Metapost: This week’s COTW of the week!
Comment of the week in a moment, but first, a major announcement. Today, July 28, 2008, will go down in history as The Day Ces Marciuliano Finally Got Off His Ass And Relaunched Medium Large! Yes, the beloved Webcomic is back on its own site, with (we hope) regular updates, as well as separate pages for beloved characters such as Teenage Girl President, TODD and Son, and Victorian Era Superhero!
I first made Ces’s Internet acquaintance when someone forwarded me a particularly trenchant Medium Large that featured one of the B.C. cast of characters saying the word “fucking.” I quickly went from “Ha ha, this is a hilarious spoof of B.C.!” to “Holy crap, the guy who writes Sally Forth made a hilarious spoof of B.C.!” I wish a long life to the strip’s new incarnation.
And now, without further ado: COTW, y’all!
“Maybe the names ‘Ass Cabin,’ ‘Tushy Trawler’ and ‘Drunken Derilick’s Dinghy’ were already taken.” –PeteMoss, on how the Bum Boat got its name
And runners-up:
“Does Dagwood realize that the tub is so full that if he got in it would overflow? Doesn’t Dithers knock before he enters a bathroom? Apparently the Archimedes Principle has taken a vacation with the laws of common decency.” –Hogenmogen
“Today’s strip looks like a clip art image of Mary was pasted against Jeff’s shoulder at a weird angle. This is more horrifying that it sounds, since it implies that Mary Worth clip art may actually exist somewhere.” –AhClem
“I really like how Mary Worth glared at us today while dispensing her timeless nuggets of wisdom, by which I mean I developed an eating disorder after Mary Worth glared at us today while dispensing her timeless nuggets of wisdom.” –Gerund
“I just feel bad for the folks that might be searching for this blog now thinking ‘Rex Morgan fans? I love that strip too!’ And by ‘feel bad’ I mean I wish I could see their faces as they read the entries. ’Specially the genitalia one.” –shnazzer
“I think Jeff and Mary have, consciously or not, begun a platitude-to-the-death competition. Who will win? Or are there ever winners in such a God-forsaken battle of bon mots?” –bats :[
“As with the Tin Man, Mary’s joints need a serious oiling, unlike Jeff’s hair.” –Calico
“While ol’ Mare and Jeff continue their flowery turdering upon the English language in an effort to express feelings that they can neither understand nor appreciate, it’s important to seek out one glimmer of substance as reassurance that the precious seconds required to read each day’s strip were not spent in vain. For me, today’s salvation is the hope that we are not looking at a neon sign above the restaurant entrance, but rather are listening to an employee whose job it is, from opening time to the moment the last fish-shaped lamp is switched off, to announce the eatery by screaming as loudly as possible ‘BUM BOAT!!! BUM BOAT!!! BUM BOAT!!!’” –Mooncattie
“I think Mary is talking in code about hermaphrodites. She’s so cool. And fucking weird.” –Mr. Barkie
“I was about to remark on the ooky ‘tender bud’ stuff when I was distracted by the extreme hideousness of Mary’s shirt. Then I was about to say something about how Mary’s taste in clothes is second in ookiness only to her taste in metaphors when I realized I once dated a 29-year-old man who wore exactly the same outfit Jeff is wearing, and he liked seafood too. Now I’m going to go drown myself in gin.” –Echo
“If Margo was a FOOB she’d be thought-ballooning ‘A ring! The token that says “I’m going to rip his head off and ram my ovipositor down his throat”!’” –GotFuzzy
“I think it’s kind of sweet how Les uses memories of his dead wife as a sexual lubricant with his best friend’s ex. Love, exciting and new!” –Tom the Pirate
“Young, old, pretty, ugly, fat, thin, rich, poor — I think sex is fun and natural and doesn’t belong exclusively to any demographic. But given a choice, I’d rather hear Margo Magee talk about it than Mary Worth. Mostly because I think Margo probably has angry, angry sex, and says things with finger quotes. ‘Yes’! That’s ‘it’!” –Old School Allie Cat
“The Family Circus has made millions and is beloved by millions, and the Keanes did this by consistently steering clear of so-called ‘jokes.’ You think they’re going to start using them now?” –Mac
“Family Circus: I wish Angela Lansbury would stop checking the recipe and just bake those kids into pies, already.” –RaJ
“Today’s Momma has convinced me that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who hormonally free-associate and see sex in an innocent four panels of man passionately kissing his mother, and those incapable of doing so. Right now, I wish I were in the latter group. A lot.” –Vakar
“Who wouldn’t be excited about going to South Dakota? In the Apartment 3-G universe, that’s where they rounded up the minorities and put them in camps.” –Master Mahan
“I’m looking forward to Lu Ann on the ranch. Sitting on her Shetland pony, official Dale Evans cowgirl hat with the string fixed tightly under her chin, a shiny new South Dakota commemorative quarter in her hand, she searches for the slot to put it in to make the pony go, while the lonesome wind whistles through the vast empty landscape between her ears.” –gh
“Am I the only one starting to really envy Mary’s lifestyle? Here we all are, toiling away at jobs like chumps, while she spends her Monday relaxing over a delicious plate of mustard at a restaurant so fancy each table gets its own fez, while Toby helpfully explains to her what medicine is.” –Violet
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July 29th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Congrats to all, and props to bats. Good week all around.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:01 am
haha gerund’s was pretty good
July 29th, 2008 at 1:08 am
Yay float-riders!
COTW posts are always interesting (in addition to hi-effing-larious) because they’re a glimpse of the comic zeitgeist that has captured us that week, whether it be the homoerotica of Rex Morgan, Anthony Caine’s lack of sex organs, our beloved lying black elderly friend Clambake, or (sniff) Aldo.
We’re writing the commentary of our social history, people! :)
July 29th, 2008 at 1:17 am
Exceptional crop this week, everything a guy could want from the dirty, dirty roots to the tender buds of comic deliciousness. Special big ups to gh, effing awesome!
July 29th, 2008 at 1:17 am
I’d like to sit next to Violet on the float (or be strapped onto one of those support stands, if we’re supposed to stand on the float) — I nearly aspirated my own plate of mustard when I first read her comment.
Can we throw little jars of French’s (like you get with room service) from the float?
Congrats to this week’s floaters!
July 29th, 2008 at 1:27 am
I bow to the wit of the COTW float riders! Congrats PeteMoss, Head Cheese of the Week! Congrats also to Ah Clem, bats :[ and gh!
Man, y’all were all ON this week! :D
July 29th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Wha— ?!?! Wow, cool!
Forget the jars of French’s, how about a mustard cannon? “This is gonna stain, people, but it’s all in good fun!”
Thanks, everyone, for being so damn funny. Even those doing so unintentionally. (cough cough Mel Lazarus cough)
July 29th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Toosday Toons:
MT: thank heavens someone has taken a stand against the Veruca Salt of LoFo and told her she can’t have her way.
Now if someone would just tie that slab of bacon around her neck and abandon her…I’m sure even Roger would see the value in that.
MW: and that faint whirring sound is the Bard himself…
Phantom: the mighty Monkey Wrench of Justice!
RMMD: I thought Sara needed to have that smug expression in Panel 3 knocked about 80 degrees to the left, but looking back at Rex’s incensed expression in Panel 2, I’m now afraid that that’s exactly what’s going to happen…
FOOB: “No, wait…those aren’t my teeth! I’m having a heart attack! Yes! Boxcar! Yes! Yes! PTHTHTH!”
