The Comics Curmudgeon

48 responses to “Saturday soap quickies”

1. Ptycho
   October 26th, 2008 at 10:08 pm [Reply]

   What I want to know about Mark Trail is since when do seagulls talk? And if they could talk, wouldn’t it be more along the lines of, “Hey there buddy! Just gonna take your sandwich– theeere we go. Oh, gonna crap on your arm too, buddy. Well, gotta go torment some toddlers, byyyeee!”

2. Angry Kem
   October 26th, 2008 at 10:09 pm [Reply]

   What bothers me about that Gil Thorp is that I can’t for the life of me figure out how that little man’s anatomy works in panel 2. He looks like one of Terry Pratchett’s Igors, and he seems to be standing at about a 45-degree angle to the ground.

3. Chance
   October 26th, 2008 at 10:14 pm [Reply]

   Is Mary wearing a Mood Shirt? Does the change in color mean that she’s more relaxed? Less relaxed? Or ready to kill all who stand in her way?

4. zenvelo
   October 26th, 2008 at 10:14 pm [Reply]

   So now we know Dr Jeff’s tool is called “capistrano’?

5. Uncle Lumpy
   October 26th, 2008 at 10:15 pm [Reply]

   #4 zenvelo –

   No, no — it’s castrato.

6. fnord3125
   October 26th, 2008 at 10:17 pm [Reply]

   #3, Chance – Isn’t Mary Worth ALWAYS ready to destroy anyone standing in her way?

7. Muffaroo
   October 26th, 2008 at 10:17 pm [Reply]

   Mary’s dialog in panel 2 works best if you read it out loud as Arnold Schwarzenegger. Perhaps all her dialog does. I haven’t tested the theory yet.

8. lorne
   October 26th, 2008 at 10:21 pm [Reply]

   HOLY SHIT IT’S BITSY TWILL!!!!

   Sorry for the all-caps, but THAT’S BITSY FUCKING TWILL!!!!

   20 years ago when I was sharing a house with a stoner punk rocker girlfriend, we actually followed a Gil Thorp storyline that centred on the cautionary druggy misadventures of one Bitsy Twill. It’s a shock to see her all grown up and married to Wally Lamb (sorry, thats Dr. Wally Lamb).
   I don’t know whatever happened to my stoner girlfriend, so I guess it’s comforting to know Bitsy remains ins some sort of undead half-life.
   Did I say comforting? I meant horrifying.

9. zenvelo
   October 26th, 2008 at 10:22 pm [Reply]

   The way Mark Trail is playing pocket pool, that’s not seagull poop on his pants. either that or he’s trying to hide his boner…

10. Triskele
    October 26th, 2008 at 10:28 pm [Reply]

    Has anyone else noticed that the characters of the current Mark Trail storyline exist in a completely different world than which they apparently interact? More than once has a character bemoaned the disappearance of the wetlands and the death of flora and fauna while they walk through very green, very healthy wetlands surrounded by all sorts of very healthy, very giant animals. Now Mark and Miss Not-Going-To-Get-Any seem to be lounging on the beach of some Micronesian island, again worry about wetlands. Next I’m sure we’ll find Sneaky in a fight to the death with some dog on the surface of the moon while someone talks offhandedly about reduction of moss growth in the wetlands.

11. Rachel K
    October 26th, 2008 at 10:29 pm [Reply]

    I’m not an avid enough reader of Gil Thorp to know who Dr. Wally Lamb is but I assume he’s the strip’s resident mad scientist based on:

    A) The fact that he’s wearing a lab coat and glasses, and
    B) In panel 2 he appears to have shrunk himself to about 6 inches tall. Judging by the total lack of surprise on his wife’s face, this happens all the time.

    (Although I assume “Bitsy” is just something he cobbled together out of old radios in his laboratory anyway, so perhaps human emotions aren’t something she’s programmed for. In this strip, who could tell the difference?)

12. Harold
    October 26th, 2008 at 10:33 pm [Reply]

    That gull is just talking out its ass. I do like the secondary “speaker arrow” (or whatever it’s called) tucked behind Gull #2’s wing. And the jackelrod ball bobbing in the surf.

    lorne @#8, I highly recommend that you do not read “All the Birds Come Home to Roost” by Harlan Ellison.

