The Comics Curmudgeon

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A3G PSA

Herb and Jamaal, 9/20/08

Pity poor Herb, who’s been reduced to making a series of “funny” reaction facial expressions in his own comic strip while his doctor dishes out the “jokes.” Sure, the strip could have been recast with almost no effort at all so that it consisted of actual dialog being exchanged, by why bother when you have the option of non-stop hilarity in its purest form: a lecture from a doctor with comical hair. At least Herb got to contribute something, rather than just silently picking something up while a stranger contemplates adoption like Jamaal did earlier this week.

Ziggy, 9/20/08

Sassy mice claiming rights beyond their station might appear in any number of second-tier long-running comic strips (see for instance Garfield, 9/8-11/08). But that crooked-mouthed expression of pure humiliation and helplessness on our hero’s face? That’s the special soul-blighting value-add you only get from Ziggy.

Mark Trail, 9/20/08

“He’s a filthy animal that we let live in our house because we’re insane! He’s covered with fleas, and he steals things, and he has rabies!”

Apartment 3-G, 9/20/08

Wow, this took a turn for the depressing real fast. Uh, don’t do drugs, kids, OK?

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 12:27 am and is filed under Apartment 3-G, Herb and Jamaal, Mark Trail, Ziggy.

269 responses to “A3G PSA”

AMC
September 21st, 2008 at 12:32 am [Reply]

A3G – Yep, that’s a “shooting gallery” in every sense of that phrase.
People in the Sun
September 21st, 2008 at 12:35 am [Reply]

Don’t do drugs. You’ll end up shooting people and raising beavers.
Ducky
September 21st, 2008 at 12:36 am [Reply]

Second? I’m never second! Damn, I wish I had something witty to say right about now.
Sharkweek
September 21st, 2008 at 12:39 am [Reply]

If this Mark Trail storyline ends with Mark punching that raccoon in the face, I can die a happy man.
spinster with cat
September 21st, 2008 at 12:39 am [Reply]

I’m not seeing the depressing there at all. I’m sure Alan will be fine tomorrow. Maybe not on Monday. But tomorrow he’ll be just dandy. What I want to know is what Luann found so shocking about Alan’s artwork. Is it made of Ecuadorian shrunken heads? Are human body fluids involved? I mean, really, there are no limits in the art world these days. But I guess Luann’s the type that would find a skull in a vanitas horrifying, so maybe it’s just some poorly drawn wilted roses or something.
Jake
September 21st, 2008 at 12:39 am [Reply]

I’m hoping Herb’s doctor and the adoption guy are getting their own spin off comic and the cameo appearances this week are kind of like when Arnold went to visit Kimberly’s boarding school on Diff’rent Strokes and it turned into a largely Gary Coleman-less pilot for Facts of Life.

And let’s give Apartment 3-G some credit for doing something in three days that most strips would have milked for six weeks.
Mac
September 21st, 2008 at 12:40 am [Reply]

As usual, Andy the dog is the only character in Mark Trail who has a lick of sense, and is going to take out the evil raccoon if the freakishly large-headed kid will ever get out of the way. Don’t let that stop you, Andy!
captainswift
September 21st, 2008 at 12:41 am [Reply]

A thing happened in a soap opera strip? That’s right, isn’t it? That was a thing, right? Shooting somebody over drugs is a thing?
Erik
September 21st, 2008 at 12:42 am [Reply]

Wait, is Sneaky actually offering to shake hands with Mark Trail? Clearly Martha’s family has been experimenting cranium-transfusion, and I’m guessing she switched Sneaky’s brain with Pamela. Sure would explain a lot.
Erik
September 21st, 2008 at 12:43 am [Reply]

-experimenting WITH cranium-transfusion. Don’t want to miss that key word there.
The Ghost of Jarrod
September 21st, 2008 at 12:46 am [Reply]

This will all be hilarous when it turns out that “dope” is really pixy stix.
Mikelibrarian
September 21st, 2008 at 12:49 am [Reply]

Lex Luthor has really fallen on hard times.
plusaconstant
September 21st, 2008 at 12:51 am [Reply]

Rather than, “You’re lying!” he shouts “Liars! All liars!” That’s a pretty grandiose thing to say while firing a gun. I don’t know, it just seems like you’re already firing a gun at someone, so why make it worse with broad generalizations? Not everyone is a liar, Ray.
mikey
September 21st, 2008 at 12:55 am [Reply]

“Yes Uncle Mark, to pet Sneaky just go ahead and lean against this impossibly small light blue chair placed right in the middle of the room. We chose the model with the 6-inch wide back for extra discomfort!”
bats :[
September 21st, 2008 at 12:55 am [Reply]

Sunday! Sunday!

FC: oh, for God’s sake, Keanes, let the KIDS GROW UP! They are so starved to age that they’re resorting to stealing one another’s birthdays!
(OTOH, why they hell is Thel allowing Billy to act like a jackass and spoil Dolly’s party? Oh, yeah…she just doesn’t give a rat’s patootie about her spawn anymore…)

JP: woo hoo! I called that one!
(”And let me flex and expose myself on the floor for you, Detective.” Gads, I wonder if she uses the mop dog in her act, like the replicant in Bladerunner with the snake.)

MT: woo! Mr. Trail goes to Washington!
(and sticks inappropriate labels on cetaceans!)

MW: geez, this is as bad as the McGruff “Don’t Do Drugs” comic books. No matter how thin you slice it, it’s still a PSA, and a boring one at that.

Phantom: am I just tired, or is this episode as cryptic and nonsensical as I’m reading it?

PV: while I might be happy to snark that “something like this would never happen at the Smithsonian with Mark Trail!”, what I’m really peeved about is how Val’s tunic seemingly defies gravity. But then I realize that this is in the Days of King Arthur, and Newton hasn’t invented it yet. Dang!

9CL: Kitty!
boojum
September 21st, 2008 at 12:56 am [Reply]

Is there a pool going on what drew that horrified gasp from LuAnn? I prophesy: Alan’s painting doesn’t match the sofa!!

Put me down for five dollars.
Poteet
September 21st, 2008 at 12:59 am [Reply]

“And Sneaky also has special worms in his poo that could make me go blind! He’s the most interesting pet I’ve ever had!”
bats :[
September 21st, 2008 at 1:02 am [Reply]

Oh, and exotic dancers in Scottsdale?!? Don’t these fellows know how difficult is was for a Pink Taco Restaurant to open there last year, just because of the name?
Tempe, sure, but not Scottsdale!
Great coloring and shading in the Sunday strip, though…
meltina
September 21st, 2008 at 1:05 am [Reply]

Uh…I still find it hard to believe that Jonesy is the only drug dealer in all of New York City, and so once he goes on vacation all the dope fiends are desperate for stuff. I mean, what happened to shady individuals in a corner going “Pssst… Kid… Do you want some weed? How about crack? Cocaine? Nah, I don’t sell LSD”.

… Wait. It’s A3G. Nevermind.
Harold
September 21st, 2008 at 1:05 am [Reply]

Alan’s painting was a remarkably prescient portrait of himself being shot by a bald guy. That, or a bouquet of flowers on a white background that has thrown Lu Ann into a jealous rage.

The great thing about Sunday recaps is we get to see that gunplay ALL! OVER! AGAIN!!!!
johnbpt
September 21st, 2008 at 1:07 am [Reply]

MT: Pamela = midget with a mullet.
WarOfTheBees
September 21st, 2008 at 1:15 am [Reply]

I’m concerned about Sneaky reaching up to shake Mark’s hand. Can you train raccoons to do that, or is it just a midget in a raccoon suit wandering around baldy’s house? Either way, I’m happy!
Mason Cody (lover of the sweet sweet dope)
September 21st, 2008 at 1:17 am [Reply]

The Raccoon’s a thief eh? Guess we know who’s taking the water from the wetlands. CASE CLOSED! BONUS: The Raccoon has facial hair! SOCK HIM ONE IN THE JAW!!!
Godjesus
September 21st, 2008 at 1:18 am [Reply]

That guy’s is so constantly baked that he painted his doors and bookshelves yellow.
BigTed
September 21st, 2008 at 1:24 am [Reply]

If that doctor’s been on the same diet program he’s giving Herb, I’d be worried. Apparently it leaves you with the same stocky build but takes off a foot and a half in height.
Helena Handbasket
September 21st, 2008 at 1:24 am [Reply]

#5, spinster with cat: I’m pretty sure Luann saw, not the always-in-shadows-horror that was Dab Stract’s Dick Tracy paintings, but Alan’s dope. That would explain why he has no dope, and conveniently allows Luann to blame herself for Alan getting shot.

You know what I really find hilarious though? Luann is so boring that in writing this response I honestly could not remember her name, despite having read it mere seconds before. I was sitting here thinking, “Margo, Tommie… and… the boring vapid blond one. Crap, what the hell is her name?” I had to go back and read your comment in order to remember Luann’s name.
Bunnë, Official Comics Execrator
September 21st, 2008 at 1:26 am [Reply]

Apartment 3G says, ‘Take that, Mary Worth!’
AMC
September 21st, 2008 at 1:27 am [Reply]

MW – Terry tells Toby: you can’t be too carefull, “It’s a dangerous world out there!”

The missing 9th panel features Terry concluding: “And I like to spank….”
Helena Handbasket
September 21st, 2008 at 1:30 am [Reply]

#20, Harold: You mean Alan is taking over from Isaac Mendez as pop culture’s prescient junkie artist? Does that mean we get to watch Sylar eat his brain?
dale
September 21st, 2008 at 1:30 am [Reply]

A3G (real PSA below)
I suppose BANG seemed childish, but at close range a handgun sounds a lot more BANG than BOOM.
With that much light, you couldn’t see the flame which someone bothered to draw. If you could see the flame, you would also see a suprising amount of flame coming out sideways from the gap between the front of the cylinder and the rear of the barrel. (There’s also a lot of very hot gas and maybe little flecks of metal. Do not steady a revolver by holding on to the barrel with your free hand.)
bryan
September 21st, 2008 at 1:32 am [Reply]

depressing?

well to each their own, I was hoping Bald Junkieman went on a killing spree.

But it seems sort of unlikely, look at the angle when he actually takes his shot. What is going on, he is pointing the gun at Alan in a normal manner, but when he actually shoots he ducks to the side, and presumably doesn’t even hit. I’m betting he shot somebody’s picture in the background.
BigTed
September 21st, 2008 at 1:32 am [Reply]

Don’t do drugs…. But if you do do drugs, don’t run out of them! Remember, kids, always buy enough to share!
Tweeks_Coffee
September 21st, 2008 at 1:34 am [Reply]

#14 – mikey: COTW!
Canaduck
September 21st, 2008 at 1:47 am [Reply]

LIARS–ALL LIARS!!!
Helena Handbasket
September 21st, 2008 at 1:50 am [Reply]

Did Sunday’s Lio make anyone else feel sad for the cephalopod? He tried so hard to be kawaii and ended up kowaii instead. :(
dale
September 21st, 2008 at 1:51 am [Reply]

MarkTrail -
If you’re gonna talk stilted, it’s “… we appreciate your coming.”

Anyone remember a NatLamp comic strip spoof with a little Indian/Eskimo boy whose dog was named Foamy?
The Restless Mouse
September 21st, 2008 at 1:54 am [Reply]

That Pamela looks like the little sidekick monkey-person from “Land of the Lost”.
Poteet
September 21st, 2008 at 1:55 am [Reply]

A3G — In Panel Seven, Terry has turned into Tom Cruise with a ponytail. She’s an actress in Panel Eight, an actress I’ve seen but can’t quite remember. Is it Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman)?
Cheeky Wee Monkeys
September 21st, 2008 at 1:55 am [Reply]

Dope is all fun and games until a mildly annoyed bald guy shoots you down.
troutmaskreplica
September 21st, 2008 at 1:58 am [Reply]

pleaselethimdiepleaselethimdiepleaselethimdiepleaselethimdiepleaselethimdiepleaselethimdie
aniviron
September 21st, 2008 at 2:08 am [Reply]

A3G was really a shock- it gave me a feeling not unlike talking with a good friend who is a little boring, if nice enough, who suddenly turns to face you and gives you a nice hard kick in the cajones. Never saw it coming, but it sure leaves you reeling.
shMerker
September 21st, 2008 at 2:08 am [Reply]

You may be getting excited because you think that Ray just shot Alan. Unfortunately he said “liars,” plural, which means he could be shooting at any number of things that his dope-addled mind convinced him was trying to betray him. What’s that you say? He’s not high? That’s not how it actually works? That hasn’t stopped the A3G writers from anything else they’ve done in this story. Or any before for that matter.
Jumper
September 21st, 2008 at 2:14 am [Reply]

Depressing? You literally have no idea. The saga of Ray and Alan does not appear in my newspaper. I come here every day to read it.

