Tommie lifts a skinny fist like an antenna to heaven
Apartment 3-G, 11/22/08
Tommie’s long period of non-dating is showing, I’m afraid. I don’t consider Gary’s baffling panic at the prospect of his love for Tommie going public to be typically male or typically anything other than typically baffling. Still, I’m glad Tommie has reached this emotional point, because it means that we get to see her delightful rage in the third panel of today’s strip. Tommie’s fist wobbling menacingly at the end of her skinny forearm must be just one manifestation of the anger radiating out through the neighborhood; her foul mood is also causing the temperature in the air to drop, prompting Margo to clutch her collar closed, lest she catch a chill.
Gil Thorp, 11/22/08
Marty Moon is right! People keep tuning in when I tee off on Gil Thorp, so I don’t see why things should be any different for his crappy basement-studio TV sports show. Just a word of advice, Marty: you probably don’t want to focus on Gil every day, as that territory is already well-covered for the Thorp fanatics by the superb This Week In Milford.
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 11/22/08
“No, really! My new marriage is already a joyless hell! Why … why do you keep laughing? For the love of God, why?”
Aesop
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Even Margo is shocked by the pure hatred coming from Tommie’s mouth.
Rusty
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Since there’s nothing to eat in Hootn Holler except old leather and government issued surplus flour, no one’s cooking is edible. That should be understood.
If Marty Moon gets canned from his cable access talk show, will he be able to support himself (keep himself in vodka) by solely broadcasting Milford games on low wattage am radio? One would think that by having his entire professional life dependent on the success of Gil Thorp, Moon would be more of a sycophant.
Skullturf Q. Beavispants
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:30 pm
There must be some theses waiting to be written about how much hacky humor essentially comes down to “Marriage sure is horrible!”
Lettuce
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Tommie is merely making homage to her namesake — U.S. Sprinter Tommie Smith — who in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics raised a black-gloved fist in the air during his gold medal ceremony to protest the treatment of blacks in America.
Of course, she’s representing an altogether different, but equally discriminated minority… that is, virgins.
Donald The Anarchist
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:35 pm
SS It’s funny because the wife is really feeding him arsenic!
A3G It’s funny because Tommy is boring and Gary is gay! And boring.
GT It’s funny because it’s a comic about sports, one of the most visual activities portrayed in a visual medium, and yet it’s impossible to follow the sports action! Or the plots. Or the dialogue.
Chance
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Winking, grinning neighbors: “How’s the new marriage coming along, Walters?”
Walters: “Great! Obviously, I never would have married a woman I didn’t get along with — that would be absurd. She may have flaws, but doesn’t everyone? We complement each other beautifully. Every day makes more more glad I met her and she agreed to stay with me forever!”
*Neighbors stand around blinking politely*
A New Day
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:38 pm
What is the average age for marriage in Snuffy Smith? From look of Ned, it’s at least 62. Though to be fair, I guess the term newlywed applies to all marriages at all ages and stages of life. I like to think that Ned has married to find a stepmother for his 12 children from his his first wife, who finally left him to pursue a doctorate in sociology in whatever mid-sized city she could reach first. The new wife, likewise, has quickly realized that it would have been better to remain alone, thereby suffering all the stings aimed at unmarried women in this community, than to tie herself to Ned and his demon brood. She has therefore decided to slowly poison him. Good for her.
buckyswife
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:45 pm
#3 Skullturf–I’d go one step further: I think there’s a whole academic field available. Can’t 90% of the comics be reduced to one of the following themes:
-Marriage sucks.
-Kids say the darnedest things.
-Kids get into the darnedest messes.
-Old people say the darnedest things.
-Teenagers don’t communicate with their parents as well as they do with their friends.
-Teens make the darnedest messes.
-Cats suck.
Potential paper topics include the history of these themes and why the hell newspaper comics editors continue to find them funny.