    “Wally Lamb” is ringing all sorts of bells, though the only one I can find online is the author of She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wally_Lamb

13. He Brought Queenie Baby Jesus
    October 26th, 2008 at 10:36 pm [Reply]

    1 Ptycho: Welcome to Mark Trail. At least the giant talking seagulls aren’t frenching some guy.

14. Stroker Ace
    October 26th, 2008 at 10:37 pm [Reply]

    MW ~ Dr. Jeff merely needs will, a hatchet, a moonless night, a backhoe, a bag of lime & a clear conscience & he is free. Forever.

15. paul of the clue-by-four
    October 26th, 2008 at 10:39 pm [Reply]

    once the savage mutant seagulls attack

    I for one welcome our savage mutant seagull overlords… and the discourses on biodiversity that helpfully (and inexplicably) issue from their cloacas.

16. Erik
    October 26th, 2008 at 10:41 pm [Reply]

    What Jeff doesn’t know is that in the last couple years, the amount of swallows returning to Capistrano has drastically decreased, due to climate change and the subsequent migration difficulties. Mary is setting up false hope, and abusing Jeff’s lack of knowledge about global warming. He believes it’s just God hugging us all a little closer.

17. Naked Bunny with a Whip
    October 26th, 2008 at 10:42 pm [Reply]

    It figures that Mark Trail would have the giant mutant seagulls. Meanwhile, Spider-Man is barely holding his own against Molly the Bear.

18. daveh
    October 26th, 2008 at 10:42 pm [Reply]

    Jeez, how long does it take to clear a table? Mary better get going- she’s not getting any younger (or older unfortunately0

19. Eldaglass
    October 26th, 2008 at 10:48 pm [Reply]

    MT: I think it’s only appropriate that Mark gives the seagulls a say in this conversation, though they seem strangely detatched from what I assume must be a very personal issue. I expected something more like: “Leave our *#@%ing planet alone already, or we’ll make The Birds look like a nursery rhyme!”

20. Beatrice
    October 26th, 2008 at 10:48 pm [Reply]

    ‘Twas nice of Ian Cameron to lend Dr. Jeff his electric blue slacks, but no one can work them like the Ian. You got to belt them up higher, Doc!

    And I’m sure someone on the last thread noted the chicken lady from Pluggers showing up on Herb and Jamaal, and in need of a shave. The horror, the horror…

21. Digger
    October 26th, 2008 at 10:55 pm [Reply]

    How long will it be until Sue discovers that Mark is trapped in a bland, sexless marriage, and that’s just the way he likes it?

22. Lithros
    October 26th, 2008 at 10:56 pm [Reply]

    Having abandoned the laws of nature, common sense, and 37 states, Mark Trail sets its sights on a new target: Euclidean geometry. Escher would be proud.

23. Red Greenback
    October 26th, 2008 at 11:09 pm [Reply]

    I’m sorry Josh, but I just gotta break ranks and say something about Nick Zollar’s knuckles. I find them strangely mesmerizing in an Easter Island Aku Aku head sort of way. And Nick Zollar’s Knuckles is a GREAT name for a band!

24. caroline
    October 26th, 2008 at 11:10 pm [Reply]

    I’m not witty enough to snark. :) However, can someone point me in the direction of a place online that I can get the Sunday strips for A3G, Spider-man, Judge Parker, Luann and Mark Trail? Chron.com doesn’t do the Sundays and none of the above are on comics.com.

    Thanks much!

25. Muffaroo
    October 26th, 2008 at 11:11 pm [Reply]

    Rather than catch up on all of last week, I have just read all the comments in the previous thread and all my marked comics for Wednesday through Friday. Having said that, I have a present for everybody who had something to say about Bobby Goldsboro’s “Honey,” and especially those who are interested in the immortal “Honey House” sketch from the Smothers Comedy Brothers Hour.

    This link will take you to YouSendIt, where a 35MB MP4 file (iPod format, because otherwise the MPG is over 500MB) has the whole sketch, plus maybe a few seconds of a cigarette ad with the future BJ Hunnicutt puffing contentedly away.

    SEE the Actual Honey Husband!
    HEAR Dick Smothers sing the song better than Goldsboro!
    GASP in amazement at the intricately plotted mechanics of the sketch.
    SNIFF in sympathy, but don’t touch the exhibits.

