The Comics Curmudgeon

65 responses to “Blue-suited radical”

1. DAS
   June 8th, 2008 at 5:00 pm [Reply]

   I’m surprised the quote is attributed to Thomas Merton rather than “that monk who said all those wise things”.

2. Xenocrypt
   June 8th, 2008 at 5:01 pm [Reply]

   I thought maybe you were laughing at H+J because you have, personally, created a community online, thus demonstrating the vacuity of the thesis. Misanthropy works too, though.

3. Non Moose
   June 8th, 2008 at 5:03 pm [Reply]

   Why is Jamaal wearing Thirsty’s sandwich on his feet?

4. skullcrusherjones
   June 8th, 2008 at 5:06 pm [Reply]

   Jamal’s just getting into the mood to cause some of that self-inflicted epidermis demarcation via a sharp implement all the kids are talking about.

5. DAS
   June 8th, 2008 at 5:11 pm [Reply]

   I’m also surprised that I have the first comment.

6. Uncle Lumpy
   June 8th, 2008 at 5:12 pm [Reply]

   Jamaal’s friends used to phone all the time, but stopped because he never picked up.

7. Mike Podgorski
   June 8th, 2008 at 5:19 pm [Reply]

   Hold on a second, no Blog replies? Does this mean that Jamaal has a Blog?

8. Chron
   June 8th, 2008 at 5:20 pm [Reply]

   A fine writeup as always, but these comics were published June 7.

9. doug rogers
   June 8th, 2008 at 5:21 pm [Reply]

   Mary dumped Jeff like she had a hot date, and now all we see is chat chat chat. When is she gonna jump Ron’s bones? Let’s get some action in this strip!

10. Albert Pinkham Ryder II
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:24 pm [Reply]

    So what’s Jamaal listening too? My bet is “Thomas Merton” audiobooks, another oddball acquisition by Apple’s iStore. I’ll bet he paid full price for it too, instead of just ripping it off like the rest of the Thomas Merton fans… oh.

11. Rotten Arsenal
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:26 pm [Reply]

    Crikey, Jamaal! How flamin’ insignificant are you that you can’t even get junk mail in you snail mailbox or spam in your inbox? Wow… it’s almost like you don’t even exist.

    Does this mean that next fall, it’s your turn to try and kick Lucy’s football?

    On another note, I would love to read Jamaal’s blog:
    “Today I told Herb about that book that everybody’s talking about and how it’s going to be turned into a film starring that actor and actress that everybody is talking about. I’m sure it will win a non-specific award. I can’t wait. It should be very exciting.
    Oh, and I cried myself to sleep again.”

12. doug rogers
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:28 pm [Reply]

    Jamaal is looking for text messages, emails, faxes and blog replies in his mailbox? It’s a good thing that iPod is so easy to use.

13. Josh
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:31 pm [Reply]

    #8 Chron — Whoops, right you are! I fixed.

    Josh

14. Rotten Arsenal
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:33 pm [Reply]

    Maybe it’s been brought up before, but has anybody noticed that Mary Worth bears a striking resemblance to Miss Manners?

15. Senor Cardgage
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:35 pm [Reply]

    Ah yes, Republicans are racist.

    Hilarious and cutting-edge political commentary, there.

16. Ridureyu
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:36 pm [Reply]

    So, what do you think? Does Jamal’s blog discuss that current celebrity who has been involved in things? Or maybe that new movie that covers the hot-button political topics. Or perhaps he simply discusses those other issues that everybody has been talking about.

17. wisekwai
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:37 pm [Reply]

    I long for the days when Thirsty was a boozer. At least then he would have had an excuse for stunts like this, walking in announced, making a sandwich and sitting down in front of the TV to watch golf.

    Obviously, from Hi’s brusque treatment of him, Thirsty wore out his welcome long ago, even if he’s laid off the sauce.

    But Thirsty is still under the delusion that he and Hi are best friends. It’s all very sad.

18. Islamorada Girl
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:43 pm [Reply]

    By “revitalizing downtown”, Mary means taking a wrecking ball to the women’s shelter. Let all those uppity women go back home and get beaten up by their husbands the way God intended.

