The Comics Curmudgeon

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Doin’ it for themselves

Hey, March is Women’s History Month — a great time to celebrate the many contributions to the funny pages by woman cartoonists.

Brenda Starr, 3/2/08

Dalia Messick called herself “Dale” to break into a male-dominated field and become the first woman syndicated cartoonist in 1940. With a lead character based on Rita Hayworth, the strip mixes workplace drama, romance, and adventure. Now written by Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich*, Brenda Starr covers ripped-from-the-headlines themes like drugs, blogging, out-of-control heiresses, and an evil guy named Josh who, I’m told, takes lots of vacations. The plots move along pretty quickly, and feature occasional cameo appearances by actual celebrities. Brenda Starr broke a lot of ground for comics by and about women, and is still worth a look.

* Fun fact: remember the urban legend about Kurt Vonnegut’s “wear sunscreen” commencement address? That “address” was actually a column, and later a book, by Schmich.

Mary Worth, 3/9/08

When a woman takes over an established strip like Mary Worth, it can take her a while to make it her own. Since the death of John Saunders in 2003, Karen Moy has been taking small steps away from the strip’s time-honored “Ms. Fixit” model, showing us episodes in which Mary’s advice doesn’t work out, competition for her status as Charterstone’s premier advice-giver, and tantalizing (well, within limits) glimpses of her personal life. Here comes a flashback — maybe somebody once told her to floss regularly, and it turned out to be good advice. But hey, in Mary Worth, that’s not only good dental hygiene, it’s a great leap forward. You go, Karen Moy!

For Better or For Worse, 8/13/07, and 3/9/08 (excerpt)

Of course, “women’s themes” are still well represented by these artists. Here we see the simple domestic rituals of meal preparation passed from one generation to the next — shadowed by the grim realities of eating disorders and obesity.

Hey, Josh is back, and Monday will be chock full of Joshy goodness like Comments of the Week, new comics, and a recap of the Tucson meetup. Meantime, thanks for a great week, and your generosity during the Pledge Drive — see you in the comments!

- Uncle Lumpy

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 9, 2008 at 03:20 am and is filed under Brenda Starr, For Better or for Worse, Mary Worth.

265 responses to “Doin’ it for themselves”

Arglebargle
March 9th, 2008 at 3:25 am [Reply]

RMMD: Well, no, Niki, you didn’t actually earn all that money…but you will. Rex will make sure of it. Ba-chika-waa-waa…

Sherman’s Lagoon: I guess laptops underwater weren’t insane enough; now we have a leaky pipe. Underwater. That’s reason enough to love this strip.
Pepperoni Détournées (formerly Herro!)
March 9th, 2008 at 3:25 am [Reply]

Thanks, Lump! It’s been great snarking with you! And by “snarking,” I mean “reading others’ great snark because I’m not funny enough to make up my own”!
Kurdt
March 9th, 2008 at 3:35 am [Reply]

Oh no, are the upcoming Mary Worth strips going to be like that Spiderman comic about the pedophile Parker met when he was a kid?
This is actually peaking my interest, hopefully it’s not too big of a letdown.

Oh and Brenda Starr looks really cool by the way.
Manos
March 9th, 2008 at 4:08 am [Reply]

FBOFW: So Liz is just Ellie with a goatee? I can see why men are fighting for her affection. What the hell is she eating? It looks like pig manure. Which wouldn’t surprise me, given the quality of Ellie’s cooking.

And I didn’t notice this back in August, but what the hell is a strawberry fudge sundae?
Mibbitmaker
March 9th, 2008 at 4:23 am [Reply]

Dammit, not only did my last yesterthread comment get buried with this thread popping up, now I can’t even make a workable link to it.

#134, at any rate.
Mibbitmaker
March 9th, 2008 at 4:32 am [Reply]

MW: Something from her childhood… shaped who she is today. Well, she’s too old to have been frightened by Capt. Kangaroo, as a child, so that can’t be it………
Trilobite
March 9th, 2008 at 4:37 am [Reply]

Oh, I hope we get to see Mary Worth’s childhood, if only so we can see what she looked like back then. I’m betting she’ll be drawn as a creepy food-stealing midget, just like every other child in the comic…except she’ll have silver hair and a little scarf knotted around her neck so that we can recognize her.

Did they even have pool parties when Mary was a child, or was everyone all, “We just crawled out of the pools of primordial ooze, why would we want to have cocktail parties around them?”
Mr. O'Malley
March 9th, 2008 at 4:40 am [Reply]

3. Kurt. For future reference, that would be “piqueing”. It sounds the same, but it’s spelled differently.

Can I never leave my day job behind?
brrrnzing
March 9th, 2008 at 4:42 am [Reply]

Did anyone notice the “Dorkita” in the third panel? And could they have said “Dorkita” another five times?
brrrnzing
March 9th, 2008 at 4:43 am [Reply]

whoops, i mean “Dorita.”
Mr. O'Malley
March 9th, 2008 at 4:47 am [Reply]

5. Mibbitmaker. I’m not sure if it would officially be considered “ironic” or not, but Archie Bell recorded “Tighten Up” with the Drells just before he got drafted. By the time it hit the charts he was in Vietnam.

Still one of the classic bass lines, though. And those ninth chords on the guitar really added a lot.
Arglebargle
March 9th, 2008 at 4:48 am [Reply]

“I’m not alone when I say that something happened in my childhood that shaped who I am today.”

Two potential responses:

(1) ZOMG Mary Worth is BATMAN!!!1

(2) No kidding, y’bag. Unless one came out of some giant lab beaker as a fully-formed adult, everyone is shaped by events in their childhood. “I’m not alone when I say that slices of turkey, mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato placed on bread become a sandwich.”
Alfred E. Neuman, Ornerythologist
March 9th, 2008 at 4:59 am [Reply]

Mark Trail— Today’s strip is pretty fowl. It’s usually eggcellent. I guess the yolk’s on me, and that makes me want to go into my shell. I must be cracked or raven mad to write very Poe stuff like this. I should write such awfulness nevermore. It’s 4:50 am, do you know where my sanity is? Yes, he’s at the North Pole. Help me, I can’t stop. It’s definitely time for bed (or Bedlam).
dale
March 9th, 2008 at 5:28 am [Reply]

FOOB

It’s a good thing Liz doesn’t have an important, role model type job like highly paid player of games or teacher.

Do children really like to get dirty? Worse, sticky?
There is a difference between creating a mess for other people and getting dirty.
It is possible to get dirty enough that dirtier doesn’t matter.
Yes. I was a child. I got dirty. But I don’t think I ever started out thinking: For amusement, I shall now get myself dirty.
Kurdt
March 9th, 2008 at 5:41 am [Reply]

Mr. O’Malley: Thanks! Wow, I actually learned a new word today, well spelling anyways.

My schooling never taught me about piqueing vs. peaking. I didn’t learn much grammer in school actually, I picked most of it up by reading on my own.
Trilobite
March 9th, 2008 at 5:45 am [Reply]

#14 Dale –

I don’t think this comic is about how much fun it is to get messy. Obviously, this is just a little kid imitating the only people she knows — we’ve seen time and time again that all of the Pattersons are incapable of eating without spraying flecks of half-digested food and saliva around them in a ten-foot radius.

In that respect, rubbing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich all over her face is kind of a step up, don’t you think? I mean, at least this way the mess stays on her.
dale
March 9th, 2008 at 6:27 am [Reply]

FOOB working backwards -

The mess doesn’t stay on her. In the panel (3 in my paper) that begins, “Francie, you’re …”, the kid’s face is clean.

Francie, being Anthony’s presumed child, could be referred to as (the) Little F.

I don’t think Little F has actually had much exposure to the Pattersons. I say that because we seldom see them together. Why and where are these two together now?

Little F is stupid or spends too much time in the basement because she doesn’t realize Liz is a theoretical adult – see last panel.

Liz’s teaching skills in addition to her general life skills are lacking.
Trilobite
March 9th, 2008 at 7:09 am [Reply]

#18 dale –

Yeah, it’s kind of a leap on my part to assume that she’s around the Pattersons enough to imitate them…but then, who else is she going to be around? She has no friends outside her home, and even then she’s fenced up in the basement most of the time. There’s Anthony, I suppose, but ever since he was anointed the One and Only True Suitor for Liz, he’s been a Patterson in all but name.

As far as why she and Liz would be together now, well, that’s obvious: Liz can hardly be expected to don the moldy heirloom dress and march down the aisle towards her ~~doom~~ destiny if she doesn’t demonstrate some parenting skills. Or whatever Lynn is passing off as parenting skills, anyway.
dyslexic dog
March 9th, 2008 at 7:21 am [Reply]

Today’s Brenda Starr. Whips? Semi-nudity? Threesomes???
gleeb
March 9th, 2008 at 8:13 am [Reply]

Benda Starr: Handcuffs? Why have I not been reading this?

Baldo: Ha, not a bad visual gag.

Dick: The world is being held hostage? That’s a lot of portraits.

Abbey Driver, horsewoman: That Dan, he’s either in it with them, or he’s getting Abbey out of the way so he can investigate this himself.

Phantom: “Look, I got the ringtone free with the phone. It was that, or some damned frog thing.”

Rex: A scholarship? I hope Niki uses it to got to barber college, so he can help others as unfortunate as he and his mother.

Sally: That is the slickest method to avoid giving away the last cup of coffee I’ve ever seen. Go Ted!

Luann: “Wennie World”? Were editors concerned about three teen girls enjoying a quick bite at “Wienie World”?
Shoshi
March 9th, 2008 at 8:35 am [Reply]

Brenda Starr–Huh. So Josh shaves his whole body, except he’s got some bad stubble on the legs!!

And I love his confidence that he’ll be done with the whole “adventure” in less than an hour. Probably more like 15 minutes.
Niall
March 9th, 2008 at 8:44 am [Reply]

I wanted to reply to yesterthread last night, but fell asleep halfway through… so here’s all the stuff on it.

29. Divine O’F: Great, I go to Toronto as Mooncattie leaves Toronto for the meetup. But I know why she really went – to avoid the city in chaos under snow! (It’s rather ugly here.)

100. Alley (not Allie) Cat: So you’re a Torontonian too, eh? Back in Ottawa, there’s reports of barely 36cm for the day, though 51cm total (almost two feet for non-metrics). I was out on the TO streets last night at 11pm, and it was about the same as Ottawa Friday night…

103. nerowolfgal: that would be True Fable – but he’s responded by now. :) How’s Ottawa doing today? I’m back this evening, so I’m missing the fun. :)
Mischief Maker
March 9th, 2008 at 8:44 am [Reply]

SLORBP, GLMPH, SLUPP, EAT…
Muffaroo
March 9th, 2008 at 8:44 am [Reply]

I could think of other female cartoonists who made it big, like “Marge” (not a comic strip artist, of course) and Grace Drayton. I’m guessing they weren’t syndicated.

I wonder if Mary Worth would consider just running the whole strip as a single panel with the dialog balloon from the last one. It wouldn’t hurt the pacing at all.
The Divine O’F
March 9th, 2008 at 8:51 am [Reply]

22 Niall: Mooncattie’s a guy!

BTW, everyone, Josh remarked at the meetup that he may start covering Brenda Starr.
kitty
March 9th, 2008 at 8:52 am [Reply]

With all the cold film noir treatment Mary’s past is getting, I can only assume that she once received some incorrect advice about whether she should wear black or brown, or perhaps even black-brown mascara. Of course, I think we all know she was then applying that mascara to neighborhood pets before they disappeared. But she won’t tell that tale.
Baka Gaijin
March 9th, 2008 at 8:54 am [Reply]

FOOB: Has Liz been bobbing for turds in a Diaper Genie? The word “coprophagia” popped into my head when I saw that picture. Grody to the max, man!
Geronimo (the sometime naked village-kissing bandit)
March 9th, 2008 at 9:00 am [Reply]

#6 Captain Kangaroo is a diamond in the sole of New Jersey’s star-studded shoe. A bit blustery, to say the least. I think he had a Spaceman Spiff costume hiding somewhere in his closet; the booze and the rest of him kind of exploded all over the set of his “children’s” show. I can’t remeber how I felt about him; for some reason I seem to believe it was hysterical half-revolted warm fuzzy feeling (kinda like watching a trainwreck), but it didnt matter much, because I knew my dad thought he was pretty goofy. Hell, somebody’s gotta be out there scaring children, and then showing them how to shake it off, so they know it’s okay to lose control of your proper functions because we all do on blessed occasion.

Floss over/under/over dross…? Personally I think I learned to brush my teeth from Sesame Street… up and down, side to side, and circles…

Maybe that’s how Liz manages to munch her hamburger so proficiently. As a vegetarian and recovering chicken mcnugget and vanilla shake addict, I’d have to say that our fast-food culture is enough to give anybody an eating disorder. !!

miniriant I’ll blame it on the leftover plastic in my system from all those mcdonalds vanilla shakes. I’ll try to tone down my bitters in the future, and stick to straight up de-fizzed orange soda. I get really bad hiccoughs, so my granny taught me to stir my soda with a straw.

She was hip. And possibly even hippy. She loved cheese danish, but she never wore ascots. Just moo-moos. Maybe we can look forward to Liz and Ellie someday burning theirs as political statements… although it is important for a girl to keep her eating clothes handy.

Happy Women’s History Month!

(chorus) “…thank you, Uncle Lumpy!”

To that point, so where is Men’s History month?
Inquiring minds would like to know. I should love to know what Mary Worth or Liz Wright would opine..

And don’t give me that “evey month is men’s history month” line, because it’s only true because the history of gendered maleness isn’t marginalized enough to allow men to feel as oppressed by dominant culture as all the rest of us special-interest groups.

Bawwww insane meta- too much human ranting

-ing
-ung

that’s enough storm und drung from me!

fire when ready

p.s. I don’t think you’d have to be a kid to be frightened by Capt. Kangaroo. Except when he’s on rollerskates knocking stuff over, then he’s just plain endearing.

