a massive crap? That would fit with the expression on Diane’s face.

    RMMD: “I’ve been a borderline drunk long enough. I want to give this cocaine thing a try.”

    GA: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been browsing the DVD players at Best Buy when a guy in pin stripes has sidled up to me and tried to sell me on a racehorse. It’s funny because it’s true.

    BB: Beetle is the only soldier at Camp Swampy who could infiltrate a cult without totally going native.

    DT: The mayor reflects that her own housecleaning never involves any fatalities, and starts to wonder if she’s missing out.

    GT: “Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go drum for Cheap Trick.”

    Phantom: So if the Old Jungle Saying holds up, Victor has a choice of either losing to the Phantom—who’s playing ringer for another luchador—or dying horribly. We’re in murky waters here, morally speaking.

    SSmith: You just keep telling yourself that, Jughaid.

    S-M: Oh if the blonde only knew how very right she is.

    H&J: Your eyes aren’t deceiving you. There’s a 2012 copyright date on this strip, and it refers to Fear Factor—in the time-tested Herb and Jamaal fashion—as “that new show.” Aliens must be screwing with their TV feed.

  29. Shrug
    July 17th, 2012 at 2:27 pm [Reply]

    @Artist formerly known as Ben (#28):

    “GA: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been browsing the DVD players at Best Buy when a guy in pin stripes has sidled up to me and tried to sell me on a racehorse.”

    One of you has misread the store name. I think that’s supposed to happen in “Best Bay.”

  30. bats :[
    July 17th, 2012 at 2:50 pm [Reply]

    @Artist formerly known as Ben (#28): sadly, “Fear Factor” has returned to NBC. Proof positive that NBC is solidly in the crapper, ratings-wise.

  31. Rocky Stoneaxe
    July 17th, 2012 at 3:30 pm [Reply]

    @Hibbleton (#y52): ASM: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if these two women became a permanent part of the strip, heckling SM from a cloud insert in every panel: “Way to go ‘limp dick’, Clown-9 made you look like Clown-One!”

    Especially if the two women are named “Statler” and “Waldorf”!

    @[Old Man] Muffaroo (#y80): If his blog is any indication, I’d say Encylopedia Brown was offed by Serge A. Storms:

    http://www.sergestorms.com/

  32. Frank Lee Meidere
    July 17th, 2012 at 3:31 pm [Reply]

    @bats :[ (#30): You know how politicians are always saying things like, “The American/Canadian public is not stupid”? Every time they say something like that I think of the demise of Firefly and the rise of reality TV shows. There were many things I didn’t like about Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s politics, but I always admired him for treating the general public as the morons they generally are.

  33. Al of the Christian Singles Jungle Patrol
    July 17th, 2012 at 3:42 pm [Reply]

    @Frank Lee Meidere (#32): I think “K” puts your sentiment best…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkCwFkOZoOY

  34. Perky Bird
    July 17th, 2012 at 3:55 pm [Reply]

    @Frank Lee Meidere (#32): Ah, yes. I, too, greatly miss Firefly. And although I know that , for numerous reasons, no more episoded will likely be made, who’s to say the characters couldn’t make cameo appearances in existing comic strips? I mean, wouldn’t it be fun to watch Mary Worth’s reaction if Inara took up business in a condo at Charterstone? Or if Jane taught Dennis how to really be a menace?

  35. Rocky Stoneaxe
    July 17th, 2012 at 4:00 pm [Reply]

    @Calvin’s Cardboard Box (#19):

    They will rip off the mask to reveal …. Old Man Mozz!

    Is he any relation to Edward Lear’s “Old Man with a nose”?

    http://www.lear200.com/sites/lear200.com/files/resize/limerick1_0-450×450.png

  36. Baka Gaijin
    July 17th, 2012 at 4:07 pm [Reply]

    @Sequitur (#14): And Peter will say, “I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling kids.“

  37. Occipital Lobe
    July 17th, 2012 at 4:09 pm [Reply]

    @bbofun (#22): On behalf of the worldwide organization Asshats United, I demand you stop slandering our members by insinuating that Mr. Batiuk would be eligible for membership in our organization. We DO have standards, yanno.

