The Comics Curmudgeon

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…and there I died

Panel from One Big Happy, 8/7/08

Now, here’s a little detail that your eyes might gloss over when you’re reading the comics at 2 a.m. like I was this morning. Funeral services for me and, I’m guessing, faithful reader willethompson will take place at Our Lady Of Perpetual Meddling this Sunday at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be given to Eric Mills, who needs to spring his brother from a Chinese jail and buy his intended a freakishly huge diamond.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 10:25 am and is filed under One Big Happy. |

291 responses to “…and there I died”

Weaselboy
August 7th, 2008 at 10:30 am [Reply]

So are you going to schedule a CC meet-up in heaven?
CMC
August 7th, 2008 at 10:31 am [Reply]

Is that first gravestone a dig at josh?
Hooah Heel
August 7th, 2008 at 10:33 am [Reply]

I knew Josh would fall victim to Ruthie’s scissor rampage someday.
Balto
August 7th, 2008 at 10:33 am [Reply]

Wow…that’s a nice tombstone. I don’t know whether you should be offended or honored…?
Lake Eerie
August 7th, 2008 at 10:33 am [Reply]

Perhaps you’ve just been buried alive, Josh. Of course, since it’s been long enough to have a headstone installed, I don’t like your chances.
Old School Allie Cat
August 7th, 2008 at 10:39 am [Reply]

So is this a warning? Like – tonight, Josh Fruhlinger sleeps with the fishes?
Glen
August 7th, 2008 at 10:39 am [Reply]

Well, if it is pointed at somebody famous, the only person not named “Josh Fruhlinger” on the first page of google results for “fruhlinger” is this guy.
Sarah M
August 7th, 2008 at 10:40 am [Reply]

Here’s a rose for you: @–\——–
Dingo
August 7th, 2008 at 10:41 am [Reply]

Perhaps this is commisseration for your untimely death as a contestant on Jeopardy!.
Tweeks_Coffee
August 7th, 2008 at 10:42 am [Reply]

Yeah, I’m not sure if this is just subtle shout-out or a warning. I’d say it’s the former, though, considering that Earl the-vacuum-fetishist made a reappearance a bit ago and Josh openly loved him. Perhaps that was more fan service than we thought.
ConcreteQueen
August 7th, 2008 at 10:43 am [Reply]

What on earth is that symbol above your name??

And oh yeah. RIP and all that.
Rick Detorie
August 7th, 2008 at 10:44 am [Reply]

Good eye, Fruhlinger. Tonight we’ll see how fast your reflexes are. One last piece of advice: DON’T go to sleep.
Tweeks_Coffee
August 7th, 2008 at 10:47 am [Reply]

#12 – Rick Detorie: …and there’s our confirmation. Hi Mr. Detorie! Everyone wave!
Mac
August 7th, 2008 at 10:48 am [Reply]

I always figured that the first artist to kill you would be Pastis. “Kill you” in the comics, that is; I’ve been worried for some time that Lynn Johnston would show up in Baltimore with a chain saw.
willethompson
August 7th, 2008 at 10:48 am [Reply]

Oh. So THAT’S why I felt like crap this morning. Memo to me: no more absinthe smoothies.
Tom S. Fox
August 7th, 2008 at 10:53 am [Reply]

@Weaselboy: I don’t think Josh will go to heaven.
The Divine O’F
August 7th, 2008 at 10:54 am [Reply]

Holy shit. That’s weird! I agree with those who think it’s a shout-out, but what an odd way to do it.
jayjaybear
August 7th, 2008 at 10:55 am [Reply]

This has probably been answered before, but is the online Aug 7 comic different from the newspaper Aug 7 comic for OBH?

Because this is the online Aug 7, and I don’t see that panel or anywhere it would fit.
gh
August 7th, 2008 at 10:57 am [Reply]

willethompson? Dead? But, but I just spoke to him yesterday!
jayjaybear
August 7th, 2008 at 10:57 am [Reply]

Okaaaaay…and this is the Aug 7 OBH on comics.com.

I’m hopelessly confused.
Yitzchok
August 7th, 2008 at 11:00 am [Reply]

Holy crows. I would take this as a threat if it were me. Of course, “thompson” has apparently suffered the added insult of having his last name summarily text-messaged to the gravestone etcher without capitalization.
Sarah M
August 7th, 2008 at 11:11 am [Reply]

I thought Ruthie was holding her nose so she couldn’t smell the rotting corpses.
TheDiva
August 7th, 2008 at 11:12 am [Reply]

Wow, Josh…that’s either very cool or very scary.

FOOB: Next week, we’ll learn that God Himself will be descending from on high to give his personal blessing to the happy couple as a favor to his good friend Elly. At least he said he was God…I think I caught a whiff of brimstone on the guy, myself.
Uncle Lumpy
August 7th, 2008 at 11:12 am [Reply]

Um, Josh –

So I guess this time you’ll be gone for more than two weeks?
Thursday Next
August 7th, 2008 at 11:12 am [Reply]

I think the image above your name is an icon of your finger on the Jeopardy button.
Moss_Moses
August 7th, 2008 at 11:14 am [Reply]

Irgent! Irgent! Emirgency!

Geez, you’d think the author of the Enormoushop phishing scam would at least bother to run spellcheck! The airheaded bimbo is going to fall for it hook, line and sinker.
gh
August 7th, 2008 at 11:15 am [Reply]

#21 Yitzchok –

Of course, “thompson” has apparently suffered the added insult of having his last name summarily text-messaged to the gravestone etcher without capitalization.

Actually, it’s a rather touching tribute, as willethompson is, well, willethompson. Much as I am gh and not GH, the West African nation of Ghana which stole my identity! Toby, beware!
Lake Eerie
August 7th, 2008 at 11:19 am [Reply]

#19 gh:
It didn’t help.
(swiped from Geroge Carlin’s last show)
zenvelo
August 7th, 2008 at 11:20 am [Reply]

that’s what comes of smoking weed in a basement full of MRSA….
gh
August 7th, 2008 at 11:28 am [Reply]

#28 Lake Eerie –

I know, but he owes me money!
Uncle Lumpy
August 7th, 2008 at 11:29 am [Reply]

Wow. So I guess the lesson is, “Be careful what you put on those T-shirts.”
Poppinjay
August 7th, 2008 at 11:31 am [Reply]

I figured the Thompson was Richard Thompson, and there’s some kind of blood feud between Ruthie and Alice Otterloop.
Poteet
August 7th, 2008 at 11:37 am [Reply]

What a magnificent series of comments. Mudges have never done better. I think milk is now coming out of my ears as well as my nose.
Mr. Plow
August 7th, 2008 at 11:37 am [Reply]

Dagwood Bumstead comes out of the closet as the Office Manager from the Village People!
Dagwood’s YMCA
willethompson
August 7th, 2008 at 11:38 am [Reply]

#21 Yitzchok: No, the lower case is correct. Besides, I didn’t want anyone to think that I was shouting at them from beyond the grave.

Actually, being dead is kind of cool. You see some surprising things, like Jim Davis’s creativity and Lynn Johnston’s humor hanging out together.
FE
August 7th, 2008 at 11:40 am [Reply]

FOOB: I wish we could see something from the perspective of Anthony’s parents. Anthony’s dad: “I thought this was supposed to be a simple wedding. Why do we hafta go in six limousines? And what’s with all these flowers? And the helicopter escort? And the procession of flower girls from Mtigwaki? And the teenage band with the old guy and a garden hose who are going to play at the reception, with a special appearance from teen sensation Rebecca?”
Chris Opperman
August 7th, 2008 at 11:44 am [Reply]

*pisses on your grave*

Why?

Because I can!

Chris
mere cog in the machine
August 7th, 2008 at 11:44 am [Reply]

Well, I guess it beats being eaten – and excreted – by Garfield. Good night, sweet prince…
mere cog in the machine
August 7th, 2008 at 11:45 am [Reply]

p.s. Can I have your books?
survivor
August 7th, 2008 at 11:49 am [Reply]

Well, this sucks.

From now on, the snark on this messageboard will consist only of:

“….moan…..brains…..unnnnnhhhhh…..Mary Worth BRAINS …..grrrraaaaa …..mmm…..braaaaaaaaaiiinss……”
goldamarlin
August 7th, 2008 at 11:49 am [Reply]

23: Next week, we’ll learn that God Himself will be descending from on high to give his personal blessing to the happy couple as a favor to his good friend Elly.

Don’t worry, that’s just Clambake.
Darkefang
August 7th, 2008 at 11:51 am [Reply]

DT: Oh good. The bank employees are suffocating while Dick sits around whistling with the bank robbers. Nice policework fellas!

Foob: Celebrities? The only people who still use limos are high school kids going to prom and dictators.

MT: Jack Elrod’s extensive first-hand experience in the great outdoors really pays off today, when in response to the wind blowing, he has his characters hide behind a bunch of rocks.

Marvin: Don’t feel too bad, Marvin. Feeling a sense of temporal displacement is common when someone throws a tiny black hole at you.

MW: Hundreds of thousands of elderly readers of Mary Worth will lose their life savings in phishing scams in the time it takes Karen Moy to drag out this storyline. If only they’d been warned sooner!

RMMD: Rex is pretty grim about all June’s vacation nonsense until he hears the word “cruise.” Don’t get your hopes up too high, Rex. June won’t be booking you on the same cruise that you saw in the movie Boat Trip.
Uncle Lumpy
August 7th, 2008 at 11:55 am [Reply]

#40 survivor said –

“….moan…..brains…..unnnnnhhhhh…..Mary Worth BRAINS . . . .”

Alternately, ““….moan…..brains…..unnnnnhhhhh…..Toby Cameron BRAINS. . . .”

When he’s more in the mood for a light snack.
Lake Eerie
August 7th, 2008 at 11:59 am [Reply]

FBOFW – Despite my enjoyment of Al Gore movies, I’m far from an environmental activist. But six limos?? Jesus, that’s overkill. Just how much family is involved here? Was Lynn Johnston already preparing for a far-right backlash at yesterday’s strip, where she offered a lukewarm acceptance of same-sex marriage, so she trotted out this ode to egregious energy consumption?
And just how rich is Gordon? Is he actually willing to tie up presumably his entire fleet, underwrite all the gas involved and pay SIX drivers to presumably hang around until the end and drive their bloated asses home?
And where is all this dressing taking place? Wasn’t April just dressing her father a couple days ago? Why wouldn’t the bride know before the day of her wedding that a half-dozen limousines were involved?
And the pun, oh lord the pun. It MAKES NO SENSE. Using six limos is not classy, full, half or even quarter. It’s vulgar. I’m sure it wasn’t funny when Gord shared it with anyone who would respond with uproarious laughter (represented with agape mouths and wagging tongues), and it’s not funny being repeated by the previously sane teenage daughter.
Have you no shame, Ms. Johnston? Have you no shame?

(Hey, my first full-blown foob rant – that was fun!)
tom
August 7th, 2008 at 12:04 pm [Reply]

uhhh, I read that comic today and never saw this panel. What gives?
Calico
August 7th, 2008 at 12:04 pm [Reply]

Dang, Josh, that ain’t no random name on that thar tombstone. These cartoonists are getting weirder and weirder. Must be that MRSA thingy.

And now, I’d like to present the band Foreigner playing their hit single “Irgent.”

FOOB – “Half-classed”? April, that duty is for your family to fulfill.
mere cog in the machine
August 7th, 2008 at 12:05 pm [Reply]

At least Josh and Willie have the comfort of being inducted into the afterlife along with Robert Hazard, a noted rock icon from right here in Philadelphia. The three of them could now be said to be riding the Escalator of Death.
Calico
August 7th, 2008 at 12:09 pm [Reply]

Oh, and one big boo-boo from the OBH writer/artist – if Josh is Jewish, he wouldn’t get a tombstone until precisely one year after his death.

Gentiles/Catholics like myself like to get the darn thing up and running as soon as possible, but this ain’t the case here.
So take that, OBH!!!
HB Glord
August 7th, 2008 at 12:09 pm [Reply]

#47: Ghouls just wanna have fun, eh?
Chennette
August 7th, 2008 at 12:10 pm [Reply]

I presume the little decoration on your tombstone is a representation of your favicon?
bats :[
August 7th, 2008 at 12:11 pm [Reply]

Please tell me that you’ll be buried in your FC vest, Josh. AND your keen cowboy shirt. If you can’t take it with you, you might as well be buried in it.
mere cog in the machine
August 7th, 2008 at 12:13 pm [Reply]

#49: Ha! I wish I had posted that!
mere cog in the machine
August 7th, 2008 at 12:19 pm [Reply]

#51 bats: I think Josh should be laid out in that curiously fetching Albanian housedress he had the admirable temerity to post a photo of himself wearing a couple of years ago. It is stylish, comfortable (though that is hardly a concern at this point) and emphasizes the idea that the ceremony is a celebration of his short yet fruitful life.
Rick Detorie
August 7th, 2008 at 12:22 pm [Reply]

I’ve compiled a list of all of your internet “handles” and will soon be submitting it to the FBI. If the FBI proves useless, I will take matters into my own hands. You people have been defaming my work, and the work of too many other talented cartoonists, for far too long. It is time that you reap what you have sowed. Consider this an open declaration of war.
Ned Ryerson
August 7th, 2008 at 12:23 pm [Reply]

Foob Butts
Mollie
August 7th, 2008 at 12:25 pm [Reply]

A yin-yang, Josh? Were they out of stars of David at the tombstone shop?
BigDave
August 7th, 2008 at 12:27 pm [Reply]

Kind of interesting that the Chron and comics.com don’t run the same “One Big Happy” (but for the record – the ones on the Chron page are the ones my hometown paper prints)
HB Glord
August 7th, 2008 at 12:30 pm [Reply]

#54: I sure picked a hell of a time to start posting again.
Anonymous
August 7th, 2008 at 12:31 pm [Reply]

#44 Considering the sad faces the Pattersaints like to make about overconsumption, environmental damage, and the wastefulness of the western lifestyle, you think they might be like, “Thanks for the offer, Gordon, but that’s not really in line with our values. Didn’t you see the ‘This house conserves water’ sign in the bathroom?”