Kutsuwamushi
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Tommie, if you have to ask that question, maybe you’re dipping your toe into the wrong dating pool.
Reactor5
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
The post title… is that a Godspeed! You Black Emperor reference? If it is, you’re my hero, Josh, even more than you were already :P
Poteet
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Monday Spoilers –
Foob: Theme — Children are forgetful and blame their mothers for it. Characters — Elly, Michael, Lawrence. I say — Even in the Seventies, I’d already read at least 1,678 strips with this theme. Ha. Ha.
Luann: Theme — Supermarkets have so many products, it’s hard to decide what to buy. Characters — Luann and her mother. I say — A hoary old “joke,” but at least it has nothing to do with calendars.
commodorejohn
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Repost from the previous thread:
A3G – Usually, Sunday soap-strips are just a recap to keep people up to speed. This one’s like a greatest-hits collection.
BS – Well, after that implied toplessness with Brenda a few weeks ago, it’s only fair that there be a little something for the ladies.
DTM – Turkey The Menace.
DT – For once, I’m downright thankful for Dick Tracy’s abstract approach to coloring. I don’t think I could handle the birth of LTL BUZZ BOMB in anything close to real color.
FC – PJ is thankful for the Bear, who visits when noone else is around. Some day, he will be able to follow its Orders.
FG – If this is the last we see of Sexy Werewolf Chick, I swear I’m going to hunt down Jim Keefe and beat him savagely.
FW – If nothing else, that’s a very nice alligator drawing. But this being Funky, it’ll probably horribly mangle someone’s limb in the next day or two.
GA – Yeah, pat yourselves on the back some more, whydontcha.
JP – Is it wrong that Dixie makes assault with a deadly weapon sound totally hot?
MT – Mark Trail: teaching children about the wonders of Nature…on the dinner table. Remember, kids, there’s no creature so majestic and awe-inspiring that it can’t be killed and eaten!
MW – “No, Mary! Let it go.” Oh, Lynn, you really have no idea who you’re dealing with, do you? Look how imperious Mary is in the penultimate panel. She is not letting it go. Not a chance in Hell.
NAOQV – Do they still do these ads? I think I might be feeling old here.
Pluggers – Pluggers have connections in the police department.
PV – “NEXT: GAWAIN’S EGG?” I have this terrible sinking feeling that we’re about to rehash the last couple months of Popeye.
RMMD – Oh. My. God. Is that Zack’s Alligator she’s reading? Sweet.
SM – It’s a little difficult to read the signature box, but there’s a new artist drawing Spider-Man, apparently. Lots of dramatic shots and strange angles and little details today. Place your bets on how many times Peter will have to plunk down in front of the TV before the poor guy gives in and stops trying to pretend this is interesting.
Edison Lee – Preach it, teacher.
yellojkt
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Tommie: Why can’t a man be more like a woman? That’s it! I’m going to put on an all-womyn production of My Fair Lady to upset the patriarchal paradigm.
Margo: Tommie, you sweet, sweet girl. It’ll close opening night.
Tommie: Shut up, beeyotch!
the crock
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Zits gets cancelled for saying the word “sucks”, but Apartment 3-G can act it out with no punishment?
Erik
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I agree with Tommie, men need to be much more female. That’s why I’ve taken the liberty of chopping off the penis of every man I see. It works wonders for their mind.
Meg
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:59 pm
In Family Circus, Momma Keane is once again, thankful for nothing… absolutely nothing.
almostaghost
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Wait, wait… maybe there’s some conspiratorial connection between Apartment 3G and Godspeed! You Black Emperor? Is that what you’re implying Josh?
Zaq
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Happy Zelda Day, everyone! Today’s the tenth anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time! Woooooooo!
Anyway, some Sunday observations:
A.D.: Could easily fit into Shoe. It’s a two or three panel joke in ten (eight without throwaways) panels? Total Shoe.