I, too, fear Alan has merely acquired a flesh wound at worst. Or at best. I am taking bets now to see if A.: it takes longer than seven strip-days for Alan to reach the hospital, (I say yes) and B.: how long it takes for Ray to perish in a fire. (55 days. Although the long money says something very large will fall on him, such as a building.) The extremely long money says Alan and Ray will clean up enough to start a little church mission in Georgetown.
Master Mahan
September 21st, 2008 at 2:23 am [Reply]

Mark Trail: “Good to see you again, dwarf-with-a-mullet!”
Toronto
September 21st, 2008 at 2:25 am [Reply]

Dale@36: “Timberland Tales”, wasn’t it?
Master Mahan
September 21st, 2008 at 2:26 am [Reply]

Apartment 3-G: Man, Lex Luthor has really gone downhill.
boojum
September 21st, 2008 at 2:33 am [Reply]

38 Poteet: I noticed that, too. It’s Brooke Shields (Lipstick Jungle-era).

In the previous panel, she’s Voldemart.
True Fable
September 21st, 2008 at 2:46 am [Reply]

I bet Clam Down Ray is shooting those lying flower paintings of Luann’s hanging up all over the gallery. Hey, that might improve sales, give her a little edginess – “Flowerz in Da Hood” “Pimpin’ Up Daisies” and “Drive-By Honeysuckle” sounds like something Luann would paint and then shoot, and Margo would try to sell.
Mibbitmaker
September 21st, 2008 at 2:52 am [Reply]

#38 (Poteet): Terry looks like Tom Cruise? I haven’t seen Sunday MW yet, but I can guess the next panel:
Terry: “And that’s how to avoid phishing schemes. Oh, and one more thing… have you ever thought about… L. Ron Hubbard…?”

S-M: Fake Spidey/Idiot Henchman is a young Vincent Price?

Saturday’s Fred Basset & Sunday’s 9CL: A Study in Contrasts.

PBS (not the HtH contained therein): Set a year or two in the past, the last panel jumps back to 2008 (maybe)

Re-FOOB: Elly is comfortable with disgusting shit.
Bobdog
September 21st, 2008 at 3:07 am [Reply]

MT – In order to make it appear as if you are looking at somebody’s head from above, make their head too freakishly large for their body. This has been another episode of how perspective does not work with Jack Elrod. I also appreciate that the Jack Elrod ball is being used to cover Mark’s nether regions so we can’t see how turned on he is by the idea of living with a raccoon.

A3G – Do guns actually kill people in the A3G universe? Given what drugs do to them, I’m guessing not.
Mibbitmaker
September 21st, 2008 at 3:08 am [Reply]

That’s the right idea, TF (#48). I can practically hear ol’ C.D. Ray (is that anything like Blue Ray?) now: “THAT’S NOT HOW ALBERT PINKHAM RYDER DID ART! BOLLE & TRUSIANI — LIARS — ALL LIARS!!”
Ace Diamond
September 21st, 2008 at 3:16 am [Reply]

For some reason Ray’s tweaking so bad he thinks he’s under attack and thus goes into a combat roll as he mows down Alan. Possibly a ‘Nam flashback or possibly a flashback to Ray’s past life in the CIA gone horribly wrong, who can say?
ChargeMan
September 21st, 2008 at 3:17 am [Reply]

The last panel of Mark Trail is just a hilarious disaster waiting to happen–if there were any non-fist-related justice in this world, this would be the prelude to a Looney Tunes-like whirlwind of hissing and clawing around Mark’s face.

Ziggy: Frankly, I’m more disturbed by the fact that mice would see him as a cook and a butler–this is the kind of punchline you’d expect from a domesticated animal. Now I’m left with the disturbing image of Ziggy tending to the filthy rodents taking residence in his wall, who are of course the only organic lifeforms who will talk to him. Then it’s off to be sassed by the computer-toilet.

Apartment 3G: I adore the fact that Ray/Superfriends-era Lex takes the extra beat to hunch over so menacingly while he fires his .38. We need that kind of extra effort in our soap strip villains.
RaJ
September 21st, 2008 at 3:48 am [Reply]

“Mark, you’re looking good[.]” “We appreciate you coming.” “He likes to take things out of your pockets.” Clearly, Mark trail has stumbled into the Rex Morgan universe, where every brief encounter threatens to erupt in explosive sodomy. Of course, we don’t know if Mark is capable of Rex’s callousness, which would help him maintain his emotional health over the course of such events. Nor do we know if Mark can match Rex’s intellect, necessary later when he wants to win the blue ribbon of being a dick to his wife.
Marion Delgado
September 21st, 2008 at 3:50 am [Reply]

Apartment 3-G, meet Apartment O.G.
Paul Rodgers
September 21st, 2008 at 4:06 am [Reply]

How adorable! That little girl has taught her pet raccoon to steal things specifically from Mark Trail! She’s like a gypsy with a monkey, only gypsy trained animals steal from everyone, not just thirty-two year old men in solid khaki outfits.

What the fuck kind of pet is a raccoon, anyhow? They have diseases. Not a good pet, even if you’re stuck in a wetland and are thus destined to be eaten by a crocodile or ravaged by some crazy disease.. Clearly, the grandparents are conspiring to kill Pamela with kindness. A raccoon is just a few steps away from a smallpox infested blanket.
Jack Parsons
September 21st, 2008 at 4:14 am [Reply]

Phantom: “I told him about ‘Old Justice’”
“Not practiced for centuries”

“We got it perfect a long time ago. After forced intimacy with a Scotch Bonnet, even the most evil malefactor turns into St. Francis of Assisi.”
RaJ
September 21st, 2008 at 4:15 am [Reply]

Ziggy is sad because his newspaper is in gibberish! Whereas if it were properly printed, he’d know that we’re in a financial crisis, his savings are lost, and that he has no choice but to move back in with his mother! Without him, the mice will starve to death, a fate slightly better than being Ziggy at any point.
Scherzo
September 21st, 2008 at 4:36 am [Reply]

About racoons: My brother-in-law is a wildlife rehabilitator, and he and my sister raised an orphaned racoon from a tiny kit. And, yes, it lived in the house, ate vanilla wafers, and had adventures with the toilet. They brought the racoon visiting with them one time — I remember playing with it and admiring its tiny paws. However, since they are not crazy people on the order of the denizens of Mark Trail, they let the racoon return to the wild when it was old enough.
She comes back to visit from time to time and they feed her cookies on the porch. Sometimes she still comes in the house and checks out the kitchen for treats. Usually bites my B-I-L just for the heck of it. Smart animal.
Donald The Anarchist
September 21st, 2008 at 6:04 am [Reply]

MT Someone needs to check Sneaky’s earrings to see if they’re cold.

Ziggy. He had always hoped they saw him as mre of a father figure. He had so many life lessons to teach.

H&J “This diet and exercise won’t change the fact that you have diabetes. But you’ll feel like you’re doing something, at least.”
A3G Poor Alan. He didn’t even get a chance to say, “Am Not!”
Michael
September 21st, 2008 at 6:31 am [Reply]

The comment in Sunday’s Mark Trail about 400 Right Whales left in the world only refers to North Atlantic Right Whales. It’s estimated that there are about 200 North Pacific Right Whales, and 7,500 Southern Right Whales (living all around Antarctica). These are three separate species in the same genus.

</pedantry>
TB Tabby
September 21st, 2008 at 6:48 am [Reply]

Hate to dust off an old chestnut, but more information on raccooons as pets can be found on the internet. According to Wikipedia, pet raccoons are rare, but not unheard of, although you may eed an exotic animal permit to own one. There’s even raccoon breeders for just this purpose.

I’ve never known any raccoon owners, but one issue of Nintendo Power had a girl write in about her two pet raccoons. One was an albino, and the other was named “Tanooki” in reference to Super Mario Bros. 3.
Glenn
September 21st, 2008 at 7:18 am [Reply]

Find the product placement in Sunday’s FBOFW.
Patrick
September 21st, 2008 at 7:21 am [Reply]

“Herb, I’m going to put you on an exercise program. You’ve already started it by climbing up on my 5′ 6″ exam table.”
mojo
September 21st, 2008 at 7:34 am [Reply]

AG3: I can’t wait for Margo to arrive on the scene, stand in open-mouthed shock for a few seconds, and then step over all the blood and bodies to scream “The PAINTINGS! Somebody shot one of the PAINTINGS!”
True Fable
September 21st, 2008 at 7:35 am [Reply]

Raccoons do not make such charming pets as Mark Trail would lead you to believe. Besides spoiling every scrap of food in the house, the little bastard took anal-retentive repetitive washing to new heights. I mean, he was worse than my aunt, only without the eccentric Southern charm.
T Campbell
September 21st, 2008 at 7:37 am [Reply]

Don’t guns say “BLAM?”
Gazza
September 21st, 2008 at 7:55 am [Reply]

MT: Missing 4th panel is the raccoon squeaking: “She’s a liar n’ I HATE HER.”
Rebelcat
September 21st, 2008 at 8:11 am [Reply]

A3G – Depressing?

New York City’s one and only drug dealer goes on vacation and his addicts, deprived of the life-sustaining nectar of their sweet, sweet drugs, battle it out to the death. With bullets!

Sounds pretty darn awesome to me.
Bryan
September 21st, 2008 at 8:11 am [Reply]

Sunday Hi & Lois: In the last panel, is that a puddle of urine on the floor next to the dog? Or is it from the spilled soda?
Braniff
September 21st, 2008 at 8:13 am [Reply]

FC-Lil’ Billy–is he ready to come out of the closet at last? Perhaps he could star in a remake of The Crying Game (lol) or in a movie about J. Edgar Hoover.
Talking Squirrel
September 21st, 2008 at 8:21 am [Reply]

MT: Most places, you aren’t allowed to domesticate a wild animal without a special permit. Trail should issue a summary beatdown to the geezers for violating a government statute.

And he better do it toot sweet and then run for the door, before Sneaky has a chance to reach in and make his renowned grab for Trail’s luscious lychees, as he’s so clearly on the verge of doing.

And re: 50 – Bobdog’s hypothesis that “…the Jack Elrod ball is being used to cover Mark’s nether regions so we can’t see how turned on he is by the idea of living with a raccoon.” –

Can’t it now be said that someone aroused by the prospect of domesticated bestiality has a “jackal-rod”?
Lettuce
September 21st, 2008 at 8:30 am [Reply]

A3G: Why did the Kinf of Siam just shoot Barbie’s boyfriend with a hand-cannon?

The sad thing is, in real life, this interaction would have gone as follows:

Yul Brenner: Hey, you got any dope?
Ken: No. All out. I was hoping you were carrying.
Yul: Damn.
Ken: Yeah.
Yul: Well, I guess I’ll just have to go huff some model cement.
Ken: That’ll do ya. Later…
C. Havoc
September 21st, 2008 at 8:33 am [Reply]

#38 PoteetL “A3G — In Panel Seven, Terry has turned into Tom Cruise with a ponytail. She’s an actress in Panel Eight, an actress I’ve seen but can’t quite remember.”

The Part of “Terry” is being played by Terry Farrel, the actress who played Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Hence the starfleet uniform.
Vince M
September 21st, 2008 at 8:36 am [Reply]

36,45: Dat Maurice kid, ‘e’s plenty funny, you bet!
Dr. Rogers looks like a cross between Mark Trail and ‘Bob’ Dobbs.
Baka Gaijin
September 21st, 2008 at 8:39 am [Reply]

#63 Glenn: JUST SAY NO TO FOOB!
C. Havoc
September 21st, 2008 at 8:40 am [Reply]

#33: Marion: “Apartment 3-G, meet Apartment O.G.”

Mmmmmm, What You Say…
Angry Kem
September 21st, 2008 at 8:53 am [Reply]

Well, if anyone deserves to be medievalised, it’s Little Billy.

9CL: Cats do this. I have never known a cat content to stay within the frame. Despite appearances, cats don’t actually walk through walls; they just slip outside the frame of reality for a bit.

A3G: It’s gotta be a headshot. I mean…it’s gotta be a headshot. That’s what the “boom” is for, right? This completely out-of-touch writer secretly watches Pure Pwnage…right? Right?

reFoob: Yes, John: you are a bad father because your daughter’s diapers stink. Who knew?