Also: Why does Gordon even have access to six limos and “drivers”? He sells used cars.
Old School Allie Cat
August 7th, 2008 at 12:32 pm [Reply]

#54 – Hell’s yeah! I’ve always wanted to have an FBI file.

I’ll even supply some of the dirt. Like the time I stole a shopping bag from Rich’s Department Store.

I was five. My father took me to the Executive Offices and made me give it back. He also asked if they wanted to press charges.

There’s more where that came from!
Cedar
August 7th, 2008 at 12:38 pm [Reply]

OBH runs two different strips at whatever time–one is regular OBH, and the other is OBH Classic. I think it has something to do with the cartoonist swtiching syndicates, but I’m not 100% sure.
gh
August 7th, 2008 at 12:40 pm [Reply]

As a couple ‘Mudges noted yesterthread, Enormoushop.com has been updated, hilariously so. Here’s the link: http://enormoushop.com/

And speaking of shopping, Josh, I recently ordered that “The Irge” T-shirt from CafePress, but there’s a typo. Where do I go for a refund?
PeteMoss
August 7th, 2008 at 12:44 pm [Reply]

Shocking! Oh how I miss willethompson, Saturn rest his soul.

Josh, it’s a shame your family couldn’t have picked out a more resent picture to put on the gravestone. The pre-natal, ultra-sound image was an odd choice for a memorial, but if that’s the way they’d prefer to remember you, so be it. You looked a little like Yosemite’s half-dome back then.
bats :[
August 7th, 2008 at 12:52 pm [Reply]

Oh, yeah, some Thursday observations:

FOOB: what unmitigated CRAP.
I’m wondering (with a big side order of hoping) that this wedding is not unlike my cousin’s, which was a bona fide extravaganza. A short time later, when I was on the phone with my mom, she told me K. and her husband had divorced. It wasn’t a separation, it wasn’t a consideration of divorce, it was a done-deal divorce — and it was FIVE months after the wedding.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/2741140679/

JP: “Okay, $100K it is.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Hey, do you hate golf as much as I do?”
“Um…yeah.”
“Great! Let’s ditch this joint and get us some beer and broads — in an air-conditioned place!”
And then Sam woke up.

MW: I must admit that I have yet to grab my computer monitor, no matter how worried or concerned I was about what was on the screen. If I do, will I be transformed into a beautiful trophy wife?

FC: Mommy is apparently multi-talented:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/2741140689/in/photostream

RMMD: be still, my heart!
Cruise = Norwalk virus outbreak = Count Morgu Rises Again!
bats :[
August 7th, 2008 at 12:55 pm [Reply]

48. Calico: that’s a good observation….but….that could mean….Josh is already dead….and he’s been blogging as an undead for Lord knows how many years!!
Aiiiiiiiiiiiiyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Calico
August 7th, 2008 at 12:57 pm [Reply]

#54 – Hahaha! Bienvenue!

I just found this nice little Updike piece on Schultz, from The New Yorker. Enjoy or not.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/10/22/071022crbo_books_updike?currentPage=1

FOOB – so who’s going to supply the mirror ball and the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack?
Colinski
August 7th, 2008 at 12:58 pm [Reply]

“Because of the stench of death! It’s all around!”
150
August 7th, 2008 at 12:59 pm [Reply]

Condolences to Mrs. ‘Mudge.
Lolsworth
August 7th, 2008 at 1:00 pm [Reply]

Is that the Obama logo on your tombstone?
LJ
August 7th, 2008 at 1:00 pm [Reply]

Lesee, um…Graves-Peter Graves-Gladiator Movies-Glad he ate her Movies-uh, movies-movies have plots-Plots! Plots make me want to plotz!-No, um,…Plan 9…That movie makes me plotz!…Tor Johnson-TORE Johnson! …Crap!-Okay, Tombstone-Doc Holliday-I’m your huckleburied!-Oh,yes, now we’re cookin’!-Cookin’ -Brookins-”Hey good lookin’ , we’ll be back to pick you up later”-Mr. Microphone-Mr. Mike-black humour for 200, Alex-No, gotta get back on my game, here-C’mon guys! Get back in the game-don’t let your prostate problem hold you back! -prostate-prostrate-prostrate problem-”I’m dead and I can’t get up!”-Frulinger-You’ll linger here for quite a spell-Frulinger-Frulfinger-Soulfinger-Bar Kays- bar flies-Spies like us- Nope, okay, … thompson- stomps on! -don’t stomp on thompson!- Nah, too “Crankshafty”-pushing up daisys-please don’t eat those, you don’t know where they’ve been!…and, uh…I got nuthin’
Bunnë, Official Comic Execrator
August 7th, 2008 at 1:01 pm [Reply]

Mr Detorie, if that is your real name, I’m not afraid of the FBI. I know they won’t be able to reproduce the umlaut on my so-called handle, and will be searching for some other comic execrator named “Bunne”. They’ll never find out my real name, unless the click on my handle and follow the link there…

Er, let the record show that I have never execrated One Big Happy, and plan to name my first-born child Ruthie, be it a girl or a boy.
Artist formerly known as Ben
August 7th, 2008 at 1:04 pm [Reply]

Damn, Josh, you’ve been done in by one of your Baltimore neighbors. Someone get Pembleton and Bayliss on the case.
Cedar
August 7th, 2008 at 1:08 pm [Reply]

#60 Allie Cat

I requested a copy of my FBI file a year or two ago. I was just curious if they had one, and if they did, what it said. They did, but so much of the information was wrong, it made me even question the competenacy of the organization. For example, they had me living in a different city, and involved in anti-war groups there. I have a somewhat uncommon name, and figured there must be one other person with it.

The only really chilling part is that, when I was in the fifth grade, I wrote a letter to the USSR embassy, asking for information about travel, weather, and other stuff. I think I was doing a report on Lithuania for school (and was curious since my mom’s family is from Lithunia). A copy of that letter was in my FBI file, along with a short memo saying that they might need to follow up on this. They also had records of a trip I took to Lithuania with my mom when I was a teenager, after the fall of the Soviet Union.
joeyjoejoe
August 7th, 2008 at 1:10 pm [Reply]

I thought “The Big Happy” was recycled strips? Did they add this in on a reprint?
mere cog in the machine
August 7th, 2008 at 1:14 pm [Reply]

60 Allie: Your story about your father reminds me of the time I was six and I asked my Pop why it was raining. He told me it was because God was crying. When I asked him why God was crying, he told me it was “probably because of something you did”. He was a real hoot, my Pop was!
Little Guy
August 7th, 2008 at 1:15 pm [Reply]

Say hi to Pastis and Masky McDeath for us, Josh!
Red Greenback
August 7th, 2008 at 1:21 pm [Reply]

HBGlord: Good to see you again, Hermano! Sorry it has to be under these dire circumstances. I’m wearing teal and lavender today in observation of the Pope’s passing. Guess he didn’t wake up after the third silver hammer tap.
Mary Worth, Bestest comic strip in the history of EVER!: Hi Karen!
El Santo
August 7th, 2008 at 1:27 pm [Reply]

My guess is that picture on the tombstone is really Tiny Josh, and he’s peeking out of a porthole to say hello.
Old School Allie Cat
August 7th, 2008 at 1:29 pm [Reply]

75 – mere cog – Actually, I don’t harbor any grudges against my old man – at the time, I was terrified (they didn’t press charges, obviously), but as you might imagine, I never shoplifted again.

72 – AFKAB Mr. Cat and I bought the complete Homicide series box set as a gift fior ourselved for Christmas of 2006. We’re finally on season 7… I am ADDICTED.
Uncle Lumpy
August 7th, 2008 at 1:30 pm [Reply]

#61 Cedar –

Oh, crap — Rick Detorie’s a member of a syndicate? Things are worse than I thought!
Rick Detorie
August 7th, 2008 at 1:32 pm [Reply]

Seriously, I will hunt you down and scoop out your eyeballs with a grapefruit spoon.
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
August 7th, 2008 at 1:34 pm [Reply]

I am completely willing to believe that LJ @ 70 was actually written by Lynn Johnston.
Al of the Christian Single Jungle Patrol
August 7th, 2008 at 1:40 pm [Reply]

73 — At least your FBI file has incorrect information. Mine was chillingly accurate…
survivor
August 7th, 2008 at 1:41 pm [Reply]

46 – “And now, I’d like to present the band Foreigner playing their hit single ‘Irgent.’”

Come on! Don’t you think that it’s a bit too much to make musical references with that ‘word’?

Irge overkill.
Al of the Christian Single Jungle Patrol
August 7th, 2008 at 1:42 pm [Reply]

81 — You’re using a spoon because you can’t find the good scissors?
DAS
August 7th, 2008 at 1:45 pm [Reply]

#73, Cedar … how difficult is it to get ahold of your file. I might want to get ahold of my file someday. I wonder if it includes any political activities or just is the pro-forma file people said they were making on every single biological scientist-type in Jerz in the days of the anthrax attacks.

What do they keep records on? Do they have copies of all the “Mr. So-and-So is a fine, upstanding citizen who is perfectly trustworthy to have super-duper top-secret security clearance … er, well … certainly, given who’s gotten such clearances in the past, Mr. So-and-So is far and away more trustworthy than many” letters I’ve written? Is the file filled with entries such as “Dr. DAS, before he got married to a woman he met at a kosher wine tasting — because he is too much of an effete elitist of the sort parodied by MF to meet women in bars — was wont to engage in political activities with the dual purposes of advancing causes in which he believed and also to meet as many cute dirty hippy chicks as possible”?
Lake Eerie
August 7th, 2008 at 1:46 pm [Reply]

#82 TSSB:
I don’t know; that post seems a little too coherent
Pepperoni Détournées
August 7th, 2008 at 1:48 pm [Reply]

I think the OBH folks were jealous that their strip wasn’t showing up on Google search results because Josh wasn’t mentioning the strip as often as, say, a lesser strip such as FOOB or MW, and decided to be proactive. Bra-vo, OBH, bravo.
target4cactus
August 7th, 2008 at 1:51 pm [Reply]

18, 20 — Hmm, the strip at: for Aug 7 has the headstones. Are the other sites and some papers using archived strips because an August vacation?

The connection I found: Both Josh and Rick Detorie have editorial reviews of “Scratch Golfer” by Willie Thompson at amazon.com
MustacheMike
August 7th, 2008 at 1:51 pm [Reply]

I was so offended by Marmaduke’s lack of joke today that I wrote a letter to the L. A. Times asking them to put the Great Dane to sleep. We’ll see how this turns out.
Red Greenback
August 7th, 2008 at 1:53 pm [Reply]

I’m pretty sure that thing on Frulinger’s headstone is a Family Circus panel, or circle. But… Which… One? *cue dramatic cliffhanger organ sound*
PeteMoss
August 7th, 2008 at 1:54 pm [Reply]

H & L – Lois Flagston, you can jump in my scummy pond anytime! You’re the hottest real estate agent in the funny pages, baby!
Tweeks_Coffee
August 7th, 2008 at 1:54 pm [Reply]

#81 – Rick Detorie: A grapefruit spoon? Well oh-la-la Mr. I’m-An-Elitist-Cartoonist-Pants! Too fancy to gouge his eyes out with a simple spoon or, God forbid, a spork swiped from Popeye’s, eh? I will say ‘good day’ to you, sir.
mere cog in the machine
August 7th, 2008 at 1:58 pm [Reply]

I was relieved to find that my FBI file was forced to concur with my attorney’s assertion that “all of those people were dead when I got there”. Meddlers!
Oy Vey Cargo
August 7th, 2008 at 2:03 pm [Reply]

Everyone knows a melon baller works so much better anyway. I mean, duh.
Bootsy
August 7th, 2008 at 2:04 pm [Reply]

MustacheMike, # 90, sez

I was so offended by Marmaduke’s lack of joke today that I wrote a letter to the L. A. Times asking them to put the Great Dane to sleep. We’ll see how this turns out.

The letter will probably end up in MossMoses FBI file.
Cedar
August 7th, 2008 at 2:05 pm [Reply]

DAS @ 86

It was surprisingly easy to do. You just write a letter (and you can probably find a template online) and get it notarized.