#8 & #15 The correct spelling is “piquing,” I beleive.
I wish I had a day job, but no one wants to hire a pretty little over-educated under-ratified know-it-all stank-ass-plus beotch like me.

#12 heh heh. sandwich stuff.
“…and some sandwich stuff…” Name the movie, anyone?

#14 “It is possible to get dirty enough that dirtier doesn’t matter.” my vote for quote of the week.
Ironically and too complicated for my whimpering brain to fathom though, I think the kid is actually failing as the role model here. “Oh, her…”

#17 i think somebody is cruising for a bruising. OK, we are all potentially as twisted as Ms. Worth, but that is no excuse to recycle bad karma… sharing is caring. I love you. Please, don’t piss granny off.

I better go read yesterday’s thread now, for good bad ugly indifferent inculpable damaged strife-ing etc.
guffaws
huzzaws
blah me
i need icy hot…
no more couch-camping!

I shall now endeavor to go get myself dirty, and hot, and sticky. I’m a grownup, so i can do that. In fact, it’s arol;e I’ve been training for a long, long time. I’ve already gotten thorugh my morning yell-up, so I think I earned it.

… or maybe i’ll go jogging instead… my parents could use some darned peace and quiet.

y kant eri read brenda starr? wahhh

dyslexic dog picked a solid, if kept decently marginal, political interest.
Islamorada Girl
March 9th, 2008 at 9:03 am [Reply]

If we now see Mary Worth in deep Freudian analysis, having “recovered memories” of childhood meddling abuse, I for one will not be surprised. Bored, yes, surprised, no.

Thanks for the shout out for my girl Brenda Starr, Unca! Gotta love the girl reporter. And the current storyline has been great. Love me some Dorkita.
Geronimo (the sometime naked village-kissing bandit)
March 9th, 2008 at 9:05 am [Reply]

#26 guf-faw

#27 I’ve heard of cocrophilia, but never cocrophagia. Thank you for upping the gross factor, from the cockles of my heart-on. :)

-girlfriend who still can’t figure out HTML
Geronimo (the sometime naked village-kissing bandit)
March 9th, 2008 at 9:12 am [Reply]

#30 Oh, dear– i should really call myself on all those typos. Sloppy snark. I do be sowry. Another long-trained-in role. Wheeee, grammatic invertsion!

“I don’t think I’m alone when I say that to snark is human, but to meddle is sociopathically divine.”
Niall
March 9th, 2008 at 9:13 am [Reply]

Sunday Sunday Sunday

BC: Points for what amounts for subtlety on the comics page, but that last panel puzzles me completely.

BB: The main strips are actually fine for me – quick-thinking style of gag. But the throwaway panel also leave me confused; is Beetla mind-reading the General, considering the distance between the two?

Blondie: Well.. at least it’s a public service they’re doing…

Curtis: Oh, man, that boy will grow up to be a fine stalker and creep of the first calibre!

DtM: … … is that menacing, or is that.. no, my brain must not be fully awake yet. And darnit if I wasn’t thinking that the second throwaway panel would have Mrs. Wilson say that her husband just had a stroke…

F Minus: It looks stupid, but I can’t help giggling…

HtH: I like the setup, and that the nurse is berating him for not doing the obvious and trying not to waste the doctor’s time. But the last panel? UNNH (insert Family Feud red X) There’s no reason to prescribe anything, plus she can’t, she’s only a nurse. Had she said “bill” instead, then it would have been funny. So close!

H&L: Same gag setup as Blondie, but bleaker and more depressing. All is normal here.

JP: I’d say the worker is right about everything. And my dirty mind had a completely different last panel with the info of Abbey knowing horses…

MT: that owl looks completely bored with the nature lesson. As most readers of this strip.

MW: I was expecting spinning wheels, since the Sunday has to resume for those not reading/getting the weekday strips.

MC: and more absolute win today. Man-Ray? Man-Cuffs??? Bwahahaha!!

Phantom: Pirates not only like to party, they have a sense of humour for their ringtones! I like those pirates!! And hey, the Next box is promising another party! Could it be… a Pirate Panty Raiding Party? We can only dream!

RM: Panel 2 has Rex so disappointed that someone other than him is getting ahead in life.
Shoshi
March 9th, 2008 at 9:17 am [Reply]

Blondie–I have to confess that Dagwood has long been my hero, and today is no exception. Not only was his action in today’s strip classic Dagwood (or Derwood, if you prefer), but it’s exactly the kind of thing I would do (as are most of Dagwood’s actions). Thankfully, most of our clocks are “atomic” or computer-based.

Now if I can just get me a Blondie and a boss like Mr. Dithers…
michael farris
March 9th, 2008 at 9:19 am [Reply]

I just started reading Brenda Starr a couple of months ago and lately I enjoy it more than most the other soap opera strips put together.
The current storyline has an impressive tally of weirdness (the crazy grandmother, Dorita’s ulterior motives in working for Brenda, the strange evolution of Brenda and Dorita’s relationship) moves at a brisque pace and actually has something like characterization and character development. And today handcuffs and a threesome that will end up with Josh at Priscilla’s and Dorita’s mercy. What’s not to love?
Jay Maeder
March 9th, 2008 at 9:23 am [Reply]

Dale Messick got a lot of mileage out of claiming to be the first syndicated woman, but it’s far from true. She had at least half a dozen predecessors — Fanny Cory, Rose O’Neill, etc., etc. — and probably more than that. Edwina Dumm had been doing “Cap Stubbs and Tippie” for more than twenty years by the time Messick created “Brenda Starr.” —– Messick was indeed the first woman signed by the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate, which might have been what she meant.
Calico
March 9th, 2008 at 9:31 am [Reply]

Forgive me if someone mentioned this, as I haven’t yet read stuff on this thread, but in panel 3 of Brenda Starr up above, it says “Dorkita” instead of “Dorita” – HAHAHAHAH!

Maybe I’ll start calling Liz munch sluup glurp eat chew Patterfoob Dorkita. It has a nice ring to it, kind of like “Tonto.”
Uncle Lumpy
March 9th, 2008 at 9:32 am [Reply]

#19 d-dog –

Thanks for the link to today’s Brenda Starr, which I obviously would have posted had it been available from its own freaking syndicate on time.

We want to love you, Brenda, but you’ve got to speak to those folks at the Trib.

FYI “Dorkita” is the nickname little Paris there gave Dorita, Brenda’s formerly strait-laced secretary. Not to be confused with another star in the Tribune syndicate’s gallery, the mother of Gil Thorp’s Rap-Dog, Dorito.

It’s a wild world of comics out there beyond the Chron. Count on The Comics Curmudgeon to read them, so you don’t have to. (Oh, wait — Pledge Drive’s over).

Carry on.
Calico
March 9th, 2008 at 9:34 am [Reply]

Breakfast in Canada – Kipper and Tuna Casserole sundaes, with butterscotch and creme de menthe sauce! Made by Ellybutt, of course.
michael farris
March 9th, 2008 at 9:35 am [Reply]

Calico, “Dorkita” is Priscilla’s nickname for Dorita. In a quick time it’s metamorphized from an insult to habit to almost affection (if Priscilla really does have human emotions, which is still an open question).

During her mother’s rescue she slipped and used Dorita’s real name while the mother spontaneously called her Dorkita. Editorial mistake or ….. ???
Calico
March 9th, 2008 at 9:36 am [Reply]

Thanks UL – it just sounds so…so…snarky!
Is Dorita a female Dorito? Like a margarita (daisy) pizza? : D

Damn, those gluttons at FOOB have me over the edge sanity-wise, and it’s not even 11 AM.
Niall
March 9th, 2008 at 9:38 am [Reply]

19. dyslexic dog: even better, it stars Josh! Now we know what he’s really been doing on his vacation… :) (No, I don’t read the strip. Obviously.)

25. Divine O’F: Oops, thanks. But Mooncattie’s gender doesn’t matter for my point. :)

28+. Geronimo bandit: Wow. Can I have some of what you’re on, please? It looks very entertaining. :)

I had forgotten to check Slylox Fox… He’s doing another shout-out with that turtle, but I can’t recognise him… and the Six Differences is the creepiest yet!
Baka Gaijin
March 9th, 2008 at 9:39 am [Reply]

Mary Worth: That terrible thing that traumatized Mary when she was a child? Using blue ink, instead of blue-black or black ink, to write her eight birthday’s thank you notes. Deep down we all know it’ll be something like this.
Baron Von Foobenstein
March 9th, 2008 at 9:42 am [Reply]

Sunday FooB — Incredibly gross. And not in any kind of cute way. Maybe I just don’t get Canadian “humour:” Guys in dresses: Hilarious. People eating like pigs: Charming. Lame punchline puns: Oh, tee hee!

Sunday SF:Ted doen’t get out much, does he?
Alley (not Allie) Cat
March 9th, 2008 at 9:45 am [Reply]

#20, gleeb: Re “That Dan, he’s either in it with them, or he’s getting Abbey out of the way so he can investigate this himself.” That was my reaction, too.

#22, Niall: Actually I’m in Ohio, where all records were broken yesterday with 20.4 inches in a day.
Uncle Lumpy
March 9th, 2008 at 9:48 am [Reply]

34 michael –

Thanks much for the correction. Please get thee to Wikipedia and set ‘em straight! I now see that other sources, like the excellent Clean Cartoonists’ Dirty Drawings (NSFW) do not propagate the error.

BTW, the slide show on the linked page does not disappoint, although it lacks the nude self-portrait of Lynn Johnston on page 135 of the original. No, I am not kidding. Yes, you may be excused.
anonymous
March 9th, 2008 at 9:53 am [Reply]

BRENDA STARR: Gosh, I’ve read, or at least skimmed, Brenda Starr for decades now, just because she’s so darned pretty! I am so way old that I can remember the olden days, where she really DID look like Rita Hayworth and wore fabulous clothes. Her boyfriend, the mysterious Basil, wore an eyepatch and was always working on making some mysterious serum out of the elusive black orchid to cure a rare malady he was cursed with. I think Brenda and Basil eventually married, but he had a child out of wedlock and they divorced (?) Wonder what ever happened to Basil, anyone know?
John C Fremont
March 9th, 2008 at 9:53 am [Reply]

Foob – “Retch, ralph, vomit, glurg…”
velvet goldmine
March 9th, 2008 at 9:57 am [Reply]

#6: I had such a crush on Mr. Green Jeans, I can’t even tell you.
Niall
March 9th, 2008 at 9:57 am [Reply]

44 Alley not Allie: …I’m just not going to say anything else much for the day about Mudgeons, then. Batting 0 for whatever so far. :) And 20 inches is what Ottawa received – over two days. So I can sympathise.
MDtoMN
March 9th, 2008 at 9:59 am [Reply]

Speaking of Feminist Comics & Cartoons:

Ms. PacMan — Truly brilliant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA1PY8YVk7I

Truly a great bit.
Alley (not Allie) Cat
March 9th, 2008 at 10:09 am [Reply]

FOOB is like a bad acid trip today. Francie goes from a clean face to a filthy face to a clean face to a little bit filthy back to clean then back to totally filthy and then wraps up once again totally clean. I am in awe of that level of lack of continuity. Is it deliberate? Is LJ mocking us?
Spotted HØrse, Jungle Steed
March 9th, 2008 at 10:15 am [Reply]

FOOB: Wow. Granthony in a Chuck Norris beard. It’s actually a pretty good look for him. He’s gotta do something about his peanut-butter-diving spawn, though.
Godzooky
March 9th, 2008 at 10:24 am [Reply]

#45 UL: Um, I think you may have meant to thank #35 Jay Maeder, who actually posted info, rather than #34 michael farris, who mainly had nice things to say about Brenda Starr.
Spotted HØrse, Jungle Steed
March 9th, 2008 at 10:26 am [Reply]

YesterFOOB: I lurve John’s flapping, ravenous head-as-Pez-dispenser in the last panel.

For those inclined to feast their eyes on younger Foobs shoveling down burgers in 2003, here’s a very special link. Lots of ommina… onomonippy.. hummana hummana.. you know, that word we like.
Godzooky
March 9th, 2008 at 10:28 am [Reply]

#28, #30, #31 Geronimo (the sometime naked village-kissing bandit): Red?
fishmorgjp
March 9th, 2008 at 10:29 am [Reply]

FOOBoid eating scenes put one in mind of the Cookie Monster devouring things along the countertop: “CASSEROLE!” NOM NOM NOM GROMPH NOM… “BUTTER TARTS!” NOM NOM GULP NOM… “VANILLA PUDDING WITH MEATBALLS!”" NOM NOM NOM NOM… and so on.
queek
March 9th, 2008 at 10:30 am [Reply]

A&J: the Saturday strip was SO me and the QG, and today we have yet another “its grill time!” strip. Red meat and fire go so well together! *tim allen grunts*

MC: “Manduck gestures hypnotically” (also, Decoy, Pig-Hostage, came to mind.)

Patrick McDonnell of “Mutts” has been watching “Shrek” sequels again, I see, while Wiley of NonSequitur has been watching Faux News.
Juan de Fuca
March 9th, 2008 at 10:31 am [Reply]

#8 Mr. O’Malley:

You were halfway there. It is “piquing,” not “piqueing.”
Hank
March 9th, 2008 at 10:33 am [Reply]

RE: Crankshaft. The last panel. I guess Batuik had to draw the scene from outside the window because it would have difficult to draw that many smirks.

RE: 9CL Has anyone else realized that this strip is just like FOOB, insofar as the foregone conclusion that your “one true love” is the first member of the opp. sex whom you had a crush on (or vice versa)? At least Edda hasn’t let her ass grow six times its original size, however.
Miss Tori
March 9th, 2008 at 10:37 am [Reply]

If FOOB is going to rip of A Christmas Story couldn’t it at least be someone getting their eye shot out?
Calico
March 9th, 2008 at 10:40 am [Reply]

#52 Widdle Francie is just practicing her, um, technique, for when she’s all growed up! Blaaaargggh!
FOOB Gluttony, spread through the generations. The kid may not have a FOOB bloodline, but Liz is going to try her darndest to mold her, Pygmalion style, into a uber-sloppy Mini-Me.
velvet goldmine
March 9th, 2008 at 10:40 am [Reply]

#45 Uncle Lumpy, at the risk of being a tightwad perv — a skinflint, if you will — is there any way of seeing that self-portrait, short of buying the book?
Alley (not Allie) Cat
March 9th, 2008 at 10:42 am [Reply]

In that first FOOB, dated 8/13, Ellie is serving up a heart attack, doubtless on purpose. There’s more saturated fat in that meal than I normally get in a week.