With the exception of Lio and PBS, the rest of today’s comics depress me so much that I shall now fling myself dramatically down upon my bed and cry.
queek
September 21st, 2008 at 9:01 am [Reply]

Sunday Funnies

SFx: guest-starring TrueFable as Mr. Goat.

PV & Lio: Two sides of hentai. Poor Ishmael, he’s going to need more than anime-eyes to overcome the decades of history between schoolgirls and tentacled monsters.

PBS: buh? I’m boggled. Well and truly boggled.

NS: brought to you today by icanhascheezburger

MC: last panel win! Whole strip is pretty good, if far too close to home.

JP: Thank you, Mr. Baretto.
Angry Kem
September 21st, 2008 at 9:02 am [Reply]

Actually…regarding “BOOM! Headshot!”…I just realised I should have linked to this…or this…or this. It’s frickin’ scary how much Ray looks like Doug.
Talking Squirrel
September 21st, 2008 at 9:11 am [Reply]

78 – Angry Kem says: “Well, if anyone deserves to be medievalised, it’s Little Billy.”

And behold, even shod in pink Keds that can in nowise have been crammed into yon flat box. ‘Tis a miracle and, forsooth, he stretcheth out his arms in messianic adoration!
Angry Kem
September 21st, 2008 at 9:17 am [Reply]

#81 Talking Squirrel: Damn it…I must have been half-asleep when I wrote that entry. I missed the cruciform position. How did I do that? Now I have to go back and rewrite the blurb. It’s far too good to leave out.
Dingo
September 21st, 2008 at 9:17 am [Reply]

Another way to look at Ray with the gun (his “raygun” as it were) is to imagine Ray being played by Faye Dunaway. Not Dunaway as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest but just a bald-headed Faye Dunaway desperate for a part. Contemplate her voice with the “Liars — All liars!!!” and you’ll see that it makes perfect sense.

Oh, and I believe Terry Bryson is played by Meg Foster. Check her out in They Live.
commodorejohn
September 21st, 2008 at 9:33 am [Reply]

A3G – Man, Kojak gets pissy without his “dope.”

DT – Today, on Things You Never Wanted To See: robots giving birth!

FC – As I said on Thursday, best Family Circus ever.

FW – Suuuure, Les, whatever you say.

JP – I do so love this strip. “I want respect! Also I am an exotic dancer.” Poor thing is denied happiness by a culture that just has no respect for exotic dancers.

MW – “I feel really stupid now, Terry!”
“Yes, well, you are.”

Phantom – “Bzzz…bzzz…”

PV – Giant killer octopus!

RMMD – Man, if only this would actually erupt into a drunken brawl. Peter Lorre, you are such a buzzkill.

SM – Man, when Dick Tracy has better villains than an actual superhero comic, something’s wrong.

Ziggy – Ziggy is turned on by his dog.
gleeb
September 21st, 2008 at 9:45 am [Reply]

Dick: Security devices exist? That’s why I love Dick Tracy: it’s full of security tidbits like this.

‘bean: No matter what else happens, Creepy Les must be put in his place. I approve.

Mark: How can we learn all about the ocean if 95% of it is unexplored? It doesn’t add up, Trail! Who are you covering for?

Monty: So, in reading about Spartacus, a slave who dared to revolt and demand freedom, Moondog emerges with the lesson “Romans sure knew how to party”.

Phantom: Sure, the Phantom is concerned with a village enslaved, but he also wants to protect his monopoly over Wambesi diamonds.

Rex: Lou the bartender is completely panicked over the idea of thwarting Lenore Foster in her desire to abuse and humiliate Ollie Tweaks. What kind of power does this skinny old woman have that puts such fear into people?

Zippy: Interesting drawing. Pity there’s nothing interesting going on, though. It’s like a Tim Burton movie in comics form.
doug rogers
September 21st, 2008 at 9:52 am [Reply]

Let Alan be dead, let Alan be dead, let Alan be dead…. and the value of his paintings will skyrocket and he’ll be able to afford all the drugs he wants!

Pearls before Swine is rockin.
Paul1963
September 21st, 2008 at 9:55 am [Reply]

Sunday Family Circus: What sort of disagreement do you suppose grownup Jeffy had with grownup Billy that prompted Jeff to put his brother in a pink, frilly dress in front of all his readers?
Lolsworth
September 21st, 2008 at 9:58 am [Reply]

I read the Mark Trail comments with Ziggy by mistake. It worked even better.
True Fable
September 21st, 2008 at 10:15 am [Reply]

SFx GOAT!! That’s Mister Goat to you! Yay Bob Jr. for bringing the caprine!
JP Forget it, girlie; that’s Sam “Frozen” Driver you’re posing so evocatively for. All the exotic dancing in the world isn’t going to warm his tundra.
FC You know… I have no beef about this Sunday’s offering. It’s downright snarky on itself. I’m sure it was entirely unintentional.
Scenes from Suburban Hell Mama Fable would have turned us inside out and upside down for being such grubby little slobs like the Flagston kids. When you don’t have anything, you have nothing to junk up the place, so maybe Lois ought to do some tossing.
9CL I Haz Yr Ankles in Mah Crosshairs
Zits There’s “paying for” and then there’s “paying for”, kid.
DtM Holy shit, Mr. Wilson; take a fuckin’ Chill Pill already! Sorry MenaceWatch2008 can’t give you any menacing points, Dennis, but you can’t earn ‘em if the man’s already a menace to himself.
Joe Btfsplk
September 21st, 2008 at 10:15 am [Reply]

So that comfy armchair is trying to blame its friend the raccoon for stealing stuff out of people’s pockets? Oh, it’ll get away with it too, for a while; the raccoon is always the obvious suspect. Someday, though, someone is going to dig down into those cushions, and the truth will out.
DavidMac
September 21st, 2008 at 10:16 am [Reply]

MT: After Sneaky discovers Mark has no food in his hand, Mark will find it difficult to make a fist with fingers missing.

They don’t call them “wild” animals for nothing.
One-eyed Wolfdog
September 21st, 2008 at 10:28 am [Reply]

“I want you to diet and exercise religiously. And that doesn’t mean sprinkling an altar with blood and burning your fat upon it as an offering made by fire unto the LORD.”
Calico
September 21st, 2008 at 10:36 am [Reply]

#78 – Do you think we’ll also hear “Boom-SPLAT!” on Monday?

Alan’s painting – a nude and emaciated Haley, smoking “dope.”
Calico
September 21st, 2008 at 10:39 am [Reply]

FOOB – another baby-shit joke. How clever.
Elly doesn’t mind changing the dirty diaper, as long as John does it. Such logic.
Professor Fate
September 21st, 2008 at 10:45 am [Reply]

3G: this is late but I’m pretty sure that Ray isn’t just shooting at Allan – there are those pesky six foor tall talking lizards as well.
Rollersnakes
September 21st, 2008 at 10:46 am [Reply]

What is most disturbing about the Lockhorns today? The fact that Loretta has gleefully placed a photo of her OWN MOTHER in the toilet for her husband to urinate on? That she gives tours of the bathroom to her unsuspecting guests? Or that the Lockhorn’s toilet is located in the center of the bathroom, unconnected to any pipes or water lines?
Mischief Maker
September 21st, 2008 at 10:53 am [Reply]

“Who loves ya, Baby?”

*BLAM!*
mojo
September 21st, 2008 at 10:53 am [Reply]

So …. ummmmm ….. what can Mark Trail do that these people can’t possibly do themselves? Besides lecture them on Why You Shouldn’t Keep Wild Animals As Pets, that is. They need Mark Trail to rummage through the town records for deeds and permits? They need him to harass some land owner/developer, who went through all the proper channels, showed up at all the town meetings, posted all the proper notices, and now that he is following through on his filed plans his neighbors belatedly decide they don’t LIKE it? If it’s being done illegally, they need Mark Trail to find all the drainage pipes and ditches and bulldozing? They can’t just, like, follow the noises of heavy machinery or at least the flow of water themselves?

That said, I want Mark Trail to sucker-punch Martha. “Hello, Martha!” followed by “BIFF!” No reason besides cruelty. She has the sort of pleasant, innocent old-lady look in panel two that I think Mark shaking her hand and then sucker-punching her would be very funny.
Tom
September 21st, 2008 at 10:56 am [Reply]

Pamela sure does have a big head, is she kin to the Keane Klan?
Muffaroo-who-walks
September 21st, 2008 at 11:07 am [Reply]

Tom the Dancing Bug – Yup. He’s a maverick, all right! Another winner from Bolling.

Doonesbury – I wonder if “mud” is a euphemism here.

Foob 1.2 – “Amazing, isn’t it — how changing someone else’s baby is so unpleasant… but it doesn’t bother us to change our own!” Dr. J.’s look of anguish in the last panel is because he realizes the implications of this statement! (1) We don’t mind changing our own baby. (2) He does mind changing this kid. (3) THEREFORE…

Curtis – The Sunday strip is in some alternate timeline where Curtis wasn’t dragged out to go shopping with his mom this week. Maybe this is Curtis of Earth-2, where everything’s just like Earth-1, only Gunk’s eyes are reversed.

Cathy – Pulled this up on the Washington Post site. Looked at the overall patterns of light and dark on the virtual page. Peered intently at a panel here and there, determining just how much work it would take to discern individual words and letters in the microtype. Skimmed randomly, looking at this panel and that panel, trying to see if there was somewhere I’d like to try and read something. Stopped, went on to other activities. Time taken from my life: almost two minutes. Would I do it over again? Maybe next year.
Muffaroo-who-walks
September 21st, 2008 at 11:09 am [Reply]

DtMenace – “Where are you going?” George: “I’m going to the State Department and confess that I’m the concentration camp guard they’ve been looking for all these years. I figure that if I tell them I’ve been living next to the Mitchells most of that time, they’ll probably let me off with a stern lecture, but I’m up for anything they want to do to me.”

Garfield – More wackiness with the mice. Tell me about the lasagna again, Garfield! And how you hate Mondays!

MWorth – “I suggest you send this phony email to enormoushop so they can warn their customers!” “Be sure and include your credit card information so they’ll know it’s really you.”

Opus – Hasn’t this ended yet?

PClub – Three things. (1) Funny. (2) Realistic. (3) The guy on the right keeps reminding me of Fritz Katzenjammer. Or maybe it’s Hans. (Let’s see… “Fritz, dark haired and a year older… no, that’s not it…)

RMMD – There are few problems in life that can’t be solved by throwing wine at them.

A3G – He’s bald! You know who else is bald? Lex Luthor!

DTracy – Our villain du jour is starting to look more and more like a certain beloved entertainer of yesteryear. “Hiya folks, this is Clenchy ‘Who Needs Food?’ McTin-grin, and I just wanna tell you to buy bonds!”

FCircus – “Bil, the party was two weeks ago, and he’s still wearing that dress.”

Wankerbean – Funky’s seen the light. Maybe he’ll kill himself now.

PValiant – It’s not Hal Foster, but damme if this creative team isn’t taking the strip to heights it hasn’t been at for decades. The drawing is more solid than it’s been since Foster passed on, and the story moves along and is actually interesting along the way. I feel like there are characters in the strip, even. All it needs is dinosaurs and some kind of 40s luxury cars.
essteess
September 21st, 2008 at 11:10 am [Reply]

Family Circus: What a great occasion for PJ to say his first word: “Faaaaaaabulous!!!!”

Spiderman: Oh yes! Can’tcha just hear Peter Gabriel singing away in the background? “Big time! I’m on my way, I’m making it…”

Annie: Looks like this “former Soviet republic” hasn’t discovered karaoke bars yet.

Gasoline Alley: (Saturday) Hey, Hoogy’s pupils have dilated. Isn’t it about time for her to slip into something a little more comfortable?
Muffaroo-who-walks
September 21st, 2008 at 11:14 am [Reply]

Helena Handbasket @26 – Timely and convenient information about character names in comic strips can be found on the internet.

Dale @36 – That was B.K. Taylor’s ~~“Tales of the Frozen North,”~~ “Timberland Tales,” with Maurice, the Indian boy. I’m sure someone else will provide the name before I get to the end of comments and post mine own, but just in case. (I went online to verify what I thought was the strip title. Fixed! Oddly enough, the web site I saw this at also thinks that Taylor’s drawing style was similar to Wally Wood and Bill Elder — I would have said he was very much a Jack Davis kind of guy; almost a clone.)