    Mary is an even better Christian than Betty Bowers. She’ll tell you that herself.

19. fnord3125
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:48 pm [Reply]

    #15 – It’s not that Republicans are racist, it’s that racists are Republican. I think. Whatever. I don’t care. Oh those politics. They sure are tricky.

20. Neofelis
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:50 pm [Reply]

    Nice leap from “white supremacist” to “Republican”, Cardgage. Josh said no such thing.

21. Buck Ripsnort
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:50 pm [Reply]

    What’s striking is the ironic juxtaposition: Jamal can’t make contact w/ humanity, while Hi can’t keep Thirsty out of the house. And Mary is preparing to seize control of the town, like a much older That Woman Who Took Over Argentina.

22. Inspector Dim
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:51 pm [Reply]

    Yeah, Thirsty! Hi and Lois is nothing like a sitcom!

    Now get out of Hi’s stereotypical suburban house and away from his blond housewife, slacker teenager, argumentative twins and wisecracking baby, you wacky neighbor, you!

23. lorne
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:52 pm [Reply]

    Hi’s declaration that “this isn’t a sitcom” may well be the most forthright admission yet that Hi and Lois is not intended to be funny.

24. Inspector Dim
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:54 pm [Reply]

    Also, let’s please not see Lois head-on ever again. CREEPY.

25. Jack
    June 8th, 2008 at 5:59 pm [Reply]

    The problem is clearly that Jamaal is checking his actual mailbox for replies to his email.

26. Inspector Dim
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:01 pm [Reply]

    Jamaal has a blog? What’s it called, “Jamaal’s Online Computer Application Everyone is Talking About”?

27. lorne
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:02 pm [Reply]

    Tomorrow on Herb and Jamaal
    An empty breadbox leads Jamaal to make a glum observation on the likelihood of a world food crisis, followed by a quotation on starvation and cannibalism from Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.

28. Invisible Me
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:03 pm [Reply]

    I love when people are so insanely insecure about their politics that they find slurs where they don’t even exist. Point to where Josh said “Republican”. That exact word, please, not “the other side of the spectrum”, which includes everyone on the right side.

29. SpiffBereft
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:03 pm [Reply]

    Does Jamaal have anything besides “The Many Moods of Thomas Merton” on his I-Pod?

30. lorne
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:06 pm [Reply]

    What kind of crazy jurisdiction does Mary Worth live in?
    The “city” has a “town council”?
    And Ron just got appointed to it? Out of the blue?
    In many countries they have elections for that sort of thing.

31. Bob K
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:13 pm [Reply]

    Right on, Iorne. Especially since the first scenario wasn’t of a liberal democrat but one of those anti-globalization anarchist types, who are almost as anti-Democrat (as the former party of NAFTA) as anti-Republican.

32. AhClem
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:14 pm [Reply]

    MW – Okay, I know the Del McCoury band has been on a very hectic schedule lately, and you deserve a much-needed break. But why Mary Worth, for Chrissakes? Come on, Del, or “Ron”, or whatever you want to call yourself, you can do much better than that. Your many bluegrass fans deserve as much.

33. Mollie
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:19 pm [Reply]

    I’m struggling to understand how H&J is using the emptiness of Jamaal’s (literal and virtual) mailbox to draw conclusions — albeit other people’s conclusions — on the isolated, aspiritual state of modern society, when the more obvious application would be the not-at-all surprising unpopularity of Jamaal. I can’t say for sure, but I’m guessing that when Merton wrote this particular sentence, he wasn’t lamenting the fact that nobody comments on Jamaal’s blog.

    #30 – Lorne – you make a good point. Based on what we’ve seen of Santa Royale in past plots, none of that surprises me, but what does surprise me is finding out that Ron was “appointed” to the Town Council without Mary Worth’s knowledge. Is she losing her tight grasp on power and influence? And if so, will she be able to use Ron as her puppet and eventually become even more powerful than she was previously? I am suddenly really excited about where this could be going.