Munch, glupp, slurbp, mff, eat. Slurp, gluppp, slorbp, glmph, slupp, eat! Never have word balloons been more true to the characters.

#58, Juan: Can we have fun with malapropisms? A current fave: “Deep-seeded.”
giraffe-o
March 9th, 2008 at 11:04 am [Reply]

Dorita?? Will we soon meet her siblings, Fritolae and Cheeta?
mudduck
March 9th, 2008 at 11:14 am [Reply]

I think it worth noting that Brenda Starr is drawn by a veteran woman comics artist — June Brigman, who created The Power Pack for Marvel.
Master Mahan
March 9th, 2008 at 11:15 am [Reply]

You know you’ve been reading this site for too long when a strip shows two women engaged in scat play and infantilism, and you’re more disturbed by the use of “eat” as a sound effect.

Alternate comment: A scene from the popular on-line video, Two Canadians One Cup.
Shermy Glamrocker
March 9th, 2008 at 11:17 am [Reply]

#64 giraffe-o: Don’t forget the name she assumes for her gig in the Ladies Mexican Wrestling Association: “La Tostita.”
Joe, Upper-Evergreen Division of the Jungle Patrol
March 9th, 2008 at 11:27 am [Reply]

FOOB: I suppose Elizaloser is inclined to introduce little Fancoise to the nuiances of the sacred foob-feast, since the Lizthony merger is all but official.

It’s interesting how younger Francoise is so articulate and the older Wobin is so lagging behind in his development.

Since when did Francoise start to take a liking to Elizaloser?? Oh yeah……..during these past couple of months when they’ve been absent from the comics page.

Damn you Lynn. Damn you to hell.
Ukulele Ike
March 9th, 2008 at 11:28 am [Reply]

Fine work, Lumpy. You’ll find this week’s pay envelope will seem a bit heavier.
Calico
March 9th, 2008 at 11:33 am [Reply]

#54 – I had cleansed that from my mind – had, mind you. : ) Dear Lord. They all really did inherit this behavior.
“The soggy kind that squash and fold over”-what a marketing pitch that would be.
Flipper
March 9th, 2008 at 11:33 am [Reply]

#32 Niall: You see, while cross-stitching is the type of embroidery one might see on pillows in the living room, Mrs. Ant is referring to the cross-stitching on the baseball that has destroyed her home…ha ha! Of course, to make the pun work, you have to forget that baseballs don’t have cross-stitching. Much like yesterday’s not asking how one would actually abuse asteroids.
Jordan
March 9th, 2008 at 11:34 am [Reply]

“Gosh, Elizabeth, how are you able to do that without throwing up?”

“Oh, it doesn’t seem so bad to me in comparison…” *Thought-balloon of Liz kissing Anthony*
Canaduck
March 9th, 2008 at 11:47 am [Reply]

Uncle Lumpy: I’m just glad you didn’t choose Cathy:Bane of Intelligent Women and Human Beings in General (I think that’s the complete title) as an example of a female comic strip artist. Thanks!
willowbarcelona
March 9th, 2008 at 11:50 am [Reply]

Thanks so much Uncle Lumpy for the fund drive and for your hand-picked awesome character tie-ins each day that were so effective in getting us to make friends with our inner PayPal.

Josh’s site does more good than can be imagined. It has been a pleasure to recommend it to more than one cancer center and patient. It is amazing what laughter, good snarky belly-aching, snort out loud laughter can do for one.

Snark On Comics Curmudgeons! And may particularly special blessings fall upon Josh and his bride, as they wend their way home, upon their ever-widening circle of friends, and most surely may every joy arrive at the doorstep of the Supreme Uncle Lumpy, whose periodic Master of Ceremonies turns are brilliant treasures.

We love you, Josh! Welcome Home!
queek
March 9th, 2008 at 1:15 pm [Reply]

the Freep mentioned today that Stephan Pastis has a new “best of” collection out, entitled “The Crass Menagerie”

further information is no doubt available on the internets
Joseph Wong
March 9th, 2008 at 1:18 pm [Reply]

FOOB Preview

This coming Friday…

Blandthony proposes and Liz accepts.
Alley (not Allie) Cat
March 9th, 2008 at 1:19 pm [Reply]

BTW, if ever there was a guy who hasn’t been out of the house in years, it’s Brooke McEldowney. I’ll bet he’s got a Guinness World Record-worthy pr0n collection which represents the sum total of his relationship history.
Spotted HØrse, Jungle Steed
March 9th, 2008 at 1:41 pm [Reply]

#61 Calico:

Widdle Francie is just practicing her, um, technique, for when she’s all growed up! Blaaaargggh!

Calico, m’colleague, you got what I was driving at! The schmutz-on-face is just icing on the cake (hole).
Islamorada Girl
March 9th, 2008 at 1:59 pm [Reply]

76–Are you serious or just toying with us? Either way, I’m nauseated. Let the iridescent mango dresses start!
canidlover
March 9th, 2008 at 2:04 pm [Reply]

#33 – question – WHY is Hi in Hi and Lois going to work on Sunday? Is their office open seven days/week?
Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)
March 9th, 2008 at 2:07 pm [Reply]

I had something really important to ask, but I forgot what it was. Drat.

Anyway, I said this in the last thread, but if you people are looking for a new comic to read that is actually usually pretty funny, written, and has cute fuzzy animals, try Over the Hedge. It has great characters, generally intelligent themes and I love the way its drawn. Yes, this is the comic that was made into that pixar movie, but it’s definitely better than the movie was.
bats, Aviation Division of the Jungle Patrol :[
March 9th, 2008 at 2:17 pm [Reply]

Honest to gawd, I didn’t notice little F’s dirty – clean – dirty – clean faces…Mr. bats and I were going nuts trying to figure out what was “funny” in the comic. No, we didn’t figure it out.

OTOH, now I’ve accepted Foobian Fate and cannot wait for Asshathony and Lizardbreath’s wedding. I’m especially looking forward to Dee having a massive stroke at the reception when Liz rips into the buffet and the wedding cake, fatally staining the heirloom wedding gown that Dee spent big bucks having cleaned and preserved. And I thought Liz’s ass was going to be the reason for its demise… It’ll be just like a PBS fiesta, with hyenas tearing into a bloated zebra carcass! Yay!

30. Geronimo: several species practice copraphagia, to utilize nutrients produced by the bacteria in their hindguts (essentially running it through the system again). Rabbits are a sterling example of this, and “still good” rabbit raisins do have a different appearance than the “already through the wringer” ones.
Yeah, more than you or anyone else probably wanted to know. Yet it might explain the Pattersons for rabbits as pets…

45. Uncle Lumpy: aside from all the accolades for your good work this past week (Good work, BTW), I have seen the NSFW self-portrait of LJ. Going through the slideshow, what strikes me is that NONE of the other cartoonists featured felt the need to showcase themselves in such a manner. What a farkin’ egotist she is! Gah!
dyslexic dog
March 9th, 2008 at 2:17 pm [Reply]

I doubt this is the nude self portrait to which Uncle Lumpy refers in #45, but Lynn is right there, drawing it, and if you squint really hard, you’ll execrate me for leading you down a blind alley…
dyslexic dog
March 9th, 2008 at 2:20 pm [Reply]

#83–me
bats :[ either
bats, Aviation Division of the Jungle Patrol :[
March 9th, 2008 at 2:25 pm [Reply]

81. Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^) : Pixar was not responsible for the “Over the Hedge” movie. There’s a slew of these studios now — OtH wasn’t bad, considering some of the drek out there (and casting Shatner as the voice of a histrionic opossum was spot-on).
I don’t read OtH much, but I agree it is a nifty strip. After being away from it a while, I was surprised to see that some of the characters aren’t “pretty” (not like the sanitized film version), but then again, turtles aren’t necessarily beauties, and a lot of wildlife is raggedy around the edges if they manage to live to adulthood.

Anyhoo, after the “find the funny in the Sunday Foob” debacle, I had to respond in my own way:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/2319819603/
And boy! Is that wipe on-wipe off mess on Little F really bugging me now!
gnome de blog
March 9th, 2008 at 2:38 pm [Reply]

59 Hank:
Edda’s ass hasn’t ballooned because she’s like, 19. Wait a few years.

Brenda Starr: what can I say? This is one legacy strip that’s better than the original. Wonder if Mary Smich is a secret joshreads reader and is taking um, liberties with His Popeness!??
Baka Gaijin
March 9th, 2008 at 2:42 pm [Reply]

#45, #83, and #84: LA LA LA LA LA! I can’t hear you! LA LA LA LA LA! I won’t look at that link. LA LA LA LA LA LA! I’ll have nightmares just by the insinuation, thankyouverymuch.
Sarah Marie
March 9th, 2008 at 2:46 pm [Reply]

Brenda’s gotta stop taking eyeliner tips from mimes.
Girl Reporter
March 9th, 2008 at 2:59 pm [Reply]

I. Love. Brenda. Starr.
Alfred E. Neuman
March 9th, 2008 at 3:22 pm [Reply]

#22 Niall— We’ve had 2 snowstorms this week here in the Dallas area, with a total of about 20cm/8in. Snow! In March!! In Texas!!! WTF?!! I didn’t move to the sunbelt for this! (Grumble, grumble) Maybe that accounts for me going off the deep end in my previous post (#13).

Brenda Starr— One of the Pep Boys (I think it’s Manny) puts in a guest appearance in panel 4.
Uncle Lumpy
March 9th, 2008 at 3:24 pm [Reply]

#89 Girl Reporter –

I. Love. Brenda. Starr.

Well, duh!
BigTed
March 9th, 2008 at 3:25 pm [Reply]

Of all the “dramatic” comic strips, “Brenda Starr” is probably the best. Of course, it would have to be in order to have survived that awful 1989 movie with Brooke Shields.
Lou Shumaker
March 9th, 2008 at 3:33 pm [Reply]

Bats, that’s some comedy gold you got there. Thanks for sharing!
Islamorada Girl
March 9th, 2008 at 3:46 pm [Reply]

This morning I felt and probably looked like PriscillaMomma in panel 4 of Brenda, only with Xenex. Is that not the happiest old hippe hag you’ve ever seen? I’ve been reading Brenda since I was a sprout, and she influenced my decision to become a writer. I’m so happy his Popefullness is adding her to the lineup. But you should have seen her in her Dale Messick days with those two foot eyelashes and her outrageous outfits no reporter could afford.
I wonder what did happen to Basil St. John and their daughter, Starr Twinkle? For a kid with two good looking parents, that child was as homely as a mud pie.
Dingo
March 9th, 2008 at 4:06 pm [Reply]

I always suspected that it would be April Patterson but — lo! — it appears that her older sister, Elizabeth, is the dirty Sanchez of the family. And… in front of a rapidly aging toddler! Tsk tsk, Elizabeth, tsk tsk.
Porky
March 9th, 2008 at 4:17 pm [Reply]

#1: Yet another reason to love Sherman’s Lagoon – Solar Powered Tanning Beds.

SL is a real gem – or more appropriately – a Pearl!
Porky
March 9th, 2008 at 4:21 pm [Reply]

P.S. – Brenda Starr.

Can someone please explain the tattooed arrows under her eyes?
Brick Bradford of the Space Jungle Patrol
March 9th, 2008 at 4:28 pm [Reply]

#45-Carl Barks? CARL BARKS! Donald Duck artist Carl Barks!?! Guess we’ll have to start calling Uncle Scooge Uncle Screwge.

Hank Ketcham? Though I did enjoy the nude dancing scene between Dennis’ mom and Mr. Wilson.
Uncle Lumpy
March 9th, 2008 at 4:31 pm [Reply]

#97 Porky –

Those are an hommage to Dale Messick, who had an unmistakeable girly style, and always drew Brenda with enormous sparkles around her eyes. The current (excellent!) artist, June Brigman, reserves them for closeups.
Uncle Lumpy
March 9th, 2008 at 4:33 pm [Reply]

#98 Brick –

The book also has naked Hi and Lois. A gem, and a bargain!
The Divine O’F
March 9th, 2008 at 4:39 pm [Reply]

Hey, everyone, I may have stirred you up for nothing. Josh didn’t say he would definitely start covering Brenda Starr, just that he’s thinking about it. The problem is he has no easy way to read it every day. If anyone has suggestions, I’m sure he’d be open to them.
Ernie Pan
March 9th, 2008 at 4:53 pm [Reply]

Yay! Brenda Starr made the ‘Mudge! I’ve always been fascinated by those tattoos under her eyes. Who knew Rita Hayworth was so tribal?
Islamorada Girl
March 9th, 2008 at 4:55 pm [Reply]

http://www.gocomics.com/brendastarr/

They will even email her to you daily!
Shoshi
March 9th, 2008 at 5:04 pm [Reply]

I found Basil St. John:

http://www.angelicdreamz.com/store/basil_st_john.html

(Along with the lovely Brenda and other associates.)
Pinokeyo's Wife
March 9th, 2008 at 5:07 pm [Reply]

Mibbitmaker says:

“MW: Something from her childhood… shaped who she is today. Well, she’s too old to have been frightened by Capt. Kangaroo, as a child, so that can’t be it………”

Considering that Mary killed the Bob Keeshan-alike Aldo Kelrast, chances are she is not afraid of Captain Kangaroo in the least.

HOWEVER, it will be nice to finally know (now that her childhood is being hashed up) whether Mary is from The Old Testament or The New.