    And remember: “I’m Being Good.”

    Note: download file goes away after 7 days or 100 downloads. And someday, I’ll get this thing up on YouTube where everybody can see it.

26. TB Tabby
    October 26th, 2008 at 11:50 pm [Reply]

    I hope Blondie isn’t the only comic strip hottie who wears a sexy costume this year. For that matter, I hope she’s not the only character who wears a costume. Between the encroaching Christmas marketing juggernaut and the religious right’s yearly crusade against “The Devil’s Holiday,” Halloween’s time in the spotlight seems to get smaller every year. So I’m keeping watch for any and all characters who do it good by dressing up. So far, I’ve seen:

    -Blondie as Little Bo Peep, Dagwood and everyone else in Groucho glasses
    -
    -Baby Blues’ Darryl as a pumpkin-headed scarecrow, boy as barbarian
    -Baldo as a suburban middle-class poser (I’m counting it, I don’t care what anybody says)
    -Brewster Rockit: Human as alien, alien as human, two othr kids in ghost and witch costumes
    Cathy: The dogs in witch hats and in “dog costumes”
    -Ditto as a zombie, Dot imigining herself in several costumes
    -Marvin as Batman
    -Mooch as a wizard
    -Red and Rover: Red as Superman, Batman, the Frankenstein monster, and a bad habit
    Single and Looking: Two characters I don’t know as Spider-Man and “Super Evil Fuzzy-Wuzzy Bunny Man”

    And promises of costumes in Dennis the Menace, Heart of the City, and Retail. Feel free to list any I missed.

27. Z
    October 27th, 2008 at 12:38 am [Reply]

    heh- Gil Thorp is pretty on top of things, I’m at Penn right now and we just kicked Yale’s ass on Saturday.

28. Lisa
    October 27th, 2008 at 1:52 am [Reply]

    Caroline, you used to be able to get most of those on washingtonpost.com, but today when I tried to access it it asked for a username and password… wtf??

29. bitter law student
    October 27th, 2008 at 2:41 am [Reply]

    The sudden transition of Mary’s blouse from dark mauve to white really accentuates her chin fat. Either looks great with her burnt peach cabinets and diner-style Bun coffee maker though. You just can’t meddle and plot properly if you’re not sufficiently under-stimulated and over-caffeinated.

30. Sue D. Nymme
    October 27th, 2008 at 5:05 am [Reply]

    Holy Escher, Batman — panel 2 of Gil Thorp totally bends my brain.

    1. Near-vertical floor.
    2. Dr. Lamb apparently just walked through the closed door, not the open doorway.
    3. Fourteen-foot tall wife is apparently busy reattaching her missing left shoulder.

    Panel 3 bonus: “Sniff my fingers, Wally!”

31. Amateur
    October 27th, 2008 at 7:28 am [Reply]

    #28 Lisa — the “Post” site can be weird that way. Sometimes it’ll want you to log in and sometimes it won’t. Try again a little later and you may be able to get through.

32. Bribaby
    October 27th, 2008 at 7:33 am [Reply]

    Poor Jeff, he’s deep, deep in the clutches of Stockholm Syndrome; first he’s afraid Mary won’t return, and then when she threatens to never let him go he whips his head around in absolute terror.

    After many transformations and disguises, Jimmy Olsen finally settles on his new identity: Mrs. Bitsy Lamb.

    Mark Trail should be retitled “Mark Trail, Ventriloquist Extraordinaire.”

33. skeltometer
    October 27th, 2008 at 7:45 am [Reply]

    Gotta love the unearthing of ancient characters. Might Gil Thorp take an interesting turn? Love the Apple Logo that has the misplaced bite out of the apple. Wonder where he got that laptop? Perhaps acquired from Toby Cameron’s favorite e-tailer? Thanks Lorne (#8) for the literal shout out on the Gil Thorp characters. I would have been lost for sure.

34. gnemec
    October 27th, 2008 at 8:15 am [Reply]

    Reeky regularly watches COPS; it’s like Facebook for his kind.

35. Hogenmogen
    October 27th, 2008 at 8:28 am [Reply]

    Mark Trail: That’s mutant TALKING seagulls, who apparently represent the millions of creatures that depend on wetlands for their survival. The unspoken truth is that the vast majority of the millions of creatures are mosquitoes and other insects is of no concern to Mark Trail, environmentalist, nor to the seagulls who usually use those same insects as a food source.