  38. Bootsy
    July 17th, 2012 at 4:18 pm [Reply]

    @[Old Man] Muffaroo (#26):

    Are you related to Old Man Mozz?

  39. Calvin's Cardboard Box
    July 17th, 2012 at 4:20 pm [Reply]

    @Occipital Lobe (#37):

    Stop! Oh no!

    By stating that he fails to meet the criteria for membership, you have removed his last objection to joining your organization!!

  40. Sequitur
    July 17th, 2012 at 4:20 pm [Reply]

    By the way, have any of you met my cat?

  41. Poteet
    July 17th, 2012 at 4:33 pm [Reply]

    @Sequitur (#40): My cats had the same expression when I told them about the FW kitten storyline.

  42. Sequitur
    July 17th, 2012 at 4:37 pm [Reply]

    @Poteet (#41): And I bet they barfed when you told them about the Gasoline Alley story line. Or did they read it for themselves?

  43. Frank Lee Meidere
    July 17th, 2012 at 6:02 pm [Reply]

    @Al of the Christian Singles Jungle Patrol (#33):
    That’s somewhat along the lines of one of my columns in The Standard about a year ago (and originally titled, “Democracy Works Because We’re Stupid“) dealing with much the same issue.

  44. [Old Man] Muffaroo
    July 17th, 2012 at 6:07 pm [Reply]

    @Bootsy (#38): Are you related to Old Man Mozz?
    If only. Then maybe I could break into the big-time predicting business!

  45. Liam
    July 17th, 2012 at 6:57 pm [Reply]

    @Artist formerly known as Ben (#28):

    Doones-So that would make Jeff her uncle. Somebody needs to tell Jeff that.

  46. Droopy Says
    July 17th, 2012 at 7:37 pm [Reply]

    @bbofun (#22): I googled “Kilimanjaro tours” and came up with one site that said things like “It’s best to enter the country through Kilimanjaro Airport,” “exercise beforehand,” “when making the climb, keep the native saying ‘Pole, pole’ (‘Slowly, slowly’) in mind.” Plus various warnings about altitude sickness. So Batyuck did some research.

    Big whoop; he is, as you said, an asshat. None of this arc has much to do with climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, and so far Batyuck’s R&D effort has gone into finding new ways for Les to be offensive (the site I found stressed the importance of having a positive attitude for the climb). And along with the Death Kitty and idiot tourist act, as well as Les’s persistent refusal to fucking drop dead and infest Hell, there is this to add to the list: Creepy Les is obviously Batyuck’s personal avatar. He’s the Famous Author and Literary Figure who fancies himself to be both Shakespeare and an educator. Les should be having some kind of experience that relates to Hemingway, or African history, or something interesting. He should be hallucinating Hemingway, or at least Gregory Peck. Instead he summons up comic book and action-adventure characters. The profundity of it all defies description.

  47. The Ridger
    July 17th, 2012 at 8:23 pm [Reply]

    People keep complaining that Batiuk didn’t do any research for this Kilimanjaro strip.

    It’s worse than that.

    He himself actually climbed Kilimanjaro (that’s why Les is doing it now). All of this: it’s on purpose. Or, as BMcE would say, it’s art, you beefwits. Yeah, art. Or something.

  48. Droopy Says
    July 17th, 2012 at 8:28 pm [Reply]

    @Shrug (#15): Three Americans Les Moore hasn’t offended yet? Nina’s baby in A3G (too new), Zonker Harris (too stoned) and Crankshaft (too lucky).

  49. Droopy Says
    July 17th, 2012 at 8:31 pm [Reply]

    @The Ridger (#47): So this Kilimanjaro arc is . . . what? Batyuck’s fantasy about what he wished had happened on his climb, like annoying everyone, hallucinating otrher people’s comic-book characters, and maybe setting up a Lion King story that will never pay off?