ALSO, what’s with Sunday’s first panel? It’s totally an expansion of one from earlier in the month!
Shoshi
March 9th, 2008 at 5:10 pm [Reply]

And apparently there IS a connection between “Mary Worth” and “Bloody Mary”!

http://tinyurl.com/2obtps

“Mary Worth, a beautiful, vain, young woman, was killed violently in a car accident in the early 1960’s. Her face was horribly disfigured in the accident, thus the legend began. Mary was so angry over her mutilation, she swore to destroy all who called to her through the thing she loved the most … a mirror. Are the abundant mirrors of the world simple sheets of glass? Or does Mary wait patiently behind the reflective surface we so the words … “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary …”"

Could THIS be the flashback we’re waiting for??

Or perhaps THIS is the flashback:

“The most common story told is that Mary Worth was a witch that lived over 100 years ago who dabbled in the black arts. She was found out and executed.”
(http://www.castleofspirits.com/bloodymary.html)

The plot thickens…
commodorejohn
March 9th, 2008 at 5:58 pm [Reply]

A3G – If by “okay” you mean “abandoning himself to boozy depression,” then yeah, I’d say he’s okay.

Crankshaft – The Crankshaft Circus.

Crock – I’m rather disappointed that the mention of “Billie Jean” didn’t work into the obvious reference, but then again, I think a Michael Jackson reference in Crock would probably make the universe explode.

FOOB – So which of Lynn’s fetishes is more off-putting? Infantilism, or whatever the name is for “sloppy goop fetish” that there’s no way in Hell I’m looking up? Also, Liz in the penultimate panel looks frighteningly like Michael cosplaying as Gordon Freeman.

FC – Thomas Kinkade reference, or run-of-the-mill Keane stupidity?

JP – Oh great, another sidetrack from Abbey and the Magic Brownies. Argh.

MW – On the other hand, maybe Mary will just keep alluding to her past over the course of the next week without actually explaining it.

RMMD – Oh don’t do this to me, Rex Morgan! Just when we thought you were done with the assaulting gayness…

Edison Lee – complains about sweatshop labor while endorsing the party that coined the phrase “most favored nation.”
Mibbitmaker
March 9th, 2008 at 6:03 pm [Reply]

#105: The theory I was going to go with was that Capt. K was so scary to young Mary that she vowed to destroy him, given the chance. Then came Aldo…..

Brenda Starr (or….. BS –??): The art is good there, but she’s got some freaky-looking wrinkles in throwaway panel two! She probably sleeps on her face wrong. Really, really wrong.
4EvahFan
March 9th, 2008 at 6:11 pm [Reply]

FOOB: I am obsessed with Liz’s stupid hair twist! Usually she only makes sure her hair is in this ridiculous style when she’s teaching, talking about teaching, thinking about teaching, grading papers from her teaching I guess to put on that school-marm look that makes her more authoritative and knowledgeable. So why is she all school marmed out for her lunch with Squiggly C? Does she consider how-to-get-pb&j-all-over-your-face-in-a-veiled- attempt-to-win-over boyfriend’s-spawn another teaching moment, so she must serve her, obviously on a weekend, lunch all school marmed out? Aarrgh!

And why the Mrs. Beasley glasses? Is Lynn intentionally making her look like Granthony so that we’ll think they’re even more compatible?

And I agree Bats :[ — this is so unfunny. Thank you for your redo — much better!
Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)
March 9th, 2008 at 6:20 pm [Reply]

#85 bats Ah, I thought it was Pixar. I usually associate them with movies about talking animals. Anyway, I didn’t think the movie was bad, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed the strip. I just love Hammy so, so much, so any strip where I see his bug-eyed face makes me happy.
Patrick
March 9th, 2008 at 6:25 pm [Reply]

FOOB: You have to wonder if Lynn thinks eating is disgusting in general or if she had some soul scarring experience with bad table manners. As far back as I can remember, almost every time someone in the foobverse is pictured eating it is always in the most nauseating manner possible.

glurb, snorf, slurp, smack, glarg, retch!

Mary Worth:I can hardly wait for her “life” story. Seeing as MW is one of the undead, undead, this should be interesting. A dalliance in 1797 leads to a tragic unfolding of destiny when Mary Worth first encounters Aldo at the court of the Crimson King where he serves as the prog rock composer to His Royal Majesty. Aldo then composes “Moonchild” for Mary not realising she is actually a vampyre. For his trouble, Mary then fangs Aldo only to leave him to burn in the rising sun without even an empty platitude for comfort. As Aldo cries “I’m melting!” he then declares his revenge upon Mary to be his clingy, annoying and most ardent love that will never ever die. Aldo rises from his ashes every 33 1/3 years to redeclare his love for Mary. Only when Mary gives Aldo the love he so desperately craves can he be freed from his eternal curse.
Islamorada Girl
March 9th, 2008 at 6:32 pm [Reply]

104: From the Basil St. John doll copy: Brenda’s life took a fateful turn on September 16, 1945 when she dreamed of a tall, dark, handsome stranger attired in a black cape and wearing a black patch over one of his eyes. The stranger materialized the following week, “the mystery man” turned out to be Basil St. John®, a reclusive millionaire who cultivates a rare species of black orchids, the only known remedy for his “secret disease”.

Honestly now, if you saw a guy with a black cape and an eye patch, wouldn’t you think “Hmmm, Pirate Dracula” and run like hell? Either way, it wouldn’t be good.
Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)
March 9th, 2008 at 6:34 pm [Reply]

I just started reading Brenda Starr a few days ago, and I have no idea what’s going on in the current storyline. Does anyone care to fill me in?
Joseph Wong
March 9th, 2008 at 6:52 pm [Reply]

79 – Islamorada Girl

No I’m not toying with you. One of my local papers (The New Paper) publishes, on Sunday, the FOOB comics for the following Mon – Fri. Thus I know:

THIS FRIDAY

BLANDTHONY AND LIZ BECOME ENGAGED

And the Monday – Thu strips are no less awful
Shoshi
March 9th, 2008 at 6:59 pm [Reply]

114–Islamorada Girl, I think I’d be a little more worried about his “SECRET DISEASE”!!!!!
bats, Aviation Division of the Jungle Patrol :[
March 9th, 2008 at 7:02 pm [Reply]

116. Joseph Wong: then again, in our heart of hearts, did we really expect anything else (other than an accompanying 21-hurl salute)?
Still, it’s rather nice to be prepared for such things.
Gold-Digging Nanny
March 9th, 2008 at 7:05 pm [Reply]

Before I start the Six Differences, I just wanted to point out that the pig on the TV is clearly an anchor or a frequent correspondent to LOLNews

Six Differences with the Gold-Digging Nanny

Sunday SFx

1) In panel one, Count Weirdly is watching Sean Hammity because he truly believes Fox News is fair and balanced. That’s how crazy he is.
2) In panel two, Count Weirdly is watching Hamderson Cooper on LOLNews, but he’s really waiting for the Mountain Dew commercials, because they contain coded messages with directions to make cheese bombs.
3) In panel one, after Hammity, Count Weirdly plans to watch “Night of the Living Cake.” His pet cake insisted on it.
4) In panel two, Count Weirdly’s hairy, gumdrop-shaped creature will interrupt him right when the show was getting good because it needs to go for walkies.
5) In the beaker in panel one, Count Weirdly has been experimenting with carbonating his own beverages. Explosion in 5…4…3…2…
6) The fish in panel two has been grounded to his fishbowl after Count Weirdly caught him chewing on the couch.

This episode of Six Differences with the Gold-Digging Nanny has been brought to you by Mountain (1 part cow’s milk 1 part gunpowder thermophilic lactic acid bacteria) Dew.
Shoshi
March 9th, 2008 at 7:05 pm [Reply]

116. Joseph Wong–Gee, you’d think there’d be some kind of contractual obligation not to publish them ahead of time??
Dub Not Dubya
March 9th, 2008 at 7:12 pm [Reply]

Hey everybody, I found some talking apples at my local Tim Hortons. They must be friends of Mark Trail’s talking potato:

http://members.cox.net/blogpicsaddy3/apples.jpg
Wolf Shepherd
March 9th, 2008 at 7:22 pm [Reply]

I was stuck in the SPAM filter. This is a test to see if I have been released.
Allie Cat, Doppelganger
March 9th, 2008 at 7:34 pm [Reply]

#116 – Well, that doesn’t surprise me. There are only major plot developments in FOOB when I have to be out of town and away from this forum. Mr. Cat doesn’t share my affinity for comics or snarking on comics, and I don’t think my sister, with whom we’re staying, has read the funny pages…ever. She also thinks Sudoku is for little old ladies.

Ought to be a fun visit.
LITTLE A. OF THE GRAND CONCOURSE JUNGLE PATROL
March 9th, 2008 at 8:00 pm [Reply]

Dear Mr. Wong,

Although we were all expectorating this, with baited breath, why couldn’t you keep this information to yourself? I was going to use a very unnice word here but I don’t want to be ejected from the blog. We all know that comics are produced weeks and months in advance and that the editors of papers see these things way in advance of when we do — but why COULDN’T YOU KEEP THIS GODDAMN INFORMATION TO YOURSELF?

How old are you, Mr. Wong? 9? Naah Naah, I know something that you dont!!! Liz is getting en gay=aged!!!

Jesus.
Islamorada Girl
March 9th, 2008 at 8:10 pm [Reply]

Now, we can all wait with bated breath for the next exciting episode—Spawn of Lizthony! Will there be fertility treatments, or in true Patterson tradition, an “accident”?

I can only hope Deena’s mom bullies her way into planning the wedding.

Thanks, Joseph Wong, for the warning. If there was a hurricane about to come through, I’d want to know about that, too.
Shermy Glamrocker
March 9th, 2008 at 8:15 pm [Reply]

And how do we know Sr. Wong is telling the truth? And is that, in fact, his real name?

HmmmMMM????
Buck Ripsnort
March 9th, 2008 at 8:18 pm [Reply]

#45, Unca Lumpy, that link makes up for today’s FOOB. I was going to throw in some snark about Lynn finding a whole new way to sicken me, but the discovery of a new softcore porn-site (Carl Barks! Mutt & Jeff! Virgil Partch! DAVE FREAKIN’ BERG!) takes all the bad feelings away.
commodorejohn
March 9th, 2008 at 8:32 pm [Reply]

#124 Little A. – Fear not, the suspense isn’t ruined, as we still have yet to see in what manner Warren will be completely demonized in order for Liz to realize that Anthony Is The One. My money’s on a repeat of the “half-hearted rape attempt” bit, but we’ll see. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll only further increase our loathing.

Anyway, it’s about damn time Lynn actually wrapped this one up.
bats, Aviation Division of the Jungle Patrol :[
March 9th, 2008 at 8:36 pm [Reply]

121. Dub Not Dubya: I am so disappointed. Fresh fruit at a Tim Horton’s, displacing valuable pastry shelf space! No wonder Dr. Drew, Manwhore, bugged out to Vietnam — he knows which way the wind is blowing, and it’s a threat to empty carbs and trans fats everywhere!
fishmorgjp
March 9th, 2008 at 9:03 pm [Reply]

Maybe the Mary Worth childhood flashback strips will be vintage Peanuts strips with Mary’s-&-crew’s heads pasted in, with suitably altered dialog. Or maybe vintage Nancy strips.
Girl Reporter
March 9th, 2008 at 9:29 pm [Reply]

I am still dancing a happy dance that Brenda Starr is getting some love here.

One of the last times I dressed up for Halloween, I went as Brenda. I spent all afternoon putting a temporary red rinse in my hair. The bathroom looked like the chainsaw scene in Scarface (I think, from what I saw through my fingers). At the party, no one “got” it. Finally, one guy allowed that “oh, yeah – I think my Mom reads that strip.” It was years before I went to another Halloween party.
unclelumpy
March 9th, 2008 at 9:45 pm [Reply]

#125 Buck –

Chick freaking Young! Al Capp! Fred Gwynne! Ernie Bushmiller!!!

Oh, and Girl Reporter: Dale Messick!

Aunt Lumpy bought me the book for Christmas — wotta gal!
Dingo
March 9th, 2008 at 9:46 pm [Reply]

It was France… and she was cold.

Young Marie had made her way from the provinces to Paris to meet the American army man to whom she had given her heart… and loins. When her mother learned of her dalliance in the barn loft with Private Worth, she forbade Marie to return to the house. When her father discovered that his daughter was no longer both pure of heart and of spirit, he disowned her and demanded she return the mule he’d given to her for her birthday.

So Marie walked to Paris with nothing in her belly and no ass to work off. Late at night as the bistros closed, she would scavenge through the garbage finding small bites of food to eat: perhaps a forgotten radish in a salad; the end of an eclair; or some chocolate on the butt of a cigarette. Finally, in a last desperate moment, she realized she either had to find a man to mark or go en Seine. She stumbled around the corner at Rue McClanahan and gazed into the window of Le Petit Mort.

A group of Canadian soldiers sat inside drinking cheap wine, singing songs of the 54th parallel, and feasting on prime rib. One man, in particular, struck her fancy. He had a bulbous nose and a chin that looked like a sac of testicles dangling from his mouth.

She slapped him. “Sir!” she said, “my fancy is for no man to strike! Keep your true patriot love to yourself, if you please!”

He grabbed her breasts as though a fieldhand at harvest time, pressing against them and pushing them toward his basket.

“Do you know who I am, woman?” he drunkenly stammered. “I… am… a Patterson. Wait, no, I’m not. I’m something else. But my daughter will marry a Patterson and we’ll be DAMNED IMPORTANT.”

yada yada yada… lots of exposition… yada yada yada

Marie, now Mary, held the knife to his throat. Jim urinated himself.

“This, Monsieur Jim, is where I say goodbye. You’ve served me well and, for that, I thank you. If you are ever in America, do not look for me. If you try, I will kill you. If you succeed, I will kill you and your entire family. Do you understand?”

Jim nodded. Then, as usual, he nodded off. The memory of Marie would be replaced by dreams of prime rib and sodomy in the room above the bistro with Captain Morgan, that nice doctor.