They had a lot of information about my current and former addresses (about half of which were incorrect), and about where I’d attended school, and supposedly that I was married to someone (which I wasn’t) and that I may or may not have a child (I didn’t). They had, in addition to my Lithuania stuff, copies of some documents showing that I was active in a union (I was a member of UFCW for five years). There was a criminal records search that showed nothing, but there was also a copy of a search for someone with a similiar name who’s from my hometown. They also had information about a non-profit corporation I was involved with as an “officer”–it was a literary magazine I edited.
Mr. Plow
August 7th, 2008 at 2:14 pm [Reply]

#64: Who will have the honor of donating the legal services?
gh
August 7th, 2008 at 2:15 pm [Reply]

#86 DAS –

Try this for starts:

http://foia.fbi.gov/privacy_request.pdf
Tweeks_Coffee
August 7th, 2008 at 2:15 pm [Reply]

#86 – DAS: Seeing all this, I decided to go ahead and request my file. I went here…

http://www.getmyfbifile.com/

You just fill in the info and it’ll automatically generate letters for you. Basically you need to send one to the main office and any branch offices near where you lived or where you may have a record. I also opted to request my file from the CIA and the NSA, so I should get full report on what the government has on me.
lesles
August 7th, 2008 at 2:18 pm [Reply]

#72 afkab – forget pembleton and bayliss, this is clearly a job for slylock
lesles
August 7th, 2008 at 2:22 pm [Reply]

i’d love to see all the cartoonists who hang out here getting josh’s tombstone snuck into their strip somehow. i think it’s the least you could do, now that he’s gone.
Smarmy_Duke
August 7th, 2008 at 2:37 pm [Reply]

Ruthie’s holding her nose because Gramps craps himself in grief everytime he goes there.
lesles
August 7th, 2008 at 2:37 pm [Reply]

i haven’t got a look at mine, but a bunch of people in my party got hold of their ASIO files a while back. apparently, aside from heaps of wrong political/tactical information and stuff that was freely available to anyone who walked into the office and asked (but that they decided they had to obtain covertly via “operatives”), the most detailed and accurate info was about who was sleeping with whom and what people got up to socially.

in fact, a couple of historians are using declassified files kept on the old communist party and its members to research the party’s internal social life and artistic activity because they’re the most detailed and comprehensive source in the country.
D.A. Pennington
August 7th, 2008 at 2:42 pm [Reply]

FOOB:

The Wedding: When the JP asks if anyone thinks that Liz and Blanthony should not be married speak or forever hold their peace. Therese suddenly appears, points an accusing finger at Liz and calls her a “man stealing whore”.
Liz leaps down the isle toward Therese screaming a bloody rage as the catfight of all catfights errupts.
Hair an taffata, bobby pins and spike heels are thrown about and guests and family members flee the ceremony hall. Some brave men stay behind to pop popcorn and lear as the two vixens exchange blows and rip off pieces of each others clothing as the gottermadung of battles rages on.
It is only after hours of scratching, spitting, and tearing of dresses, that Liz finally emerges the victor. She leaps from the battle area toward a fallen Blanthony, who had passed out from the excitement. Liz gathers the groom in her massive jaws and leaps away into the wild that is Canada.

This segways to . . .

The Honeymoon :

Hours later, the married couple arrive at MittRomneygitgacki and check into the Notell Motel. After a change of clothes and a little rest, they head over to the local dive bar for a little fire water and pemmican. A side story is devloped where Liz and Blanthony bump into Chips and Suds, Liz’s ex and goomah, and through secondary characters, Lynne paints an extravagant picture of the white man’s injustice to the Indian populace in the Great White North. The whole story ends with much drinking . . . way too much drinking. The last scene in the panel (In Sunday color no less) is a blearly-eyed Blanthony waking up in a trashed hotel room, with Liz, Chips and Suds passed out around him. Stars and exclamation points emminate from Blanthony buttocks area to suggest a certain soreness and leaves the reader informed that the marriage has been “consumated”.
lesles
August 7th, 2008 at 2:43 pm [Reply]

#100 Tweeks_Coffee – “so I should get full report on what the government has on me”

or maybe you’ll just quietly turn up on a tombstone in the corner of some comic strip panel someday
Calico
August 7th, 2008 at 2:46 pm [Reply]

#91 – Ida Know!
Jesse Cline
August 7th, 2008 at 2:46 pm [Reply]

Thats awesome. I think all the comics should do a tribute to dead Josh like they did when Schulz died…
Calico
August 7th, 2008 at 2:53 pm [Reply]

What do you think the Feebs have on Mary Worth?

After all, she is the master meddler of Los Estados Unidos.
Perky Bird
August 7th, 2008 at 2:54 pm [Reply]

I’m still hoping that Gordon actually hired six limousin. Think how efficient that would be—wedding transportation and banquet all rolled into one package!
Comcis Fan
August 7th, 2008 at 3:10 pm [Reply]

#48 Maybe OBH time-warped ahead one year for the unveiling?
bats :[
August 7th, 2008 at 3:16 pm [Reply]

105. D.A. Pennington: very nice, but are you sure this isn’t a replay of Mark and Cherry Trail’s nuptials?

110. Perky Bird: an interesting thought, but how could you distinguish between the limousin and the bridal party?
Oh, yeah, the former are much less tackily dressed….

And from our GAH! Department:
This morning I was pulling into the driveway, trying to get myself and my groceries indoors before the heat and humidity (yeah, there’s humidity in southern Arizona) got to me. As I went to turn off the engine, “Dancing Queen” starts playing. And damned, if I don’t sit baking in my little Subaru tin can for the next 3-1/2 minutes, reminiscing about Dingo’s Mary Worth video as the music goes on and on….more CC Zeitgeist!
What hath Dingo wrought?
Meanwhile
August 7th, 2008 at 3:17 pm [Reply]

I’m sorry, can we go back to the August 1st Slylock Fox for a moment?.

I just wanted to point out that while there are no penguins at the North Pole, it is perfectly routine to see polar bears tooling around on snowmobiles.

Thanks, we now return you to your regularly scheduled death-blog.
Canaduck
August 7th, 2008 at 3:18 pm [Reply]

Uh.

Wow.
Sock Puppet
August 7th, 2008 at 3:28 pm [Reply]

Sorry to derail the cheerful subject of Josh’s death and (presumably) dismemberment at the hands of Defamed, Talented Cartoonists, but did anybody else notice the awesome grandeur that was panel #2 of Mark Trail today? Sure, talking animals are nothing new, but I’m pretty sure today is the first time MT has featured a lioness resembling a sea otter yelling out of her sphincter.
Poteet
August 7th, 2008 at 3:34 pm [Reply]

# 35 willethompson — BWAHAHA! If you happen to run into Locher’s sanity, please tell it that some of us lament its untimely demise.
rich
August 7th, 2008 at 3:47 pm [Reply]

enormoushop.com:

Please put links on the side of the page so we can access the page contents from previous days! (I wanted to show my wife the website as it appeared on Tuesday, which was hilarious.)
lesles
August 7th, 2008 at 3:54 pm [Reply]

#117 rich – do you realise the enormity of what you’re asking of enormoushop? the work required would be … um, lots … no, that’s not right. i know there’s a word for it …
Perky Bird
August 7th, 2008 at 3:56 pm [Reply]

# 112 bats :[

Last night I saw “Mama Mia!” with some friends. When the “Dancing Queen” routine came up, I kept waiting patiently for Mary Worth to enter and join Meryl Streep in jumping on that bed. Yes, Dingo as ruined (?) that song for us all!
kunoichi42
August 7th, 2008 at 3:57 pm [Reply]

Artist formerly known as Ben..

YAY! A fellow HLOTS fan.

Hey, if Pembelton and Bayliss are busy, how about Munch and Bolander? I hear Crosetti and Lewis are up?

(Yes, the kunoichi is a geek…a geek with a boxload of shurikens!!)
UncleJeff
August 7th, 2008 at 3:58 pm [Reply]

Poor Josh is dead.
Josh Fruhlinger is dead.
All gather round his tombstone now and cry.
He had a heart of gold and he really wasn’t old.
Oh, why did such a feller have to die?

Poor Josh is dead.
A candle lights his head.
He looks so pretty and so nice.
He looks like he’s asleep.
It’s a shame that he won’t keep.
But it’s summer…and we’re running out of ice.
mere cog in the machine
August 7th, 2008 at 4:02 pm [Reply]

Now that Josh is, um, dead, will there be a power struggle ensuing? Will there be factions forming, base treachery and double dealing, alliances formed and broken, and murder in blood both cold and hot? I sure hope so!
Comcis Fan
August 7th, 2008 at 4:08 pm [Reply]

This is one of the very best blogs on the whole www, hands down.
Calico
August 7th, 2008 at 4:11 pm [Reply]

#110 – Wow – one for Elly, the other five for the rest of the crew.
kunoichi42
August 7th, 2008 at 4:15 pm [Reply]

D.A. ….even better: The church has a large baptismal pool in the middle of the aisle. * Somewhere during the fisticuffs, Therese and Liz fall in and it’s psuedo wet Tshirt time for the “gentlemen”. It’s Alexis and Crystal all over again, only with less tasteful outfits. Oh and the water has the added benefit of being used to wake the now out cold groom out of his stupor..or rather the more than usual stupor he seems to be engaged in now. (Engaged! See LJ, I can make a pun too!!) But be careful what you wish for lest Antooonee gets the idea that two women REALLY do care enough to fight over him. They don’t…I just spiked their drinking water with cheap sake. The kunoichi knows the way of the ninja .. bwa ha ha.

* (The parish I attended as a child decided to add a new, shallow baptismal pool…in the back third of the aisle. A friend of mine got married at that parish and part of her train brushed the water’s surface. Hope they blessed the water beforehand, otherwise it would be a bad omen.)
Anonymous
August 7th, 2008 at 4:17 pm [Reply]

Do we have to wait for a puff of white smoke from the Vatican for our next Pope?
Laura c
August 7th, 2008 at 4:19 pm [Reply]

Josh, is it true that the worms crawl in and out, then eat your guts and spit them out?
Or are the reports of massive pinochle-playing among the worms more accurate?
redbird
August 7th, 2008 at 4:21 pm [Reply]

Calico/bats: Kudos to you both. You beat me to it…and I’m an atheist!

Josh: Obviously you channelled Pastis, as you’ve “un-died”!
Perky Bird
August 7th, 2008 at 4:31 pm [Reply]

But what was the cause of Josh’s death? Death by butter tart? Did his head explode after reading just one more of Dolly’s lame malapropisms? Did he get over-excited at the sight of some particularly impressive sweaterpuppies? Inquiring minds like mine want to know!
Astroboy
August 7th, 2008 at 4:43 pm [Reply]

#105 – D.A.Pennington: good stuff, but in a Liz-Therese catfight my money’s gotta be on The Accented One. No way that lardass Liz is gonna beat Le Queen of Mean! (unless it’s in an eating contest.)
Joolz
August 7th, 2008 at 4:43 pm [Reply]

Cool! I hope Fruhlinger becomes the new Nina. But a tombstone? Sheesh.
gh
August 7th, 2008 at 4:44 pm [Reply]

Elegy for Josh

I remember the neckties, limp and damp as tendrils;
And his quick wit, a sidelong wtf mot;
And how, once startled into snark, the light syllables leaped for him,
And he balanced in the delight of his thought,

A rogue, happy, railing to the end,
His blog goosing the prigs and small dunces.
The barbs sang with him;
The spit, the keyboards turned to fritzing,
And the Coke sting in the deep valleys of the nose.

Oh, when he was gone, he took himself off into such a cool gig,
Even an Uncle could not find him:
Flying his bride to LA,
Pressing the frickin’ buzzer.

My snarker, you are not here,
Waiting like a Pope, choosing a COTW.
The Christian singles cannot console me,
Nor the thread, wound up at late night.