DT: God, I love the coloring in Dick Tracy Sundays. The strip itself? Eh, nothing to be said about it that I haven’t been saying all week (though the little mini-bot is still adorable and I still want one), though the Crimestopper Textbook is pretty hilarious, especially since it seems to be more pleading with the reader not to vandalize than the usual “look out for people doing bad things!” message.
NAoQV: Ha, awesome. When I was dressed up as the King Of All Cosmos (Katamari Damacy) for Hallowe’en, I also used the Royal We all night, including while singing. (Never Gonna Give You Up was especially fun. “We… just wanna tell you how we’re feeling…”)
FoxTrot: I miss FoxTrot. The Sunday strips are just painful, reminding us what we used to have. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but it was damn good stuff. Pity all my old FoxTrot books are at my parents’ house… oh well.
H&J: Another text-message joke? Where’s my blowgun? (Also, incidentally, when I use text messages, which is not every day but not uncommon, I use capitalization, punctuation, complete words, and complete sentences. Does anyone else text, but text like a human being and not a Tracy robot? Stand up and be counted! Or something.)
Garfield: Excellent GmG fodder. I think Jim Davis is playing along.
Hacky Far Side Ripoff: How did this guy get syndicated, again? At least it’s not another poop joke.
FC: Interesting passive-aggressive behavior from Thel, there. We all know that having young kids around when trying to clean up just makes things harder, so the only person who actually wants them around when trying to do the dishes is Elly Patterson so she has something to bitch about. Given that, her comment is clearly aimed at Bil, but the fact that 1) she has to ask and 2) she chooses to ask so passive-aggressively adds a new dimension to the strip, if you care to over-think it. Or you can just go DFC and say “Look, Thel polished the turkey to a mirror shine again!”
Z.I.T.S.: HAW HAW THE TEENAGERS ARE OFTEN MESSY CAN YOU BELIEVE HOW TERRIBLE THEY ARE
SalFo: I love Sal’s comment in panel 5. She knows her wife and her daughter, and she knows they might be serious. She’s channeling Satchel from Get Fuzzy, only instead of being naive, she’s only too aware of her surroundings.
Dingo
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Apple Melt from previous thread:
Angry Kem, I made the assumption that the page you link to is your own page. If you click on your name, it takes you to the Massey College Alumni Association. The sixth tab over is “Recipes.” If you click on it, it takes you to Aunt Brenda’s Recipes and the third recipe down is for Apple Melt, a Self-Saucing Pudding-Cake. I saw it and was intrigued. I sent it to my mother and she made it this morning to wondrous results.
Now all of the ‘mudgeons can have Apple Melt. Much better I’m sure than Mary Worth’s tuna casserole.
Piper Grey
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Mary Worth: Now we’re going to see the metal of Mary’s meddle. I always wanted to say that, well, if you count ‘always’ as being from the time I wrote that sentence.
Judge Parker: ‘Anger management problems’ and ‘temper’ as a description of someone stabbing someone else seventeen times: I always thought Americans were rotten at understatement.
Luann I see Evans is doing his bit to encourage consumerism as a way of avoiding a depression. Next: We’ll see the whole family filing for bankruptcy with TJ as their ‘debt counsellor’.
Mark Trail: So Mark has decided to strike out a new method of eating: he will have coffee first while he watches the main course go cold.
Rex Morgan: They’re stopping in Miami! A possible adventure or just a bit of scenery? In Rex Morgan, who can tell the difference?
Apartment 3G Think about what Margo said and what we know: the druggies left the gallery in good shape, while the narco-squad trashed the place. Shouldn’t this be the other way around?
Flash Gordon I would never have guessed that blasters go ‘Ptoom!’ Said aloud, it’s a pretty lame sound, but maybe it’s the exclamation mark that makes all the difference.