…

Mary boarded the train. The view of her new country, America, was amazing. All of this land; all of these men. So much to plunder. Her newly learned black arts thanks to Brumhilda would be useful in a country as naive as this.

Private Worth met her at the depot in Santa Royale. She gave him a quick kiss and held the brim of her hat against the wind while he carried her bags.

“Mother is looking so forward to meeting you, Mary. My family is just thrilled that I met a girl. A girl like you.”

They passed the courthouse square, Mr. Kimble’s barbershop, and the chocolatier on the corner. As they reached Charterstone Boulevard, Mary noticed a quaint gift shop. There, in the window, sat two porcelain swans.

“Oh, this is the shop of Taffy Mittens. She was our local pork queen back in ‘35. You’ll like Miss Mittens. Heckuva gal, she is. Say… are you lookin’ at them there swans, Missie?”

Mary looked up at Mr. Worth with a coquettish smile and whorish demeanor.

“Did you know,” she purred, “that swans mate for life?”

Private Worth looked way down upon the swans; he quivered.

“I’m buying them swans for you. Tonight!”
Urban Garlic
March 9th, 2008 at 9:51 pm [Reply]

OK, coming in late here, but I only just now noticed that “Slorbp, glmph, slupp, eat…” is dialog, with, like, a speech balloon and everything. Even Cathy (Must Die) doesn’t sink that low. These are dark days indeed.
prospero
March 9th, 2008 at 9:54 pm [Reply]

But, you know, Kurt wrote wonderful books. Also, very engaging in person. And there’s Welcome to the Monkey House, which we’re all in now, thanks to Scalia. Euphio may lead to the election of some Oldtimer whacko like McCain.

Girl Reporter. Brenda used to rule, when Basil was in the house. What was the deal with Hank?
bats, Aviation Division of the Jungle Patrol :[
March 9th, 2008 at 9:54 pm [Reply]

130. Unclelumpy: oh, wow…Fred Gwynne?!? One of my most cherished books is “The Battle of the Frogs and the Mice,” a classical parody (really!) of “The Iliad.” Fred Gwynne did the beautiful line drawings for the book, very naturalistic frogs and mice wearing helmets of snail shells and peanut shells (all with the nifty brush crests). Nothing less than gorgeous.
That man was a real artist.
True Fable
March 9th, 2008 at 9:57 pm [Reply]

FBoFW WTF is the deal with the sloppy glomping and munching and slurping and … Eat? Eat?! Okay, I don’t care about the disgusting eating habits of the Pattersons anymore, but I sure as hell would like to know what one’s tongue, teeth or jaw has to do to get the sound ‘eat’ out of mastication. :P
A3G Oh cool. The Reader’s Digest is covering Apartment 3-G now.
JP Oh Jeez, not another story line. Hey, does this mean SuperCedric can come back now? I mean what’s one more story thread more or less?
MW Something from Mary’s past made her the meddling, platitudinous old biddy she is today? Okay, I’m in. Tell me.
RMMD Panel one: Rex is excited about size! Panel two: Rex’s wet blanket ways have just been pwned. Gimme that check before you ruin it! Panel three: Please, somebody spend whatever it takes to get her hair done! Panel four: Signed by Mr. Bank Check! I’ll bet it’s hard for him to cash his own at stores. Panel five: Well, Rex was standing behind him, we shouldn’t be surprised. Panel six: Good wing sauce, boy! You’re asking the dude who burned $8K in a stove?! Panel seven: This man is babbling now.
FC Just as long as you don’t make another fucking snowman from it, you can look at all the sunsets you want, kid.
ladadog
March 9th, 2008 at 10:01 pm [Reply]

-#122 I’m with you. Why would Mr. Wong do such a thing? Don’t let him near children at Christmas.
But, please, you’ve cast aspersions on elderly gents.
Gold-Digging Nanny
March 9th, 2008 at 10:02 pm [Reply]

Catchup!

Six Differences with the Gold-Digging Nanny

Feb. 28 SFx

1) The boy in panel one is attempting to be a modern-day Indiana Jones (he calls himself Mississippi Smith). But he’s already failed his first test — he left his hat behind.
2) The bird in panel two is attempting to hover so that the cowboy hat will fall by the time it reaches him. He will remember too late that he is not a hummingbird.
3) In panel one, there’s a lizard underneath the rock. In panel two, it’s a kid from China who dug his way here.
4) The cactus on the left in panel one has 17 percent more spines than the corresponding cactus in panel two.
5) In panel one, Bluebell the cow wandered off from the farm and died of thirst. A large rodent dragged the skull away from the rest of the body. In panel two, Bessie the cow was attacked by cannibal cow headhunters. They made Bessie into a stew and their leader wore her skull on a necklace until one of the horns fell off. He found a better cow skull and left hers here.
6) The kid in panel two has failed to stay on a sheep for more than four seconds during his local rodeo’s Mutton Bustin’ championship for the last two years. He’s about to land on his ass but hard.

This episode of Six Differences with the Gold-Digging Nanny has been brought to you by the Snake River Stampede.
Gold-Digging Nanny
March 9th, 2008 at 10:13 pm [Reply]

137 me

I believe I’m completely caught up now.
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
March 9th, 2008 at 10:13 pm [Reply]

FBOFW: If Elizabeth and Francie were both noisily chewing together, does that make this the first comics page portrayal of… mutual mastication?!

“Glubp, slurbp, mff,” indeed.
Jack Hare
March 9th, 2008 at 11:18 pm [Reply]

Well, of course Lizardbreath isn’t making eating noises, she’s saying “Slorbp, glmph, slupp, eat”. Does it surprise anyone that the Pattersons say grace in Orcish?
Trixie Belden
March 9th, 2008 at 11:20 pm [Reply]

#94 Islamorada Girl – re Basil St. John & Starr Twinkle: I seem to remember that there was some sort of plot where Starr Twinkle was either kidnapped or lost at sea but with a chance she was still alive somewhere. Every once and a while after that there would be a story that would feature a redheaded preteen girl, and Brenda would wonder if the girl was possibly Starr Twinkle (that name -yuck!). I’m not sure if she and Basil St. John ever formally divorced, I think the stress from the tragedy was supposed to be what made them separate. Interestingly, I remember some story years ago where Basil reappeared in the strip briefly because he had a tryst with an African American woman who was one of Brenda’s friends, and she now has a little boy who is his son. My own theory as to why Starr Twinkle was deep-sixed is so that the readers wouldn’t be reminded that Brenda Starr can get older. This way, with no kid around, she can always remain a woman of a certain age.

I love Brenda Starr. It might be fun if Josh reviewed it, but I don’t think the strip would make good snark fodder: the writer tells the story with tongue firmly planted in cheek. It’s very entertaining and doesn’t make the mistake of taking itself too seriously.

#114 – Joseph Wong – well, thanks for the warning. My last fervent hope is that Blanthony’s proposal doesn’t come upon the heels of some sort of sexual assault on Liz by Warren.
Starrynight
March 9th, 2008 at 11:21 pm [Reply]

I <3 Gold-Digging Nanny’s 6 Differences! You should make a compilation on your own blog.
Trixie Belden
March 9th, 2008 at 11:22 pm [Reply]

I also want to say -THANK YOU to Uncle Lumpy! You did such a wonderful job of entertaining us all!
GROAN..
March 9th, 2008 at 11:27 pm [Reply]

Hey, not only does LJ give us “SLORBP, GLMPH, SLUPP, EAT…” in a speech balloon, but in the 8/13 strip, everyone’s favorite neurotic Canadian Pluggerette is apparently thinking, THINKING, mind you, “SNIFFFFFF…”
Slorpb, glmph, slupp indeed.
Mibbitmaker
March 9th, 2008 at 11:39 pm [Reply]

3/10 FOOB: That’s it, they’re finally going to break up, and…. oh, yeah……..right.
Mibbitmaker
March 9th, 2008 at 11:53 pm [Reply]

3/10 FW: Omigod, Summer Moore is becoming the Ann Coulter of basketball players!

In a totally different political analogy: forget “animal”… I hear a former Obama advisor refered to Summer as a “monster”.

In an analogy that doesn’t reference politics at all: If Summer were “Animal”, she’d be playing for the Muppet Show band (looking at last panel) …maybe she still will!
Deena in OR
March 10th, 2008 at 12:01 am [Reply]

#123-I don’t know about my mom…she’s pretty mellow. But I’d sic Deanna’s mom on them any day :-)
Frank Parsnip
March 10th, 2008 at 12:07 am [Reply]

Foob: Who the hell eats like that? Lizzie might as well make herself a spring-loaded harmonica-holder just to keep pushing food into that maw of hers. Why let the flow stop?

MW: My dearest hope is that Mary Worth’s formative experience was killing and eating the Soviet soldiers who raped and murdered her brother on their family’s Estonian estate during the closing days of World War II.

My second hope is that Mary will launch into an adapted version of that classic Johnny Cash song: “A Boy Named Mary”:

My daddy left home when I was three
And he didn’t leave much to ma and me
Just an old empty bottle of Chateau d’Ary.
Now, I don’t blame him cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me “Mary.”

Well, he must o’ thought that is quite a joke
And it got a lot of laughs from a’ lots of folk,
It seems I had to fight or else walk wary.
Some gal would giggle and I’d get red
And some guy’d laugh and I’d bust his head,
I tell ya, life ain’t easy for a boy named “Mary.”

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
I’d roam from town to town to hide my shame.
But I made a vow to the moon and stars
That I’d search the honky-tonks and bars
And kill that man who gave me that awful name.

Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
I thought I’d stop and have myself a sherry.
At an old saloon on a street of mud,
There at a table, dealing stud,
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me “Mary.”

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn-out picture that my mother’d had,
And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old,
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
And I said: “My name is ‘Mary!’ Wassup dawg?!
Now you’re gonna die!!”

Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down, but to my surprise,
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.
But I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
Kicking and a’ gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.

I tell ya, I’ve fought tougher men
But I really can’t remember when,
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
He stood there lookin’ at me and I saw him smile.

And he said: “Son, this world is rough
And if a man’s gonna make it, he’s gotta be tough
And I knew I wouldn’t be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
I knew you’d have to get tough or die
And it’s the name that helped to make you strong.”

He said: “Now you just fought one hell of a fight
And I know you hate me, and you got the right
To kill me now, and I won’t find it scarry.
But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
Cause I’m the son-of-a-bitch that named you “Mary.’”

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
And I came away with a different point of view.
And I think about him, now and then,
Every time I try and every time I win,
And if I ever have a son, I think I’m gonna name him
Vera or Drew! Anything but Mary! I still hate that name!
Michael Farris
March 10th, 2008 at 12:39 am [Reply]

# Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)

“I just started reading Brenda Starr a few days ago, and I have no idea what’s going on in the current storyline.”

quick and dirty

Brenda’s been promoted and her (new?) boss, a young(ish) guy on a motorcycle makes her take on a strangely impassive young black woman named “Dorita” as an assistant (with the implication that someone else wants him to get her a job),
Dorita, who turns out to be super-competent after all has some kind of ulterior motive in taking the job related to her senile, chair-ridden grandmother and the boss or the Senator who just bought the paper,

The senator sends Priscilla, his Paris-Hiltonish granddaughter to work there,
Priscilla treats Dorita like dirt (calling her “Dorkita” is one of the nicer things she did),
At some point Priscilla says she’s in danger and needs the help of Dorita, who senses a chance to get some dirt on the Senator’s family and goes along,
Josh shows up sniffing around Dorita looking for Priscilla (who’s gone into hiding),
Dorita wants to hide Priscilla at the apartment of her grandmother who freaks out when she finds out who Priscilla is,
Priscilla and Dorita go on a roadtrip to rescue Priscilla’s mother from some kind of house arrest her father has her under,
Priscill and Dorita want to boink/incapacitate Josh.

You’re up to speed.
CrazyEskimo
March 10th, 2008 at 12:51 am [Reply]

MW: I didn’t think it was possible, but Mary just out-Herb-and-Jamaal-ed Herb and Jamaal. ‘Hey, you know that period people have early on in their lives that can shape them?’
Michael Farris
March 10th, 2008 at 12:52 am [Reply]

While I’m here. I hate Anthony as much as anyone (really, H-A-T-E) and I’ve never been a fan of FOOB (which always seemed like a good blueprint for exactly how I didn’t want to lead my life).

But … I really can’t fault Elisabeth’s behavior Sunday. She’s dealing with a kid who has some issues (who wouldn’t with her father and prospective step-mom?) and who’s ambivalent towards her (can you blame her?)

Kids love gross behavior and like to see adults act silly sometimes. Getting down and dirty and silly and gross (once in a while, not as a management style) seems like a good way to build rapport in this situation.
Mr. O'Malley
March 10th, 2008 at 12:52 am [Reply]

58. Strange, I was sure I posted a comment earlier today.

Re “piqueing” or “piquing”, the OED cites both forms. Like “judgement” and “judgment”, I suppose.
Michael Farris
March 10th, 2008 at 12:59 am [Reply]

Okay, one more.

Regarding FW. I only started reading during the “Cancer sure is funny!” story line so I don’t know much about Les and Lisa’s past.

But … is it possible that we’re being prepared for a story line where Les finds out that Summer isn’t …. you know …. ‘his’ ???
Annette
March 10th, 2008 at 1:16 am [Reply]

I have just learned that FBOFW was a short-lived cartoon series, and that there were several television specials. I cannot fully comprehend the horror of animated Pattersons, its too much.
foofraw
March 10th, 2008 at 1:39 am [Reply]

Years ago, Mary Worth walked by a just-shot
elderly man and left him bleeding on the sidewalk.

Now she realizes that she should have found his
nephew and brow-beaten him into proper behavior.
In Light Syrup
March 10th, 2008 at 3:09 am [Reply]

Those are some awesome misplaced crow’s feet in the second panel of Brenda Starr. I’ve never seen that strip.