34. Norm
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:21 pm [Reply]

    Poor Jamaal. No emails, or blog replies? Maybe you should try IRC.
    /join #stuffpeoplearetalkingabout

35. bk
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:22 pm [Reply]

    Of course Josh was saying all Republicans are racist because it’s obvious that “hurling a brick through the window of the local Starbucks and spray-painting SMASH THE IMF across the front of the local bank” describes all Democrats.

36. NoahSnark
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:23 pm [Reply]

    I suppose it is easier for Jamaal to relate to dead people than it is for him to admit he is so mind numbingly boring that the living prefer to pretend he doesn’t exist.

37. Pinback65
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:28 pm [Reply]

    #35 bk–In Bruce Tinsley’s world, that DOES describe all Democrats.

38. jeffersonista
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:31 pm [Reply]

    I stayed at a Trappist monastery for a few weeks. The monks were cool. When They sat to eat, though, they would play Thomas Merton tapes.

39. BigTed
    June 8th, 2008 at 6:47 pm [Reply]

    Thirsty has replaced alcoholism with compulsive eating, and now he can’t go more than half an hour without a sandwich, even if it means breaking into his neighbors’ homes in broad daylight. Luckily, he can find help in a support group run by a couple of guys named Wimpy and Dagwood.

40. BCist
    June 8th, 2008 at 7:00 pm [Reply]

    “Grassroots political activities” = ExxonMobil astroturf campain, from the looks of that haircut.

41. Don, the Rebel without a Blog
    June 8th, 2008 at 7:03 pm [Reply]

    Yes! Yes! I want to sign up for Ron’s “Keep Santa Royale White” campaign. Forty years ago, my hometown was 99% white. Now, according to Wikipedia (which, as we all know, as infallible and inerrant), it is 58% African-American and 38% white. I want to move to Santa Royale and live with all the white people whose lives are so enriched by the advice of Mary Worth!

42. Stokell
    June 8th, 2008 at 7:15 pm [Reply]

    In Oklahoma City’s Sunday paper a mass purge of comics has begun. As of mid-June, Mary, 3G, Judge Parker, Gasoline Alley, Rex Morgan and Brevity (wtf!) are gone from print.

    But Cathy and Todd the F*cking Dinosaur are staying. Why, God, WHY?!?

43. Charp
    June 8th, 2008 at 7:17 pm [Reply]

    Ron’s “sliver” hair?

44. vinceneilyoung
    June 8th, 2008 at 7:21 pm [Reply]

    Jamaal: that tall restaurant co-owner that no one seems to be talking about.

45. Josh
    June 8th, 2008 at 7:24 pm [Reply]

    #43 Charp — Oops, fixed!

    Re: this entry’s political content: I actually expected blowback from the other end of the spectrum, since I seem to be implying that anti-globalization types are as far out of the political mainstream as white supremicists. I don’t actually believe this; I just wanted to work “Keep Santa Royale White” in there somehow. For the record, I also don’t believe that all Republicans are racist, or even that all racists are Republicans (see video of aftermath of W. Va. Dem. primary if you need any proof of the latter).

    Josh

46. Carly
    June 8th, 2008 at 7:35 pm [Reply]

    It’s funny you should post a H&J strip at the end, because I was thinking that MW was wandering towards that level of non-specificity, where “grassroots political activism” stands in for, as you said, “Keep Santa Royale white.”

47. alamo
    June 8th, 2008 at 7:42 pm [Reply]

    people. people. josh is right. believe me there is enough racism and other forms of stupidity to go around the full political spectrum.

    there are plenty of people who want to crawl back into caves; devolution?? for some reason not willing to accept the fact that the human race can make some progress.

    when asked what he thought of Western civilization Mahatma Gandhi said, I think it would be a good idea.

    now — resume snark speed.

    forget the electric kool-aid acid test suit – take a gander at that lava lamp neckwear. this bozo is a reformed hippie. yowza!

48. doofus
    June 8th, 2008 at 7:43 pm [Reply]

    Politics is boring, snarky comments about comics are fun!!!!!!

49. Tom Bombadil
    June 8th, 2008 at 9:04 pm [Reply]

    We can only hope personal electronics will have the same effect on Jamal as they did on Merton himself.