Bobdog @50 – Good point about A3G universe reality. We’ll see, I guess. Given the constraints of comic strip time, the bullet should reach Alan by Friday. (Wednesday: “Oh no! The bullet is almost halfway here! Bummer! My life is slowly trickling by in front of my eyes”)

9CL – Anybody got a link for Sunday? Dean Booth’s page isn’t coming up for some reason.
Mary, quite contrary
September 21st, 2008 at 11:15 am [Reply]

Again, why would Curtis not like the clothes his mother picked out for him? I’m sure they all consist of jeans, red sweaters, white oxford shirts and oversized baseball caps.
Reynard Noir
September 21st, 2008 at 11:24 am [Reply]

So… you shouldn’t do drugs because it causes you to speak with agent terms in place of your gerunds? The tragedy of addiction is poor grammar?

At last I understand the menace that is THE DRUGS.
Pastramigod
September 21st, 2008 at 11:25 am [Reply]

Rex Morgan- Ollie should have known better than to mess with Magneto, The Master of Magnetism!
essteess
September 21st, 2008 at 11:27 am [Reply]

Re Raccoons
When I was a kid, a hunter friend of ours rescued a litter of kits whose mother had been killed or vanished under unknown circumstances (damn — we shoulda called Mark Trail to investigate), and wound up giving us one.
He wasn’t with us all that long, maybe seven or eight months, but he certainly did make life interesting. Although we did keep him in a hutch outside, we let him visit us in the house regularly, and we were rewarded with stolen food, torn upholstery and sudden mischievous attacks: My mother was recording herself practicing a lovely sonata on the piano, when she felt a nip on her ankle — I kept for several months the recording of her exclamation of surprise and pain (more the former than the latter).
The little fella also liked to straddle on all fours the armrest for our couch and move himself back and forth; we weren’t quite sure if this was for sexual gratification or to clean his, um, rear entrance. Maybe both.
But he was also very affectionate, and loved to cuddle up against us. He’d often take your thumb in his paws and suck on it, purring like a cat.
When he got a bit older, he went out exploring on a regular basis (we lived in a moderately settled rural town with plenty of open space), and eventually took up a second residence in a barn across the road from our place. But every so often at night, we’d hear a familiar trilling at our door, and found he had come to visit for a little while. We’d let him in, feed him a little snack, play with him a bit, until he decided it was time to go out on a prowl.
Unfortunately, the highway that separated our house from his barn was a very busy one, and he wound up like one of the unfortunates in Loudon Wainwright’s famous ode to roadkill.
Flipper
September 21st, 2008 at 11:28 am [Reply]

Josh: “but why bother…”
John C Fremont
September 21st, 2008 at 11:31 am [Reply]

Josh, your comment on Ziggy has made my day!

Why didn’t somebody tell me there’s a FamilyCircus.com?! I just spent way too much time reading the Family Circus parodies. (I particularly liked the Ted Rall and Zippy parodies.) Does this mean the Keanes actually have a sense of humor?

# 297 (Previous thread) Mibbitmaker – I read your H&L comment, and now I’ve got that song stuck in my head. What was that the flip-side of? Now I’m going to have to pull out my old 45’s.

# 14 Mikey – What Tweeks said at # 33!!

# 15 bats :[ – MW is a boring PSA? I beg to differ. Karen Moy tells this tale with the passion of personal experience! (Feel free to add Margo finger-quotes as you read the word “passion” by the way.)

# 35 Helena Handbasket – I wanted to cry when I read today’s Lio.

# 36, 45, 75 & 103 – Some call him “The Joker.”

# 78 Angry Kem – Is there a medieval word for “melonhead?”

# 84 commodorjohn – I didn’t see the RMMD bartender as Peter Lorre so much as Humprey Bogart in that Bugs Bunny cartoon with the penguin, saying “Pardon me, but can you help out a fellow American who’s down on his luck?” Even more interesting, though is his transformation along the way, becoming film critic Jay Sherman in the second panel, and a constipated Jesse White (as the Maytag Repairman) in the third. (Geez, he’s really agonizing over that Lenore/Tweaks fight!)

A3G – I agree with everybody else. Cannons go “Boom!” Hand guns can go “Bang!” or “Pow!” or even “Ka-pow!” I’d even settle for “Pop!” depending on your distance from the gun in question and the atmospheric conditions. But what I really want to know is, why is the smoke coming from behind and to the left of the gun in both yesterday’s and today’s strip. Of course it could be a windy day and Alan left the window open, and that could be a plastic grocery bag blowing through the room. It looks more like that than it does smoke, actually.

JP – I don’t care how long this story-line continues, just as long as Dixie doesn’t put on any annoying clothes. Unless, of course, those clothes are her exotic dancer clothes. That would be fine. And then the sexy cop could go undercover as a dancer at the same club. Yes. Yes, that would do nicely.

DT – Am I the only one who finds that last panel disturbing? At least he doesn’t make me feel inadequate.

MW – I’m glad I’m not the only one fascinated by the Many Faces of Terry Bryson. (Does she have an Adam’s apple in that last panel?)

(Sorry to be so wordy today, everybody!)
Captain Wrong
September 21st, 2008 at 11:32 am [Reply]

Groovy. Looks like FOOB is totally out of the Indy Star. They were still doing the Sunday strips for the past couple of weeks. I hope Lynn’s smug ass is getting knocked out of papers all over the country. I’m still in shock it happened here.
crossbuck
September 21st, 2008 at 11:38 am [Reply]

A3G:
So, there’s only one dealer in all NYC. Explains rather a lot of the tense edginess of the city. Out here, all you have to do is enter a depressed neighborhood or trailer park, and you’ll find a dealer. Must be why Californians are so much calmer and friendlier. Oh sure, there is a little gunplay, but it usually dealers shooting each other over money.
Beatrice
September 21st, 2008 at 11:41 am [Reply]

“Liars! All Liars!” Ray has mistaken A3G for AIG.
Pendragon
September 21st, 2008 at 11:43 am [Reply]

Scottsdale? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge…SAY NO MORE!
Mark in Boston
September 21st, 2008 at 11:52 am [Reply]

I can understand why a paper would drop FOOB this week. This is Lynn Johnston getting back at her ex. She’s planting a little seed of doubt, like Iago to Othello. Those children you thought were yours, Rod ….
Mischief Maker
September 21st, 2008 at 11:52 am [Reply]

Now we learn the true consequences of using dope cut with Ajax.

It turns you into Mr. Clean.
Chris Opperman
September 21st, 2008 at 11:56 am [Reply]

What’s wrong with the world that there’s more action in Apartment 3-G than there is in Spider-Man?
Islamorada Girl
September 21st, 2008 at 12:03 pm [Reply]

Is it just me, or does Ray-Ray’s Saturday night special look like a S&W .22? Unless Alan took one directly in the heart, one shot from that would more likely wound him than kill him, dammit. I wish Ray would kill this dope storyline with one shot.
Joe Blevins (please click my name)
September 21st, 2008 at 12:09 pm [Reply]

H&J: Herb’s doctor might not actually be Mr. T, but he is pitying a fool. So there’s that.

Z: Wait, do Ziggy’s other animals (his dog, for instance) talk in intelligible Enlgish which can be heard and understood by humans? Or is it just the mice…?

MT: Such a variety of delightful/alarming hairdos in this family. Many have already commented on little Pamela’s jellyroll/mullet, which when combined with her overgenerous forehead makes her look like a redneck Metalunan. And we’ve all enjoyed the Dad’s Lollipop Guild-inspired ‘do. But today was my first chance to admire Martha’s Michael-Caine-circa-Dressed To Kill superwave.

A3G: It’s a good thing for Alan that Ray immediately falls down when he starts to shoot someone. Also, it looks like “Sic Semper Tyrranis” finally has some competition in the field of Melodramatic Things To Say When You Crazily Shoot Someone.
bats :[
September 21st, 2008 at 12:18 pm [Reply]

78. Angry Kem: I ran through “my usual” Sunday comics online last night, and then this morning I went through the choices that the Star publishes. Damn, you’re right — maybe not depressing, but just bad. I went and worked the Sudoku or Soduku or Sothere to feel better.

Then I did this (it’s kind of like a comics empowerment therapy thing, I suppose):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/2876002058/sizes/o/
Seismic-2
September 21st, 2008 at 12:22 pm [Reply]

47- Well, Brooke Shields already played the title role in Brenda Starr, so can a role in the big-screen version on MW be far behind? I doubt that it will get made, though, since no one would believe a character as dumb as Toby. Oh wait – Jessica Simpson may be available to play the part. Never mind.
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
September 21st, 2008 at 12:22 pm [Reply]

Curtis: I predict the annual “war” strip will appear tomorrow.

DtN-M: Geez, Wilson, overreact much?

(WT)DT: O HAI! I CAN D-FUZ HOSTG SITASHUN? KTHXBAI.

FC: It starts here. I predict that 25 years from now, Billy will be in the motel business.

JP: I’m sorry, I find it hard to believe a taut-bodied young blonde with a name like “Dixie Julep” could be an exotic dancer. In a world where “Dewey Cheatham” is an acceptable name for a successful agent, exotic dancers would have names like “Ethel Gertz” or “Mabel Frump.” Besides, something about her wardrobe just strikes me as off.

RMCB: Who knew Lou the Bartender had Jedi mind powers? “Time to go, Mr. Tweaks! You’ve had enough!” “Yes, I’m sorry. I’d better go now!” “And remember to leave a generous tip in the jar!” “Yes… must leave a $20 bill in jar…” “Make it a $50!” “Yes… a $50…” No wonder Lou can afford to dress like Isaac from Love Boat.

S-M: I was going to do a parody version of Peter Gabriel’s song “Big Time” here, but when I realized that half the song is simply repeating the phrase “Big Time,” and the other half is bragging about penis size, I gave it up.
Norm
September 21st, 2008 at 12:27 pm [Reply]

Pluggers: Today’s comic features a Chickenlady mixing some odd concoction that to the naked eye, might look like a milkshake…but in reality, she is mixing a dangerous poison to end her life with. Anything to escape the banality of pluggerdom.
Joe Btfsplk
September 21st, 2008 at 12:33 pm [Reply]

Fred Basset – I was a bit startled reading this one, as the first two panels made me think that Fred was dying.

Andy and Hagar – Lesson: Never send a medieval Norwegian Viking to do a modern British layabout’s job. It’s just too bad Redeye isn’t still around, so we could get the same strip three times instead of a mere two.
Red Greenback
September 21st, 2008 at 12:38 pm [Reply]

John C. Fremont@#109-Re A3G: In my nape of the forest, guns go “SODA!”.
Hank
September 21st, 2008 at 12:39 pm [Reply]

RE: Opus. I’m not sure what’s more depressing: the fact that Breathed seems ready to kill off the character, or the fact that he seems to be planning to do so by phoning in strips that are virtual re-runs of much funnier bits from “Bloom County’s” golden age twenty years ago.
Joe Blevins
September 21st, 2008 at 12:42 pm [Reply]

Here is a Judge Parker strip from 1964. And here is today’s Judge Parker. Notice a subtle difference?

That’s right! Back in 1964, characters in Judge Parker smoked. And wore clothing.
Joe Blevins
September 21st, 2008 at 12:46 pm [Reply]

Fine! Be that way Seattle Post Intelligencer. The Judge Parker strip is here:

http://pst.rbma.com/content/Judge_Parker?date=20080921

And what’s up with that name? Did you used to be intelligent, and now you’re post-intelligence?
Helena Handbasket
September 21st, 2008 at 12:48 pm [Reply]

Mark in Boston @ 144: I read it less as an implication of infidelity, and more as yet another in the series of Lynn saying Rod was/is an ass. After all, if he had ever been a real father to his kids, he wouldn’t have minded the diaper changing.
Journeyman Softheart
September 21st, 2008 at 1:01 pm [Reply]

JP: Darn, I was *this* close to betting that she was a graduate student – possibly in Anthropology. Maybe she’s working her way through a Ph.D. program as an exotic dancer – I know at least one woman who made enough money to survive through her doctorate at Columbia providing, um, personal services. But maybe the market in NYC is a bit more high-end.
One-eyed Wolfdog
September 21st, 2008 at 1:16 pm [Reply]

Sunday Herb & Jamaal: LOL, TEH WIMMENZ. Good thing your wife’s safe at home while you’re out shopping with your boyfriend.
thatquietkid
September 21st, 2008 at 1:20 pm [Reply]

In Mary Worth, Toby realizes her narrow knowledge of spelling and grammar lead to her identity being stolen.