An ad for markers. Sweet.
Kurdt
March 10th, 2008 at 4:21 am [Reply]

154: IMDB lists animated specials for FBOFW and Family Circus. The horror, the horror!
Frank Parsnip
March 10th, 2008 at 4:23 am [Reply]

MT: Cherry Trail has a Blondie-esque body that rises to a ventriloquist-dummy head that never fails to frighten me. My quick analysis of the panels:

Panel 1: Mark’s atrophied-out-of-proportion leg artfully covers the handjob he’s receiving.

Panel 2: Cherry wipes off her hand on Andy’s fur.

Panel 3: After ritually anointing themselves with a quick head-first dip into a 55-gallon barrel of Brent Crude, they head home.

MW: What, like did that funny-looking man just ask her if he could sit in on the discussion of Mary’s past? Why is she telling him her preferences in panel 1?!?

Marvin: No “Belly Laffs”? Oh, thank god.

Slylock Fox: Oh, that’s not right… playing games with the entrance/exit terminology? I suppose he would have escaped if he’d also used the “egress”. By the way, on what grounds are these guys being arrested? Sure, he figures that they were going to kidnap him … but where’s the proof?

Momma: Does Ed Cage know that this suitor is wearing a pair of pants made out of Squishy the amoeba?

Foob: It’s been a long time since I last really looked at Foob. Just curious, but when did Michael Patterson start having an affair with both Anthony and have Warren show up at odd hours? I’m trying to sort this out, but with that haircut, those enormous child-bearing hips and the absence of breasts this has to be Michael, right?

Jugs Parker: In panel 1, the reason why Abbey’s questions are going nowhere is because she’s trying to talk to an image of Dan projected from a nearby R2D2 unit.

I don’t know what to find more unbelieveable — that people still take poultry deliveries around the countryside in wooden crates dropped by airplanes just like in the old days or that Abbey didn’t keep that succulent chicken meat for herself to cook up.

A3G: Oh no! Gas Leak Pt. II !!

Sex Organ, M.D.: Yes, and that “anonymous donor” is also expecting another fishing weekend to make up for the one that just got ruined by bank robbers, thankyouverymuch.
gleeb
March 10th, 2008 at 5:36 am [Reply]

’shaft: The black envelope foretells a fatal slip in the ice. Naah, that might make Crankshaft interesting for a change.

FC: Should children that young be watching Unforgiven?

GA: Are they pressing the idea that rural folks and town folks need to be segregated?
daphny
March 10th, 2008 at 5:46 am [Reply]

whenever i do something stupid, or dirty, or wrong.. i just think to myself “well there are people out there who read and enjoy cathy” and then i can live on

i just found this site and its pretty amazing!
LITTLE A. OF THE GRAND CONCOURSE JUNGLE PATROL
March 10th, 2008 at 6:08 am [Reply]

FOOB: So Anthony sleeps in a crib?

We must be a bunch of masochists. Why do we keep “reading” this strip?

I’ve quoted him before, but the answer (thanks to Holden Caulfield) is: It’s so putrid we can’t take our eyes off it.
Shoshi
March 10th, 2008 at 6:15 am [Reply]

151 Michael Farris- Oh! I was interpreting it that Liz was being sort of sarcastic, trying to demonstrate to Francie just how disgusting she is, but failed miserably because Francie was entertained and wanted her to remain “a child” longer.

I guess it was the really tactless approach Liz used in the opening panels, and the absence of any smiling or laughing on her part throughout the strip that would suggest camaraderie or silliness.
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
March 10th, 2008 at 7:12 am [Reply]

Oh, noes! Christian Single Girl is gone, replaced by Google ads for “Uncensored Female Comedy” and “Free Samples for Women”! What do we have to do to bring her back? C’mon, Christian Single Girl! Show me your Gaza Strip and I’ll show you my tower of Babel! Let me mount your Ararat! I want to play Moses with your thighs! How I long for the Revelations of your charms! Armageddon lonely over here!

And seriously, folks, what is the deal with “Uncensored Female Comedy”? Am I right here, fellas? What would that involve? I think it would go a little something like this! “My boyfriend says he’s not afraid of anything, but I know what really scares him — commitment! Am I right here, ladies? Fuck yeah!” Don’t get me started!
anonymous
March 10th, 2008 at 7:40 am [Reply]

#141 – I for one thank you for that information as I always wondered – what ever HAPPENED to Basil and Starr Twinkle? (I guess after, what, 70 years of on and off togetherness it was time for Brenda to be free and move on.) I always thought Basil’s ‘quickie’ with resulting child from an African American woman was just so….wrong. Out of character, like the strip was trying to be ‘contemporary’. Well, it has stayed contemporary, have to give it that. Also thanks to whoever posted the Basil St. John doll pictures!
athena
March 10th, 2008 at 7:53 am [Reply]

Never mind Basil St John and Starr Twinkle–what happened to Hank, Brenda’s one-time best friend who, last time I read the strip lo those many years ago, had been promoted to editor? Hank was the hard-bitten, wise-cracking counterpoint to Brenda’s glamour girl. She chain-smoked and even though she was supposed to be plain and unstylish, she had red hair the same colour as Brenda’s and wore an adorable pillbox hat.
Girl Reporter
March 10th, 2008 at 8:17 am [Reply]

I’m missing a few years’ Brenda – those between moving out Chicago Tribune-ville and when I found her again on the internet.

Basil’s baby momma’s name is Wanda Fonda and she’s a great character. Their son’s name is Sage. He was born with a tiny eye patch. There might have been some sort of amnesia/evil mind-control thing going on at the time that made Basil forget Brenda so that she couldn’t blame him for the whole thing and enabled her to become good friends with Wanda. The exact memory is sort of hazy, but useless stuff sticks in my brain. Unlike algebra.

I came back in in the middle of some new-media adventure earlier this year. It seemed like Brenda left the dinosaur-media Flash in some sort of massive layoff that also claimed Hank, et al. After the new-media adventure ended with someone getting tied up (not Brenda*, that time), she’s returned to the Flash as the Editor and hired back many of the old crew. I think I saw Hank in the newsroom at least once?

*My favorite Brenda-tied-up was when she and gossip columnist Gabby VanSlander were lashed to the Flash sign on the roof of the newspaper building. Brenda calls “help!”, Gabby calls “au secours!”
One-eyed Wolfdog
March 10th, 2008 at 8:24 am [Reply]

In a better world, panel 2 of Monday’s H&J would have the “high-maintenance” customer getting crammed into a high-speed frothing machine and then a wry, eyebrow-cocking pun about making it “organic” or something like that. All this would leave panel 4 wide open for whatever kind of shenanigans the titular two gentlemen might care to get up to, and if I do say so the use words “wide open” are more likely to be relevant in that context than “titular” ever would be.
jayjaybear
March 10th, 2008 at 8:27 am [Reply]

MW: I was kind of hoping Moy was going to pay homage to the strip’s actual history and flashback to an Apple Mary incident, but oh, well…
Shoshi
March 10th, 2008 at 8:48 am [Reply]

MARY WORTH–Oh my. Is she EVER going to tell this story?? How long can they possibly stretch this out?
JoJo Birrell
March 10th, 2008 at 8:55 am [Reply]

I realize someone in the previous 100+ comments already said this, but re: Spiderman — IF YOUR PLAN WAS TO USE MJ AS BAIT TO CATCH SPIDEY, WHY THE HELL DID YOU DESTROY THE ONE DEVICE THAT WAS DRAWING HIM INTO YOUR TRAP?
Patrick
March 10th, 2008 at 8:59 am [Reply]

FOOB: What a sanctimonious expression on Blandthony’s face. Of course he doesn’t believe her. I don’t. Was it necessary for Lizarddeath to explain there is nothing between her and the nit wit who sacrificed what little interest he had as a character on the altar of Steppatterford?

FW: Yet another character becomes a huge jerk. This time its Summer. Yawn.

Mary Worth:Wooden Angel of I Can’t Hear You Over The Sound of How Awesome I Am Death: Maybe she’ll tell the story of that “three hour tour” under her previous identity as Mrs.Thurston Howell the Third.

RMMD: Can a story line have a more bogus ending? Anonymous donor? Give me a break! Perhaps his royal highness can actually show up for work and dispense some medical care for a day or two before he becomes involved in the next idiotic adventure.
One-eyed Wolfdog
March 10th, 2008 at 8:59 am [Reply]

And seriously, folks, what is the deal with “Uncensored Female Comedy”? Am I right here, fellas? What would that involve?
Belly — I regret to say — Laffs.
Little Guy
March 10th, 2008 at 9:02 am [Reply]

9CL: “Breadstick.” “Camp Follower.” “Prig.” “Tart.”

I’m sorry, did I miss the Anthony/Warren beatdown?

GA: Look out, Abbey! Teeka’s got back!
Little Guy
March 10th, 2008 at 9:04 am [Reply]

Luann: Calling it….

Toni’s not going to be asked to the ball by the Captain. He’s gonna give her an award, Cue the jealous-ambitious Brad…..
Artist formerly known as Ben
March 10th, 2008 at 9:04 am [Reply]

3/10

MF: Newsflash! That’s a turkey drumstick with eyes, not Barack Obama’s head! You’d think a guy who’d spent the past decade drawing a Republican game bird would be able to tell the difference.

MW: Mary’s story starts, “So there’s this kid named Johnny Fuckerfaster…”

MT: Uh-oh, Mark almost touched boobie in panel one. Whew, just dodged that bullet.

Ziggy: To the surprise of no one, Ziggy is a lab-bred abomination.

9CL: I’m starting to hope Amos shuts these two up by blowing snot and nickel alloy at them.

Archie: Raj has a pretty tight focus on Veronica’s rack. This could become the Riverdale remake of American Beauty.

BB: Don’t forget “lover”, Sarge.

OBH: Isn’t Avis the lady who already looks like the Joker? I gotta see what she looks like with collagen implants.

S-M: The people stipulate that this strip is a slice of cheese. But delightful, your honor?

GA: Who the hell is Teeka? Are we just finding out now that Skeezix is a polygamist?

S4th: I love that the other toystore workers see Ted as a walking internet.

SFx: That black-feathered marsh bird looks worried. He must know he’s too pretty for the big house.

Big Dog: Whoa there, cartoonis! Remember, some things are supposed to be subtext.
sangwij
March 10th, 2008 at 9:09 am [Reply]

Brenda Starr – There could be no more trivial question, but did a Brenda Starr storyline back in 1956 or so feature a pair of twin pre-pubescent blond brothers? I remember them (in that comic or maybe another) being my first purely imaginary crushes, and also remember thinking maybe that was somehow wrong, seeing as how they weren’t real or anything. Now, of course, I realize it’s perfectly normal to have crushes on imaginary people. Right?
I’m really hoping someone can help me with this, so I can have some closure after all these years.
Artist formerly known as Ben
March 10th, 2008 at 9:10 am [Reply]

159 gleeb,
Unforgiven? I thought they were watching Young Guns II, which struck me as too cruel even for them.
Hank
March 10th, 2008 at 9:14 am [Reply]

re: RMMD. So what is the “moral” of this story? I ask because the writers seem to think that Nikki did something “noble” when he stole the money and only told Rex about it to avoid freezing to death.
Montag
March 10th, 2008 at 9:18 am [Reply]

RMMD: A day late, but here you go.
Alley (not Allie) Cat
March 10th, 2008 at 9:38 am [Reply]

MW: How many days now has Mary been saying that she’s going to say something?
Allie (not Alley) Cat
March 10th, 2008 at 9:41 am [Reply]

#173 and #174 – Little Guy –

9CL – My question is, what’s the deal with these two? Why would anyone be fighting over…Amos? Although, as insults go, “Camp Follower” is a subtle historical jab that I may have to use…

Luann – All kidding aside, I really like Brad, and I’d like to see him get the girl, mostly because after 5 years of this, the cat and mouse of it all has gotten really old. Also, because as old as it has gotten, it’s still better than anything Luann manages to cook up.
Allie (not Alley) Cat
March 10th, 2008 at 9:42 am [Reply]

#180 – WTF!!!! I swear – we only seem to post when the other one just has.
Brick Bradford of the Space Jungle Patrol
March 10th, 2008 at 9:43 am [Reply]

Fred Gwynne as in Francis Muldoon–Herman Munster “My Cousin Vinnie” Fred Gwynne? He did art too? Cool! I also loved his schtick with Bob Hoskins in “Cotton Club”.
Allie (not Alley) Cat
March 10th, 2008 at 9:49 am [Reply]

#183 – Brick – he did a children’s book – the title of which escapes me, but it was all about homonyms and how they can be confusing – things like a “chocolate moose” being whipped up for dessert and “Gorilla Warfare”. It was in my elementary school library back in the dark ages known as the early 1980’s, and was a favorite of many of us rugrats.
anonymous
March 10th, 2008 at 10:03 am [Reply]

#166 – Now I remember, Wanda, of course! And the little eye patch on Sage! She and Brenda did turn out to be good friends, again, I don’t know what happened to them, either.

#176 – I vaguely remember a blond twin storyline…somewhere…can’t help more than that. The saga of Brenda Starr is a looooong one, lost in the mists of time. But crushes on imaginary people are just fine! I, myself, was wildly in love with James from Team Rocket (Pokemon) some years ago!
Alley (not Allie) Cat
March 10th, 2008 at 10:05 am [Reply]

#182 – Must be an ESP thang!
Little Guy
March 10th, 2008 at 10:08 am [Reply]

175: OBH – Avis reminds me more of Screaming Man.
Islamorada Girl
March 10th, 2008 at 10:08 am [Reply]

FOOB: How can anyone marry a guy like Blanthony who wears those awful Crankshaft pajamas and gets a pricky, supercilious look on his face whenever he’s displeased? Imagine sleeping next to a man like that for the rest of your life.
Old School Allie Cat
March 10th, 2008 at 10:21 am [Reply]

#188 – I-Girl- While I applaud Anthony for covering up a little at bedtime – because really, can you imagine how it would scar Francie mentally to see daddy in his tighty whities (we all know he doesn’t wear boxers) – I have to wonder if he stole those pjs from his grandfather.