If only I could nudge you from this sleep,
My famed blogger, my Jeopardy pigeon.
Over this damp grave I speak the words of my loss:
I, with no rights in this matter,
Neither tipper nor sponsor.
lesles
August 7th, 2008 at 4:51 pm [Reply]

#122 mere cog – yes, i’m sure mary worth will continue.
PeteMoss
August 7th, 2008 at 4:52 pm [Reply]

Josh, maybe you and willethompson can round up Farley, Lisa, Aldo Kelrast, Masky McDeath, and, heck, a whole slew of hapless Dick Tracy victims and haunt the hell out of that damn wedding in Milborough. Or you could just star in an after-reality show.
Niall
August 7th, 2008 at 4:59 pm [Reply]

YY52. Poteet: I’m not a cat, but I play one on TVthe net. I’d happily drape in your arm. :)

YY56. SecretMargo: as long as you go to Chocobel (de Castelnau near St-Denis), all is good. :)

40. Survivor: “brains” and “Mary Worth” do not work in the same sentence without a negation between them.

43. Uncle Lumpy: Nah, I don’t think Josh goes for empty calories like that.

70. LJ: *blinks and slowly backs away*

73. Cedar: as I may have a unique name in the world (and I can verify this if I can ever get a working copy of the software my uncle uses for his family tree info), so if the FBI has a file on someone with my name, I know it’ll be me. But I can’t ask for it, being non-US citizen; either the law only allows citizens to request it, or else by asking for it, I’ll immeidately have a “suspicious” flag flip on my file…

112. bats :[ : Dingo has wrought us all around his little finger, I daresay. :)

132. gh: wonderful!
Oy Vey Cargo
August 7th, 2008 at 5:12 pm [Reply]

132 – Is it a bad sign that that actually made my choke up a little bit?
Mariko
August 7th, 2008 at 5:13 pm [Reply]

Sorry to get off the topic of Josh’s death (I’m still in the denial stage of my mourning, OK?), but did anyone else notice that Diesel Sweeties stole a joke right out of Calvin and Hobbes?
Oy Vey Cargo
August 7th, 2008 at 5:14 pm [Reply]

Um, hey, so those of you who have FBI files – did you send requests to field offices? Were you on file mostly because you were arrested once during anti-war or civil rights protests? If I once used to go to mosque regularly, is there a safe bet that I have an FBI file? These things are going to keep me up at night now.
Poteet
August 7th, 2008 at 5:15 pm [Reply]

# 132 gh — I give you my deepest possible curtsey. Wow.

# 135 Niall — I am honored by your offer. And my cats inform me that “playing a cat” is the Supreme Role for a human, so I congratulate you on having achieved it.
sangwij
August 7th, 2008 at 5:19 pm [Reply]

gh #132 I think I like this one even better than the original. Beautiful! (snif)
lesles
August 7th, 2008 at 5:21 pm [Reply]

#132 gh – brill
Uncle Lumpy
August 7th, 2008 at 5:24 pm [Reply]

#128 Redbird –

Josh: Obviously you channelled Pastis, as you’ve “un-died”!

Josh “un-dies” have Snoopy on them.
ConcreteQueen
August 7th, 2008 at 5:31 pm [Reply]

Lynn Johnston reminds me of a small girl playing with her Barbie dolls, blithely declaring that this one will be the bride, this one the groom, etc. and planning a picture perfect, fairy tale wedding in her head, followed by some sort of nebulous happily ever after. I think the reason she inspires so much irritation is that most of us grew out of this idea by the age of 10 or so, and yet she insists on broadcasting her wish fulfillment to the world. The strip has become sad and a bit embarrassing, like seeing a woman who used to spend hours on her makeup when she was younger now smear lipstick on her teeth in old age.
JB
August 7th, 2008 at 5:32 pm [Reply]

143 — Uncle Lumpy:

Yes, but Chuck Norris wears Josh undies.
IdleDandy
August 7th, 2008 at 5:46 pm [Reply]

That is seriously like the best shout-out ever.

I think Detorie wants to steer more CC attention to OBH. Which is kinda difficult what with the different-strip-on-every-site thing.

The enormoushop.com site is brilliant. I laughed really loud and I know in a minute someone’s going to ask what was so funny. I wonder if they’d get it.

And I have to confess something. I loved Family Circus today and emailed it to people. But it’s because my niece used to say “stample” and we were all really sad when she outgrew saying it. So it’s OK, right?
doug rogers
August 7th, 2008 at 5:46 pm [Reply]

Thought that was a Family Circus panel
Mr. Nice Guy
August 7th, 2008 at 5:47 pm [Reply]

Ooh! Vertigo reference in the RSS feed. Nice!
Anonymous
August 7th, 2008 at 6:18 pm [Reply]

#106 lesles: That’s a sobering thought – I don’t want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard.

There, I took one for the team and said it so no one else would have to.
Vince M
August 7th, 2008 at 6:19 pm [Reply]

149: Oops. Me.
Vakar
August 7th, 2008 at 6:44 pm [Reply]

So, uh, Josh: How does it feel to be immortal? Did you know before today?
JB
August 7th, 2008 at 7:02 pm [Reply]

Excellent point, Vakar (#151).

There can be only one.

Josh, if you see a pony-tailed Scotsman in a black overcoat…run for the nearest church.
blueberrygrrrl
August 7th, 2008 at 7:04 pm [Reply]

#144 ConcreteQueen: A perfect description. Isn’t this a symptom of some types of dementia? I wonder, has LJ been checked for Alzheimer’s? I’m actually being somewhat serious (unusual for me, but it happens).
queek
August 7th, 2008 at 7:12 pm [Reply]

149: ” Bonedigger Bonedigger
Dogs in the moonlight
Far away my well-lit door
Mr. Beerbelly Beerbelly
Get these mutts away from me
You know I don’t find this stuff amusing anymore”

interesting, we seem to have DT, Pluggers, MarmTheBigDog all covered in one verse, plus the OBH reference. Nice! (and the last line applies to FOOB and oooooooooooh so many more strips!)
Zaq
August 7th, 2008 at 7:16 pm [Reply]

Now the question is, which came first, the shout-out or the tombstone? Did Detorie decide to kill Josh first, or did he decide to run a random graveyard gag and felt like offing our beloved Pope? The world may never know.

Did anyone else feel like Tom Batiuk was looking over someone’s shoulder at the Keane Kompound today? Seriously, Dolly’s got this look of despair on her face not often seen outside of Funky or c’Shaft. Speaking of which, what the hell is up with Funky today? Since when do hospitals throw random-ass parties for groups of people who happened to be newborns at the same time? How do they choose which groups of endangered babies to “reunite?” I mean yes, I know that Summer’s very existence is supposed to serve as a contrived memento mori, but really? Did Batiuk really need to just out of the blue underline “Summer was snatched from the jaws of death minutes after she was born and she’s still going to die hahahahaha? Oh, who am I kidding, of course he did. It’s the only thing that keeps him going, to make his puppets writhe around in misery, turning the typically immortal or semi-immortal fictional character into something only too mortal, for no goddamn reason.

Also, what’s up with the gaping holes in the faces of the foobs in the final panel? I don’t mean the obnoxious muppet-mouth laughter, I mean breaks in the lines that define the faces. It’s like Bil Keane offered Lynn drawing tips. I wonder if she’d name-drop him like she does her BFF Charles Schulz.
Anonymous
August 7th, 2008 at 7:30 pm [Reply]

They used that same joke on the Sopranos, when Junior and Livia are in the cemetery with AJ…
Uncanny Valley of the Dolls
August 7th, 2008 at 7:35 pm [Reply]

What I want to know is, why is she holding her nose? Is it because they’re at the Paupers Cemetery and all the coffins are of shoddy construction?
PeteMoss
August 7th, 2008 at 7:49 pm [Reply]

At least they didn’t stick a damn truck tire innertube on top of your gravestone like they did for that poor schmuck on the other side of the graveyard road.
Echo
August 7th, 2008 at 8:10 pm [Reply]

#144 ConcreteQueen – If Johnston wrote the strip the way I played with Barbies when I was, like, 8, it wouldn’t be allowed in the paper. There would be affairs, dismemberment, murder, attempts to conquer the Utopian My Little Pony kingdom (thwarted largely by the smartest pony, Moondancer), cross-dressing, large amounts of kung fu perpetrated on the few males, and a Floating Head of Death. This little girl never dreamed Johnston’s dreams, thank the Invisible Pink Unicorn.

If Josh has been dead for a year, that explains his interest in Mary Worth. I don’t know what excuse the rest of us have. Unless we’re also dead, and in a blog-themed No Exit.
commodorejohn
August 7th, 2008 at 8:25 pm [Reply]

#159 Echo –

=O

…

…you wouldn’t be single, by any chance? ;)
The Head Cheese
August 7th, 2008 at 8:32 pm [Reply]

I, for one, welcome our new scissor-wielding overlord.

(In fact I cancelled my subscription to the Everett Herald when they replaced OBH with “Secret Asian Man”. True story.)
milnor
August 7th, 2008 at 8:33 pm [Reply]

There are actually three series of OBH running. The current strip — the one that you’ll find in most newspapers — is running at creators.com; this is a permalink to the cemetery strip.

Comics.com is running a series they call OBH Classics. This is a link to today’s strip there. Ruthie has just learned from Joe that there’s twenty-four hours in a day, and she’s wondering which day that is; in particular she’s concerned that it might be a school day.

Then there’s Go Comics, which runs the strip as just “One Big Happy”, but it’s out of sync with the one at Creators and the newspapers. In today’s strip Ruthie explains to Joe that she figures the SPCA must be a bad place to take an animal, seeing as how the grown-ups spell the name of it in front of the kids. I certainly don’t have the energy to go through the Creators archives to see if I can figure out what the lag is compared to the current strip.

I’m embarrassed to say that I actually like the strip enough to read all three series most days.
Brick Bradford
August 7th, 2008 at 8:39 pm [Reply]

Mere Cog: Apparently your dad got his material from Saturday Night Live–that line came from the “Deep Thoughts” feature they used to have. Or SNL got it from your dad!

Boy Josh, God be good to him, called it–one stupid wedding pun after another in FOOB.
By the way–I’m thinking this is all one day–kind of like a meaner, more horrible “24″.
commodorejohn
August 7th, 2008 at 8:41 pm [Reply]

#162 milnor – Don’t be embarrassed; OBH is probably the funniest “family” strip around, thanks in no small part to Ruthie’s insane babblings and the various weird kids in her neighborhood.
Sheila Sternwell
August 7th, 2008 at 8:43 pm [Reply]

Sorry about the whole death thing, Josh. Am I in the will?
Sparky
August 7th, 2008 at 8:46 pm [Reply]

Lynn Johnston, I’d like to introduce you to Darby Conley. He’s a cartoonist, too. And he likes puns! But when he uses puns, he doesn’t fill three panels with treacly glurge which gets stretched into a really lame pun in the last panel. Instead, he throws out four puns in four panels, all of them fitting the characters, and all of them at least worthy of a chuckle. He can even include one that can be interpreted in different fun and interesting ways. Perhaps looking at his work may remind you not to leave the “comic” part out of what are called the “comics.”
Talking Squirrel
August 7th, 2008 at 9:39 pm [Reply]

One Big Harpy: Most likely the reason Ruthie’s holding her nose is that Marmaduke was there in the wee hours on an extended foraging sortie.
Bobdog, Jungle Patrol - SVU (not an Elephant, not Spam)
August 7th, 2008 at 9:42 pm [Reply]

Josh, this is comics equivalent of ordering a fatwa against you. You need to go into hiding or radical Garfieldists will take you out.
phoebe
August 7th, 2008 at 9:42 pm [Reply]

#12 – Dear Jesus! It’s some kind of evil comic-writer conspiracy to kill Josh! OBH is first… who will attempt to crush Josh next time?!

…Um, how do y’do, Mr. Detorie?
Jym
August 7th, 2008 at 9:46 pm [Reply]

=15= (the late, great willethompson): Absinthe smoothies are fine if you’ve got St. George, Kübler, or Lucid. Just don’t use the horrific Le Tourment Verte.

=20= OBH (jayjaybear): The creators.com and chron.com stuff is in realtime. The stuff at comics.com and yahoo.com are One Big Happy “Classic”, reruns from two different time periods. Bloom County reruns are even more divergent. Anyway, if you click on my name up there, I link to all of them.

=55= Foob (Ned Ryerson): How could you leave out my favorite Foob butt of all? Thërëse’s?
mlo
August 7th, 2008 at 9:47 pm [Reply]

fruhlinger is a TOTALLY common name. don’t be so paranoid!
Harold
August 7th, 2008 at 10:33 pm [Reply]

This is like that scene in Watchmen! Except it isn’t raining. And you’re already buried. And nobody is standing around your grave. But at least there’s a tombstone.

Say, have you bumped into Aldo Kelrast yet? Did you ever notice how much his corpse looks like the corpse of Captain Kangaroo?

Next on Rex Morgan, M.D.: Rex battles an outbreak of Norwalk Virus during his cruise!

http://cruises.about.com/od/cruisehealthandsafety/a/norwalk_virus.htm
Poteet
August 7th, 2008 at 10:33 pm [Reply]

Stop all the snarks, cut off the Luann moan,
Prevent Marmaduke from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence young Ruthie, and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let The Vulture circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message ‘Josh is Dead’.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the Mark Trail doves,
Let Tracy’s policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my laughs, my mirth, my jape and jest,
Each workday week and each Sunday rest,
My quips, my joking, my talk, my song;
I thought CC would last forever: I was wrong.

The Crocs are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up John Patterson, dismantle his son,
Pour away Curtis and his entire ‘hood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
MyEvilTwin
August 7th, 2008 at 10:40 pm [Reply]

Whoever set up http://enormoushop.com should get Comment of the Week, maybe even Comment of the Year. It is awesome.
A New Day
August 7th, 2008 at 10:45 pm [Reply]

That’s awesome. #3 – You beat me to the punch!
gh
August 7th, 2008 at 10:49 pm [Reply]

#173 Poteet –

Yeah, well, that was totally my next try. Bows unto bows, madam.

In truth, wow.
Doug Puthoff
August 7th, 2008 at 10:56 pm [Reply]

I’m in awe of you, Josh.

That reference makes my being mentioned in Ces’s blog look pathetic.
Harry Paratestes
August 7th, 2008 at 11:03 pm [Reply]

1) Kudos to whoever set up the enormoushop website, it’s an amazing effort to make reality conform to the comics!
2) Josh, it’s sad to hear of your untimely death, sort of like what happened to Doc Daneeka in Catch-22. How did you die?
LTBF
August 7th, 2008 at 11:10 pm [Reply]

Gordon has hired six limos to pick everyone up at their homes. Well, it looks like everyone in the wedding party is already at the ceremony.
Shoebox
August 7th, 2008 at 11:17 pm [Reply]

Oh, that enormoushop.com thing is brilliant. Seconding the call for a special COTW, because there is no way that’s not the work of a ‘mudge.