“But I thought verify was spelled with an ‘a!’ It looked legit!”
mcbangle
September 21st, 2008 at 1:36 pm [Reply]

Is Herb’s doctor also his father, or Herb-from-the-future? He’s even wearing the same outfit as Herb!
Red Greenback
September 21st, 2008 at 1:42 pm [Reply]

A3G: Alternative Ray’s gun noises.
Anonymous
September 21st, 2008 at 1:52 pm [Reply]

Sunday’s Mary Worth: I remember seeing this before when it was call Tracy’s crime stopper textbook and only took up one Sunday panel.
Annon
September 21st, 2008 at 2:00 pm [Reply]

Wait a minute. The banner in the bar says the regatta is happening “Oct. 10-12″. Does mean 20 more days of Lenore and Tweaks? I mean, we know a sudden squall will capsize Lenore’s boat and she and Rex will float around for days, only to be rescued by Tweaks.

And, by the way, Rex may want to check on Lou in Panel 3. He’s having a heart attack.
Thursday Next
September 21st, 2008 at 2:08 pm [Reply]

H&J-I don’t think it’s a joke. I think it’s a courageous statement about having a Munchkin doctor. Or that the kid from Jump Start who’s always playing at being a doctor has stuck on a fake moustache.
survivor
September 21st, 2008 at 2:08 pm [Reply]

#42, #78, #118 – The reaon why Ray pluralizes ‘liars’ and aims low is because he is firing a gun at Alan’s testicles.

Alan will be in a lot of pain on Monday. Comical pain.
ar_d
September 21st, 2008 at 2:16 pm [Reply]

Wow, it was actually really gratifying to see Alan get shot. I wish that would happen to more comic characters. Namely Cathy and the entire cast of Shoe.
survivor
September 21st, 2008 at 2:19 pm [Reply]

Is anyone else creeped out that Mark Trail is leaning his knee against the severed head of Ringo Starr in the 3rd panel?

Hmm… Ringo does have a mustache …
GeekyRobot.com
September 21st, 2008 at 2:25 pm [Reply]

Interesting…
Erik
September 21st, 2008 at 2:26 pm [Reply]

Josh, please please please PLEASE comment on Sunday’s Pearls Before Swine. It’s absolutely god-damn hilarious.

Also, the coloring sweatshop missed a patch of grass in Sunday’s Sally Forth. You may want to look at that too.
Poteet
September 21st, 2008 at 2:40 pm [Reply]

# 47 boojum, # 74 C. Havoc — BWAHAHA! And thanks also to you other Mudges who have enlightened me regarding Terry’s real identities. I confess to having wished in the past that I had a Kindly Computer Expert on hand to pat my hand, listen to me whimper, and solve all my technological problems. But Shape-Shifting Terry creeps me out.

# 98 mojo — Yeah, what you said. And (very sorry, folks, I can’t resist) in many cases, federal/state/local laws allow wetland drainage if there is mitigation, even though a lot of mitigation projects range from barely adequate to laughable. Depending on what he finds out, Mark might need to go punch out the entire state legislature and the governor. Or possibly Congress.
Annon
September 21st, 2008 at 2:41 pm [Reply]

139, survivor: Wow. You must be really good at those “Magic Eye” things!
Poteet
September 21st, 2008 at 2:47 pm [Reply]

PBS — And to think I never even heard of PBS until I came here. Thank you, CC. *falls to knees sniffling with gratitude*
Seismic-2
September 21st, 2008 at 3:01 pm [Reply]

139 – MT must be a Rosarch test (actually, I think we all always knew that), since I had though that in panel 2, the raccoon on Pamela’s shoulder (the wetland’s equivalent of a parrot, for Talk Like a Pirate Day?) was actually the severed head of Lothar from the Mandrake the Magician strip, with an evil-Spock beard from GT. I’ve got to get stronger glasses or start displaying these strips at a higher screen magnification in my browser.
Harold
September 21st, 2008 at 3:01 pm [Reply]

Muffaroo @ 103, I’m also not seeing Dean Booth’s page. Have the syndicates put out a hit on him?
vanya
September 21st, 2008 at 3:07 pm [Reply]

Monty: Kudos to this strip for inserting the phrase “are you ready to have your little penis washed?” into a daily strip. Granted it’s pretty atrocious latin, but that seems to be what the serving girl appears to be saying.
bats :[
September 21st, 2008 at 3:21 pm [Reply]

You know there’s nothing to read in the Sunday paper when I’m spending way to much time at my computer…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/2875747965/sizes/o/
Gloria
September 21st, 2008 at 3:37 pm [Reply]

I hope this Mark Trail story teaches readers about the dangers of getting too close to wild animals like raccoons and their lovely, lovely parasites:

http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/4892/raccoonroundworm.html
Poteet
September 21st, 2008 at 3:41 pm [Reply]

Foob — WARNING, MONDAY SPOILER *snork* AHEAD. Theme: Ignoring the poor older sib. Characters: Elly, Michael, Liz, intrusive stranger. My reaction: Why bother? Instead, I’ll suggest a visit to the current Foob homepage graphic for those with an interest in psychoanalysis.
Orange Doorhinge
September 21st, 2008 at 3:50 pm [Reply]

MW: I’m still hoping that Ian’s dinner with the wonderful pedants will be ruined when his credit cards are refused, one after another.
Poteet
September 21st, 2008 at 3:51 pm [Reply]

RMMD — Meth is the Official State Dope of Iowa, and I really, really have trouble with Tweaks as a name. Unless Lenone’s nickname is “Oxy.”
Poteet
September 21st, 2008 at 3:54 pm [Reply]

# 152 — Sorry, that’s Lenore. As in the angel-named sainted maiden whom Poe wishes to clasp.
Orange Doorhinge
September 21st, 2008 at 3:58 pm [Reply]

A3G: I’m pretty sure Monday’s strip will be about Alan’s twin brother in Tibet. On Friday Eric will fall off a cliff or something, leaving another cliff-hanger, and the strip will return to Tommy; maybe her boyfriend will also be endangered too. This could go on quite a while with the perfesser who lives in the hallway being pushed downstairs by the hair-bow lady…
dreadedcandiru2
September 21st, 2008 at 4:02 pm [Reply]

#152 — Poteet: Thanks for the heads-up. I’ve warned the Foobiverse about it.
CanuckDownSouth
September 21st, 2008 at 4:05 pm [Reply]

150-Poteet Waitasec! That sounds exactly like an original (one I actually find a bit touching). I thought September was all interpol-quels. If it’s what I think, Lizzie’s in a stroller, and Mike only speaks in the last panel.
perching pathath
September 21st, 2008 at 4:06 pm [Reply]

I think the ideal path forward for A3G is to never show or mention Alan again, ending his vague troubles in sudden, shocking violence. The next several weeks will follow exploits of our hero, the shouting, delirious junkie, as he adventures in search of “dope”.
Baka Gaijin
September 21st, 2008 at 4:15 pm [Reply]

#133 Red Greenback: PATOOTIE! Comic gold, folks, comic gold.
Poteet
September 21st, 2008 at 4:18 pm [Reply]

# 156 Canuck — Yes, Liz is in a stroller and Mike only speaks in the last panel (”PFBRAPPT!”) As an oldest sib, I was annoyed with Elly for not saying something positive to Michael during or after Intrusive Stranger, but then I’m a Foobloatharian and am always annoyed with Elly, except that I’m trying to disengage from Foob now. *sits cross-legged and goes to her happy place*
Baka Gaijin
September 21st, 2008 at 4:24 pm [Reply]

#159 Poteet: STOP IT. Stop it right now. That’s the only way you’ll get that FOOB monkey off your back. Do you really want to end up bald, shooting a gun that says “Patootie” or “Barfo,” jonesing for another hit of Elly and family?
GG
September 21st, 2008 at 4:24 pm [Reply]

This storyline in A3G is like if Trainspotting were written by an 85 year old from Kansas. You can tell Ray’s a real low life by the way he uses portmanteaus like “dontcha.”
Islamorada Girl
September 21st, 2008 at 4:26 pm [Reply]

Bats: you, madam, are a national treasure.

More squid nugget, mule!
Red Greenback
September 21st, 2008 at 4:27 pm [Reply]

Thanks, Baka Gaigin. I really wanted to do another RM,MD-inspired one with the gun saying: “BARK! BARK! BARK!” Also another A3G-inpired one with the gun going: “SOUTH DAKOTA!!!”
alyeska39
September 21st, 2008 at 4:39 pm [Reply]

#147 vanya: Though I took Latin in high school, I don’t remember anything, so I turned to the internet. And according to the first Latin translation site I found, it actually means “are you ready for your sponge bath?” Still entertaining.

#63 Glenn: Pepsi. Opening panel.
Baka Gaijin
September 21st, 2008 at 4:41 pm [Reply]

#163 Red Greenback: “Bark! Bark! Bark!” I’m chuckling just thinking about it. Thanks for a great laugh before bedtime to wash that FOOBiness out of my consciousness.
CanuckDownSouth
September 21st, 2008 at 5:21 pm [Reply]

159-Poteet Maybe it is a “new-run”. I recall Mike being somewhat more verbal in the final panel, and a nonverbal gesture of support from Elly (hence slightly touching, not annoying).

Oooo, if it’s an attempt at re-do that falls flat on its face, I may enjoy Monday’s offering for all the wrong reasons. Well the right reasons for here :-)
FOOBed again
September 21st, 2008 at 5:28 pm [Reply]

Hey TrueFable: I found this link to some “goat quotes” on a knitting & fiber blog:

http://www.finneycreek.ca/index_files/Page620.htm
Mrs. Cutout
September 21st, 2008 at 5:39 pm [Reply]

Re the A3G drama: I thought maybe Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil was doing a guest spot. “Patootie” and “Foob” are just priceless for gun sounds, BTW!
Kid on Drugs
September 21st, 2008 at 5:49 pm [Reply]

No deal, Curmudgeon!
Black Drazon
September 21st, 2008 at 5:56 pm [Reply]

Like John C. Fremont already pointed out, that cloud of smoke really doesn’t… look like one. In my eyes it looks more like a pillow Alan threw at his assailant before the fateful shot. It’s like the next step in the “Han Shot First” debacle.
Shermy Glamrocker
September 21st, 2008 at 6:49 pm [Reply]

Why do I have a feeling that the credit card snafu will be the only consequence of Toby’s moronic response to a phisher?

After all, she didn’t just give them her credit-card number, she gave them ALL of her personal information, which would be enough to create a legion of “Toby Camerons,” each with their own wallet full of credit cards, multiple mortgages and bank loans, not to mention the IRS reverberations when 30,000 illegal immigrants named “Toby Cameron” start using her Social Security number.

And let’s not forget the unending calls from debt collectors, who might believe her story that it was identity theft, but won’t stop selling her account to the next collector – ad infinitum.

Her credit – and her life – will be ruined.

But this is Mary Worth. A few platitudes and common-sense pieces of advice and everything is hunky-dory again.
dimestore lipstick
September 21st, 2008 at 6:51 pm [Reply]

Wow–does Dixie Julep work for Jenna Jameson?

She owns a strip club in Scottsdale, called Babe’s Cabaret.
Seismic-2
September 21st, 2008 at 7:02 pm [Reply]

171 – “Her credit – and her life – will be ruined.” This is Toby we’re talking about. Her life was ruined at birth.
He Brought Queenie Baby Jesus
September 21st, 2008 at 7:05 pm [Reply]

So this one is Herb, and the other one is Jamaal? I always just think of them as “that tall interlocutor” and “that short interlocutor”.
Gadge Cubic, Mole Preener
September 21st, 2008 at 7:17 pm [Reply]

Nah, this is just Alan’s dope-friend nightmare/dream, in which Ray’s gun is firing an enormous, poofy ball of popcorn.

Alternate interpretation: Alan’s projectile-airbag protection system has, alas, failed in deflecting the candy corn bullet spewing from Ray’s weapon.

I avoid all mention of the brain-melting terror that is Pamela, the malformed, talking ventriloquist’s dummy come to life in “Mark Trail.”
Uncle Lumpy
September 21st, 2008 at 7:20 pm [Reply]

#171 Shermy –

. . . a legion of “Toby Camerons. . . .”