50. Mike Podgorski
    June 8th, 2008 at 9:06 pm [Reply]

    A Blog About Things

    It seemed like the right thing to do, under the circumstances.

51. Rotten Arsenal
    June 9th, 2008 at 12:04 am [Reply]

    Bravo, Mike… I have added you to my ever growing list blog feeds

52. Lolsworth
    June 9th, 2008 at 3:10 am [Reply]

    Why does he keep his text messages and blog replies in his mailbox?

53. Mike Podgorski
    June 9th, 2008 at 4:00 am [Reply]

    He may have some form of OCD where he writes down all his text messages and prints out all his blog replies and puts them in his mailbox.

54. Pozzo
    June 9th, 2008 at 6:36 am [Reply]

    Could Mary’s urging of Ron to “get back into it” be a thinly-veiled come-on? Go for it, Ronno; while the doc’s away, the biddy will play.

55. G.
    June 9th, 2008 at 8:58 am [Reply]

    I’m just happy to see a cameo appearance of the Mary Worth Incongruous Priapic Rock in the background of the second panel of MW. Its reappearance can only foreshadow heartbreak!

56. Corkey
    June 9th, 2008 at 10:24 am [Reply]

    I think part of jamals problem may be that instead of getting a PO box, he just wrote “MAIL” on the side of a box, and expected the postman, or in herb and jamaal speak, that person who deliver letters and goods, to figure it out.

57. Sully
    June 9th, 2008 at 11:00 am [Reply]

    That’s not Thirsty. We’ve jumped ahead 30 years. That’s Ditto, still living at home and sponging off his parents. The likeness is remarkable. Dot move out long ago with Chip to set up a polygamous sect in Montana.

58. essteess
    June 9th, 2008 at 11:11 am [Reply]

    #39 (Big Ted): Thirsty has replaced alcoholism with compulsive eating,

    Actually, I’m mildly curious as to how H&L has dealt with Thirsty’s “delicate condition” in recent years, now that alcoholism is no longer funny (cf Martin, Dean; Brooks, Foster). Has his perpetually red nose been made more flesh-colored? Is he ever depicted with those little bubble-like creations around his head, meant to signify inebriation?

59. Comcis Fan
    June 9th, 2008 at 11:30 am [Reply]

    FBOFW: Liz doesn’t want to rush into anything? Is she having second, or first, thoughts about marrying Anthony?

    Attention Liz: April may be too young to realize this. Do not set a wedding date you’re not ready for simply to allow Gramps to see you married.

60. Carter
    June 9th, 2008 at 11:59 am [Reply]

    Wow…. Herb and Jamaal has encapsulated my current depression and impending move back down south from New York.

    This is why I don’t own any guns or live on a high floor.

61. trey le parc
    June 9th, 2008 at 2:14 pm [Reply]

    H&J: This is a stupid strip chock full of poorly conceived, badly drawn, smarmily written and totally irrelevant characters– am I missing anything?

    H&L: I feel sorry for the sad sack who has inherited the soul crushing job of illustrating Hi & Lois; he’s obviously spent too much time in the soul crushing presence of the sad sack who inherited the job of writing Hi & Lois. Together they’ve achieved a nadir of comics mediocrity. And that’s tough because it’s only a few strips away from the vast suckhole of Cathy and Foob.

62. the dude
    June 9th, 2008 at 10:20 pm [Reply]

    H&J: Judging from the look on Jamal’s face in that last panel, I think somewhere between panel 3 & 4, he used one of of those water pipe devices to inhale “dope” (he learned the term from A3G) & is now using the “MP3 device”, as Josh mentioned, to play music that derives from that “Ire” body of land that occupies a space in the body of water that resides between to large land masses on a certain planet.

63. the dude
    June 9th, 2008 at 10:22 pm [Reply]

    *two

64. Ecclesiastes
    June 9th, 2008 at 10:43 pm [Reply]

    #49 (Tom Bombadil): Too soon.

65. But Who Was Phone?
    November 25th, 2008 at 11:07 pm [Reply]

    @12: why IS he checking his mailbox for email?

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