(Seriously though – we’re snarking on this story arc, but I bet 95% of the target MW demographic are meanwhile huddled round their newspapers going “Oh, no! Toby! Stop, don’t do it…”)

Also, in re: Josh’s death…shoot, I see the Paul Simon references have already been taken. Second those too.
Carly
August 7th, 2008 at 11:38 pm [Reply]

Funny, I’ve had my name put on a tombstone by a friend who does an online spoof of a TV show. Feels good, doesn’t it? ;)
Vakar
August 7th, 2008 at 11:41 pm [Reply]

173 Poteet: Bravura performance! Can I commission you to give Auden’s “September 1, 1939″ a similar treatment?
Zach
August 7th, 2008 at 11:41 pm [Reply]

Cory Thomas, are you still here?

I think that the main problem with that particular female character is that she doesn’t have a single exclusively female feature. Her breasts are barely noticeable (and could just be a bump in her baggy clothing), her hair and clothes could be used on a male character as easily as a female character. And, frankly, she’s drawn too realistically. It’s kinda like Barbie’s un realistic proportions: they work because she’s small, but if you took a realistic and attractive woman and shrank her down to Barbie size she would look pretty plain. Because your characters proportions are so realistic, they’re hard to notice.

But, regardless, I love the comic. Keep up the good work.
LTBF
August 7th, 2008 at 11:54 pm [Reply]

Why did OBH decide to snark at Josh? He never mentions the strip here. I’ve never read the strip, is it one of those warped sense of humor things, like PBS?
Trixie Belden
August 8th, 2008 at 12:16 am [Reply]

#173 Poteet – Oh, that was brilliant! I kind of choked up a little at the “Pack up John Patterson, dismantle his son” part. That always gets me.
Dingo
August 8th, 2008 at 12:20 am [Reply]

I would like to believe that my little Mary Worth: Dancing Queen brings joyful tears to the eye. And, having seen Mamma Mia!, at least I know how to direct.
Ned Ryerson
August 8th, 2008 at 12:21 am [Reply]

8/8 Mark Trail: That’s what she said.
Trixie Belden
August 8th, 2008 at 12:24 am [Reply]

#132 gh – Another gem! (I’m reading the comments from bottom to top) You guys are all on fire today.
Paperback Rifler
August 8th, 2008 at 12:28 am [Reply]

My condolences to Josh’s friends and family; and I have to add that I personally find it inspirational that not even death is preventing Josh from entering new posts on this blog. Talk about dedication! Or possibly some sort of voodoo spell-casting.

Anyway, I’ve come to the following tribute. Think Pete Seeger’s version of “John Henry.” Or skip it entirely. No one can make you do anything you don’t want to do, you know.

Some say he hailed from Alabama,
Or from Kuala Lumpur.
But it’s right there in the bio on his blog
That Josh had come from Baltimore — Lord, Lord!
Fruhlinger came from Baltimore.

When Josh was just a li’l curmudgeon
Thinkin’ how to make his mark,
He picked up the paper and turned to the funny page;
Said, “I’m a-gonna make a heap of snark — Lord, Lord!
“I’m a-gonna make a heap of snark!”

Josh blogged and gained a big following
Faithful as any church.
They read all his posts, and they laughed at his bon mots,
And they purchased Josh Fruhlinger’s merch — Lord, Lord!
And they bought all that Curmudgeon merch.

Josh read “One Big Happy Fam’ly;”
Wrote, “That girl’s insane, I see!”
A reader got inspired, and thinking of attire,
He designed a scary “Ruthie” tee — Lord, Lord!
willethompson made a “Ruthie” tee.

Detorie said to Josh Fruhlinger,
“Boy, I’m gonna make you hurt!
“I’m gonna get both you, and that willethompson too,
“For that silhouetted ‘Ruthie’ shirt — Lord, Lord!
“For that copyright-avoiding shirt!”

When Josh read Thursday morning’s comics,
He saw Rick Detorie’s trick.
Josh saw his own name on a granite graveyard stone;
He said, “I wasn’t even feeling sick — Lord, Lord!
“I don’t remember being sick!”

Josh read that strip with consternation,
Sweat pouring off his brow.
“If I’m in the dirt for that one ‘good scissors’ shirt —
“I’ll have to be my own ghost writer now — Lord, Lord!
“Guess I’ll be my own ghost writer now!”

Now every, every single morning
Comics go on and on.
As long as Lynn makes Foobs and June Morgan has boobs,
Josh will snark them from the great beyond — Lord, Lord!
Josh will keep on blogging from beyond!
Gold-Digging Nanny
August 8th, 2008 at 12:35 am [Reply]

He … he looks so natural. *Sob*
Anonymous
August 8th, 2008 at 12:38 am [Reply]

Dear Judge Parker:

That is not how the publishing industry works.

Your friend,

TGOJ
Gold-Digging Nanny
August 8th, 2008 at 12:56 am [Reply]

117 rich — I clicked on the link at the bottom of the current page, and it took me to the old page with Sean Finnery’s Scotland, etc., on it.
bats :[
August 8th, 2008 at 1:07 am [Reply]

TGIFunnies (not much today — still in mourning, you know):

FC: truer words were never spoken.

RMMD: eh, I like my idea better, but we can work something out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/2742623078/sizes/o/

FOOB: geez, Liz, whatever gave you the idea that your wedding day isn’t supposed to be a pretty amazing day? You’re probably just confused because you’ve never seen most of those people in the photo with you before…
kippetje2000
August 8th, 2008 at 1:08 am [Reply]

Ain’t That Always The Way: Just as you get semi-famous; up and killed by a comics artist. Say hello to Scaduto for us, Josh.
LTBF
August 8th, 2008 at 1:09 am [Reply]

As we suspected, Weed is doing the pictures for free. But Carleen is suddenly a hair stylist, thus saving Liz even more money.
Red Greenback
August 8th, 2008 at 1:26 am [Reply]

#193 bats [: “Oh, yay!” is awesome work as always. One little thing: Shouldn’t that narration box read: “REX’S CLAM MIND IS TROUBLED!”?
Frank Parsnip
August 8th, 2008 at 1:26 am [Reply]

A3G: The temple has a prison in it, which is a bit odd because Tibet hasn’t been a theocracy since the PRC swallowed the country up back in the 1950s. Perhaps if this is all a flashback, that could explain the horrible clothes worn by these tourists.

The weird thing is that they’re basically being taken on a tour by what looks like Billy Corgan in a bathrobe. If you’ve ever seen Tibetan buddhist monks, they normally wear dark-red robes with saffron shawls and their hair is close-cropped but not shaved bald. They don’t go about in a tan bathrobe with a white T-shirt underneath like today’s guide, and they don’t grow it out super long like the gent in a bilious-green wrap yesterday. I’m not trying to be a jerk about this, but where I live we often have Tibetan buddhist monks and priests here on pilgrammages and study-exchanges.

More importantly, what the hell is Tommie doing in Tibet!?!

MT: Heh-heh…that’s what she said. Well, it is.

MW: Can’t allow anything to interfere with that DVD order for Ian, she thought, as she pulled the knife out of the postman’s forehead.

Sex Organ, M.D.: June saw it advertised in one of those nursing magazines that the doctors keep leaving around the hospital — “Knocked Up and Milky” and “Hot Milk” having prime readership demographics for passenger ships.

Slylock Fox: The alligator drawing goes from nearly complete to complete so fast that basically he’s adding the tail and coloring it in. What next?! “How to Draw the Sistine Chapel”?
Alfred E. Neuman
August 8th, 2008 at 3:27 am [Reply]

Aargh! I checked in late today and missed all the excitement. Since I’m one of the ‘Mudges that criticized OBH pretty heavily earlier this year, I’m sorry to see that it’s poor innocent Josh that has earned the wrath of the artist. Don’t worry, Josh. Even though you’ve died for our sins, I have every confidence that you’ll be back after three days.
Mibbitmaker
August 8th, 2008 at 3:28 am [Reply]

Josh and willethompson, Paul McCartney feels your pain (or did, in 1969).

I don’t know which is weirder: seeing your name on a comic strip tombstone, or thinking of your possible FBI file!

Just so long as we don’t see Ruthie stomping on any poor mibbit creatures any time soon. (Besides, cartoon creatures called “mibbits” were my idea first anyway!)

Okay, I’m off to check the funny pages for “Josh is dead” clues…..
Mibbitmaker
August 8th, 2008 at 4:39 am [Reply]

8/8/08 (But enough about the Olympics…):

A3G: “Shrine of the wrathful God”, huh? More like Margo! (note to self: check tomorrow’s 3G to see of the graveyard OBH is printed on the shrine…)

Archie: “Josh is dead” clue: Archie is actually mourning Josh and wille. The little dog looking displeased at Arch happens to be named “Ruthie”.

DT: The dogs are attacking! They’re attacking…. US!! The readers! Now Locher’s gone TOO far!

FOOB: The bridal party! They’re… attacking US, the readers! Now Lynn’s gone TOO far!

FW: “…You, however, are dying of cancer!”

JP: Making a deal with a shady guy at a golf course? AHA! — this looks like a “willethompson is dead” clue.

Luann: Lessee… one of those guys has a beard… his friend has “skull = ” on his t-shirt. The positioning of the two guys is reversed, but if not, it would read “skull = bearded guy”. Another clue.

MF: No clue here, Tinsley isn’t subtle enough to plant fake death clues.

MW: Toeby is in a counselling group for the aggressively idiotic.

Mutts: Ozzie’s walking in bare feet, just like George Harrison on the Abbey Road album cover. A clue!

OBH, itself!: Always knows where the ashes land? “Ashes”, as with cremation? (Debunked: gravestones would be useless)

Ghost-Who-Is-Doomed-To-Fight-The-Same-Fight-For-Eternity: The quips aren’t any wittier the second time around, stripey!

RMMD: A vacation theme now — a clue!

FC: “Horrible mention”, Billy says. Like Josh ‘n’ wille got in yesterday’s OBH?

Curtis: Hand over head — a sign of fake death in Beatles lore.

Cranky: The seeming nonsense-malapropism, when played backwards, actually seems to be saying, “Nobody’s dead, you freakin’ moron, it’s just a stupid shout-out… and I’d stomp a mibbit in a second! So there!” …..Or “cranberry sauce”, I’m not sure.
mollificent
August 8th, 2008 at 5:17 am [Reply]

I must delurk and say, AWESOME post and comments. The elegies have been fantastic. I keep thinking of the scene in “Waking Ned Devine” where they hold a funeral for Michael (pretending to be Ned) and he gets to hear all his friends eulogize him. Gets me every time. :)

Well, while I’m here I might as well snark. *creeeaak* OK, my skills are a little rusty…

Friday:

Crankshaft: AUGGGH

Between Friends: I’m inexplicably fascinated with this storyline, and want to see how it turns out.

GT: Ummm…I can’t be the only one to notice the Holy Hands(tm) in the last panel. Is Elmer the new Messiah? Will panel 3 be featured on thousands of tall glass candles available for sale at bodegas across Our Great Country(tm)?
LITTLE A. OF THE GRAND CONCOURSE JUNGLE PATROL
August 8th, 2008 at 5:59 am [Reply]

A3G: John Denver isn’t dead, there he is in panel one, in the tour group. Thank god. Pretty soon he’s going to entertain everybody with a rendition of “Himalayan High.”
auRa
August 8th, 2008 at 6:03 am [Reply]

Luann: “Wha’d I say about taking your foot off the clutch when you’re in gear?”….Umm, I don’t know, “IT’S WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU DRIVE A STICK-SHIFT CAR”?

I mean, I think I might be misunderstanding this comic strip, but when you drive a stick, your foot is on the clutch when you’re changing gears, not when the car is in gear. Otherwise you end up with my aunt’s cars, which blow the clutch about every three years because she insists on leaving her foot slightly on the clutch even when she’s not changing, which wears out the clutch, which makes me a sad auRa.
aristos_achaion
August 8th, 2008 at 6:17 am [Reply]

Is it a coincedence that phishers are going after Toby at the same time the crocs are going after Pig?
gleeb
August 8th, 2008 at 6:32 am [Reply]

Baldo: Yes, but when will the cartoonists figure out that these things would be better if it were just one between little story arcs, instead of, ugh, a whole week of them at a time?

Dick: The police are usually armed, no?

FBoFW: That last panel: wasn’t that the emblem of the Symbionese Liberation Army?

Duck: Washington Post, 8/6/08. “Boy, 6, Accidentally Shoots His Brother, 9, in Hip”.

Mutts: Blasphemer!
And The
August 8th, 2008 at 6:33 am [Reply]

DT: You know, Tracy, you could always toss Shirl Locke *your* whistle, Big Damn Hero Man. Of course, I also understand that dogs have a peculiar vulnerability to the rapid introduction of lead pellets into their bodies, but this is admittedly rather obscure.