  50. Señor Tortilla
    July 17th, 2012 at 8:37 pm [Reply]

    Apparently, Clown-9 may not be the most ridiculous Spider-Man villain ever. Introducing, the Funny Bunny. Apparently, this is from a comic book based on a recurring Electric Company sketch called “Spidey Super Stories”.

    Seriously, why can’t Spider-Man use any of Spider-Man’s A-list supervillains?

  51. Frank Lee Meidere
    July 17th, 2012 at 8:53 pm [Reply]

    @Señor Tortilla (#50): At least the back story for Funny Bunny makes more sense than the one for Clown-9.

  52. Poteet
    July 17th, 2012 at 8:57 pm [Reply]

    @Sequitur (#42): I only tell them about bad cat storylines occasionally, since two are elderly and I don’t want to stress them out. They all approve of Ludwig, however.

  53. Baka Gaijin
    July 17th, 2012 at 9:35 pm [Reply]

    @Señor Tortilla (#50): That is the lamest backstory I’ve read on a superhero/villian, even lamer than getting bitten by a radioactive spider.

  54. Sequitur
    July 17th, 2012 at 10:07 pm [Reply]

    @Baka Gaijin (#53): I’d like to see Spidey go after a villain who is a dwarf who looks like a kid with a runny nose called “The Snot.” He would slime banks and such and then rob them. He would also cover Spider-Man in mucus while laughing maniacally. Spidey would then say, “Snot funny, Snot.”

  55. tallyHO
    July 17th, 2012 at 10:12 pm [Reply]

    @Señor Tortilla (#50):

    Aw, c’mon!

    That’s an inspired origin story. It is simple, yes. But, the fact that that girl loved colorful, hard-boiled eggs that much that she planned into her adult life a method of stealing them is….well, she’s ambitious.

    Now, do I believe that she is smart? No.
    No one can love hard-boiled eggs that much to want to steal them. Now, if she were going for the hollow chocolate bunnies or marshmallow Peeps, I can see that. Those things have a shelf life and can be eaten over a long period of time. But, hard-boiled eggs?

    And, the dude who sat on her basket (was that a metaphor? did Electric Company deal with metaphors?) that guy had horrible motivation to wreak havoc. Did he hop from basket to basket with dirty britches? Did he say he was Hoppin’ mad, take that you, ________? I hope not.

    Still, it is an inspired origin. It also sets up a future story which involves redemption for Funny Bunny. We can only anticipate that The Amazing Spiderman strip has an Easter Surprise for everyone!

    //whew. just kiddin’. That was a rotten egg of an idea.

  56. Artist formerly known as Ben
    July 17th, 2012 at 10:30 pm [Reply]

    @bats :[ (#30):

    Proof positive that NBC is solidly in the crapper, ratings-wise.

    Oh definitely, and they still seem to have no idea what to do about it. But Fear Factor isn’t a new show, it’s an old one that they can’t let go. Basically a reality TV zombie strip.
    @Liam (#45):

    Somebody needs to tell Jeff that.

    Yep. First they have to find a time when he’s lucid, and not on one of his Sorkh Razil trips.
    @The Ridger (#47):

    He himself actually climbed Kilimanjaro (that’s why Les is doing it now).

    For reals? I wonder if the horrible jokes and strained fake laughter are also drawn from real life. Magic 8-Ball says “signs point to yes.”

  57. Rocky Stoneaxe
    July 17th, 2012 at 10:33 pm [Reply]

    @Señor Tortilla (#50):

    I’m still waiting for the Spider-Man/Funny Bunny/Superman/Quik Bunny crossover:

    http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics41.html

  58. seismic-2
    July 17th, 2012 at 10:43 pm [Reply]

    @Rocky Stoneaxe (#57): And don’t forget Dumb Bunny of the Inferior Five.