July 29th, 2008 at 1:46 am
S-M: Oh-oh, they can’t do this “i’m being held prisoner in my secret identity” story–they just did that with Dr. Octopus, the last villain he had to face. Which was over a year ago.
He got out of that one by pointing to Mary Jane and whining “NO NO, KILL HER FIRST!” Look it up; Josh archived the thing. I don’t think she’d appreciate that sort of thing twice in a row.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:46 am
Congratulations COTWers! The winner and Mooncattie’s in particular made me laugh!
July 29th, 2008 at 1:53 am
BB Your army still drops bombs, Beetle, only YOUR army’s final panels hold the real bombs. Or duds, as it were.
FBoFW This joke was stupid the first three times it ran, only now it looks like Grampa is finally having that heart attack Elly was wishing on him yesterday.
FW Young Hidden Love is revealed!
JP Dammit, Sam, you stole my snark.
MT w00t! Go Moss! Go Moss!
Marmadick Kinda wish he’d been the puppy you’d carried to the river in a sack, huh?
OBH Panel Two: I hope she’s had all her shots, look at the size of those teeth!
RMMD The part of Little Sarah Morgan will be played today by guest star Iris Richards of FBoFW. So that’s where she went on vacation!
S4th Heh. Good dig.
Zits Hey kid. They say stuff like that EXPRESSLY to piss you off. It keeps you from realizing they’re onto you, pal.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:53 am
I hate to be a wet blanket, but I know what a bumboat is.
That’s the boat that rows out to the ships returning from the open sea, and sell stuff to the sailors before they get to shore and spend all their accumulated pay.
Here is a link to a poem about a bumboat woman, written by W.S. Gilbert, of Gilbert & Sullivan, and HMS Pinafore (where I first heard the term bumboat).
July 29th, 2008 at 2:02 am
I caper before you tossing flowers, PeteMoss! Excellent! And yay for you other bearers of the torch of snark. May your week on the float be a pleasant one!
Once again I see that MW dominates the COTW lineup, with 9.5 (more or less) comments out of the nineteen. Another twisted tribute to Moy and Giella.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:17 am
so much snark, so little time. Poteet, you are ever so funny. Dingo, your vulgarity and humor are appreciated. I could go on with all you float riders but it is past my bed time. Josh, you are the man. Jeopardy, and cute as a bugs ear. You all make it better. I hope eighteen thousand and counting.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:18 am
Endless nattering about golf in JP. Endless nattering about stinky wrestling mats in RMMD. Endless nattering about coaching in FW. Geez, I might as well surrender and start reading GT.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:43 am
Is it strange that MW is in a PACKED house of excited, spellbound auditorium full of young people that have paid to see this blast from the past or whatever it was intended to be, and there is an empty seat next to Mary? Did Jeff buy three tickets just so he did not have to worry about someone on the other side copping a feel of leathery leg?
July 29th, 2008 at 3:01 am
MT: Now where have I seen Roger in that pose before? That’s right, back on July 18.
Roger’s hobbies include carrying one thing, carrying the other thing, and being clipart. He recently underwent an operation to have the color surgically removed from his body and surroundings. It was a partial success; with a few more operations Roger hopes he’ll be fully B&W by the next time the Chron gives them the day off.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:43 am
Slylock Fox: “He’s a rat, he’s a rat, he’s a (not so) cleaver cleaver rat.” Ok. I’m done. Sorry.
You know, A detective is as great as the foes he defeats. Sherlock had Moriety, and apparently Slylock has the most petty criminals with the lowest IQ. way to keep your standards low, Slylock.
Foob: Man, those eyes just creep me out. I’ve noticed it a long time, and I don’t think I’m ever going to get over it. the way their drawn directly in the center makes some of the characters look like their staring. (At first I was thinking just Grampa, but now the mom whats-her-name seems to have caught it too, and I wonder if I missed it in the others (thought not motivated enough to go through Foob archives).
A3G: So, are we starting a pool on how long Lu Ann will last on a ranch (Strip time, not real time God help us.)? “What you don’t have servants to boss around? What?!!! No Starbucks! And you expect me to help out on the ranch while I’m staying here for free? What kind of hell is this? I’m going back to New york where people love me!”
July 29th, 2008 at 3:43 am
BB— Beetle, I’ll update you: The Army hasn’t dropped bombs since the late 1940s. Also, Germany and Japan surrendered in 1945.
FOOB— I return from a fun 10 day vacation with limited comics access, and I’m hit with the info that the LizAnthony wedding is scheduled for August 23rd. That is MY wedding anniversary, now to be tainted forever by association with foobian glurge. Oh, the horror! My only hope is that someone (Paul, Lawrence, John, the gap-toothed starey hoo guy, Bernice, Killer, anyone) will jump in at the last minute, Benjamin Braddock-style, and will carry off Liz and have his/her way with her, thus preserving the sanctity of August 23rd. Of course LJ will never let this happen, so I’ll just have to avoid the comics that day and keep my attention focused on Mrs. Neuman. In the mean time, please pass the brain bleach.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:08 am
Congrats to the COTWeekers!
A3G: Ha! Lu Ann’s punnery about “field studies” doesn’t elude us. Yes, she’s got brains to go with that, uh, blonde hair.
Funky Pantysniffer: By panel 2, today’s strip plays right into all the old stereotypes about what women’s softball is all about. (Cue up Barry White… )
MT: Now’s the time where Kelly Welly gets her own gun out.
Spider-Man: Let me get this straight — the Vulture dresses up in that crazy outfit and he gets upset when people take his picture? Hey, if he doesn’t want publicity, he ought to consider another line of work that doesn’t involve skywriting an invitation to a rumble on top of the Chrysler Building for all of New York to see. However, I do applaud his plans to beat the shit out of Hitler.
Jugs Parker: “Wasn’t everyone?” — Sam’s getting himself back into asshole mode again in preparation for doing yet another negotiation. Last time we saw him like this was when he parted from Busty Riley Duncan doing as good an imitation of David Caruso as a comic character can.
Sally Forth: More comics-recursive fun from these guys.
Bizarro: Guest artist week over at Bizarro! Liked Big Bird a lot on Saturday but felt the Tonsil Fairy execution was missing something.
Gil Thorp: I bet that minor-league ballplayers often talk to rookies about each other with phrases like “grump”. And they also bake cookies and hug each other when they lose. Sometimes they sit up all night in their pyjamas and talk about boys. Oh, wait, I just got so bored that I had Gil Thorp mixed up with a slumber party.
Sex Organ: Yes, as it turned out the wrestling mats had been the source of all the MRSA in town… creeping up out of Max Mallory’s basement at night to roam the wards of the local hospitals to kill the unwary.
9 Dickweed Lane: The rest of Claudio’s move were all legit, up to the point where he grabbed Edda with his thumb and forefinger to carry her around like a six-pack of beer.
MW:
Mary: Yes, Tobey, and as Gene Simmons once told me during a backstage lovemaking session: “Life is too short to have anything but delusional notions about yourself.”
Tobey: Well, as GG Allin once told me: “I believe you can make forces of good and evil work for you, to get what you want.”
Mary: Quite! But Ozzy says it’s important for us to enjoy the ride through life together: “Being sober on a bus is, like, totally different than being drunk on a bus.”