FW: Yes, Summer, this hospital must seem like a cheerful wonderland of hope and security to you. Who could possibly imagine tragedy here?
LITTLE A. OF THE GRAND CONCOURSE JUNGLE PATROL
August 8th, 2008 at 6:50 am [Reply]

FOOB: Lately, I have been “reading” this strip early in the morning, before breakfast. That way, when I get the dry heaves, nothing comes up. It’s much neater this way.
LITTLE A. OF THE GRAND CONCOURSE JUNGLE PATROL
August 8th, 2008 at 7:05 am [Reply]

FOOB: Who the hell are the unfamiliar people in the backgrounds of today’s panels? Guests from Migawakitooli? Mummies rented from the Chilean Andes Museum? Corlean’s cousins? The caterers?

OH BY THE WAY, WE HAVEN’T FOUND OUT WHO IS PROVIDING THE FOOD AND LIQUOR FOR FREE, YET! But no problem, there’s still time.
John C Fremont
August 8th, 2008 at 7:06 am [Reply]

If you play Foreigner’s “Imergency” at 78 rpm, it says, “I buried Josh.” Really.

With Josh all dead and stuff, I guess this is going to be a loooong thread.

If there are any comic artists or writers lurking, I just want to point out that I would never make fun of your work in any way, so please don’t kill me. As for those things I’ve said in the past, well – It was a pun. No, no, not a pun. What’s that thing that spells the same backwards as forwards? For example;

A3G – I can’t believe Sir Elton John has to join a tour group in order to visit the Temple of the Fierce Gods, but I’m glad Tommie could make it.

MT – Mother Cougar; “Well, kids, looks like we eat tonight.”

Phantom – I can’t believe I’d never noticed before that Andre packs a Ridgid 31040! That’s a $200 wrench!

RMMD – “It’s a five day Carribean cruise for $4000 dollars… airfare included! Call 888-Wilson-Nolan! Here’s Johnny Olson with details.”

JP – “I don’t have a handicap, Mr. Cheatham, but my new partner has titanium legs. Does that count?”

DT – Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please, oh, pleeeese!

You see, comic artists? Not poking fun at all! 100% humor free! Nothing but appreciative, palindromic fun! (Spelled backward, it really says, “Josh is dead,” so not technically a palindrome, but I’m sure Michael Palin would get on board with the idea.)

Holy crap, I’m late for work!!
LITTLE A. OF THE GRAND CONCOURSE JUNGLE PATROL
August 8th, 2008 at 7:11 am [Reply]

FOOB: Who says reading the comics is a waste of time? You learn new stuff every day! Who knew that in Canada they give out awards for outstanding wedding photo albums?
True Fable
August 8th, 2008 at 7:17 am [Reply]

Once I was finally able to get to a computer and see CC today, I immediately went to the Chron for a look at the entire OBH strip. I was at work, mind you, during a rare stint on second shift when I should have been on fucking VACATION dammit all y’all, Greater Metropolitan Roopville has a poor sense of timing and promise keeping. Anyway, the room was full of people and I usually work alone at night so I am not used to that. I saw the tombstones and let out a typically Trumanesque hoot and howl, pointing at the monitor and just generally living it up.

“Look! It really does have Josh and wille’s names on the damn things, it really does! Wa hahahaha…!”

On the upside, I bet they NEVER make me come in to work when it should have been my time off, and maybe I’ve scored a For God’s Sake Don’t Have Truman Come Work When There Are Innocent Co-Workers Around, We Think He’s Unhinged.

Yeah baby, unhinged at every joint. Fuck it, I’m going on Vacation now!
LTBF
August 8th, 2008 at 7:50 am [Reply]

Weed won his first award for outstanding soft core porn used as artwork in the home.
A Lemur
August 8th, 2008 at 8:05 am [Reply]

gleeb says:

Dick: The police are usually armed, no?

-Ah, but don’t forget that this is the Worlds Most Ineffectual SWAT Team, and they probably have to call in to get permission for every shot they fire. (‘Headquarters, headquarters! I missed! Permission to fire another?’) and beside, they don’t even trust them with rubber bullets, they’re probably packin’ nerf bullets. Tracy? With that tiny, tiny gun and those stubby, stubby fingers? Shirl’s doggie chow.

Rex: Ok. Ok. It’s obvious that the thought of being on a boat alone with his wife and possibly having to have some form of intimate contact with her is grossing Rex out, but crimeninity people, could he be any more obvious about it? Rex, it’s the 21st century, over here in Spain you have a judge on the Supreme Tribunal who’s so openly gay they even have posters at the bus stops with him advising other gays on the merits of safe sex, and everyone is so blase about it that it’s not even a topic of conversation. Rex, come to the light, it’s ok, really, when you stop living the lie it get’s easier, verdad.

Josh: All the best people are dead. Social climber.
CanuckDownSouth
August 8th, 2008 at 8:19 am [Reply]

Good grief, I come back from vacation to find that Foobnarok is nothing more than having the characters drown in treacle and puns.

Friday FOOB: pro: no boxcar pun! con: man, they’re really spelling out the “we do it because the Pattersaints are sooo wonderful – WE can’t even come up with as good reason”. Ugh

My vote on what the boxcar John Patterson spent a bunch of money on: April’s lobotomy (she has been assimilated to the Way Of The Lame Pun), and Liz’ needed an updated brain-cut, too, to get through this day.
Brick Bradford
August 8th, 2008 at 8:21 am [Reply]

DT–Couldn’t Shirl call on her police training and, oh, I don’t know, pull out her gun and shoot the damned dogs–or, geez, since the dogs are going to take about three more days to attack–go outside and shut the door?

MW–you know, somebody tried to pull this on me using my Paypal account. I was about to fall for it when I noticed a couple of suspicious things–like it was April and the email still used Paypal’s Christmas graphics, and the return email address was something like CrookedWeasel@ripyouoffdummie.com
Any subtle red flags like that on your email, Tobester?
Whippersnapper
August 8th, 2008 at 8:21 am [Reply]

Foob: I know the message is supposed to be that the bridesmaids, and indeed the entire town, are thrilled to have the opportunity to be of service to the Pattersaints, but really, I think the women are just relieved that Dopethany is off the market, and everyone’s happy they won’t have to listen to him whine that he has no hoooooooome anymore.

MC: Yay! Creepy-Janitor-Guy! I love Ancillary Character Week!
Weaselboy
August 8th, 2008 at 9:00 am [Reply]

Geez, this Mary Worth storyline is playing out like a high school health film. Except instead of VD, it’s demonstrating the dangers of unprotected internet use.
Lake Eerie
August 8th, 2008 at 9:04 am [Reply]

Anyone been able to verify the rumor that for the past year or so, Josh has actually been played by a Canadian Mountie?

Anyway, it’s Friday – I’m going to try on some positive snark.
9CL – Ain’t it sweet how easily he’s whipped? Only vaguely OT, I recently added Hilary Hahn Plays Bach, a nice collection of sonatas for violin, ostensibly part of a plan to get some good classical performances for my future child to listen to. I was also hoping to make enough remarks to my wife to set off a chain reaction of arguments and breakups involving our gay and straight friends, punctuated by Laura Petrie pants and Perry Mason role-playing.
DT – Awww … look at the puppy!
A3G – Nice bathrobe! That is at least an advantage to working from home. Good to see late-60s Andy Warhol hanging out in panel 1.
MF – Nice to see a black man representing your strawman today, Ducky! I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that he represents violent criminals. I’m sure anyone who reads anything into that is just being PC!
MW – Toby, you’re looking as gorgeous as ever in panel 2. Is it your hair? Your concerned expression? Your excessive stupidity?
Phantom – Great plan, going from oil rig to oil rig and beating up smugglers without killing them! I’m sure they’d never regroup and seek revenge.
RM – Yay, June! Good find – I bet there are no additional fees involved, and the advertisement is not for the cheapest rooms found in the bowels of a ship.
SM – What a cool villain! However is he staying in the air with a newspaper editor in one hand and a water pistol in the other?
FBOFW – I got nothin’
Bootsy
August 8th, 2008 at 9:10 am [Reply]

If you watch Dingo’s Dancing Queen backwords, Mary Worth says “Josh is dead”.
Perky Bird
August 8th, 2008 at 9:12 am [Reply]

Mary Worth: “They want to know my bra size? I wonder why they need that information for my account. Oh, well– I mustn’t let anything interfere with that DVD I ordered for Ian!”
texas buddha
August 8th, 2008 at 9:20 am [Reply]

Hey all,

Sorry to hear about the CC’s premature death.

I’ve compiled a mater archive of the New World Order Family Circus where I intend to put all of them as I continue to publish new ones… So this way no more annoying links to click. Now you just have to wait for all of the images to load.

Check it out. If you have not been since I last posted about them here in the CC’s comments then you’ve got about a week’s worth of catching up to do.

http://texasbuddha.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/new-world-order-family-circus-master-archive/

Enjoy!
texas buddha
August 8th, 2008 at 9:21 am [Reply]

Damned typos!

… “master” archive…
Gabacho
August 8th, 2008 at 9:24 am [Reply]

Josh’s Demise – I am sorry to hear about Josh’s passing. He contributed so much to the world of snarking that I for one think in tribute, we should change the verb “snark” to “fruhl” and have an annual ceremony naming “fruhlinger of the year” Does anyone know where Josh left the money to fund this foundation? He told me he would and I would be the trustee. We were very tight, Jed and me.

Mary Worth – Sweet mother of pearl, Toby makes LuAnn Powers seem like Marilyn vos Savant.
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
August 8th, 2008 at 9:26 am [Reply]

A3G: If there’s one thing I never thought I would see in a comic strip, it’s Moby in a shawl-collar bathrobe leading Tommy Lee Jones and Elton John in a tour of Edinburgh Castle. It’s not something I ever wanted to see, but I certainly never thought I would.

(WT)DT: Umm, Dick, I’m only going to say this one more time. YOU SHOOT THEM. But it’ll never happen… you can’t show a dog getting shot in a newspaper comic, though it’s perfectly fine to show a criminal being mauled to death by said dogs. I guess it’s no surprise that the animal-rights lobby has more sway over the comics pages than the forces of logic and common sense. Though the forces of logic and common sense have always ranked pretty low in the list of influences on (WT)DT, somewhere below the Former Chinese Ping-Pong Players for Jesus and just above NAMBLA.

FC: You always get a “horrible mention” from me, Billy.

thorps. Kneel before Zeno! Oh, wait, General Zod had more hair.

JP: Oh, please let Sam win, if only to get this storyline off the links, please.

MT: Oh, how I’ve longed to hear Cherry order Kelly to “get in that opening!”

Big Dog: The only believable thing in this strip is the look of existential dread on Mrs. Owner Lady’s face as she unveils the abbatoir that their marriage bed has become. That’s the face of a toon who will never sleep again.

Mutts: So, to a puppy, I’m like Christ. Got it, lesson learned.

R-M-C-A-T-I-O-N in the Summer Sun: No, she wants to take a cruise on the Space Shuttle. YES, on an ocean liner, dummy!

Shoe: Wow, creepy bird teeth.
Astroboy
August 8th, 2008 at 9:37 am [Reply]

Luann – Hey, what’s Mr. Skullshirt doing with his hands in panel #3?

Then again, after gawking at that hawtie Toni Daytona and perky lil Luann, who can blame him?
left of the pyle
August 8th, 2008 at 9:40 am [Reply]

RMMD: Don’t do it Rex. Having personally spent the last two days with stomach flu, totally weak and dehydrated from all the sweating, puking, and … well you know… I can tell you that the experience is not worth $4,000. Fucking Norovirus!
CortJstr
August 8th, 2008 at 9:40 am [Reply]

So if Josh died then who made this post? How long have we been subject to impostor curmudgeoning?

This is just like in elementary school when all the kids said the real Ultimate Warrior died and a new guy was wearing the make up now. Or in middle school when they said the guy who played Zack on Saved By the Bell was in a motorcycle accident and would be recast. Except this site is about 10,000% less likely than SBtB or WWF to feature people with feathered hair and wacky back stories.
TheDiva
August 8th, 2008 at 9:47 am [Reply]

FOOB: Here, Lynn demonstrates the Bridezilla perspective in action. It is a privilege, nay the highest of honors, to devote one’s time and money to aiding the bride, and no gratitude or reward should be expected beyond the opportunity to bask in the glow of the radiant goddess on her Day of Days.

FW: Even though she knows nothing of this stranger’s circumstances or that of her premature child, Summer still feels compelled to comment on them. She reminds me of those strangers who come up to me and ask when I’m due (I’m not pregnant).

MW: “And while I’m at it, I’d better respond to that nice Nigerian gentleman…”
Calico
August 8th, 2008 at 9:49 am [Reply]

#144 – Plus Barbie dolls don’t have private parts, so this makes total sense.
Lake Eerie
August 8th, 2008 at 10:03 am [Reply]

#228 The Diva:
I was just checking out Funky Winkerbean. While it’s a nice sentiment, it’s so god-awfully handled. If that woman’s child died, Summer’s all-is-groovy-with-the-world face would be a nice memory.
Forgetting that you don’t just have access to that room without going through a vigorous hand-washing and probably donning scrubs, wouldn’t it make sense to show a little less glee on your face?
Perhaps Batiuk has been for so long stuck in a cycle of morbity for his characters that he doesn’t quite get how optimism works?
willethompson
August 8th, 2008 at 10:07 am [Reply]

What, am I still dead? Dammit, Josh, update the frickin’ site! Get off your dead ass and…

Oh.