  59. Jamus The Bartender
    July 17th, 2012 at 11:36 pm [Reply]

    @Perky Bird (#34): Ah, yes. I, too, greatly miss Firefly. And although I know that , for numerous reasons, no more episoded will likely be made, who’s to say the characters couldn’t make cameo appearances in existing comic strips? I mean, wouldn’t it be fun to watch Mary Worth’s reaction if Inara took up business in a condo at Charterstone? Or if Jane taught Dennis how to really be a menace?

    Nice idea, but do NOT tell Cassandra Cat. She ALWAYS aims to misbehave.

  60. [Old Man] Muffaroo
    July 17th, 2012 at 11:38 pm [Reply]

    @seismic-2 (#58): When DC had their first “Crisis” event, I wanted it to come out so that Dumb Bunny ended up saving the universe(s). Instead they went with the ending that… well, that I can’t even remember now, and it’s been written out of existence anyway, I’m pretty sure.

  61. Poteet
    July 18th, 2012 at 12:09 am [Reply]

    7/18 A3G — Nina is sitting up, completely recovered, and the kid is growing so fast she looks a year old already. I figure she’ll be off to college by the end of the month. If I had known motherhood was this easy, I might have gone in for it myself.

  62. Poteet
    July 18th, 2012 at 12:20 am [Reply]

    MW — I love this catastrophe. I love it. Bring me more faces to chortle at, please, for another week at least!

  63. Poteet
    July 18th, 2012 at 12:33 am [Reply]

    JP — THAT’S a “record atypical”?? HAHAHA! In Iowa, that buck wouldn’t even get a second look. This is more like it:

    http://www.google.com/imgres?q=record+Iowa+atypical+buck&num=10&hl=en&biw=1675&bih=824&tbm=isch&tbnid=WM7DMYKcX7hH2M:&imgrefurl=http://www.huntingne.com/forum/index.php%3Fthreads/new-iowa-record-buck-taken-this-weekend.9336/&docid=6qKWqVkTqvaO7M&imgurl=http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8cf31b3127ccec5c1d0082c4c00000040O00EcNG7lwzcMQe3nws/cC/f%25253D0/ps%25253D50/r%25253D0/rx%25253D550/ry%25253D400/&w=550&h=400&ei=LTsGUMyQEcvsrAGX4uCzCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=191&vpy=106&dur=2088&hovh=191&hovw=263&tx=135&ty=104&sig=105207230557943580862&page=1&tbnh=135&tbnw=209&start=0&ndsp=34&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:75

  64. Droopy Says
    July 18th, 2012 at 12:35 am [Reply]

    A3G: “Daddy, did I mention I was preggers? Oh, and don’t step on that wet spot, I’m feeling very sentimental.”

    Creepy Les: Take a hike, Moore–and keep taking it.

    Pluggers: How curious: a social media that doesn’t involve any actual society.

    Mary Mirthless: “Fare thee, Titanic, fare thee well!”

    Jugs Parker: Sam holds a box labelled “Acme.” Is that even possible? Won’t his hands fall off at the mere touch of something so plebeian?

    Spiderzero: Yes, please, Clod-9. do some stitching. Maybe it will help this threadbare story.

  65. Poteet
    July 18th, 2012 at 12:41 am [Reply]

    RMMD — This seems to be the year for amazing book deals in comic strips. Please let me know when Olive Oyl scribbles down a few recollections and they turn into a major HBO miniseries called “SPINACH MAN” and she ends up building a McMansion with the loot.

  66. tallyHO
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:02 am [Reply]

    @[Old Man] Muffaroo (#60):

    hmmm. it started out on 52 copies of the earth, then there was a fire and I think 50 burned and one was charred while one remained locked in a vault. The last one was stolen when a villain broke into the vault and used it as a cosmic soccer ball eventually causing a chain reaction that made 51 xeroxes, each less perfect than the original. Then there was an explosion that put all of them together in one big ball.
    That blew up.
    Something else probably happened before everything changed again.