Tobey: I would tell you what I do with Professor Chinstrap and his students, but as you once told me: “Part of the public horror of sexual irregularity so-called is due to the fact that everyone knows himself essentially guilty.”
Mary: Oh, well, that wasn’t me. I was just quoting my old paramour Aleister Crowley, whom I used to hang about with in London in the late 1930s.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:28 am
7/29 (more like 3:20!):
9CL: Some bearded guy is acting like the 9CL women! Only with mild violence.
A3G: Right, Lu… just like Frank Burns was o so overjoyed when Margaret was able to tell him about Donald Penobscott! (Hell, even Hawkeye sympathized with ol’ ferret-face — If you’ll pardon the expression, Bucky Katt!)
BC: And now, introducing a new species — The
al-Qaidasaur! And y’can’t call it a war for oil — they are the oil!
BBailey: In BC, anyway.
Curtis: Curtis’s comebacks are always really, really weak. He’ll never be a ‘Mudge!
DtM: Dennis (to his dad): “Have you ever seen that ‘South Park’ show? How about ‘Family Guy’? Too bad you missed that old movie, ‘Fritz the Cat’.”
FOOB: Panel 2: No friggin’ KIDDING, Ellie!
FOOB: Last panel: Just your choppers, eh? Well, easy come, easy go, Pops.
FW: (Whispering) “Um… you don’t think he knows we’re lovers, do you…?”
GF: Any more of this Wileyesque leaden terror war metaphor, and we’ll get to see how Darb’ allegorizes Obama as a warmonger. Maybe Bucky sending more attack cats into Aghanwolfhoundstan from I-rat or something.
GT: Wheeler is a young Ed Crankshaft.
H&J: Should young African-American females really have Jessica Simpson as a role model?
JP: Everyone in comic strips, at least. (That was wayyy too easy!)
MF: What “What?”? I asked you first, Tinsley! (Besides, shouldn’t Obama-stand-in be saying “Que?”?)
MT: Moss got the ol’ studio audience on their feet applauding. Good job, Moss![/not sarcastic at all]
MW: This whole storyline ammounts to “Oh, all you critics mock Mary meddling in all those poor souls’ lives, eh? Well, how ’bout it being all about Mary, huh? Well, see how you like that! HA! Now you guys really know what eternal Hell is like! MUAH-HAHAHAHA-HAAAAA!!”
Popeye: He willed Porky into Wackyland, didn’t he?
RMMD: That’s Current-Popeye-Storyline Swee’Pea’s new girlfriend! She’s not ALL-powerful, though — she didn’t quite succeed at willing Nolan into Al Hirshfeld last panel. Not one “Nina”, even!
ZtP: Griffy should’ve titled this one “Padded Cell”.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:29 am
Poat 1 of 2:
Hey Mudges!
I’m playing catch up with my favorite blog here (That’s not even sucking up. I love this blog…granted, metnioning it here is sucking up, but whatever. ;) )
Anyway, thanks for the replies to the ‘Star Wars’ casting question. Just for the heck of it, here were the ones that made me laugh the hardest:
Mel:
Cathy as Jabba the Hut … make up your own joke
Family Circus children as Ewoks … needs no explanantion
Grandpa Patterson as R2D2 … BEEP! BOOP! BOXCAR!
Clambake as Lando Calrissian … enigmatic
Frank Parsnip:
Yoda is probably one of the PBS crocs: “Feeds me a zeeb, you must!” Oh, and he lives in a swamp, which the crocs might like.
Jar-Jar Binks: Played by Cathy for the obvious reason that there is nothing more annoying in either the comics or film worlds. “Meeesa not fit into dis bathing suits! Ack!”
Red Greenback:
Rex Morgan for 3CPO
Draktyr:
Mary Worth would be none other than Palpatine, manipulating all around her for the glory of her Meddle Empire
Vakar
The Phantom Meddler (In reponse to Mary Worth as the Emperor)
Brick Bradford:
Calvin and Hobbes as Anakin/Darth and Obi Wan
your father isn’t mr. cohen:
No one has suggested Margo for Princess Leia? She is sassy as all get-out, doesn’t take any guff and would look fantastic in a metal bikini and chains.
Lunarhalo:
Yours made me laugh the most. :) Especially:
Marmaduke as the Hoth Ice monster
Shoe and Perfessor as the guys hassling Luke in the Mos Eisley Cantina
Mr. Dithers as Grand Moff Tarkin
Mallard Fillmore as Greedo
Snuffy Smith and his wife for Uncle Owen and Aunt Veru
Satchel as C3PO
Bucky Cat as R2D2
Garfield for Jabba, since Jon would make a good Bib Fortuna and then a Giant Odie could be the rancor
I love this last one. I would even add Pooky as Salacious Crumb, if you don’t mind.
I can tell you now, that the reason this popped in my head was I was going to do a Star Wars spoof in ‘My Cage’ (including mentioning Bloom County’s having done one). But, it got rejected for being too redundant with all the ‘Star wars’ spoofs out lately (i.e. Family Guy and Robot Chicken).
Look for it on the ‘My Cage’ blog soon as a fanfic (creator fic?). I’ll be calling it ‘The Dilbert Clone Wars’, just beacuse that’s funny. :)
Still, if anyone out there is an artist wit WAY too much free time, I’d be glad to write the inter-syndicate Star Wars spoof if you want to draw it.
My thought is (after reading your responses) that the story be 2 fold, one would be about soap strips vs. humor strips with Mary Worth as the Emperor or Darth Vader (Worth Vader?)
(Forgive me Karen!)
The second would be Calvin and Hobbes as Han and Chewie, with the Garfeild/Jabba character after them to merchandise.
End Part 1
July 29th, 2008 at 5:58 am
Post (not Poat) 2 of 2:
Ok, here I’m going to break 2 of my rules posting here. One is to only answer questions and not respond to any criticisms or most compliments as not to inhibit anyone.
However, I feel I caused this compliment:
Spider Brick:
“You don’t get to have a “crisis of faith.” A crisis of faith would mean that you doubted your talent or your work. There’s no cause for that. MC is one of the best new strips to come along in years, right up there with Dilbert or Get Fuzzy. So, chin up! Self-doubt leads to self-criticism, self-criticism leads to self-hate, and self-hate leads to Funky Winkerbean. And Funky Winkerbean leads to suffering.”
Thanks for the kind words, but don’t fret…I throw the phrase ‘crisis of faith’ around like it’s going out of style.
It just gets a little depressing that, even though we aren’t doing BADLY by any means, we’re not setting the comics pages on fire sales wise either.
My theory is the newspaper editors don’t know what to make of us because we’re more like a web comic then a lot of other comics out there, but who knows?
Still, we’ve only been out for, like, 14 months and we have a loyal readership (including a ‘fan club’ on myspace), so we’ll see what happens.
“shouldn’t that have been “Arrested Dog-velopment” or something?”
I thought about it, but I thought AD might be too obcure at this point to pun on. I remember one of my ideas was ‘Arachnid Development’
“I am inordinately proud that Ed Power saw fit to use my idea.”
Actually I hadn’t thought of that as an answer to your question, as I don’t think that would be enough DVD’s to answer your question.
Your question actually gave me a little bit of trouble because rent would be the biggest part of Bridget’s expenses, but I think that would bring up Bridget and Norm moving in together and I’m that’s a big no-no in syndicationland.