An image that will now haunt my dreams. Thanks.
Buck Ripsnort
September 21st, 2008 at 7:34 pm [Reply]

Sunday S Fox– Long before reading Fox’s pseudo-solution, I realized that folks don’t normally sneak into others’ houses to “return” items, and people don’t normally loan clocks, brass candle-sticks, diamond-tipped canes, etc.
Uncle Lumpy
September 21st, 2008 at 7:35 pm [Reply]

#177 Buck –

Well, then you can forget about getting those candlesticks back, pal!
Artist formerly known as Ben
September 21st, 2008 at 7:38 pm [Reply]

9/21

Adam: Pretty much the only Adam@tHome you will ever need.

FC: I’ve never heard of this dodgy convention where you can blow out someone else’s candles and get one of their presents. But at any rate, it’s good that Billy is learning some important lessons about himself.

SFx: That guy walking the lovesick dog is so baked. So very baked.

Marvin: She’s learned to block out the annoying pseudo-lolspeak that I thought even you had outgrown.

Lockhorns: My question is how Loretta accounts for the piss-spattered portrait when her mother visits.

OBH: Face it, when you’re raising Ruthie, psychological warfare is bound to come into play.

Baldo: He can call himself “Fernando” if he likes, but I know Michael “the Lord of the Dance” when I see him. Spreading the Celtic line dancing gospel to the barrio, it seems.

Blondie: The last panel actually made me laugh, even if I kind of knew what was coming.

MT: Here we learn that even Mark Trail has days when he’d prefer to skip the bugs and the poison oak, and just hang around a natural history museum in walking distance of a good tavern.
boojum
September 21st, 2008 at 7:41 pm [Reply]

148 Bats:[ –

Uh, any more information on that Post-Regatta Orgy on the 13th? Mondays are awkward for me, but…
Mooncattie
September 21st, 2008 at 8:07 pm [Reply]

MW – So when are we wrapping up this PSA on identify theft? Two more weeks? Does that run Toby into yet another credit card payment cycle? It’s lucky for her that this storyline didn’t involve her bleeding profusely, as it would be six weeks before anyone mentioned the word tourniquet.
Jnoble
September 21st, 2008 at 8:22 pm [Reply]

If you switch the dialog of Saturdays MT with any weekday Baldo, you get instant racist stereotypical humor!
“This is my friend Sneaky…He likes to take things out of your pocket”
Carly
September 21st, 2008 at 8:40 pm [Reply]

Sunday’s Mark Trail: “Let me introduce you to the back of Mark’s head.”

And please tell me you’re going to comment on the utter wackiness that was FC today. Because methinks Jef’s dislike for both his siblings is coming out in that one.
Islamorada Girl
September 21st, 2008 at 8:45 pm [Reply]

3G: By the time we get back from Tibet, no one will remember Alan’s predicament, and maybe he will just quietly rot away in the gallery, mistaken for a Damien Hurst piece.
Joe Blevins
September 21st, 2008 at 9:09 pm [Reply]

Using Matrix-style bullet-time technology, let’s slow down the climax of this A3G episode and spend a little quality time with Ray the (apparently homicidal) burnout.
Muffaroo-who-walks
September 21st, 2008 at 9:22 pm [Reply]

Joe Blevins @118 – It’s true that “Sic Semper Tyrannis!” is becoming a sort of cliche among things to shout when crazily shooting someone. I probably contributed some to that myself (sorry). Still, you have to give Booth credit for shouting his state’s motto while putting himself on the front page — a real boost to tourism, that. Nowadays, I suppose you’d have to shout your state’s license plate slogan. “VIRGINIA IS FOR LOVERS! DIE!!” “Take that! AMERICA’S DAIRYLAND!!” Though I’m a Colorado boy at heart, I’m reluctant to add to tourism there in any way, so please, kids, don’t shout “NIL SINE NUMINE!” when assassinating. (And never, never stab toward yourself!)
Muffaroo-who-walks
September 21st, 2008 at 9:25 pm [Reply]

(That message was sitting in TextEdit all day — I kept forgetting to post it here. Just a coincidence that when I was previewing it, Joe made another comment.)
dale
September 21st, 2008 at 9:32 pm [Reply]

Slylock Sunday
There is no door for the bird; therefore, the clock is broken. The time on the dial is just the well-known two times a day coincidence.
Also, that’s way too heavy a cord for an electric clock.

I never get an answer to – is Slylock a private detective or a real cop?
Why would you call a private detective for a burglary in progress? Why would you call the police and ask for a specific detective for a burglary in progress? Why would either show up without gun in hand?
Naked Bunny with a Whip
September 21st, 2008 at 9:39 pm [Reply]

DT: I didn’t really need to see Trazr’s vagina. It made me think of Tracy’s hard, pointed package. *shivers*
EVE@HOME
September 21st, 2008 at 9:44 pm [Reply]

So, is Sunday’s FBorFW trying to imply that Liz isn’t *really* John’s child? ’cause that’s what I got from it!

Maybe I shouldn’t by thinking while reading “FOOB”…
Orange Doorhinge
September 21st, 2008 at 9:54 pm [Reply]

A3G: Its obvious that the only way to conclude the incredibly boring story line regarding Alan is to kill him off. Maybe more strip writers should try it. Elly can shoot her husband, Dr Jeff can shoot Mary, and so on.
EVE@HOME
September 21st, 2008 at 10:03 pm [Reply]

Though apparently, I should *be* thinking when I post. :-{

(The emoticon is an attempt at a “crooked-mouthed expression of pure humiliation and helplessness”)
Muffaroo-who-walks
September 21st, 2008 at 10:39 pm [Reply]

EVE@HOME @190 – It’s like I said, that’s why John has that look on his face. He’s just made the connection. (So is this part of “Lynn’s Revenge”?)
Bartleby
September 21st, 2008 at 10:43 pm [Reply]

#190 — Actually, if the strip were true to life, Michael wouldn’t be John’s child, since Lynn’s son was from her first marriage to an abusive, cheating husband.
bats :[
September 21st, 2008 at 10:43 pm [Reply]

185. Joe Blevins: wow, it was just like The Matrix. Only Ray is way more animated than Keanu Reeves.
Many things are.

Oh, and fun stuff. Christian Samper is indeed the Directer of the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum, appointed in 2008.
http://www.mnh.si.edu/about/executive_staff.htm

And here’s Mary Glackin:
http://www.noaa.gov/glackin.html

And in this article about the Mark Trail awards, you can see Jack Elrod AND Mary (I think Mark was in the little naturalist’s room when the photo was taken):
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2880.htm

I love this! (Although I’m still more in awe of the fer real ‘n’ true Lenore Foster…)
Patrick, Interlibrary Loan Lending Division
September 21st, 2008 at 10:44 pm [Reply]

A3G: Prevaricators! All of you! I hurl invectives and utter vile cunards in your general direction! I hate you!
Islamorada Girl
September 21st, 2008 at 10:57 pm [Reply]

Patrick, you’re hurling an ocean liner company at us?
Poteet
September 21st, 2008 at 11:28 pm [Reply]

# 160 Baka Gaijin — Thanks, and your concern is appreciated. But I can take it or leave it. Take it or leave it. Oh yeah.

# 166 Canuck — When you see it, I’d be very interested in your analysis. But I can take it or leave it. Oh yeah.
Poteet
September 21st, 2008 at 11:37 pm [Reply]

# 186 Muffaroo — Since Iowa’s license plate is silent, except for county names, I guess I’d have to yell “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain!”, thereby sounding like an insane windbag. But if I’d stayed in Michigan, I would have had to yell “Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice!” So I’m not complaining.
Milo
September 21st, 2008 at 11:42 pm [Reply]

I think the Mark Trail bunch should be more concerned that their furniture is talking than the fact that they’ve been letting a wild raccoon live with them.
Skullturf Q. Beavispants
September 21st, 2008 at 11:47 pm [Reply]

YOURS TO DISCOVER!!!
Vakar
September 21st, 2008 at 11:48 pm [Reply]

FC: Billy’s sweating because he knows that this is how he’ll look to the other inmates in the pen. Reeeeal purdy.

Also, that is some real cake artistry, putting the birthday girl’s name on the side. Handy when all the guests at the party are about table height.
kurt
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:04 am [Reply]

Ok, A3G’s Ray took a shot at Alan and possibly will hit somebody else. Any bets on who that bullet gets? Mark Trail’s Fist O’ Justice would be of help here :-)
bats :[
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:10 am [Reply]

199. Poteet: and then there’s one for the curmudgeon in all of us (although this might be the state motto for Florida):
O pueri condemnans effugete meam herbam
Seth
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:13 am [Reply]

Damn, that dope the bald guy’s so desperate for must be laced with heroin. That, or Rogaine.
Orinoco
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:25 am [Reply]

The real question in Family Circus is how did Jeffy get so beaten up? Mum? Dad? Billy? Dolly? PJ? Grandma? Not me? The suspects are lining up!
bats :[
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:36 am [Reply]

Mistrustful Monday observations:

FC: hotchy motchy! What the hell happened to Jeffy? Did he fall off a cliff?!

Mutts: YESH!

9CL: good heavens, could it be that we’re seeing evolution in action, and a sea cucumber actually growing a spine?

GF: wow, Bucky looks so wonderfully demonic in Panel 2…reminds me of my psychotic cat.

FOOBlite: “someday I’ll be big an’ more famous than my dumb old sister an’ I’ll be a famous writer an’ I’ll make lots of money an’ it’ll be a miracle that I’m ever potty trained cuz my mommy worships the ground I walk on an’ the butt I poop with an’…”
In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny, “Ahhh, shaddup!”
gkl
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:36 am [Reply]

H&J: Shouldn’t that punchline be, “And that doesn’t mean only on one day of the week”?
Uncle Lumpy
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:42 am [Reply]

“In Pennsylvania, amicum habes!”
Omar's coming
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:52 am [Reply]

Next week on A3G: A wounded Alan escapes his pursuer by jumping out of a 4th story window. He then follows Ray to his home and burns it to the ground, saying, “You come at the King, you best not miss.”
bats :[
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:56 am [Reply]

Just a late-night tete-a-tete between Lenore and Rex:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/2878332632/
Sjofn
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:04 am [Reply]

I love that even Apartment 3G is more action-packed than Spiderman.
Bunnë, Official Comics Execrator
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:19 am [Reply]

Muffaroo, 186
The idea of shouting out one’s home state during the act of assassination motto amuses me, because I picture a fellow Rhode Islander shooting the president and shouting, “HOPE!”

Longest state name, shortest motto.
Frank Parsnip
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:22 am [Reply]

A3G: I find it a bit odd that Eric gets to run across friendly Tibetan monks running that temple/prison-hospital in Llhasa, while poor Alan runs across one of the gun-bearing monks right in America. My guess is that living in America hardens those guys up mighty fast.

MW: Oh, for God’s sake, that one question alone is going to give rise to enough guilt to cause Toby to cry for hours. Have you no humanity?!?

Sex Organ, M.D.: To Rex, there’s “fire in the boiler” in any situation involving human beings who are still capable of feeling anything. Also, thanks to today’s explanatory note that Lenore had splashed Cap’n Tweaks with a glass of “wine”, we can quietly rejoice that it was at least white wine and note the staining sort. If you’re going to be drunk, at least be nattily drunk.

MT: Pop Johnson had a great career as “The White Mr. T” up until the day when Mark Trail punched that beard right off. With his bizarre blond mohawk, he’s been content to sit out his days in forest plotting revenge … never finding a foolproof plan until the day his daughter started watching parched animals drop like flies. And so with one phone call about water, he’s lured Mark Trail back within his clutches.

DtM: OK, given that the DtM world doesn’t normally get minority guest characters, I have to assume that Joey or Margaret are taking a drive up to the Catskills this week. Messy? Yes. Menacing? Not yet. And yet I am strangely relieved that Ketchum didn’t have Dennis or any members of the Mitchell household make any references to “Little Shawn” “tagging” the Mitchell house.

Beatle Bailey: Use of the word “wuss” gets extra points, even though the basic joke doesn’t get me laughing.
Mibbitmaker
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:22 am [Reply]

A3G is making us wait longer to find out what the hell happened to Alan! WE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL (at least) TOMORROW??? A3G? SHE’S A LIAR ‘N’ I HATE HER!!

Please tell us, strip… I hurt so bad!!
Mibbitmaker
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:44 am [Reply]

Oh, I’m so sure that, as soon as I post my mammoth Monday comics comment, Josh’ll start the next post on me yet again. Like yesterthread. As a precaution, I’ll try shorter bursts. Josh’s overdue for weekend strips, after all. Here’s 9/22:

Curtis: What, no “War” strip? Is it waiting for tomorrow, just like that furshlugginer A3G??