    Oh, well. I’m sure whatever happened, it was cosmic, daddio.

  67. tallyHO
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:06 am [Reply]

    @seismic-2 (#58):

    Then there is Captain Carrot.

  68. Poteet
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:08 am [Reply]

    MT — Talk about an ordeal. First you have to get the plane and then you have to risk your life to make a highly improbable shot and then you have to find a place to land the plane and then you have to hike a long way in to cut off the sheep’s head and bring it back and then you have to find a buyer without getting caught, very carefully because you are risking a huge fine and prison time. There are easier ways to make illegal money. These guys should hook up with the pot farmers in JP.

  69. Droopy Says
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:10 am [Reply]

    Okay, I have my list of bewildering things in today’s Mock Trail:

    Do trophy hunters hire hit men? Wouldn’t a hunter want to do his own hunting? If you just want a trophy head, wouldn’t it make more sense to check out eBay, pawn shops, sporting goods store, and other places where you could get it legally? Rather than hire poachers with a plan so screwy it sounds like an FBI sting? If your business is poaching, wouldn’t it be better to skip the high-profile air assault phase and go right to the hiking-in portion of your felony? Because this way, you leave the dead animal lying around, where it can be chewed on by scavengers and (if your hike is delayed) start to decompose, assuming some other local hiker doesn’t stumble across it? And is Rusty ever going to take any pictures of that airplane?

  70. tallyHO
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:20 am [Reply]

    slow speederman Whew! for a week there I thought Spiderman wouldn’t make an appearance, what with breakfast, standing in line, getting insulted.

    Gasp!
    Clown-9 has returned! He’s….
    somewhere. In some room. Acting unclown-like.
    Wotta drama queen.

    snuffmeister smif and hillibilly bunch
    did the parson ever get the men he was cruising for? Or, did Lureellanna convert ‘em all to Lureellannism. (it’s a living.)

    In Wed.’s strip, they’s sure is bein’ lame. Unless they play drunken checkers til past midnite; moonshine by moonlight: how roMANtic.

    a3g wow.
    all this time, Nina’s dad has been searching for her.
    no calls to the police. no calls to Scott. no calls FROM Scott. Nina has an excuse: she lost her cell phone before she went into labor. And, all this time, Nina’s dad has been searching for her.

    Oh, what a grand tale we missed there. Whatever did he do? Where ever did he go? Canada? Was he climbing a mountain? Taking a cruise? Or, was he just ignoring his child. Like father, like daughter, I guess.

    And, what’s this Scott has the waist of a 75 year old upper midwestern poppa and the slacks to match. Congrats, Scott! I hope it is a boy!

  71. Rana the Pedantic Wet Blanket
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:27 am [Reply]

    Re: 9CL – I would think that, given these characters’ experiences, a mature, more lasting kind of love would be preferable to the stuff they’re describing in the first panel, as, well, panel 2 makes pretty clear.

    But then, McE has made it abundantly clear over the years that he doesn’t really understand love, which he has confused with infatuation, obsession, co-dependence, and kink. It’s both creepy and sad that a grown man, with a grown child, still thinks this way.

  72. tallyHO
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:29 am [Reply]

    Mark Trail:

    I don’t know how efficient or how bighorn-headed of a move this is on the part of the poachers.
    It sounds like a lot to do for what it is worth.

    So how much would it be worth to have a ram’s head (that is what it is, right? it isn’t just a “bighorn”, is it? that sounds so unproper. It has to be a bighorn something or another.)

  73. Droopy Says
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:32 am [Reply]

    @Snarkotix Addict (#y190): FW “I’m using everything in our water.”

    Les reveals that he has a drinking problem. He’s taking his Hemingway fantasy way too far.

    Yeah? Where’s the shotgun?