Now for the criticism (which I’m unsure about doing as I LOVE being snarked on here. I get some kind of sick thrill out of it. :) But here goes…)
One-eyed Wolfdog:
“Three weeks of fingernails-on-blackboards scansion leading up to a syrupy non-punchline of… “it’s good to have friends.” Among your hours, this may not be this finest.”
You TOTALLY should have made this rhyme!!! I mean, ‘Ed Power’? ‘finest hour’? It virtually writes itself. :D :D :D
The second rule I’m going to break is not talking about my fellow cartoonists or their strips:
No one should be surprised Mary Worth went to see the band from ‘Once’. Karen is a HUGE fan of that movie and music from it. I didn’t even have to read the last panel of the strip to know who it was going to be they went to see.
Karen is also a HUGE Judd Apatow fan…and not a recent bandwagon junper either…we’re talking back in the long-a-go days of ‘Freaks and Geeks’.
She’s also cute, sweet, and ALWAYS willing to help new creators.
Hope that doesn’t humanize her too much for you. LOL! :D
Keep on snarking kids. This is the best blog i can find to talk about comic strips.
LATER!
End of Post 2.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Congrats all. And quit being so damn funny! The baby is sleeping and my chortling and snorting ain’t helping!
PS Vakar, Aren’t you having a child soon?
July 29th, 2008 at 7:00 am
Congrats, PeteMoss on a true keyboard ruining COTW.
And in tribute to Ces, I present Hilary For President. Hilary Forth that is.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:05 am
“Ass Cabin” makes me giggle like Beavis and/or Butthead.
MW – “Well spoken, Toby. Your training is complete.”
RMMD – Rex Morgan’s daughter is Michael J. Pollard?
JP – I honestly don’t know who Harvey Penick is, but maybe someday a hot chick will be impressed that I’m reading Harvey Pekar. But then, I do live in my own little world where the word “reality” does not exist, so there’s that.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:07 am
H&J
“Why does my child ask me questions which involve the use of proper nouns to answer? I believe she does it on purpose. Payback for naming her ‘My Child’ I’d imagine.”
July 29th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Archie – What exactly is Jughead doing with Hot Dog? They both have their eyes closed and Hot Dog looks very very satisfied in that last panel. Argh. The Archie Computer must be cribbing from Blondie.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:30 am
SF: Ahhh-ha-ha. Ces, I see what you did there.
Also, medium-large rocks. Good stuff.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:49 am
A3G — Of course Alan’s going to be happy and proud about a chance to go to South Dakota — the crystal meth capital of America’s heartland. He’ll be getting the U-Haul/mobile lab all set up and ready for business.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:07 am
18: I noted it in yesterthread, but that was short-lived so I’ll remind everyone again that Slylock has already solved this case. He’s pretty much phoning it in at this point.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:13 am
MW: And if platitudes be the food of meddling, drone on, Mary. Drone on.
I’m happy to report that I’m back from a weekend in New York, where I managed to avoid being mugged by my smirking doppelganger.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:23 am
Brenda Starr – Where Are You – The link I have for Brenda Starr http://www.gocomics.com/brendastarr/ continues to display Sunday’s strip. I need to know what’s going on with her and Sage’s for Basil St. John.
Does anyone have another source for this strip (which is still the hottest strip ever)?
July 29th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Mary Worth seems to be engaging in a little experiment — how long can nothing happen in the strip (”nothing” even by the extremely low standards of Mary Worth) before the readers lose interest in the story?
Of course, the flaw in this experiment is that it assumes Mary Worth has readers who are interested in the story.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:47 am
MW — If Shakespeare knew that someday he would be quoted in Mary Worth, he would have never had quit his day job.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Greeting Comic Strip Gods! Sorry for the Jeopardy tie in here Josh, but I get Ken Jenning Tuesday Trivia and his final question this week has to do with our favorite medium. When I saw A3G and Mary Worth in the same question I knew I had to come here for the answer. I am sure there are loads of snarky answers, but I wonder what KJ is really going for here.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these newspaper comics strips? Apartment 3-G, Blondie, The Born Loser, The Captain and the Kids, Hagar the Horrible, Hi and Lois, Mary Worth, The Wizard of Id, and Ziggy.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:58 am
#36 – Wild guess…is it that all the original creators are dead?
July 29th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Today, Spider-Brick goes to the dogs!
9CL: “It wouldn’t be quite so creepy if he didn’t put on rubber gloves before every rehearsal. He says it’s for ‘better grip’ but I don’t buy it. And since when is there a ballet lift called ‘the reverse cowgirl’?”
Archie: Veronica’s worn this bikini in the strip previously, but we’ve never seen it from two different angles before. Now we know for sure that it’s made of Rorschach material.
FC: “Hey, Mommy! Why didn’t you ever show me how to play ‘Cleveland Steamer’? It’s fun!”
thorps.“No, he’s just an asshole.”Take 2: “No, he just idolizes Ed Crankshaft.”
H&J: How ignorant do you have to be to be Herb’s age and not know the answer to that question?
JP: I could make all sorts of juvenile comments about “scoring,” “putting the ball in the hole,” “playing a round at the Mile High Club,” even plays on the name “Penick,” but having recently flown cross-country and back, I instead have to wonder what airline offers 20 feet of legroom like that.
Big Dog: Yeah, a pocket dimension. Get it? The humor comes from the mental juxtaposition of how tiny he was as a puppy with how big he is now! And it’s especially funny ’cause he’s SOOOO BIG! Isn’t that hilarious?!
Marvin: Meanwhile, one strip down, we’re reminded that… dogs pee! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!
MG&G: BWAHAHAAH!!! Dogs also chase cats!!! *wheeze* I can’t take it anymore, my sides are splitting! If I see one more strip about dog humor today, I’m going to snap and become The Joker!
OBH: Speaking of The Joker… is Avis incapable of closing her lips? She must walk around all the time making slurping sounds like a dentist’s suction tube to keep from drooling down her shirt.
Pluggers: Phew. It’s a good thing they didn’t take the angle of the dog-man going on the paper or I’d have totally lost it.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:12 am
MW: Tobey, when you quote Shakespeare, don’t say “as it’s been said.” You’re crossing in to Herb and Jamaal territory when you do that.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:29 am
And this year’s award for ‘most unintentionally ironic line in a comic’ goes to Cathy for “I’m not a cliché.”
July 29th, 2008 at 9:33 am
MW — As it’s been said “What fools you mortals be.”
July 29th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Over at Kyle’s Bed & Breakfast, they know how to do a breakup with strings attached correctly and Moy & Giella may want to check it out for the next time Mary gets her groove on with someone other than Dr. Jeff.
See, Brad is a baseball player. He was a virgin until he met this Italian soccer star who stayed at the B&B. But, the soccer star took his balls back to Italy. Brad had a crush on another baseball player, Jeff. When he found out Jeff was HIV-positive, he was no longer interested. Brad went out for beers with Matt one night and they ended up dating. Brad and Matt had an argument about Brad spending so much time away (Hello? Mary?) and split up. Matt went to a bar and met Jeff. They shagged like the Bush twins at a bible camp. Matt and Jeff kept it a secret from Brad until Brad tried to reconcile with Matt and walked in on the two of them naked. Matt and Brad had an argument and now Matt and Jeff are arguing. This can bring no good will to anyone except Bill O’Reilly.