DT: Lemme guess: the text-message-speaking massive Tracy robot has a huge magnet that’ll draw in the villian’s braces? Um… the robot’s also metalic, Diet! Didn’t think this through, huh?

9CL: So he finally stood up to pretentious-worded, self-centered jerk of a girlfriend — AND turned her on? Win-win! (And, with Thorax not involved in any way I can see, it’s a Michael Scott-esque win-win-win!)

Back to the toppermost theme of this comment:
No other comments since my last one? Not a good sign…
dale
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:12 am [Reply]

Poteet – 199
If one were seeking a pleasant peninsula, a first and inexpensive step would be to look around oneself. After that, look for a travel agent.

Bunne – 213
Rhode Island is not the longest state name.

I have a desk reference which includes a table of the 50 states. It lists only 48. The missing two are West Virginia and Wyoming, numbers 48 and 50 by the alphabet.
Mr. O'Malley
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:31 am [Reply]

FW: Funky’s worried about people seeing him at his high school reunion? Everyone who ever graduated from that high school still lives in town! But it will be interesting if we get to know exactly WHICH reunion it is.

MW: I wonder if Toby’s encounter with security expert Terry is going to resemble the woman who wrote to Dear Abby because she asked her interior designer sister-in-law to help her pick out some drapes and later received a bill for $20,000.

RMMD: A fire in the boiler? Is this a race for steam yachts? Don’t tie down the safety valve, Rex!

Today’s Pluggers pales before yesterday’s Meyer’s Take.
ChattyGenes
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:34 am [Reply]

#159 Poteet says:

“…but then I’m a Foobloatharian and am always annoyed with Elly, except that I’m trying to disengage from Foob now.”

You can’t. Even I can’t. It’s still the FIRST STUPID STRIP I READ in my comics line-up. Why? WHY? I don’t even like it well enough to hate anymore. And yet I CAN’T QUIT!

Is there anyone here who has managed to quit? If so, what is your secret? Tell me; I’m DESPERATE!

*pathetic cries of despair as I shuffle off to read the day’s comics*
Bobdog
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:36 am [Reply]

I think Ziggy’s look of ennui actually derives from the fact that all his savings was invested in Lehman brothers and the actual source of schadenfreude for this installment of the eponymously named strip is that these mice will have to fend for themselves once our little protagonist performs hari kari upon finishing the financial section of his periódico.
Burton Radons
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:55 am [Reply]

The painting’s a blank with a bag of “dope” set in front of it, reflecting what it’s done to Alan’s life. Now he’s dead and Luann never even knew. Devastated, Luann will leave Apartment 3G and go on a journey, searching for guidance but not knowing where to find it. After weeks of descent she’ll find herself in a starkly-lit room sitting on a bare mattress. She sees beside her the bag of “dope” she’d been carrying ever since she discovered it, opens it up… and in the next Sunday title panel there are only two.

That or Alan’s grazed on the arm, gives up “dope” forever without consequence when Luann comes to him in the hospital, and everybody’s happy. It could go either way.
Bobdog
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:58 am [Reply]

A3G – In which Margo ignores the phone and this does not receive the news that Alan has been shot. The strip then spends the rest week focusing on Margo and Tommie drinking coffee. At some point in the distant future, after LuAnn has become involved with another indistinguishable male, we will learn in passing that Alan bled to death when LuAnn, having forgotten the number to 911, called Margo for help and couldn’t get through for some reason.
Jana C.H.
September 22nd, 2008 at 3:06 am [Reply]

State mottoes as battle cries? We Washingtonians have a good one:

ALKI!

It means “Bye and bye” or “someday” or “eventually.”

It’s not “Live Free or Die”, but it’ll do.

Jana C.H.
Seattle
Saith Floss Forbes: If you don’t know the tune, sing tenor.
Mibbitmaker
September 22nd, 2008 at 3:32 am [Reply]

9/22:

Re-FOOB: Mikeyboy’s positioning makes that even ruder.

FW: “Boy, when I sit around the house, I sit AROUND the HOUSE! Am I right, people?”
Mibbitmaker
September 22nd, 2008 at 3:37 am [Reply]

9/22:

GA: Howie Mandel’s stupid show uses pretty women to do that! Whadda gyp, GA!

GF: “Go nuts”… like Kucinich himself does.

HotC: This is how Jerry Ford became a Republican.

GT: DOGPILE ON THE FOOTBALL PLAYERS!
Mibbitmaker
September 22nd, 2008 at 3:42 am [Reply]

9/22:

JP: “But first, we play Twister sideways!”

MT: Last panel! Trail is really Ted Forth in disguise!

Big Furshlugginer Dog: [place dated Imelda Marcos joke here]

MW: “Whar’re you, a freakin’ moron??” “Yes, Yes I am.”
Mibbitmaker
September 22nd, 2008 at 3:44 am [Reply]

9/22 (a correction):

MW: “What’re you, a freakin’ moron??” “Yes, Yes I am.”
True Fable
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:46 am [Reply]

#167 FOOBed again – Goat! Quotable goats!! Thanks, those are great!
True Fable
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:16 am [Reply]

RMMW Yeah but nobody asked you, Rex!
JP That’s either the most boring game of Twister ever on the wall in panel two, OR the Twister game with the most endless of possibilities!
MW You did WHAT?!? Oh, you little fool; do you Realize what you’ve DONE?!?! That slipup could mean the difference between solvency and insanity!! Oh, emote, emote, emote! Pose! Gnash, sigh, piss and moan! Worthiness! WORTHINESS!!!
Canadian Zombie It isn’t noteworthy to comment on Michael’s brattiness or anyone’s insensitivity toward anyone else in this strip, I suppose. Wow gee, another red letter day in Milborough.
FC Billy looks suspiciously healthy and able, doesn’t he? Yeah, before you go wrapping Jeffy in unbreathable plastic, Thel, you’d better check around a little more.
Curtis Maybe the annual back-to-school strips will start tomorrow?!?
Scenes from Suburban Hell I kind of like panel three. Let’s face it, ANY panel showing any of the Flagstons with a real and unironic smile on his face, is better than the usual kick in the teeth of the spirit.
MT Mark, as you know, I’m going to stand here and watch you unpack as I exposition you within an inch of your manly, khaki’d life. In addition, it will be stuff that you as a nature writer should already know, thus setting the stage for a truly snore-rific time. Nice make-up bag in panel three, by the way. I suppose it takes a lot of work to look that wooden.
Anonymous
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:41 am [Reply]

Fatti Maschi, Parole Femine! (Women need not apply when killing in Maryland).

Pigborn: Now I never have to say to myself, “I need to see Gregor Samsa face-raping a man made of crude oil.”

Dick: I think Diet’s just glad to see the back of the rbt.

‘bean: Funky, everyone you went to school with is either dead, or lives in town (and thus eats at Montoni’s every day). They all know what a fat-ass you are.

Dixie Julep, Ecdysiast: What’s makes you think she doesn’t have her ID on her? I mean, something’s irritating the dog.

Slylock: Because Max is about to toss that pipe-bomb in M le Comte’s face.

Zippy: I had hoped “Zippy talking to roadside crap” would be better than Dingburg. I was wrong.
gleeb
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:46 am [Reply]

219, re: quitting FOOB: Cold turkey. Just stop. If you read online, flush the bookmarks. If you read in the paper, it may be harder. I suggest a sharpie, until you can skip it yourself.
Little Guy
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:13 am [Reply]

Luann: And, for the next two weeks, Brad will be insanely jealous at his new rival, the self-timer on Toni’s camera.

yesterSFx: Objection! As they say, “Even a broken clock is right twice a day.” Unless Slylock feels the inner mechanics to see if the motor is still warm, it could be that the clock just stop there.
One-eyed Wolfdog
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:22 am [Reply]

Way to go, Fred Basset. Nothing brings the lulz in 2k8 like a droppin’ a sweet Noel Coward reference.
AmazingThor
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:33 am [Reply]

Phantom: Good morning, you’ve just been visited by the Ghost-who-dominates. Time for some jungle bondage!

RMMD: “If you ask me there’s still a fire in the boiler.” Oh Rex, can’t you say anything thats not a twisted double entendre?

WoI: I laughed at it today. The thought of PETA being devoured by dogs was too much for me.

Ziggy: [Insert random catchphrase from ten years ago]

MF: Well, the words in todays cartoon reveal that Mallard believes crazy conspiracy theories and hates Obama, so pretty much par for the course. But the picture has me wondering why he’s pissed at Don King all of a sudden.

Marm: I’m trying to imagine what unspeakable acts Marmaduke has planned that call for a wagon load of shoes…

MW: Man, Terry takes things so personally. She’s even crying in the last panel.

H&J: The boys are watching their favorite team: The copyrights!

JP: Please, please let Dixie remover her top, shake her moneymakers and say, “This is my identification!”

Luann: “Self-timer.” We get it. You’re lonely.

Dtm: Today’s strip strikes me as racist. I think its the domineering tone Dennis has. “Little Shawn.” He might as well just call him “boy”

FC: The finally realize Jeffy must become a bubbleboy to prevent him from harming himself and others. I think a padded room would accomplish the same thing.

FW: Funky forgot that he is only surviving member of the Class of 1901.

A3G: Yes! We get to witness a pissed off Margo deal with this tragedy. “Allan’s been shot? Over drugs? Why couldn’t you have waited til noon to wake me up? He’d still be dead!”
wanders
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:57 am [Reply]

Happy Aldo Kelrast Day.

Today’s the day Aldo drove off the cliff. If Mary Worth’s current story continues much longer, I may do the same.
Patrick, Interlibrary Loan Lending Division
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:32 am [Reply]

#197 Oops! I meant to write canards! Hurling invectives and uttering vile canards was something Gomez Addams used to say now and then.
Tweeks_Coffee
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:36 am [Reply]

H&J: What the hell is with those hats? Considering Jamall’s head, you’d think he could do a little more than perch it at the very peak.
MT: What do you suppose is in Mark’s tiny black bag?
Plugger: So Noah was a plugger? The hell?
SFx: So not having an actual mystery to solve, Slylock has taken to just screwing with Weirdly.
Islamorada Girl
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:37 am [Reply]

Maryland’s state motto ought to be: “We’re slightly less corrupt than Louisiana and Alaska”.
Manly deeds, womanly words, my foot.
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:43 am [Reply]

BB: I fail to see of what military use mountain-humping training is, but then, that’s why I’d make a lousy soldier. So get to it, men! The Hindu Kush hideouts of Al-Qaida aren’t going to fuck themselves!

C’Shaft: How is a tale of discrimination in ye olden days of Base-Balle preparing this ballplayer for a career in the now totally integrated modern MLB? Cranky might as well regale him with a yarn of his time charging San Juan Hill with Teddy Roosevelt, or the occasion of his last high colonic. Either story would be just as relevant, and just as full of shit.

(WT)DT: See, Dick, the robot’s size will be no problem at all, because it can apparently change its size at will. Either that, or Diet has invented a truck with a 22-foot inside clearance.

FC: Thel considers saying “Or maybe we could just bubble-wrap your fists,” but she remembers that she sleeps in a room with no lock on the door, and bites her tongue. She doesn’t know when, or how, but someday, Billy’s reign of terror will end. Telling herself that is all that gets her through most days… well, that, and the gin.

MT: Geez, how long does Mark plan on staying? He brought a duffel, a suitcase, and his play-doctor bag.

SFx: …then Count Weirdly idles his engines, ruining Slylock’s recording.
Skullturf Q. Beavispants
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:01 am [Reply]

Isn’t Rhode Island’s full name something like “Rhode Island and Providence Plantations”?

And my high school’s Latin motto was the same as that of one of the Carolinas, IIRC: “Esse quam videri.”
Hogenmogen
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:09 am [Reply]

A3G: Follows up blatant recapping with a non-sequitur. That takes balls of steel.

The Sunday Wrecks Morgan made me laugh like nothing else in weeks.
Waitress: We’ve got a situation! Lenore just threw her drink on Tweaks!
Lou the Bartender (thinks) Shit! I can’t get out from behind the bar, I’m naked from the waist down!
In his hurry, he catches his wahoo in his zipper.
Lou says: Oh, Geez! I was afraid of this!
Tweaks: I don’t think it has been mentioned enough, but she just threw her drink on me.
Lenore: If I were a man I’d…
Rex (thinks): If you were a man, I’d jump on you like a trampoline.
Lou: I think you’d better go.
Tweaks: Hey! She threw her drink on me!
Ritzilla: She should have aimed for the waiter.
Today:
Lenore: There was a time that I was wildly in love with that man.
Rex: Sigh. Me too. Uh – I mean – Sounds like there’s still a fire in the boiler.