  74. tallyHO
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:34 am [Reply]

    @Rana the Pedantic Wet Blanket (#71):

    (i didn’t know he was old enough to have an adult offspring, much more that he has an adult offspring. too bad.

    i will admit that a while ago I read one week’s worth. it didn’t make a lick of sense. It was like a German art film storyline or something. I kept expecting the dialogue to be “Eternity! Eternity! Sausage, Fräulein?”

    but i stopped reading, feeling more confused than anything.)

  75. tallyHO
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:39 am [Reply]

    @Droopy Says (#73):

    Well, knowing Les and his infernal Smirk, he’ll get to the top, pretend that he’s grabbed the sun and then jump off and fall like Snickarus.

    (nah. more than likely, he’ll get the mountain top, and he’ll suddenly wake up, walk into the kitchen.
    His daughter will ask him what’s wrong.
    He’ll say, “I had a dream.”
    We’ll all hate him Moore.
    Typical.)

  76. Victory Garden
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:44 am [Reply]

    9CL: She’s got to take her tights off or this won’t get anywhere.
    9CL again: Wow, he graduated from handsex to leg-sex. This reminds me of 8th grade. “Elbow sex! Knee sex!”

  77. Rana the Pedantic Wet Blanket
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:48 am [Reply]

    @tallyHO (#74): That’s a reasonable response. He’s a As The Whim Takes Me, Damn All Logic, Sense, and Editors kinda cartoonist. That’s not inherently a bad thing, but in his case, it’s coupled with a large dose of ego and pedantry, and his whims can be pretty damn strange.

  78. Farley's Revenge
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:49 am [Reply]

    Doonesbury: While I realize that Jeff isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer and tends to live in his own little fantasyland, one would think he would at least remember that Alex is his niece. For a second there, I thought perhaps this week’s strips had been done by the guy who does 9CL. It makes about as much sense and has the requisite squick factor.

  79. This Guy
    July 18th, 2012 at 1:57 am [Reply]

    @tallyHO (#67): Don’t think so. That’s not Captain Carrot. This is Captain Carrot.

  80. Elk Meadow
    July 18th, 2012 at 2:17 am [Reply]

    @Farley’s Revenge (#78):

    I”m hoping that Jeff is being loyal to Zipper, who had the really loud crush on her (and is why he’s blocked from her Facebook.)

  81. Elk Meadow
    July 18th, 2012 at 2:22 am [Reply]

    @Droopy Says (#8):

    Why not work the historical Stanley and Livingstone into this story?

    He already did, with that idiotic “I presume” gag that ran and ran.

  82. Elk Meadow
    July 18th, 2012 at 3:07 am [Reply]

    @Farley’s Revenge (#78): @Elk Meadow (#80):

    Squick it is.

    What the heck was Trudeau thinking? That he was in competition with 9CWL? Luanne? Mary Worth?

  83. Droopy Says
    July 18th, 2012 at 3:32 am [Reply]

    @Elk Meadow (#81): Nitpicking here, I know, but Stanley may not have said “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.” (And even if he did, he only said once.) Both men were explorers, and Livingstone was a major figure in the abolitionist cause. Batiuk isn’t doing humor any more, so he may as well play it straight. Given his record, that could be funny all by itself.

  84. Liam
    July 18th, 2012 at 6:03 am [Reply]

    MW-Run faster. I think that sports coat is still behind us.

    Slylock Fox-Oh Slylock, you sick demented bastard you. Deliberately keeping the rope short enough in the hopes of watching the guy get eaten by the shark.

    JP-If you think that deer is impressive you need to see the bighorn I just shot from my plane.

    A3G-Shouldn’t they be going to the hospital to make sure everything is fine. I wouldn’t trust Tommie’s diagnosis.

    Spiderman-Right afterwards a Croc shows up and breaks both of their legs.

  85. Liam
    July 18th, 2012 at 6:36 am [Reply]

    @Droopy Says (#73):

    Don’t worry before this trip is over someone will take a shot at Les.

  86. Droopy Says
    July 18th, 2012 at 6:53 am [Reply]

    @Liam (#86): Someone? I’m hoping for a firing squad.

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