36. Peter
    October 27th, 2008 at 8:57 am [Reply]

    On this Gil Thorp – even though Gil Thorp is/was based out of Chicago, most of the place names are derived from towns and schools in Connecticut – Milford in particular. What else is in Connecticut? Yale University (in New Haven)! In fact, along the Connecticut shoreline, Milford is separated from New Haven only by the towns of Orange and West Haven, and is about a ten minute drive along Interstate 95 or the Merritt Parkway away. So lets just say that this decision to NOT go visit was due to an unavoidable scheduling conflict, not because they were too lazy.

37. Jumper
    October 27th, 2008 at 9:08 am [Reply]

    Saturday strip = beer day. Joe Giella has motivated enough to even draw the reflection of Mary’s squarish coffeemaker in her shiny, shiny countertop. But in turning to the fruitbowl, one can almost hear him mumble “to hell with THIS” and draws its reflection as a — squarish coffeemaker.

    Bitsy’s face in panel three is giving me bad vibes about spooky ventriloquist’s dummies and evil clowns.

38. bobo d. clown
    October 27th, 2008 at 10:16 am [Reply]

    What exactly is “eminent” danger? Is it danger so exalted and noteworthy that . . . no, this whole line of thought is even more boring than Shoe.

39. KA
    October 27th, 2008 at 11:29 am [Reply]

    Shoe: The prof doesn’t even know that one’s life (or someone else’s) flashes before his eyes when death is *imminent*. Damn homophones.

40. Sister Sestina
    October 27th, 2008 at 1:04 pm [Reply]

    Actually, the decrease of swallows returning to Capistrano had to do with the recent preservation efforts on the old church, the one that had been destroyed by earthquake waaaaay back in the mission’s history. Seems like the birds didn’t care for so much disturbance on their old nesting site and found other places to perch…At least that’s how I heard it when I went there, and it’s true that the two events coincide.

41. Mr. Jones
    October 27th, 2008 at 1:43 pm [Reply]

    #40

    Dareth not challenge the Global Warming (or cooling, or whatever).

    Just nod and say Mmmmmhmmmm.

42. doug
    October 27th, 2008 at 3:19 pm [Reply]

    I heard that fewer swallows were returning to capistrano because there are new developments which offer better nesting sites.
    I think I found the model for the saturday Gil Thorp http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/gauguin/sermon/gauguin.sermon.jpg

43. Sirkus Peanuts
    October 27th, 2008 at 4:57 pm [Reply]

    I’m still having a hard time figuring out who’s hand that is in panel three of Gil Thorp. Is Wally tittering like a 1930’s upper crust lady or is his wife reaching to smack him across the jaw?

44. Sid
    October 27th, 2008 at 5:57 pm [Reply]

    I’m pretty sure Yale doesn’t print campuswear featuring the school’s name in front of the Looney Tunes target symbol.

    Maybe the kids got into Ya Le University and are in denial about it.

45. Canuckguy
    October 27th, 2008 at 6:20 pm [Reply]

    AUGH! Damn you, Josh! I did *not* want to see the words “oral sex” and “Mary Worth” together _ever_ in my life. EVER! Now I have to go wash my eyes with some caustic lye! Heaven knows what will get these painful images out of my *head*!

    Thanks a lot!

46. MrP
    October 27th, 2008 at 7:17 pm [Reply]

    Someone seriously needs to make a “Jack Elrod” beach ball. Think of the picture possibilities! Put a bit of Jack Elrod signature in your everyday life.

47. DavidMac
    October 27th, 2008 at 11:06 pm [Reply]

    MARK TRAIL: Gee, I really love it when cartoon characters lecture me, a mere human being, that my survival depends on the continued existence of sea gulls and wet lands, which I, a mere human being (and of little or no importance to the ecology of Panet Earth) am deliberately destroying to further my ultimate goal of covering the globe with shopping centers.

48. King Leopardi
    October 29th, 2008 at 8:21 pm [Reply]

    Canuckguy:

    “You can’t claw out your mind’s eye.”

    – Robert Barone, Everybody Loves Raymond

All the cool kids…

…buy Comics Curmudgeon merchandise!

Randomly Selected Post O’ Mystery

• You can't have it all, girls