A Blandie story arc? What’s the world coming to? They haven’t had a story arc since the Great Depression. Is that an economic harbinger of things to come?

Cathy: These “old buzzwords” were never used and conspicuous consumption hasn’t been fashionable since prior to the Second World War. Cathy must die, pure and simple.

Marmaduke: People say things to Marmaduke as if he understands – and he’s a BIG DOG! Ha ha ha ha – stop it, you’re killing me!

No, really, stop it.

Mike Patterson puts his head next to his mother’s ass and makes a farting sound so everyone within earshot will think that Elle just ate a double order of baked beans and washed it down with a 6 pack of Molson. This is funny because flatulence that you don’t have to smell is automatically, de facto funny by statute.

Sunday Spidey promises “MADNESS IN HIS MOTIF”. I’m not quite certain if that refers to the 80s band that sang “One Step Beyond” and “Our House”, but I’m pretty certain that unless MJ switches channels to VH1, it’s not likely to happen.

H&J: “Too rich for my blood?” If something is “too rich for your blood”, it means you didn’t buy it. Are those supposed to be tickets to some non-descript sporting event? Printed on legal paper? Or have H&J somehow shrunk to the size of coffee mugs. You know, on Saturday, judging by the size of the doctor’s table, both Herb and the doc are standing 3′ 6″ on their tippy toes. So if you continue that trend, Herb could easily take up a new career as the Keebler Elve’s rarely seen Soul Brother.
Calico
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:16 am [Reply]

#235 – 2 years?
Aldo….Aldoooooo!!!!

I found this blog due to a CNN.com report on the Aldo story. Really.
Hogenmogen
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:21 am [Reply]

A3G: I think Ray needs his very own meth lab.
Calico
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:22 am [Reply]

Mike P. is really a certifiable dickhead. Then again, we all knew that already.
This reconning just makes me want to puke.
I Saki
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:23 am [Reply]

Heh, I think Dinette Set got one by the censors. Or maybe it’s a political statement. Check out the license plate.

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2008/9/22&name=Dinette_Set
Muffaroo-who-walks
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:23 am [Reply]

A3G – How retro! Margo’s phone says, “Ring Ring Ring.” I wonder what sort of voice it says it in. Frank Sinatra? No, that’s “Ring-a Ding Ding.”

Bizarro – I’m trying to restrain myself from merely pointing out the funny ones today, so no comment.

Blondie – Ceiling Cat squealed on Dagwood.

DtMenace – “Meet my new scapegoat! He did it. Even wrote my name on the wall, he did.”

DTracy – I think when they go places, the robot should cradle Tracy in his freakish arms. It’d be sweet.

FCircus – With the bandage for a smile, the smudge for an eye, and the teardrop for a nose, Jeffy has a new face. Me likee!
Muffaroo-who-walks
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:23 am [Reply]

Skullturf Q. Beavispants @240 – Yes, the full name is “Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” (or perhaps “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” — there seems to be some disagreement).
John C Fremont
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:27 am [Reply]

Speaking of state mottos (I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before) according to Conan O’Brien, Nebraska’s motto is “Iowa style at Kansas prices.”

A3G – Just last night, my brother (the infamous Pinback65) predicted that the Alan/Ray story would be dropped today and we’d cut to something “featuring Margo or, even worse, Tommie.” I hate it when he’s right.

DT – I thought size didn’t matter.

JP – A Twister game? I thought it was a really, really big Shell No-Pest Strip.
Hogenmogen
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:32 am [Reply]

Archie is disgusting on so many levels. Panel 1 we see Archie’s shaven winky right out in public, and Betty has four breats. Panel 2 reveals that Jughead keeps his cell phone in his ass and pays people to call sporatically throughout the day. Panel 3 is relatively sedate in that Archie is only playing pocket pool with no overtly gross or rude bodily parts being flaunted.
CanuckDownSouth
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:39 am [Reply]

MT Awww …. isn’t it cute when the strip tries to acknowledge real-life complexities. Don’t worry, we’ll get back to re-diverting the water by applying a massive uppercut to somebody by the end of the week.

retroFOOB OK, this is a new-take, on a strip LJ did before. The previous one was better – it was 2 or 3 panels, with only one of the old lady absorbed with baby Lizzie (and saying a bunch of stuff – essentially the same territory as this one). Then she had clearly left, with Mike saying how, if she’d asked, he could have said his name, and he’s X years old and can ride a bike and count to Y “… but she didn’t ask me”. Must’ve been a 3rd panel, because Mike’s speech ending had Elly gently half-hugging him, holding him at the shoulder.

LJ clearly has old-lady behaviour down. They love little kids – I’ve seen this. The new strip suffers by comparison with the old one for a couple of reasons:

It doesn’t seem as true about how the kids might act. I don’t know if most older kids would care about being ignored, but with all the advice about not ignoring older siblings, it’s reasonable to expect Mike would be upset. However, would he blow a raspberry? Does he do that kind of thing regularly when he’s upset? Why doesn’t he yell or cry, or whine about how life is so unfaaaiiir? I’ve seen a lot of kids do that.

It’s also lacking context for Mike’s actions. After he blows a raspberry, what does Elly do? Is Mike punished? In what way? The old strips used to show stuff like that, and even some ambivalence about whether the Patterson parents were fair and just in their discipline. I’m left thinking that Elly finds this to be fine behaviour. And that she didn’t care that Mike was ignored.

It’s just not as good as how she did it before.
Hogenmogen
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:42 am [Reply]

That is really quite a bizarre angle to be shooting a gun, Ray. It’s like he’s ducking for cover from Alan’s infectious milquetoast demeanor and piss-poor work ethic.
Dik-Dik Vendetta
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:43 am [Reply]

Wow, that must be one of those new super-safe handguns that I’ve been hearing about. It comes with an airbag to protect you from the kick!
Hogenmogen
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:47 am [Reply]

I don’t know about Foob. If some creepy old lady that smelled like mothballs came up and started poking at me like we were related, I’d be a little weirded out. If she only cooed at my younger sibling, I’d probably breathe a sigh of relief when she left.
True Fable
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:49 am [Reply]

#250 Canuck Down South -

It’s just not as good as how she did it before.

There, you have neatly expressed a whole weekend’s worth of my froth and gnash and rant, in that one sentence!
Tweeks_Coffee
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:52 am [Reply]

So I just realized that I mysteriously gained access to MySpace at work. It happened when I visited My Cage’s page and I stumbles across this pic of Maureen

Holy hell, Ed and Melissa, you guys are going to get me into trouble with stuff like that.
Muffaroo-who-walks
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:55 am [Reply]

JParker – Yeah, Julep, pull out your wallet! I want to see this.

MTrail – Cut to Rex on the boat. “Is it my imagination, or is the water deeper this year?”

Mduke – Tomorrow’s wacky strip has Marmaduke playing a flaming harp strung with barbed wire for a glass statue that’s full of ants.

MWorth – On the wall by Terry’s head you can see a photo of the bridge Toby bought from a street vendor.
Idols of Mud
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:57 am [Reply]

Um, didn’t this A3G storyline start in the lobby of their building? Now they appear to be in someone’s apartment. I assume the editors cut the panels in which Alan made a successful pass at Ray and got him to come to his place.
Calico
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:18 am [Reply]

#253 – I’d love to see Mike The Great blow a raspberry at Mary Worth. Or Margo. The former would give Mike his Platitude-of-the-day about respect for elders blah blah blah, and Margo would simply immolate the kid with her stare.
northwest transplant
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:18 am [Reply]

#223–I had always believed that Seattle coffeehouses were invented to sober up Washingtonians so that they did not all become” ALKI BY AND BY” (Go Ducks! Boo Huskies!). Oregonians used to express which side they would take in the Civil War by proclaiming “THE UNION “(adopted in 1857 upon admission as the 33rd State) ,but this motto seemed a little dusty by the time the state’s largest morning newspaper took over and killed its afternoon rival,The Oregon Journal,in 1981. So The Big O persuaded the Oregon Legislature to adopt the Journal’s old masthead motto as sort of an epitaph for their late lamented rival, and today Oregonians with kites at Cannon Beach or flying around on lawn chairs they suspend from giant bunches of helium balloons may proclaim “SHE FLIES WITH HER OWN WINGS!”
Artist formerly known as Ben
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:21 am [Reply]

9/22

A3G: The homicide unit best not be bothering Miss Margo before Miss Margo has had her morning cup of java.

DtM: Dennis’ circle of friends has expanded. It now includes kids with actual eyes instead of tiny lumps of coal.

FC: Jeffy has been doing something brilliant like trying to swing the cat? I like the way Billy mocks his disaster-prone ways. It’s a clinic in adding insult to injury.

BSt: Nab Senator in weirdo tryst with bondage freak dog!

JP: Detective Roberts will be saddened when she checks Mint Julep’s license and learns that that’s actually her real name.

GT: Bloom scored by farting? That’s a novel offense/defense tactic.

9CL: Hold up. I still can’t get past a nun being named “Sister Caligula.” Did someone at the diocese really appreciate the porn-flavored Malcolm McDowell movie?

Ziggy: After years of effort, Tom Wilson still can’t pull off a decent Seinfeld reference.

SFx: Count Weirdly has been downgraded from “mad scientist” to “mediocre scientist.”

S4th: Maybe if you keep staring at her rack you’ll think of something to say.

Archie: “Hey, can I call you bacck? I just ejacuilated and need to find a restroom.”

Big Dog: I’m guessing that the shoes are bait for his hobo trap.
Calico
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:26 am [Reply]

#256 – Is that a blueprint of the Bridge To Nowhere up Northaways?

(Please,not the cockpit-noooooooooooo CRASH!)
Calico
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:29 am [Reply]

#260 – I think the cat swung Jeffy, if you know what I mean.

Score 1 for Billy and his booby-traps. That kid is positively evil.
Artist formerly known as Ben
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 am [Reply]

#234 AmazingThor,
I thought Mallard was railing at a troll doll, myself.
Angry Kem
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:54 am [Reply]

Marvin, your attitude towards women is positively medieval.

9CL: I haven’t been following this comic all that long, but…what is the deal with Seth? Does he often pop up unexpectedly out of a featureless white void like that? Does he sort of follow the other two around so that he can make pithy comments at appropriate moments? What’s with that featureless white void, anyway?

reFoob: Yes…the original version of this strip was much less stupid. I doubt anyone is particularly surprised.

S4th: At the rate this is going, Aria is going to become so annoyed with Ted by the end of the week that she’ll haul off and smack him one. For crying out loud, Ted: say something geeky. We know you can.
Down with OPP!
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:14 am [Reply]

Sorry, but I don’t get it. Do we know what this “dope” is? It can’t be weed or hash because those aren’t super-addictive and, ergo, don’t make you all coo-coo-for-cocao-puffs when you run out. Is it crack?

As an aside, when I was 15, my mother, in a tragi-comic attempt at hipness, sat me down and said: “Son, have you ever tried the pot?”.
Muffaroo-who-walks
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:44 pm [Reply]

formerly Ben @260 – Mint Julep is her real name? Wait… UNLESS her wallet reveals that she is actually Dewey Cheatham! Yes, it was an imposter who was shot on the links, and sweaty, middle-aged Dewey disguised himself as a hot chick with a killer bod by simply donning a rubber mask, as is available at any comic strip novelty shop! And he would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for Sam, just sitting there… sitting there…

[Hobo trap! I laugh with amusement!]

Angry Kem – Your web site should be getting more traffic now. I plugged it over at “Making Light” back on the 11th. They ignored it, however, until ten days later when somebody else mentioned it, and now they’re all over it. Don’t thank me.
Doctor Brownwink
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:51 pm [Reply]

Like all good doctors, Herb’s needs to really understand the full cycle of his patient’s digestion before prescribing a diet. That’s why his examination table is 5 feet off the ground — all the better to inspect Herb’s keister without bending over himself.
Crankenstank
September 23rd, 2008 at 12:13 am [Reply]

Wooohoo! Way to solve the Alan problem FAST in A3G!
alan
September 29th, 2008 at 3:09 am [Reply]

Ray looks an awful lot like Eisenhower in that first panel. He must have woken up next to Mamie one too many times for his psyche to handle, hence the “dope” addiction. Ray probably formed his all liars world view by reading one of the existential tomes behind him on the shelves.

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