You just know with his Ward Cleaver bedroom attire and Lizardbreath’s “Bun of Repression” – those two are going to have a smoking hot time in the sack.
gkl
March 10th, 2008 at 10:22 am [Reply]

MW: I am all hopped up for this flashback to start. I wanna see Mary Worth as a child–a white-haired, wrinkly old child.

GA: This plotline has descended from delightful absurdity that truly crackles with impossible wackiness to drudgery and wordplay-that-isn’t far more quickly than usual. Sturdivant Kleeb really should have been a woman…

GT: Speaking of drudgery… now that Andrew’s all responsible-parent-surrogate, can we use the shirtless kid in panel one to at least start a pedophilia rumor or something?

MT: Based on the change of positions, there appears to be a gap of about five minutes between panel one and panel two today. Admittedly, it’s not as shocking a revelation as the fact that human speech comes from squirrel asses, but it’s still a bit too much for a Monday morning.
Uncle Lumpy
March 10th, 2008 at 10:22 am [Reply]

#178 Hank –

RMMD — I think we’re supposed to believe Niki was noble for turning down the reward, saying, “I shouldn’t get paid for doing the right thing, huh, Rex?” even though two days later, his act is revealed as a mere expedient to conceal his theft: “I took* that stolen cash and lost the reward!”

To complicate matters further, Niki gets a bigger payout by declining the initial reward, so the moral message becomes, “Hold out for more!”

But wait! Who is this mysterious donor? Why (wink, wink) it may be none other than Rex! So the final “lesson” of this episode seems to be: “If you act nobly, expect a big payday: if nobody steps up, it’s just unfair.” Eat cake, have cake!

* “took”, not “stole” — certainly not “stole.”
Al of the Christian Single Jungle Patrol
March 10th, 2008 at 10:26 am [Reply]

Dilbert — I know Scott Adams is an atheist and I’m supposed to be an evangelical, but DAMN if that isn’t funny!

Zits — Many world-saving ideas have been lost to humanity in just that way.

Luann — That wasn’t nearly the train wreck I thought it would be.

76 — Foob — Somebody is getting proposed to this week, that’s for sure. But what’s with the PJs?
Moss_Moses
March 10th, 2008 at 10:52 am [Reply]

This probably means I don’t have a life, but I’m really looking forward to seeing how the youthful Mary Worth is drawn. Something tells me she’ll be a little troll freak, much like Vera Shields when she and Von frolicked happily on the tennis court. Since she is supposedly 60 and has no wrinkles, it would be poetic justice if young Mary had a wrinkly sea hag face, since that is just as likely as a 60 year old with a 30 year old body and face. Based on other freak “children” in the strip, she’ll have an adult face on a child body. Her revelation, whatever it turns out to be, will feature days of long winded hype leading up to it, followed by some anticlimactic and meaningless trivial incident that she uses to justify a lifetime of intrusive, nosy meddling, aka “helping”.
reebchan
March 10th, 2008 at 10:53 am [Reply]

192: Proposal on Thursday, acceptance on Friday, John and Elly celebrating getting rid of a daughter on Saturday.

I also have a problem with the PJs. I don’t know anyone between the ages of six and sixty who wears pajamas at all, especially not such unsexy striped flannel that give him a pouch.

Tip to Anthony: if you are cold at night, ask Liz to spend the night to keep you warm. Spoon, damnit! Spoon clothed if you must, but spoon! Spooning generally leads to forking, and forking happens while naked!

…Dear God, I am actively hoping for naked Anthony. I prayed this day would never come.
queek
March 10th, 2008 at 10:54 am [Reply]

Zits: yup, Jeremy is a teen-age boy.

RMMD: Panel 3: something Rex learned during his glory-hole days.

RwO: cute joke.

PBS: I’m liking the hyenas.

Pluggers missing panel 2 dialog “unlike your mom, maybe you’ll make it out of junior high without getting knocked up”

Garfield: I really could have lived without seeing the Fat Cat horking up a sex toy.
Mibbitmaker
March 10th, 2008 at 10:58 am [Reply]

S4th: “Well, kid, I hear the new guys after me are well-versed in such pop culture trivia. A coupla retired fellahs looking to earn some extra cash… I believe their names are Norm…. and Cliff. Be careful, though — I hear they drink….”

GT: He might need some convincing? I still need lots of convincing about this entire strip.

A3G: My money is going fast! No money…. NOW I remember why I forgot about making art!

Zits: So now Jeremy’s cheating on his new girlfriend with his old girlfriend? Or is the new girlfriend visiting ChuckCunninghamville?

S-M: Krandis is this evil villian and all, but I can’t argue with his description of Spider-Man.

FOOB: Lizardb’ can’t see it, but of course Blandie believes her; that’s his “Gorsh, I can’t wait to propose tuh Elizerbeth on Frida– I mean, tomorrow!” look. (Yes, it helps to imagine his inner voice sounding like Goofy)

Drabble: YAAAUGH!!! …Don’t ever doooooooooo thaaat!!

Curtis: “A cup of chicken lips”???

Dilbert: In the first panel, Wally isn’t worried about going to Hell. He figures he’s going anyway. In the last panel, Hey-Soos appears to be no fan of Eric Burdon & War.

GF: Even Donald Trump envies that cat’s ego.

Cranky: Aaaaaaaand another Batiuk strip heads for more tragedy.

Nancy: Looks like the Gilchrists know about this blog, too….

H&L: Derek Studley?? H&L exists in Name Hell.

Curtis: Seriously, “A cup chicken lips”?????
Alley (not Allie) Cat
March 10th, 2008 at 11:06 am [Reply]

FOOB: The lady doth protest too much.
Mibbitmaker
March 10th, 2008 at 11:07 am [Reply]

#192 (Al…):

“Zits — Many world-saving ideas have been lost to humanity in just that way.”

The very thing that kept the Clinton administration from being great.
Professor Fate
March 10th, 2008 at 11:19 am [Reply]

FOOB: Is Blandthony sitting in crib? otherwise what’s with the slats behind him in his bed? Anybody else find that creepy – along with the old man pajamas?

Is it too much to hope that his jealous nature – after all he was unfaithful (at least mentaly) to his wife – so he’d most likely assumes everybody is looking to cheat (projetion is an amazing thing)- destroys the relationship so we don’t see the wedding? Too much to hope but a man can dream Yes?
Mibbitmaker
March 10th, 2008 at 11:30 am [Reply]

9CL: Does someone have a recipe for prigtarts? They sound good.

JP: Abbey one-ups the Junior Nancy Drews from GT — She doesn’t see any cars where she’s snooping.

MW: ………WILLYOUGETONWITHIT?!!!!!!![/Ralph Kramden to Norton]

RMMD: And thus ends another storyline from Rex Morgan Who Happens To Be An MD (RMWHTBAMD).
commodorejohn
March 10th, 2008 at 11:34 am [Reply]

9CL – They seem awfully worked up about money stuck in the nose of a cellist. Singer, sure. Nose-flautist, definitely. But why are quarters in the nose of A CELLIST (loosely defined as SOMEONE WHO PLAYS THE CELLO, loosely defined as AN INSTRUMENT THAT IS NOT PLAYED WITH THE NOSE) worthy of such worry and frustration?

A.D. – And thus did B.C., after a solid fifty years, finally raise the possibility of cavemen being eaten by the dinosaurs with which they co-exist. I do like the fact that the dinosaurs are moving in a fashion like dinosaurs are actually believed to have moved, as well.

BBlue – The joke’s nothing special, but that is a sweet drawing of an amplifier.

Crankshaft – It’s good to know that when I get old, my children will be there to order me around like I’m their child.

Curtis – A WHAT!?

FOOB – Aw, it’s going to be so sweet when Anthony proposes to Michael after their little misunderstanding here. Wait, what’s that you say? That’s Liz!? Are you sure?

FW – Okay, we could just drop all the adults from the cast right now, as far as I’m concerned. Summer is actually likeable and funny, in stark contrast to just about everybody from the pre-jump Funky.

Garfield – Dears Paws, Inc.: PLEASE NEVER DRAW TONGUES LIKE THAT AGAIN.

GA – Given that her father has either no pupils or no eyes and her mother has anime happy-eyes, I’m wondering what this “Amanda Lynn” character looks like.

HTH – Gee, this is a tough situation, all right. If only there were some sort of highly visible object – like, I don’t know, some sort of light-emitting sphere that travelled through the sky in a fixed course, then they could have something relative to which they could orient themselves. Oh well, guess they’ll just die in the desert.

JP – Oh, I get it. Dan here is in on the magic-brownie plot. Phew, for a moment I thought we were going off on yet another tangent not featuring Abbey or drugs.

Marmaduke – AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

MW – You may scoff at Mary’s “decision” to live in the present, but remember that she’s a Time Lord.

Momma – I DON’T UNDERSTAND

MC – Heheheh.

SM – Krandis confuses rodents with arachnids. How much of a threat could he possibly be?

Ziggy – Ziggy is some kind of eternal universal embodiment of “lose.”
Artist formerly known as Ben
March 10th, 2008 at 11:37 am [Reply]

TZits: It’s official. Jeremy Duncan is now the most heterosexual man in all of comicsdom. Take him or leave him, ladies.
Chelsea
March 10th, 2008 at 11:49 am [Reply]

How I knew I was addicted to this site:

In the break room at work today, I randomly glanced at the comices. After reading todays “Red and Rover”, I wondered for a moment why there were no sarcastic comments being made.
Alley (not Allie) Cat
March 10th, 2008 at 11:50 am [Reply]

9CL: I still want to know how someone gets quarters, actual quarters, mind you, up inside their nose far enough that they aren’t outwardly visible. The question of “how” is bad enough…I have to leave the “why” for greater minds than mine….
gleeb
March 10th, 2008 at 11:57 am [Reply]

Red and Rover: Looks more Magritte than Rembrandt.
AhClem
March 10th, 2008 at 12:01 pm [Reply]

Baldo breaks new ground in the field of comic humor today. This is the first time in the history of comics that someone has made a joke about how adults are inept when it comes to computers, and that you need a teenager to understand technology.

In the future, everyone here will remember where they were and what they were doing when this strip was published.
Mike
March 10th, 2008 at 12:06 pm [Reply]

FC 3/10- I distinctly remember this god awful comic making the same joke in the mid 90’s about a movie made in the 80’s. Curse you Bil Keane. Curse you and all your evil offspring.
iedit
March 10th, 2008 at 12:15 pm [Reply]

#188: Right on about the pajamas. All this time I thought Elizabeth wanted to marry her dad, but apparently it’s her grandfather. I wonder if Anthony takes out his teeth and puts them in a glass before going to sleep?
AtomicDog of The Narcoterror Patrol
March 10th, 2008 at 12:19 pm [Reply]

9CL – This whole bit was better when Cheech & Chong did it in the “Up His Nose” sketch.

Just hope Amos also snorted a .32 bullet, and slap him in the back of his head.
Al of the Christian Single Jungle Patrol
March 10th, 2008 at 12:22 pm [Reply]

Sunday Foob — I get it now… Francie is the only one smart enough to wipe her face…

RMMD — How can a check be anonymous? And where did Rex get that kind of money? The last time Rex actually saw a paying patient was sometime before Frank put in that fence!
One-eyed Wolfdog
March 10th, 2008 at 12:24 pm [Reply]

You may scoff at Mary’s “decision” to live in the present, but remember that she’s a Time Lord.
She can fit a lot more in her “tardis” than you’d ever believe it could contain.
bats, Aviation Division of the Jungle Patrol :[
March 10th, 2008 at 12:28 pm [Reply]

160. daphny: that is indeed a fine philosophy to live by! As long as Cathy/FC/name your worst comic nightmare is still published, short of being a mass murderer, one’s life is pretty sweet and free of shame.

165. athena: was that Hank O’Hare? That name was always good for a chuckle.

179. Montag: hah! (or rather LOL!)

183. Brick Bradford: yes, the same Fred Gwynne Herman Munster Car 54 Where are you was a GREAT illustrator! His later ones were funny ones for kids that illustrated puns: “The King Who Rained,” “A Chocolate Moose for Dinner,” “A Little Pigeon Toad”. Some are still in print. “The Battle of the Frogs and the Mice” is still my favorite.
gnome de blog
March 10th, 2008 at 12:29 pm [Reply]

191 Unc:

I think the lost, lamented June is rewarding him for “cleaning her garage.”
AhClem
March 10th, 2008 at 12:34 pm [Reply]

RMMD – The check is payment for services rendered, done anonymously so that Child Protective Services won’t get suspicious.
Girl Reporter
March 10th, 2008 at 12:38 pm [Reply]

Place yer bets. What toy will young Mary be playing with when we first see her in the flashback? I’m guessing she’ll be rolling a hoop down the street with a stick.

No fair betting if you have psychic powers. I’m looking at you, Mr. Wong.
Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)
March 10th, 2008 at 12:39 pm [Reply]

#154 Annette – When I was about 10 I remember watching one of the animated specials. I don’t remember a whole lot from it… I think it was when April was being born. All I remember is Elly standing in front of the mirror as huge as a whale talking about how ugly she is and her husband saying, ‘No, you’re beautiful!” or something to that effect.
One-eyed Wolfdog
March 10th, 2008 at 12:44 pm [Reply]

#215 – Put me down for “chloroform, pins, and butterflies.”
Girl Reporter
March 10th, 2008 at 12:48 pm [Reply]

Take away the chloroform, and I think you’re on to something!
Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)
March 10th, 2008 at 12:48 pm [Reply]

#176 sangwij – I hope it’s OK to have a crush on someone imaginary. I’ve had a crush on Frodo from the Lord of the Rings since I read the book at age 11! Hobbit feet are so hot! And I feel so dirty now.
Marthas Rolling Pin
March 10th, 2008 at 12:50 pm [Reply]

The Urge Arrow lives!!
Shoshi
March 10th, 2008 at 12:51 pm [Reply]

215–I’d be interested in bets just on how many days it will be before the flashback materializes!
Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)
March 10th, 2008 at 1:01 pm [Reply]

I’m going to take a HUGE risk and say that Mary Worth’s flashback actually starts tomorrow. I know it’s unlikely, but I’m going to go with it!
Mibbitmaker
March 10th, 2008 at 1:16 pm [Reply]

BC: Somewhere in the afterlife, Vaughn Bode is teasing Johnny Hart about Mason putting Bode-Lizard naughty bits on one of the dinosaurs.