Hey, look, a copy of “No Exit.”
commodorejohn
August 8th, 2008 at 10:11 am [Reply]

9CL – Um…is he…is he wearing a white jumpsuit underneath a white jacket? What the hell kind of concert is this?

A3G – I dunno. Maybe that is Elton John, but I’m seeing Mike Meyers (another great reason to not be in Tibet.) Also, Gomer Pyle sure has aged a bit, and it’s good to see Carol Burnett out and about. And let’s give an especially warm welcome to ~~Eric~~ Joel Hodgson of MST3K in panel one!

A.D. – o_O

BBlue – Dammit, if only other strips were allowed to be this frank about mammaries. Like, say, Judge Parker.

Blondie – Um…actually, I would kind of think that anybody in the Olympics is already at the top of their field.

Curtis – I understand what Curtis is intending to convey with “Zip!” and the hand-over-the-head, but damn if that isn’t a great little gesture on its own.

DT – Mr. Tracy, may I take this opportunity to remind you that, as a member of the police force, you are in possession of a primitive projectile weapon, colloquially known as a “gun,” that may be of use in situations such as this?

FC – Seeing Jeff take potshots at his older brother just never gets old.

FOOB – Hey, Liz, your excitement is just palpable. Could you tone it down a bit? You’re getting everyone else worked up with your obvious joy at getting married to…no, never mind, you’re still limp as a boned fish. Have fun in your new life as a domestic zombie, dumbitch.

FW – I’m not exactly sure what Les is saying to the nurse, but I imagine it’s something about “need[ing] a ‘prostate exam.’” In the Finger-Quotin’ Margo sense.

Lio – Oh man does today’s Lio get my stamp of approval.

MF – Dear Bruce Tinsley: Please stop representing positions I agree with. Thank you.

MT – Oh please let this wind up with Cherry and Kelly making their way to the center of the earth ala Jules Verne…

Marmaduke – Mr. Winslow really should’ve known better than to get on the wrong side of the Dogfather.

MW – I like the fact that not only is Toby’s keyboard completely devoid of a space bar, the letter rows are all arranged evenly on a grid, instead of the staggered configuration that every other computer in the entire world after the Commodore PET has used.

MC – Win!

NAOQV – Say, Royals, perhaps it’s not Comcast after all. Perhaps it’s the fact that you’re using a TRS-80 Model III.

Pibgorn – Hey, Brooke, your art never fails to impress, but…that panel layout is really confusing.

SM – Okay, the liquid nitrogen was clever, but what I really want to know is how he shrunk Jonah down to three feet tall.
bats :[
August 8th, 2008 at 10:28 am [Reply]

205. gleeb re Mutts: that was my first thought, that Patrick was going to get Hate Mail from a bunch of disgruntled Christians. Which seems to be an oxymoron…
OTOH, maybe he’d get Fan Mail from Franciscans.
dreadedcandiru2
August 8th, 2008 at 10:32 am [Reply]

Foob, Aug. 12: For some reason, my local papaer published next Tuesday’s strip in today’s paper. It contains:

- Weed taking photos

- John and Liz thought-bubbling glurge at each other.

- John and Liz making love to eah other with their eyes.

- Me being ashamed to be Canadian.
LTBF
August 8th, 2008 at 10:33 am [Reply]

I’m not a female, but it has been my experience that most bridemaids, if they were honest, would tell you being in a wedding is a huge pain in the ass and something they’d get out of if they could.

“Weed is up for another award, you know.”

Yes, I know. You’ve told me three times and really didn’t give a shit the first time. At least he didn’t make me get naked like those whores in the pictures he has hanging in your living room. The last guy I dated spent more time drooling over them when he should have been prasing my brother for the wonderful book he wrote. I don’t bring Anthony to your place because he might expect me to get naked for him.
LTBF
August 8th, 2008 at 10:34 am [Reply]

234-Thanks for the warning.
Bootsy
August 8th, 2008 at 10:38 am [Reply]

gleeb and bats:{, re Mutts: It took me a minute and then I remembered that idiotic “Footprints (or is it footsteps? Or, like Kenneth Mars says in Young Frankenstein, “vootshteps! vootshteps!”) in the Sand” poster I saw once, and now thanks to you two, I can never unthink that. Good thing I love Earl as much as I do. He so reminds me of the late great Cubby, aka The Best Little Dog in the World, whom I still miss dearly. I am a sucker for when he refers to Ozzie as “my Ozzie”.
bats :[
August 8th, 2008 at 10:43 am [Reply]

228. TheDiva re FOOB: or, Why I Don’t Have “Girl Friends”…I have friends who are female, but the coffee klatch / Sex in the City / let’s spend days at the mall / teehee giggle “oh, you’re sooooo lucky getting married” thing doesn’t do it for me (and it didn’t do it for me when I was Liz’s age, either).
Then again, maybe I’m just bitter because I wasn’t to the Patterson Born:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/2742806041/sizes/o/
Artist formerly known as Ben
August 8th, 2008 at 10:51 am [Reply]

8CUBED

9CL: Amos’ habit of hiccuping when sexually excited probably could lead to innovative ways of pleasing a woman. My mind is refusing to follow through on this, however.

JP: I’m sorry, Mr Cheatham, but there’s no way remaining to make this interesting.

MF: Gee Bruce, I have no idea where all these allegations of racism are coming from.

MT: Cherry Trail’s “Get in that opening!” wins the filthiest line of the week award hands down.

FW: Let’s see. Summer’s not a doctor. Anyone looking at her can see she’s a teenager, maybe early twenties, tops. She’s giving a prognosis on a baby she’s never examined because A) she’s never seen him/her before and B) as mentioned before, she’s not a doctor. And she’s talking to a mother who probably has gotten four hours of sleep over the past three days. Now, on the Good Idea-Bad Idea scale, where exactly does this figure?

Luann: That kid’s t-shirt is baffling me. It’s got a skull and an equals sign, and that’s it. Death equals what, boy?

DT: Somehow Dick has forgotten that he likes to shoot things. It’s like Mary Worth saying “Oh well, no business of mine,” or Peter Parker deciding that there hasn’t been anything watching since they cancelled “St Elsewhere.”

Ziggy: Oh, one way or another, those birds will get their meat. Don’t be surprised if there are big chunks missing from Ziggy the next time you see him.

Big Dog: “And have him bury them in the lime pit. We don’t want any of these being matched to dental records.”

MC: Creepy Janitor Rat never fails to brighten my day.

Blondie: Someone’s going to translate this into Mandarin and publish it in Beijing. Chinese readers will assume that the joke has lost something in translation. Sadly, this will not be the case.

HtH: The smirk on Helga’s face tells me that this is some kind of squicky age-based roleplay the two of them have set up.

Phantom: Looking for a new catchphrase? Keep looking.

FC: Congratulations to Billy on accurately quoting his teacher.

A3G: I always associated Tibet with Buddhism. Now I know that the Tibetans practice a generic religion with deities named by Herb and Jamaal. The priesthood is made up of unemployed guys in t-shirts and bathrobes.
Astroboy
August 8th, 2008 at 10:56 am [Reply]

#234 – John and Liz making love to each other with their eyes and though-bubbling glurge to each other?

I guess this is gonna be interesting after all!
gh
August 8th, 2008 at 10:59 am [Reply]

(WT)DT —

Look, even I am willing to waive Rule #1. Just shoot the fucking dogs, Dick.

Paperback Rifler –

Long time, no see! Dem was a couple of good ones!
Duckman30
August 8th, 2008 at 11:00 am [Reply]

FOOB – “He’s up for another award, you know.”

Is entering the monthly Hustler Beaver Hunt contest really the same thing as being up for an award?
Dingo
August 8th, 2008 at 11:04 am [Reply]

Here on Josh’s site, I’m asked to support the US “track and feild” team. I don’t know who’s fielding this for the squad but it seems a bit phishy. Then again, if I don’t support the team, how will Ian get his Scottish documentary?
The Divine O’F
August 8th, 2008 at 11:11 am [Reply]

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE©:
173 Poteet: Excellent! and it made me snarf my iced coffee!
189 Paperback Rifler: you too. *Sniff!*
Special note to Mibbitmaker: Pull yourself together, dude!
Dingo
August 8th, 2008 at 11:11 am [Reply]

Etiquette advice for Cherry Trail: normally, when one wants someone to “get in that opening,” they begin by making dinner and serving it under candlelight. You’re treating Kelly Welly like the neophyte at bulldyke night in the lesbian bar. Ply her with wine. Read from Sappho. Rent The Hunger. After that, you can dress up like Barbara Stanwyck and Linda Evans and search each other’s big valleys.

That mother mountain lion and her cubs will be scarred for life.
Darkefang
August 8th, 2008 at 11:22 am [Reply]

A3G: Things I didn’t know before today:
- Buddhist monks wear bathrobes
- Buddhism has fierce gods and at least one wrathful god. Or that it had any gods, for that matter.
- Elton John is a big fan of seminaries
- The Chinese government jails its’ political prisoners in the same buildings that American/European tourists wander around in.

DT: He’s right. There’s no way to stop the dogs from mauling Shirl to death. If only scientists hadn’t bred dogs to be bulletproof there might be a way to save her. Oh, the humanity!

FC: Billy’s a horrible writer? Now that’s a Keane family story I can believe.

Foob: Why is Liz frazzled? Everyone else has done all the work and all the services have been provided free of charge. Where is the source of stress? Oh right, she’s marrying Anthony. Everyone’s contributions to this wedding are the equivalent of charities that grant last requests to terminally ill children.

GA: This guy’s traumatic childhood involved a frog sitting on his head? That kind of childhood horror makes kids who were repeatedly molested or who lived in Nazi concentration camps seem like Richie Rich in comparison.

JP: The only comment I have regarding this storyline is that Wilson’s lucky Barreto is so good at drawing female anatomy.
CanuckDownSouth
August 8th, 2008 at 11:22 am [Reply]

238-Bats I’m also in the “I have friends who are female, but not ‘girlfriends’” brigade. I’ve probably spent more time talking with them about sneaky jokes physicists have gotten into peer-reviewed articles than anybody’s potential wedding plans.

BTW, Between Friends today is showing how a comic strip can highlight a genuine social problem without becoming either an afterschool special or making the main characters Perfect People. I’m not a big fan of BF, but in the Department Of Credit Where Credit Is Due, it’s a nice contrast to FOOB preachiness.
Artist formerly known as Ben
August 8th, 2008 at 11:25 am [Reply]

DS: Nice Charles Schultz shout-out today.
bats :[
August 8th, 2008 at 11:33 am [Reply]

Oooh, pretty exciting stuff going on North of the Border, up Canada way:
http://www.fborfw.com/news/003323.php
I like the title of “~~Sasquatches~~ Giants of the North” especially.
Bunnë, Official Comic Execrator
August 8th, 2008 at 11:46 am [Reply]

FOOB: I have the eerie feeling that the professions of everyone in the Foobiverse have been carefully chosen to provide Liz with the perfect wedding. How much you want to bet one of Liz’s childhood friends will turn out to be a pastry chef, capable of award-winning cakes?

Which reminds me that Mr. Bunnë and I made and decorated a cake for a friend’s wedding, and gave it to them as our gift. Mr. Bunnë is not a pastry chef, but he is a talented amateur. I have a reasonably steady hand and I learned to wield a pastry bag for this, so I could decorate it. It looked good, if not professional, and it tasted great. They did have to pay for everything else, like normal people.
odinthor
August 8th, 2008 at 11:50 am [Reply]

Irgent Message! Please to Help!

Good morning. I am Mtula Mmops, only heir to the fortune of the late Johsua Frauflinger, may he rest in piece. Due to the unsettled policital and finaincal climate in my random country, Sweden, it will be necessary for me to request use of your kind offices in transferring his vast holdings, gained from benefical apperances on broadcast programming and his highly remunerative internet web log, from Sweden to my new country, the blessed Nevada, where I plan to donate it to worthy orphans and cute fuzzy animals with big eyes. Please to help me accomplish this by supplying me with . . .

[Hey, Manny---wait, don't send that shit. I think he's still alive. Yeah, I poked him with a stick, and he moved a little. Damn, that's the last time I trust a cartoonist about anything!]
gleeb
August 8th, 2008 at 11:53 am [Reply]

213 (A Lemur): I think I still prefer this SWAT team to the Prince George’s County Sherriff’s SWAT team.
Wiley
August 8th, 2008 at 12:04 pm [Reply]

I’m not sure if anyone else mentioned this, but there are 2 wholely different OBH sets published every day. One is “Classic” and one is new strips, but they’re rarely differentiated. The strip here is at http://www.creators.com/comics/one-big-happy/22329.html
Paul1963
August 8th, 2008 at 12:10 pm [Reply]

I wouldn’t worry too much about reprisals from snarked cartoonists, folks. As I may have mentioned here, I spent three months last year writing a Gasoline Alley fanfic on the late comicspage.com message boards, and it got a more positive reaction than what was actually going on in the strip at the time–and Jim Scancarelli hasn’t sent the broken-nosed types to visit me yet. I was more impressed by the fact that no moderator ever came on the board to tell me to knock it off–even after I gave Skeezix a heretofore-unknown French half-brother.