I’ve been reading Kyle’s Bed & Breakfast for about five years and I believe two weeks have passed so far. Very Apt. 3G with a gay telenovela twist.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:37 am
#12 – (I posted this link once before but it it is worth another look.) So if you think that “Bum Boat” is not in fact something disgusting, how do you explain this?
Re: Pinafore – So Buttercup is in fact a bum boat woman when I thought that she was a prostitute? More surprisingly, these are apparently not the same thing.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Congratulations to Cherry Trail’s friend Moss Green in winning Comment of the… Sorry, my mistake, it’s PeteMoss. Well, congratulations regardless. It was also good to see Old School Allie Cat’s Margo musings again.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:22 am
7/29
A3G: Yeah, Margo’s pained expression in the third panel speaks for many of us.
9CL: Once again, Salman Rushdie saves the day.
MW: William Shakespeare rises to say, “Hey, don’t try to drag me into this.”
DtM: Gina will be well prepared when she enters the dating world. She’s got lots of practice listening to vapid drivel and pretending to be fascinated by it.
Luann: If either one of the parents start warning about “solo car dates” I am so out of here.
FW: There’s something a little “Personal Best” about this scene between Jinx and Summer. Thankfully, it’s the marginally less creepy father who’s watching them.
Crock: Is he under the impression that the way to win a war is to kill more of your own men than the enemy can kill theirs? Because he could just line ‘em up and take potshots at their heads.
BC: Two cavemen from the same tribe throw away their bulky clumps of wood, obviously irreplaceable. Meanwhile two herbivorous dinosaurs watch them and smack their lips. I know this is supposed to be some kind of anti-pacifist anvil, but even there it falls flat. Mason must be trying to make Mallard Fillmore look coherent.
GA: Either Frenchy McFrench here doesn’t actually speak French, or he actually does consider Rufus the male equivalent of a femme fatale. No accounting for taste, I guess.
PBS: Maybe Rat walked into a Friends rerun.
S4th: Girl, you’re blowing Ted’s meta-mind. Much funny.
6C: Also when cavemen started to wear fringe-y beards with no mustache.
H&L: The fact that Lois is choosing to envelop herself in a chemical haze does not surprise me. It’s a little surprising that she still gives a second thought to the drugs’ side effects.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:28 am
#37,
I’m pretty sure Ziggy is still being written by its creator. It and Mary Worth have both been mentioned on “Ths Simpsons” so maybe that’s the connection?
July 29th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Dingo-I’ve read “Kyle’s B & B” for a while now, too. Guess I still prefer D2WO4 for character development and plot complexity. Too bad Alison’s still on hiatus.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:23 am
9CL – Well at least someone is actually asking him to stop. Why it couldn’t have been Edda is beyond comprehension, though.
Crankshaft – Burn them, Ed. Burn them.
DT – You know, the cover of In The Court Of The Crimson King pales in comparison to panel three’s sheer creepy weirdness.
FOOB – No, no, Grandpa, when you’re strangling you go for the neck.
FW – Paging Dean Booth…paging Dean Booth…
GA – Wait, is he saying Rufus is going to seduce James Bond?
GT – “Meanwhile, please enjoy this glass-domed space escalator leading nowhere!”
JP – Did…did Sam just put down Margo Magee? Oh, there will be blood. So much blood.
OBH – OH GOD GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY AAAAIIIIEEEEE
Popeye – Somehow, it’s just not as sinister as Gary Lockwood levitating a cup across the room.
SF – *snerk*
July 29th, 2008 at 11:23 am
SFx – Rodney Rat was a fixture on Detroit radio in the 1960s, when he went by the name “Rodney Rodent” on radio station WKNR “Keener 13″. Listen, if you dare, to him singing “Winchester Cathedral”:
http://www.detroitradioflashbacks.net/retroreplay/am1310.html
(6th item down under “Radio Replays”)
Nice to see he’s still getting work after all these years.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Um, what is Parker doing to Mary Jane in the final panel of today’s Spider-Man? He appears to be… well, he’s gripping her right shoulder and her forehead…
It’s making me uncomfortable!
July 29th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Congrats to the float riders, especially PeteMoss. I laughed when I read it the first time, and I laughed again today. I also said to myself “Isn’t it derelict? With a t?”
Well, isn’t it?
July 29th, 2008 at 11:48 am
MW. — Yes, and if sprinkling bird seed in your hair be the food of love, then get a-sprinklin’. If is a big word, babe.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Fun COTWs as always! I had my float riding once, doubt I’ll ever get up there again, but it was fun. :) I’ll skip the mustard though… I can’t cut the stuff.
Y26. A New Day: Actually, the fishing rod Max is carrying is “30%”, not “300″. It doesn’t matter what the price is, Max is just deliriously happy that it’s on sale. And carries it as if he was sporting the world’s longest… thinny. Does he think the clerk is <a href=”http://reynardnoir.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/have-i-really-been-planning-this-entry-all-along/”Cassie in disguise once again? Sorry,
CharlieMax.12. farnsworth: yes, we’ve had the explanation before, but that should indeed be “bumboat”, not “bum boat”. Plus, though it’s a fine nautical term, the double entendre is graspable by five year olds, much less adults; it can’t be chosen and used in 2008 with complete innocence of other meanings.
18. Foolster41: Slylock also has Cassandra. Never forget. :) And the very point you make is addressed in Reynard Noir’s wonderful deconstruction blog.
22. Ed Power: Oh my. That parody almost writes itself once you have the characters plugged in. :)
23. Ed Power: You are closer to a webcomic, but not actually one; you’re just amazingly more modern and actually contemporary in your sensibilities. You actually really target the 25-50 demographic who can best sympathise with the characters’ situations. Not to mention both artist and writer are, you know, below 50 years of age themselves. This is rare on the comics page. :) As for Karen Moy, I think most of us are recognising her talents – it does take talent to make us seethe this well. ;) But thanks for the info tidbits! (It doesn’t answer our biggest question – whether she sometimes reads this blog or not and tweaks situations for our snarking benefit, the way we seriously suspect Bob Weber Jr does occasionally.)
July 29th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Tyoo!
Archie: Is it just me, or can this be re-written to be unspeakably filthy with the greatest of ease?
BB: gives actual practical advice for once. I hadn’t thought of that. Panel 2 can be discarded.
DT: Unnatural freaks of nature, part killer hound, part giraffe! Pretty much par for the course in Dick Tracy.
GT: He wasn’t frosty, Elmer; you’re just annoying.
H&L: I can’t tell if the cartoonist needs more drugs, or needs to be taken off drugs, but the depression has to stop.
MT: Can this end with a naked Kelly Welly bound and gagged and left smothered in honey for the ants to devour? …please?
MW: “I’m not one to give up on a good thing”?? Mary! Blastarding stupid woman, YOU were the one who gave up on him, who pushed him away! ! !!! And then Toeby lays on the platitudes just as thickly. Gah!
Pluggers: in the Pluggerverse, “line his birdcage” sounds unspeakably filthy due to many of them married to birds. The last thing I need to know are Plugger kinks.
RMMRSA: you’re always insufferable, is what you are.
SF: Oh, I see what you did there. Trying to be clever, are we? And don’t try to get us to imagine Hillary at 36. Our brains can’t take it.
Sly: okay, I guess it’s my mind that’s unspeakably filthy today. Yeesh.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
COTW – A good week. Particularly enjoyed gh, Mooncattie, and GotFuzzy
True Fable @11 – Your Marmaduke comment is “dog-gone funny!”