FC: Stop making me feel old, Dolly — especially coming from a comic that started over a year before I did!

MF: Dopey “joke”, though I agree with the point here. Poor Obama, though, must have really been hurt being punched in the chin — since it was enough to displace it like that.
Islamorada Girl
March 10th, 2008 at 1:29 pm [Reply]

3G: Well, Alan, when you spend all your money on nose candy, booze and cheap hookers, running out of money is what happens. Now, go steal all the credit cards from Margo’s purse so you can buy a holdover fix.

I’d beg the magical Mr. Wong to tell us when Mary Worth’s flashback is going to finally happen, but we all know the answer is six weeks from today. If it involves Alpo Casserole, I will be over the moon.
Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)
March 10th, 2008 at 1:35 pm [Reply]

I remember what I was going to ask yesterday!

Does anyone here have a saved copy of the Mark Trail Squirrel Montage? I had it as my desktop background but forgot to save it. I replaced the background but want to put it back. Unfortunately the original page that it is posted on no longer works! Does anyone have a saved copy that they can please post?
Baka Gaijin
March 10th, 2008 at 1:40 pm [Reply]

Lio: Please, PLEASE ride your tricycle past Charterstone!
Baka Gaijin
March 10th, 2008 at 1:51 pm [Reply]

Cow and Boy: Nominated for the “Best Use of Irony in a Humorous Comic Strip” award.
Marthas Rolling Pin
March 10th, 2008 at 1:58 pm [Reply]

#225 How etc: Anything for a fellow fan of OTH!!
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q120/blackjessiedog/Squirrels_1700×1073.jpg
Aging Hipster
March 10th, 2008 at 2:02 pm [Reply]

Can Comics Curmudgeon start carrying Brenda Starr? The image of Priscilla’s mom doped-up on valium and listening to her iPod is priceless.

And the dialogue, ‘Now take this money and listen!’
WonderCat
March 10th, 2008 at 2:06 pm [Reply]

FOOB: Wow, so, um, I guess the whole “Warren Showing Up Incident” was just leading up to… him leaving. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is it. This is all that is going to precipitate Liz realizing once and for all the Blandthony is “the one.” Just because he believes in her, blah blah blah. It’s all so touching that I could just throw up.

Incidentally, I have heard (so to speak) a lot of smack talk here about the pj’s. In colder weather, Mr. Wondercat tends to wear “old man pajamas” rather than his standard boxers-and-a-t-shirt sleepwear combo. I think he looks kind of cute and endearingly dorky in them!
queek
March 10th, 2008 at 2:06 pm [Reply]

a pair of Doonesbury notes. Trudeau is taking a 12-week sabbatical, coming back in mid-June or thereabouts. (I put the paper in the recycle bin, so please forgive if the details beyond “12 weeks with no new strips” are incorrect.)

Today’s strip had a plot twist that was a wonderful “buh-what, ooooooooh!” moment.
oceans 111
March 10th, 2008 at 2:11 pm [Reply]

My family lived in the D.C. area for the year I was in fifth grade, and the paper there gave me my first exposure to Brenda Starr. I read it with childlike enthusiasm and a tinge of jealousy for the red hair… until, by the end of the year, I had my first serious crush on a fictional person and was appalled to discover we were both female. Anyone else come out by wanting Brenda Starr soooo bad?

Bummer that when we moved back to Minneapolis I had to give up on being her future lover. I moved on to Storm, of the X-men.
Baka Gaijin
March 10th, 2008 at 2:12 pm [Reply]

#231 queek: Yup, didn’t see that one coming. Lynn Johnston, THAT’s how you do plot twists. They’re not those things you do with Lizardbreath’s hair.
Alley (not Allie) Cat
March 10th, 2008 at 2:13 pm [Reply]

#231, queek: Would you please explain today’s Doonesbury to me? It made no sense to me, and I’ve been following along for a while.
Al of the Christian Single Jungle Patrol
March 10th, 2008 at 2:21 pm [Reply]

234 — Zeke Brenner, a general scumbag and current live in of JJ (Mike’s ex-wife) is conspiring with long-haired dude to make Mike’s life miserable by having LHD hook up with Mike’s mother (The Widow Doonesbury).

As far as plot-twists go, this is a pretty good one. But since Zeke is involved, this will invariably end with Zeke being shot at by Duke.
Baka Gaijin
March 10th, 2008 at 2:27 pm [Reply]

#235 Al: I don’t know. This is the cleverest thing that “Uncle Stupidhead” has ever done. This could turn out, uh, whatever the opposite of a Judge Parker climax is. Interesting, yeah, that’s the word I was looking for.
Alley (not Allie) Cat
March 10th, 2008 at 2:29 pm [Reply]

Thanks, 235. I knew who LHD was, but not ponytail dude. So Mike’s suspicions regarding LHD have been correct all along.
bats, Aviation Division of the Jungle Patrol :[
March 10th, 2008 at 2:30 pm [Reply]

191. Uncle Lumpy re RMMD: I hang my head in shame. I had no idea that Rex is likely to have been Niki’s benefactor (aka sugar daddy). Mr. bats :[ just looked at me and said something like “Oh, come on…what do you think?”

I want to know where all this cake is.

230. Wondercat: on the other hand, a lot can happen in a week:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/2325023354/
gkl
March 10th, 2008 at 2:37 pm [Reply]

211 One-eyed Wolfdog: Please, please, please tell me “tardis” is not a euphemism.
Vakar
March 10th, 2008 at 2:40 pm [Reply]

Mary is leading Toby away from the party, promising something, stalling for time, where have I seen all this before…? OMG, it’s Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado! Toby, if Mary ‘reveals’ her late husband was a ‘Mason,’ it’s too late for you! Jog away! Now!
kippetje2000
March 10th, 2008 at 2:41 pm [Reply]

# 182 Allie (not Alley) Cat: re Alley (not Allie) Cat. The email is coming from inside your house! The server is on the second floor!
One-eyed Wolfdog
March 10th, 2008 at 2:44 pm [Reply]

#239 – I believe, technically, it’s an acronym. I can’t imagine what you’re thinking of.
Patrick
March 10th, 2008 at 2:56 pm [Reply]

239. Tardis is an acronym for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. It is the main form of travel for Time Lords such as Dr. Who. A tardis would rather neatly solve some of my storage problems since they’re bigger on the inside than on the outside. :-D
Darkefang
March 10th, 2008 at 3:06 pm [Reply]

A3G: Horse and whores ain’t cheap, Alan.

MT: Won’t take long, eh? Something tells me it’s going to take three months.
SecretMargo
March 10th, 2008 at 3:15 pm [Reply]

238: bats:[, I just flipped through your Flickr full of fixed FOOB strips and nearly laughed myself into a coma. Inspired, I tell ya!

I’ve been away, so I’m sure this has been said before and better, but: when did Liz’s slow but steady transformation into her mother get short-circuited by an abrupt left turn into becoming Anthony? It lends the phone conversation between the two a certain bleakly comical existential flair, I must admit. Though the inexorable way in which all the Patterson and Patterproxies are merging into a single pulpy, pusillanimous mass makes me wonder if the way the FOOBiverse ends will not be with a whimper but with a massive and shuddery, dewlap-slapping doppelgängbang.
SecretMargo
March 10th, 2008 at 3:17 pm [Reply]

243: “…they’re bigger on the inside than on the outside…”

So in this sense, “tardis” was being used as an acronym and euphemism both.
Doggin
March 10th, 2008 at 3:19 pm [Reply]

Usually its the writing in FOOB that gets me – today, it’s the colorist’s fault! Watch Liz’ charge as her face goes from dirty – to clean – then dirty – and clean again! AARGH!!
Bob Weber Jr.
March 10th, 2008 at 3:24 pm [Reply]

Lat week I reported here that The Star-Ledger of Newark, NJ dropped the Sunday Slylock Fox on March 2. I’m happy to report the paper plans to reinstate the strip on March 23 after readers complained about the strip being pulled. If you were among the readers complaining, I THANK you!!
GotFuzzy
March 10th, 2008 at 3:27 pm [Reply]

SecretMargo,

massive and shuddery, dewlap-slapping doppelgängbang

is the single funniest thing I have read in a long time. I simply must find a way to work it into everyday conversation that is not a prelude to uncontrolled vomiting.

Speaking of uncontrolled vomiting, if Mr. Wong is indeed correct and the ends with an accepted proposal, then I guess we have a couple of days of Liz pleading with Anthony to believe that she is not a slattern. Get out the puke buckets!
El Santo
March 10th, 2008 at 3:31 pm [Reply]

For some reason, reading that Brenda Starr wanted me to reach for a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. Mmmmm….

Also, hats off to Mary Schmich. That poem was turned into one of the best songs you can play during a graduation party. Also, a 2007 version was released last year on the “10th Anniversary of Romeo + Juliet” soundtrack, and, coincidentally, I was graduating with a Masters that year.
gh
March 10th, 2008 at 3:33 pm [Reply]

#248 Bob Weber Jr. –

Newark, eh? Had I but known I’d have sent a threatening “sleeps with the fish skeletons” note. Fortunately, the need has passed.
Old School Allie Cat
March 10th, 2008 at 3:37 pm [Reply]

#241 – kippetje2000 – HA! What can I tell you – it’s the kind of thing that keeps me up at night!

Hence, the slow morph into a variation on my moniker that allows me to retain all my original street cred (hard won), but gives me an air of distinction. I’m not necessarily of the “I was here first” school of thought, even if possession is 9/10 of the law.
commodorejohn
March 10th, 2008 at 3:38 pm [Reply]

#245 SecretMargo – COTW nominee.
Tracer Bullet
March 10th, 2008 at 3:40 pm [Reply]

JP: Mind your own damn business, Abby. And put on a tighter shirt.
Alley (not Allie) Cat
March 10th, 2008 at 3:46 pm [Reply]

#252 – Been trying to help out with the distinction thing, seeing as I didn’t want to impose on your street cred, what with me being a relative callow newbie and all.
Artist formerly known as Ben
March 10th, 2008 at 3:51 pm [Reply]

#203 Chelsea,
Actually the R&R has kind of a funny idea. Would have worked better had there been an attempt to copy Rembrandt’s style, instead of just generic stuff in a frame.

O God I’m far gone.
Islamorada Girl
March 10th, 2008 at 3:54 pm [Reply]

230: I’m sure Mr. WonderCat looks hot in his stripey jammies, especially when it’s -20 below. Cary Grant could melt an iceberg in those stripey jammies, as could Jake Gyllenhall (sp?).

But, with his Everything- I -Touch- Becomes- Cold- Mashed- Potatoes magic, Pasthony in his perma-press stripey p.j.’s has all the smoldering hot sexual charisma of a Vermont Country Store Catalog model.
Bob Weber Jr.
March 10th, 2008 at 4:17 pm [Reply]

#251 gh -
Thanks! And thank you for your most kind letter! I wish you could joined us in Tucson. I’m sure you have been informed there is a Slylock Fox original drawing (fish skeleton included) headed your way.
gh
March 10th, 2008 at 4:33 pm [Reply]

#258 Bob Weber Jr. –

Nooooooooooooooooo! I die happy!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! It will take pride of place in the gallery.

*swoons*
Luprand
March 10th, 2008 at 4:48 pm [Reply]

I know this one’s way out of date, but it also took me this long to think of a good retort to Coach Bushka: so how’s it feel?
Joe, Upper-Evergreen Division of the Jungle Patrol
March 10th, 2008 at 6:11 pm [Reply]

FOOB: Get back in the whore-chair, Elizaloser!
Paul1963
March 10th, 2008 at 10:24 pm [Reply]

I’ve skipped all the way to the end just to write this:
Holy shit, Brenda Starr is the editor of that rag she scribbles for, now? What were her qualifications? Writing stories like “Galaxy Gal Steals Pop Star’s Car?” Failing to recognize an escaped convict whose picture was on the front page of the paper one day earlier, even though his disguise consisted of shaving and putting on a nice suit?
Oh, maybe it was the time she ran into her missing, amnesiac husband and actually believed, without question, that it was actually his twin brother–who wore an identical eyepatch, and whom he’d never mentioned even once.
(Yeah, it’s been a long time since this strip was in my paper).
Paul1963
March 10th, 2008 at 10:50 pm [Reply]

#201 commodore john–Actually, Amanda Lynn looks like neither of her parents because she’s adopted. My recollection is that she’s a blonde, but it’s been a loooonnng time since she’s been in the strip.
Adam and Teeka’s biological daughter, Ada, looks like her mother. Teeka is from some Pacific island or other where Adam was working with the Peace Corps or somesuch thing.

Working my way back through the comments and seeing that other Mudge readers are more up on Brenda Starr than I. I’d forgotten about Sage (oh, he must be Basil’s son–see the eyepatch?). Good God, you mean they did multiple stories where Brenda met red-headed young girls and thought maybe they were Starr Twinkle (the worst name ever given to a child in a comic strip, with the possible exception of “Sparkle Plenty Junior Tracy”)?

#64–giraffe-o: Actually, Dorita’s sisters, through a series of bizarre events, spent a brief time in a town called Ugly Hill, where a guy named Eli named them “Cool Ranch” and “Zesty Chipotle.”
Jack Hare
March 11th, 2008 at 2:14 am [Reply]

I just wonder how long Ms. Starr’s agent had to negotiate to get that “Brenda Starr, Editor” sign put up in the splash panel, right across from the feature title.
Geronimo
March 12th, 2008 at 12:37 am [Reply]

What am I on? My half-moon ass, mostly.

I do enjoy the occasional ounce or three of wehatgrass, though. not joking

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