Of course, Rick Detorie might have had cause to object to the flash-forward I posted here a few months back, with a 20-year-old Ruthie married to James, the house-arrested father of her twin sons (Dale and Junior), living in her parents’ basement and horrified to discover that she’s pregnant again.
gleeb
August 8th, 2008 at 12:15 pm [Reply]

Detorie: I just looked something up; Rick Detorie is from Baltimore. Sure, he lives in California now, but he knows the city and he probably has connections. Get out while you can, Josh!
DAS
August 8th, 2008 at 12:18 pm [Reply]

A3G: are Buddhist monks celebate? If so, it looks like someone is trying to test the resolve of the tour-guide-monk, especially in that last panel where she’s snuggling up to him.
bats :[
August 8th, 2008 at 12:23 pm [Reply]

255. gleeb: oh, okay. You mentioned that he’s from Baltimore but now living in CA (I corroborated your information on Wikipedia, which, of course, is Toby Cameron’s Bible: “If it’s on the Internet thingie, it must be true, right?”.). I thought you’d meant he’d returned to Baltimore.
Still, how many people leave an area in which they grew up without leaving family and friends ~~and enforcers and guys with noses on the sides of their heads~~ behind? Wise advice to Josh.
Lake Eerie
August 8th, 2008 at 12:28 pm [Reply]

#252 Gleeb, regarding your link: Wow ,,,just, wow.
Niall
August 8th, 2008 at 12:32 pm [Reply]

I wanted to post this yesterday… as we had confirmation in Mary Worth that the whole thing is about phishing, the Ottawa Sun’s front page declared “10 Scams to avoid”. Alas, no irony, as it doesn’t carry MW. But I found the coincidence amusing, personally.

Also, I started watching the “Manos” episode of MST3K, and in it they have the Cartuner invention which blends strips together. Had I seen this any earlier than a year ago, I would never have known what Mark Trail is. :)

159. Echo: ..wow, that was really something! Have you always been this imaginati.. damn you commodorejohn! You’re way too quick. :)

173. Poteet: I don’t know the original you’re parodying (same as 152 gh) but darnit if I’m not coming up with a wholly inappropriate jaunty major-chord melody for it.

184. LTBF: see 189 for the full story in fantastic telling. :)

189. Paperback Rifler: okay, this tune I do know, but strictly from the Smothers Brothers version… Still, brilliant!

193. bats :[ : Yay! Count Morgu will never die! …for long anyway.

201. mollificent: I’ve seen Waking Ned Devine noly once a long time ago now… not a movie I’d watch again alone, though. But no one wants to see it with me. (Or else I want to shield them from the.. motorcycle scene.)

217. Weaselboy: unprotected internet use has led me to have a serious case of Mary Worth infection. So maybe there’s some good that can come out of this.

221. texas buddha: if anyone tries to mate with the archive of your NWOFC… I’ll try to travel to another continent. yuch. :)

251. odinthor: ooo, perfect!
A Lemur
August 8th, 2008 at 12:34 pm [Reply]

Gleeb,

Good Lord! That reads like something Locher found at the bottom of a bottle of Absynth. Yes, say what you will about the World’s Most Ineffectual SWAT Team, they’re a model of decorum compared to that…
redliner
August 8th, 2008 at 12:44 pm [Reply]

Wait, is that a “Shakes the Clown” reference in today’s Garfield?

Will now have the Binky Cartoon Fever theme song stuck in my head for the remainder of the weekend.
Professor Fate
August 8th, 2008 at 12:51 pm [Reply]

FOOB: The Pattersons are wonderful! No matter what we do it is not enough to thank them for their existance! Sweet Mercy in Heaven how long does this go on before their guests rush the wedding and hack the entire family to death with machetes – as weed takes the pictures that will get him a pulitzer. (that will make four prizes)

I feel like i’m being drowned in maple flavored high fuctose corn syrup. I’ve seen coronations that have less ass kissing than this abomination. There is no breath of real life, passion, fear, hope, sweat, desire, nothing – all is plastic as far as one can see – souless lifeless as hedious a death in life as anything I have seen.
Old School Allie Cat
August 8th, 2008 at 12:53 pm [Reply]

#238 – bats :[ Nice work, as usual.

I’d love to think that being a bridesmaid at my wedding was a totally awesome experience – and it probably wasn’t too painful. I had one shower, no bachelorette party, and I kept the dresses cheap (and essentially un-hideous) and my demands reasonably simple.

Not to mention, open bar at the reception.

But, yeah, even for all that I’m sure it’s a pain in the ass. But since I had already been in the weddings of two of my maids (my sister and my bff) – and the other was his sister, I don’t know…

I actually enjoyed being a bridesmaid, but then, I’d never be friends with a girl like Liz Patterson.

At my BFF’s wedding, we got a few bottles of white wine from the bartender and started drinking pre-ceremony. I heartily recommend that.
gh
August 8th, 2008 at 12:56 pm [Reply]

#197 Frank Parsnip –

What you fail to appreciate is we have to get the alligator out of the way so we can spend quality time drawing the fish skeleton in the third panel. Look at the expression on that bugger! I’ve seen cherubs in the Sistine Chapel that weren’t as cute!
Mooncattie
August 8th, 2008 at 12:59 pm [Reply]

RMMD – Those nursing magazines have the BEST travel info! I’m writing from Switzerland, where I’ve been having a wonderful time – and I owe it all to Colonoscopy Nurse Weekly’s article “Where To Get Away From All That Crap”.

And I’ve got some wonderful Goat video clips from Gimmelwald for True Fable, which I’ll upload to YouTube when I get back. One of them is in a bathtub!

Next stop: Munich and Beer! CLICK, TOBY, CLICK!!
gh
August 8th, 2008 at 1:05 pm [Reply]

#259 Niall –

My parody is of “Elegy for Jane” by Theodore Roethke. I’m not sure about Poteet’s, but something is whispering “Yeats.” Hers is so damn good, I don’t think I want to know.
odinthor
August 8th, 2008 at 1:10 pm [Reply]

Apt. 3-G. — Actually, they’re standing in line at Disneyland’s Indiana Jones ride. The editors edited out the Mickey Mouse ears on the person in back. Hey, folks—don’t look into the idol’s eyes!

MT — Next in CC-wear: a “Get in that opening!” t-shirt…
Anonymous
August 8th, 2008 at 1:11 pm [Reply]

A3G: I still say that guy looks like John Denver.

And you know what? In order to disagree with me, somebody has to pay attention to my post! Is that a bad thing?

Look closely. That’s John Denver or his twin brother Leon Bismark.
LTBF
August 8th, 2008 at 1:14 pm [Reply]

250-That was nice what you did for your friend’s wedding.
Eric the baker
August 8th, 2008 at 1:15 pm [Reply]

To the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” aka. “John Brown’s Body”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown%27s_Body

Josh Fruhlinger’s body lies a moulderin’ in the grave.
… a mouldering in the grave, … a mouldering in the grave,
Josh Fruhlinger’s body lies a moulderin’ in the grave.
His blog goes marching on!

[chorus]
Glory, glory, we’re his minions. Glory, glory, e-vil minions!
Glory, glory, we love snarking! He leads us ever on!

He’s gone into battle ‘gainst ol’ Lynnie J.
,,, ‘gainst ol’ Lynnie J, … ‘gainst ol’ Lynnie J.
He’s gone into battle ‘gainst ol’ Lynnie J.
He’s up in Millborough now!
[chorus]

His witty snark will be remembered in our hearts,
… remembered in our hearts, … remembered in our hearts
His witty snark will be remembered in our hearts,
Mary Worth moves mighty slow!
[chorus]

(I leave adding additional verses as an exercise for the reader)
Red Greenback
August 8th, 2008 at 1:23 pm [Reply]

Here is today’s Mark Trail inspired t-shirt.
Sheila Sternwell
August 8th, 2008 at 1:47 pm [Reply]

#251 odinthor – “Frauflinger” if you know what I mean and I think you do.
commodorejohn
August 8th, 2008 at 1:58 pm [Reply]

#272 Sheila Sternwell – If Elly Patterson was one of the fraus, I’d sign up in a heartbeat. I’d get a damn hernia flinging her, but it’d be worth it.
Alfred E. Neuman
August 8th, 2008 at 2:00 pm [Reply]

#239 afka Ben, Re: Luann— The object next to the skull on the t-shirt is actually two lines of writing, not an equal sign. If you look carefully, one line says “FRUHLINGER” and the other says “thompson”.
Bootsy
August 8th, 2008 at 2:16 pm [Reply]

Poteet’s snarkiriffic parody is of WH Auden’s poem whose title I cannot remember right now.
Anonymous
August 8th, 2008 at 2:18 pm [Reply]

What kind of Lewis Carroll universe did I enter today? First there’s a Funky Winkerbean where there’s hope in a hospital. Then there’s Gasoline Alley, which I always assumed was written by a precocious 7 year old, showing literary pretensions. Thomas Wolfe? So that sign on the bottom of panel 3 must be a metaphor meaning you will go insane if you continue to read this strip. The hint is the kid hitting the frog on top of his head with a pot (pothead?).
Bootsy
August 8th, 2008 at 2:18 pm [Reply]

Goddammit! I think Josh is blocking my posts from beyond! What I said is that Poteet’s snarkiriffic parody is of a poem by W.H. Auden, but I cannot remember the title.
Bootsy
August 8th, 2008 at 2:19 pm [Reply]

Oh, there it is. oops.
One-eyed Wolfdog
August 8th, 2008 at 2:19 pm [Reply]

When Hector Cantú says “Baldo figures it out!” he really means “Screw it, I’m takin’ the week off.”
Saluki
August 8th, 2008 at 2:19 pm [Reply]

276 was me. Oops.
Saluki
August 8th, 2008 at 2:23 pm [Reply]

Is it wrong to chuckle out loud at today’s Luann!
gh
August 8th, 2008 at 2:24 pm [Reply]

#278 Bootsy –

This one:

http://www.npr.org/programs/death/readings/poetry/aude.html

I’m giving Poteet extra props for obscurity.
gkl
August 8th, 2008 at 2:26 pm [Reply]

OBH: Go Josh! Don’t let it end here, though; start a pointless feud a la Anderson Cooper and whatever Lohan he’s fighting with.

MW: Wow, Toby’s stupid. I mean, we knew that based on her decisions thus far, but today’s panel really drives the point home.

MT: Thank goodness there’s no giant, perfectly stiff tree approaching the opening. Otherwise today’s strip might have been seen as a double entendre.

(What? There are two giant, perfectly stiff trees approaching the opening? Mother Earth is such a slut!)
Tracer Bullet
August 8th, 2008 at 2:29 pm [Reply]

In the ensuing weeks, Toeby will give her Social Security number, birthdate and mother’s maiden name to some nice young men doing a door-to-door survey, giver her bank account number to a woman who just needed a few dollars to catch the bus and walk down the street with $100 bills taped to her naked ass.
Niall
August 8th, 2008 at 2:37 pm [Reply]

MT: It could have been worse. Let’s rejoice that the shouting was not “Get in that crack!”

Rejoice!
Gabacho
August 8th, 2008 at 2:37 pm [Reply]

Death of Josh – you know, I always thought it would be Ces Marciuliano who would do him in. He was always jealous of Josh’s pleasantly formed earlobes and tried unsuccessfully to model Ted’s on them.
blackgoat
August 8th, 2008 at 2:48 pm [Reply]

FOOB: I’ve got it figured out. Canada has a national health insurance program; there’s also a national marriage program, whereby citizens are entitled to marriage accessories. Through a government subsidy, Weed will be reimbursed for his award winning photographs of the wedding, Lawrence will be reimbursed for the flowers, Gordon for the cattle, Uncle for the tuxedos, etc. What I would like to know is, who the hell are the bridesmaids ? Did someone provide them ?
MW: Toby, forget that Enormoushop, and see what kind of enormoushop you end up with when you respond to the erectile dysfunction emails.
Calico
August 8th, 2008 at 2:50 pm [Reply]

#249 – Oh God – does this mean that Lynn is going to appear as a grotesquely large creature in Mark Trail?

#287 – Yeah, no sign of beloved Candace. Hmmm.
bats :[
August 8th, 2008 at 3:25 pm [Reply]

There once was a blogger named Josh,
Whose snark talentless cartoonists did squash.
But then things turned a bit gory
Thanks to old Rick Detorie,
And Ruthie his daily postings kibosh(ed).

sigh
Hey, sometimes you get Auden, sometimes you don’t…
Niall
August 8th, 2008 at 3:38 pm [Reply]

I’ve been through Limerick four times last month, let me fix that for ya, bats :[… :)

There once was a blogger named Josh
Whose snark some draw-hacks tried to squash
But things did get gory
With old Rick Detorie
When Ruthie, on postings: kibosh!
dale
August 8th, 2008 at 5:23 pm [Reply]

203 – auRa
I think what happened to Luann was that the car was in gear, not neutral. Luann took her foot off the clutch and drove away when they wanted to be standing still.

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