Smash @36 – I want to guess that they’ve been continued by offspring of the original creators, but I can’t fit that to all of them (on what I know), and it omits BC/AD, so I just dunno.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
9CL – They only have to discipline male dancers. When Edda bites and pulls other unprofessional stunts, that’s just high spirits. I can see who the writer likes.
A3G – “I’ll need to spend time sketching field studies.” Heh. A gag strip would have put that in the third panel. FOOB or FW would have smirked visibly over it.
AD – Yeah, twenty-foot dinosaurs would never have thought of attacking little pink humans who were holding clubs.
Blondie – Since it does nothing, it’s perfect for the lifestyle of someone who also does nothing.
DT – Tracy’s saving the last two steaks for the henchmen. They’re not as well trained as the dogs. (Correct me if I’m wrong, but I always thought dog whistles were blown to attract dogs, not repel them.)
FC – “They pelted us with stones and garbage!”
FW – “I can tell he’s right behind us by the rhythmic clanking sounds coming from the fence.”
MF – Silly Obama! We need to make sure our kids can speak Chinese!
MT – Well, if Moss and Cherry don’t help Kelly, maybe she can ask the guy hoisting the beer kegs.
MW – Also “Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast.” And “Beans, beans, the musical fruit! The more you eat, the more you toot.”
NS – Wiley’s art seems to be getting sloppier and more apathetic, like the strip is slowly morphing into Prickly City.
Pluggers – A plugger with a bird cage is a plugger with a slave.
S4th – Kudos for acknowledging that something is very, very wrong with comic strip time.
Snuffy Smith – Punkinhead has just foiled the big bank robbery. Keep blowing that whistle, Loweezy!
S-M – Who knew that the windows on top floors of skyscrapers were so easy to break?
July 29th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Ha ha ha ha! I’m both honored and amazed my trifle of a comment garnered top honors this week. Well, I’ll accept the award and thank all the “little” people that gave away so many straight lines, starting with, Mary Worth, Jeff Cory, the cast of General Hospital, my therapist…*Microphone is inexplicably turned off and the orchestra begins the theme to Hawaii Five-O*
Anyway, it’s a fine group of top comments and I’m proud to share the zamboni with this bunch of smart asses.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
There is a band called The Very Most that is offering to write a custom song for anyone who buys their new album directly from their website:
http://www.theverymost.com/
It’s only $10 for the disc, and what I’ve heard so far is pretty good.
The only reason I’m posting this is to suggest that it would be really funny if some of us got the band to write songs about some of the characters we mock in these comics. You could commission a snarky song about the FOOBs or Apartment 3-G, or Mary Worth, or whatever you want.
I might give them a list of Mary Worth non-sequitors or a rant about the FOOBs to turn into a song for me, I haven’t decided which yet. Or maybe have them do a theme song for this website. What rhymes with snark?
July 29th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
MW – Well, as they say, “If Shrimp Scampi be the music of love, eat on!”
July 29th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
#12 farnsworth
Point taken. I’ll be the first to admit that most of what I find humorous is due to my ignorance. Still – Bum? Boat? It’s ripe for bad sophmoric jokes. Surely Gilbert and/or Sullivan would have riffed a bit on that at some point!
July 29th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
FW: Quite possibly the most lez-tastic strip of the day.Bull sure doesn’t seem bothered by his daughter getting in on some girl on girl action. You don’t need to hide girls!
Luann: Hey, any thing’s better than watching them try to cock-block their 20-something son.
RMMD: Yikes! Sarah looks like one of those old puppets with the mechanical boxing arms.
SF: This would have been funnier if not for the distracting fact that she’s off by ten years.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
#61: SF: This would have been funnier if not for the distracting fact that she’s off by ten years.
Yeah, that crossed my mind this morning. Hence this post to explain it:
http://francescoexplainsitall.blogspot.com/2008/07/lets-do-time-warp-againand-againand.html
July 29th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
9CL–Given that dancers have EXTREMELY powerful legs and can kick like the proverbial mules I think Edda could fine a more direct solution to her problem–one also better suited to a visual medium than whining to the boss.
MW–Worst story line ever?
SF–Always enjoy a touch of self-parody.
Ed Power–thanks for the kind words–and I think C&H as Han and Chewie tops my suggestion.
JP–we know she was a top amateur in college but did she also play golf? (Barump bump!)
July 29th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
# 39 Weaselboy – I think the Herb and Jamaal version would be more like “As it’s been said, ‘If certain pleasing melodies are what feed those somewhat pleasant emotions that everybody’s talking about, then those melodies ought to continue.’” Or something.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Since the characters of Mary Worth have a trend of saying, “As it’s been said…” I got the idea that they may need a little help! Here are a few sayings that Mary may now use, because IT’S BEEN SAID!
- If love were a rose, your touch would make it wither and die.
- Music leads the heart to hunger for the grave.
- If companionship were a hobbit, its feet would be most hairy.
- A bucket of blood is worth two ducklings.
Add your own! Remember, once it’s been said, it might appear in Mary Worth! Any quack can add their own saying.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Ces, I spent waaay too much time at your medium-large site yesterday. Pretty funny stuff. I especially enjoy the section titled Conversations with my Dad.
Seriously, I need to get back to work before they catch up with me here. This State ain’t gonna run itself!
July 29th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Mary Worth: Great, this week’s the Annual Charterstone Platitude Slam and we have a ringside seat.
“Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you
(Woo woo woo)…”
Watching a long-dead corpse is more
entertaining than Mary the shrew
(Woo woo woo).
July 29th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
#65 Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)
- The cat on fire gets the most attention!
- If they’ll buy the cereal, we can sell them the snowmobile.
- Nobody doesn’t like Sarah Lee.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
#65 Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^) -
A fish in the pants is worth two on the head.
Beware of Kentucky mailmen bearing baseball advice.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Art Vandelay, shark rhymes with snark, as in “Mary and Jeff fell off the Bum Boat and were eaten by a shark” Or “Foob really jumped the shark when they killed off Farley”.
Happy to help! And congrats to the COTWers. If PeteMoss has to learn another language, as The Duck is quoting Obama as saying, may we call him SpanishMoss?
July 29th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
#65 Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^) -
Howzabout:
The cheese stands alone!
These comics ain’t gonna snark themselves!
And here is an actual quote from some long dead Frenchman I can’t remember right now, but I’d love to hear Mary Worth say it:
Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
65: Hmmmmm…..
The heart wants what the heart wants
The pump don’t work cause the vandals stole the handle
I can’t believe I ate the whole thing
July 29th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
12. farnsworth: excellent! And just how amazing it would be if the Santa Royale Thespic & Lite Opera Co. staged H.M.S. Pinafore! Of course, Mary would be a natural as Buttercup (yeah, like the director would think otherwise…), but who else ought to be cast?
Jeff as the Modern Major General?
Drew Corey (Manwhore!) as Ralph Rackstraw?
Dawn Weston as the Third Spear Carrier from the Right?
20. Frank Parsnip: you said
No, no, no! That’s Dr Reed (aka, Count Morgu), who creeps up out of the hospital basement at night to roam — wait. I’ve said too much.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Ed Power, I must make a painful confession. A couple years ago, when I worked for a small daily newspaper in Florida, I was asked to evaluate several promo packets for daily newspaper strips that had been dropped off by the syndicate salesman. Many of them were new, most were new to me; most were easy to dismiss (ineffectual parents raising wise-alecky kids, lame Far Side ripoff, Mallard Fillmore…). My Cage was among them, and made it to the final round. However… and here’s the painful confession part… the one I ended up recommending was The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee.
The Powers-That-Be ended up not changing the comic page lineup anyway, so no harm was done. But knowing what I know now, I’m ashamed of myself anyway. From the sample strips enclosed, TBMOEL looked like Fox Trot meets Doonesbury. Little did I know that it combined the razor-sharp political insight of Herb & Jamaal with the comic timing and sensibilities of Marvin.
And, to be honest, although there were glimmers of humor in the sample MC strips, the provided assortment didn’t grab me. They were the first few weeks of the strip that were published, and it’s clear in retrospect that you and Mel were finding your way. It was partly that, and now that I know the strip, partly because so much of your humor depends on knowing the personalities of the players. There’s nothing in MC that can be distilled down to “Ha ha! That kid is sassy!” or “Ha ha! He’s a big dog!”. With your strip it’s always something like “You see, it’s funny because Ashley’s always ripping on Norm for being a nerd, and he just poked a hole in her hipster pretentiousness.” Appreciation for that kind of humor takes time to develop, time most readers don’t have the patience for. They want to look at a strip and say “Ha ha! That dog-man sure drives an old truck!”
So, anyway, if you haven’t changed the sample strips the syndicate sends out since then, as a former newspaper editor, I’d suggest you do so. Keep the snarky and cynical ones; all the editors I’ve known have senses of humor like that. Just pick ones that are quick-hits, immediately graspable without knowing the characters. And focus on the main group. Much as I like the Brain Trust now, back then, honestly I didn’t get it.
Feel free to disregard; it’s your livelihood and I’m just some commenter on a blog. But I thought you might get something out of seeing the other side of the comic-selection transaction for once.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Foob: No matter what Elly does, she manages to hurt grampa.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I’d really like to see Mary Worth quote Fudd’s Law: “If you push something hard enough it will fall over”
July 29th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
76. Red Greenback: I’d prefer seeing someone apply that law to Mary Worth. :)
July 29th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
MW: If music be the food of life, then play on! Does she know nothing about Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac lore ?
July 29th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
#77-Niall: Aldo attempted that, and look what happened to him.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
MW: “Excellent, my young… apprentice. Henceforth, you shall be known as Darth Casual.”
A3G: Okay, Alan is a crappy boyfriend, no doubt. But Luann… She’s just not paying attention.
Diesel Sweeties: What happened to this strip? I used to describe it as ‘funny minimalistic character interactions.’ Now I’d use the phrase ‘random figures saying random things, often fumbling a joke.’
OBH: Now I get it. The rictus-faced character isn’t The Joker, it’s Ronald McDonald. The late Ronald McDonald.
SF: Well played.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
As it’s been said…
Toby, if you poke at a rotting corpse long enough, it’ll suddenly jump up and grab you by the arm as you shriek.
Then, it’ll force you to dinner and a concert.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
“I’m not one to give up on a good thing”…unless of course someone else asks me out. Then I’ll drop that “good thing” like a hot potato.
What a hypocritical, nosy, meddling, know-it-all, smug as a bug, pretentious, holier than thou beldam biddy! Toebee is really humilliating her with those platitudes, too. A few more of those empty sayings and Mary will snap – “Bitch, the cliches are my department. You stick to gossipping and pleasing your blubbery, old, blowhard chinbearded husband and leave the platitudes to me, you tofu for brains bimbo! Capiche?”
Good thing = A compliant, sniveling sorry excuse for a special firend who mewls and grovels for Mary’s affection.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
56: That’s a repeat NS. Wiley is on vacation for a month, according to the Freep.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
#80 Vakar Diesel Sweeties: What happened to this strip? I used to describe it as ‘funny minimalistic character interactions.’ Now I’d use the phrase ‘random figures saying random things, often fumbling a joke.’
Are you sure this comment wasn’t meant for Mary Worth?
#65: Wheeeeeerrrre’s da beef?
July 29th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
#82 –
Polite form – “capisce”
Informal – “capisci”
July 29th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
#61: The strip itself is 36 years old. If you take the theory that all the characters sprang into life at exactly that moment, they would be that age.
Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post made that same math mistake and decided that Hilary was just barely old enough to run for president.
Ted Forth (my hero) was 39 at the start since he just had his 40th birthday a few years ago.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Which, in the long run, is scarier: Hilary Forth being old enough to be president or George W. Bush actually being president?
Hilary has successfully lived to this age without poisoning herself, being jacked by a bully, or accidentally killed by Ted moving a car or garden hose. She’s got something going for her other than CIA connections, a family fortune, and enough cocaine to keep everyone in Texas lookin’ like a powdered donut. Boy, it makes me want to vote for a HILLARY!
Oh, what the ‘L.’
July 29th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
As it’s been said:
Long live rock n’ roll. Yes it does.
Raise your hand if your Sure.
It’s clobberin’ time.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
MW: I am shocked…shocked to see a new actress playing Toby Cameron. I guess they got sick of paying the tubby who always had to hide in sweatsuits.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
86. yellojkt: Um, if the strip started in 1982, as Ces pointed out in his blog.. the strip is 26 years old.. not 36… unless you’re counting in FunkyTime? So add ten years for being in the house, Hillary is “36″…
July 29th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
#5 bats :[ I would be honored.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
# 65 – As it’s been said;
- Watch out for that carelessly handled chainsaw. (courtesy of National Lampoon)
- Don’t crush that dwarf, hand me the pliers. (courtesy Firesign Theatre)
- Be vew-w-w-y quiet. I’m hunting wabbits! Huh-huh-huh-huh-huh! (courtesy Elmer J. Fudd, Millionaire) (He owns a mansion and a yacht)
- The catcher over there was pretty frosty, Zeno. (courtesy Elmer Vargas, Kid Without a Country)
July 29th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Now that I’ve read about “This week’s COTW of the week!”, I think I’m going to hop in my car, drive down to the ATM machine, enter my PIN number, and get out some cash so I can buy some books. Of course, I’ll need the ISBN number for those books, won’t I.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
@ bats
I see Mary more as Hebe.
My question is, who would be Dick Deadeye?
July 29th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
JP: Well, isn’t Sam Driver the most charming guy in first class? War hero, double amputee Steve not only needs to help Sam with his golf moves, but, with his flirt moves as well. If that were Steve sitting there, that flight attendant would have given him a bottle of Veuve Cliquot, and her phone number. I have a feeling Silver-tongued Sam is going to get ignored for the rest of the flight. The dope.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Yikes. I’m turning in my calculator. At least now I’m not as old as I thought I was.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Just remember — THEY started it!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/2714305417/sizes/o/
July 29th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
85. SF_Reader,
Anglicized butchery – “capiche”.
PeteMoss, good job on the COTW. I (the other forgotten Moss) used to win those back in the day, by crackie.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Woohoo! My first runner-up CotW! *pirate dance*
Now, onto today’s funnies.
In Marmaduke, we learn exactly how such a massive canine developed his affection for the human male penis.
As the villainous vultuer smashes through the penthouse window in today’s Amazing Flu-Man, how is it that Peter finds time to check MJ for a fever? (At least he isn’t using a rectal thermometer; talk about awkward!)
The picky reader in me can’t help but mention that, for a folded newspaper to show its “Local News” banner in the upright position like that, our doggish Plugger would have to be reading the lower half of the page upside-down. This confirms my long-held position that Pluggers can’t read — and don’t even notice when the people in the pictures are standing on their heads.
Is Family Circus really robbing Rose is Rose for fresh material? Really?
OK, so we know the Foob Gwampa is just suffering from a dental intrustion into his left nipple, but shouldn’t Elly be a little concerned by his posture and expression … and be dialing 911 or something? That satisfied smile suggests she has been plotting is sudden demise for years and believes she has finally attained it.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
12- Farnsworth
*I hate to be a wet blanket, but I know what a bumboat is.
That’s the boat that rows out to the ships returning from the open sea, and sell stuff to the sailors before they get to shore and spend all their accumulated pay.*
Thank you for this. I was still wondering all this time later where they got that name. Now I can think of more productive things…… hmmmmm……. oh, well! thanks anyhow!
July 29th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
#93 – Mike – ATM Machine is one of those redundant expressions that drives me NUTS, though I’m sure I’ve said PIN number before.
Also – I made runner up in COTW! Woo hoo!
July 29th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Grandpa left his teeth in his shirt pocket,( a common place to store them) precipitating a painful breast injury, and possibly cracking the dentures. Luckily, he can still look forward to gumming down some shepherd’s pie. By the way, while Mary and Tobey sit and swap mindless platitudes, it looks as if Mary has dropped her lower plate into her drink.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
She smiled so nice like she wants to come with me uh, huh
But she’s tied to Charterstone and she can’t get free
Come on down to my bum boat baby…
Fish on the wall sleep all night
Ron can’t wait to get her out of his sight
Soon I’m gonna have to get my knife and cut that rope, cut that rope
Then we can go mini-cruisin’ in my little bum boat
Make you happy in my little bum boat
so come on down to my boat baby…
July 29th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
# 98 Moss_Moses
Yes. Yes, you did, my brother. I recall those days of snark, you magnificent bastard, you.
Now I must try to find a way to capitalize on all of the nerd-street cred I’ve earned by winning the big sash this week.
Also, why is it every year or so Jack Elrod introduces yet another character in MT with the first name of Moss? Is this a common first name in certain backwoods communities or something? This latest Moss gets to be a good guy with bad luck.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
farnsworth @94 – I’ve always wanted to play Dick Deadeye. I see the character as a downtrodden Wally Cox type (the on-screen Wally Cox, though perhaps the offscreen Wally Cox is lurking in that meek persona).
July 29th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Fun factiod: Wally Cox and Marlon Brando shared an apartment in their early New York days.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
101- Old School… I think the reason that people do that is when you make an acronym that is an obvious word, people forget that it stands for something… Like PIN. In certain parts of the country, if you asked someone for their PIN, they might hand you a pen (ink pen), and in others they might hand you a straight pin.
And ATM is fast becoming a word. Indian students that I am acquainted with pronounce like “ay-de-em” really fast, which confused some of the country folk around here when one of them was looking for an ATM in a tiny town nearby. He had to write it out for them. I suppose over time their pronunciation will take over and the sense of separate letters will go away…
Okay, enough with the boring stuff. Sorry.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
105- Wally Cox is dead. Rumor has it that Brando had his ashes on his mantelpiece when he, himself, died.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
36/ Smash – Re: the unusual distinction held by all those strips? All are strips that were continued, in one way or another, by a son of one of the original creators.
Incidentally, B.C. is not included in the group, apparently because the current creative team consists of Hart’s daughter and grandson. The question might have been easily reworded to cover them but, given Hart’s recent demise, might have made it too easy.
I don’t have time or inclination to provide proof here, but anyone wishing to confirm this can easily do so by looking up the Wiki entries for each strip.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Ok, with this COTW honor comes the revelation of my secret shame – I may have some type of learning disability or – more likely – I may just be too lazy to properly look up things or to use spell check.
der·e·lict
–adjective 1. left or deserted, as by the owner or guardian; abandoned: a derelict ship.
2. neglectful of duty; delinquent; negligent.
–noun
3. a person abandoned by society, esp. a person without a permanent home and means of support; vagrant; bum.
4. Nautical. a vessel abandoned in open water by its crew without any hope or intention of returning.
5. personal property abandoned or thrown away by the owner.
6. one guilty of neglect of duty.
7. Law. land left dry by a change of the water line.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
#43 Nekrotzar
That map is just horrid; the ‘leavings’ or ‘gunboats’ look like cockroaches or tootsie rolls with hair. I never thought I’d hear myself say this but “poor France”
BTW, I didn’t know Maine was under France
July 29th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
99. Tom the Pirate: pirate dances and mustard cannons! Can life get much better?
109. cheech wizard: I’d thought that some father – child link might’ve been the answer.
Well, my first thought was “They’re related because none of them are funny?”.
100. PeteMoss: oh, heck, I just thought you went to school with Bob Derelick, the biggest lush this side of Santa Royale.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
#110 PeteMoss
So the way I’m understanding it; derelict means both “bum” and “vessel abandoned in open water” hence BumBoat.
I am really getting an education on this blog.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
109/Bats :[ – I was afraid they might have all been included on the gold record snapshot of humanity that was included on Voyagers I & II – because including “The Born Loser” in such a collection would be pretty much guaranteed to bring down the wrath of the Klingons upon us. It would probably inoculate us against the Borg, though.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
oops, make that 112/bats :[
July 29th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
The snarkers had beautiful harmony together!
Violet’s comment sent me into a happy coughing fit. Wow, I’m stunned and delighted to come aboard for this week – thank you, silly, yet inspirational Bum Boat Neon Sign! And tomorrow I’m off to Switzerland for ten days and Munich for three. Can we get PeteMoss to please drive the float to the Augustiner Keller?
July 29th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
116. Mooncattie: now I’m perplexed…are you giving lessons to Josh on how to take a LOT of vacation days, or is it the other way around?
Oh, and do you need a valet? :)
July 29th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
36- Ken Jennings has a trivia site?
July 29th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Bizarro— FYI, Ces Marciuliano is the guest artist this week. Today’s strip is a riff on a recent Family Circus. Ces, now please take a shot at FOOB.
#20 Frank Parsnip, Re: 9CL— Hilarious and definitely COTW-worthy!
July 29th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Islamadora Girl@106 – The way I heard it, they shared more than that.
Lisa @108 – Thanks for sharing that well-known fact. I’ve read that the photo of Brando with someone in his mouth [link gives further link to NSFW photo] is, indeed, a photo of Wally Cox as well. When I said I would like to play the part as the onscreen Wally Cox with maybe a hint of the offscreen W.C., I was referring not to his love life, but to the mean, perhaps sadistic, drunk I’ve heard him called.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
NSFW is right! :o[
{I actually have thought about that. Right now I’m Ted’s age. But unless I start aging the Forths along with me (which I can’t and won’t) then pretty soon Ted will be recalling such fond childhood memories as texting and Fall Out Boy.}
Ces (this is from your blog, btw), I think you should be daring and just keep them in the time frame they started in, make it an historical strip, sort of like Sue Grafton has done with her Kinsey Millhone series, which started out in real time, 1982, but is now history, since in the books it is 1985 or so…. Course it’s too late for that now, but still….