David Schraub
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Yeah, Tommie Power! Put that picture on a t-shirt, and you’ve got a radical feminist salute that would make the Redstockings proud. Although personally, I’m rooting for Tommie to channel her newfound feminist rage into reforming The Furies Collective. Given the way Margo suddenly is concerned about showing too much cleavage, you can tell she’s worried that Tommie’s veering off into lesbian separatist land.
dougrogers
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:26 pm
A high school football team is important enough for a rant on a community access cable channel?
Angry Kem
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
#19 Dingo: Ohhhhhhhhhh! *Light dawns*.
That is indeed my site. I’m the president of the alum association and the inadvertent alum-association webmaster, and I draw the comic linked. However, not all of the material on the site originates with me (okay, okay…most of it does. I’m very good at procrastinating). It has been so long since “Aunt Brenda” (another member of the alum association executive) has updated her recipes page (which does contain some utterly beautiful stuff) that I’ve forgotten exactly what she’s posted. I remember the Apple Melt now. Forgive me for my confusion.
LurkNoLonger
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Wow. I had no idea just how much of a meddlin’ bi-otch Mary is! Oh, Lynn, honey, you just sealed your fate. Mary is on you now like a succubus.
Thunderbird
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Holy crap Josh made a Godspeed You Black Emperor reference.
Josh is now even moreso my new hero.
Revenge of Chesnut
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I bet your wife would agree to you cooking your own goddamn dinner, lazy bones.
zqfmgb
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:44 pm
today’s gil thorp features a special guest appearance by king leonidas as marty moon.
Baka Gaijin
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Sunday’s Strips
Mary Worth: OMG! Last time we saw that face someone ended up meddled into a ravine!
Mary Worth, take 2: Mary’s pre-meddlegasm face.
Mary Worth, take 3: Missing last panel: Last Sunday’s last panel.
Lio: Even more full of win than usual. On my screen I could see the first two panels, which were good, then scrolled down to see the win.
Bizarro: Dan, do you have Fisher-Price’s R&D labs bugged?
Sally Forth: Admit it, Ces, you’ve been reading Dick Tracy recently. Buttlebots?
Garfield: At first I thought Jon put downer in your water dish…
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . repost from late last thread
wanders
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:50 pm
MW: Lynn is definitely on steroids. Only someone complete juiced could withstand Mary’s “compulsion to help others.”
Bryan
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Tommie’s rage makes Margo moist.
Muse of Ire
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:59 pm
#3, #8 — Also, golf is fun! But frustrating! But fun!
queek
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:04 pm
30: I think that it’s more the thoughts on that skinny wrist that does the trick, Bryan.
*runs for cover*
Buck Ripsnort
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:05 pm
#8-Buckyswife, you left out the classic theme of Golf sure is funny, without which no classic strip can survive.
GG
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I disagree with the idea that the characters are laughing in Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. That action in panel two can only be described as “noiselessly coughing up a hairball.”
Mac
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:25 pm
A New Day (@7): Yes, he appears to be about 62. But everybody in SS is wizened. All the men are bald, and so are the boys. Even the infant looks like a wrinkled old apple. My guess is that this guy is prime marrying age — that is, 15.
GlobalH
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Dangit Josh, now I’m busy ripping my Godspeed CDs so I can listen to them on my portable player, and I wasn’t even thinking of this before today’s post. Well played.
[pluff}
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:31 pm
#1 was really talking about that mouth and fist in that position and saying a sentence that has an ending like ‘coming out of tommies mouth,’ so yeah, the crock, it is an unfair world.
papa zita
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Marmaduke – The Hound From Hell may be reclining in the chair, but with that dirty grin of ecstasy, I wonder where that other paw of his is located. He probably ate a few more neighbors and wants to masturbate peacefully in Adolf’s chair like any good serial killer.
Mibbitmaker
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Barney Google Overthrown by Snuffy Smith: Ned, there, can get a spin-off as the Ozarks’ most contentious couple. They can call it “The Lockhornytoads”
Muffaroo
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:49 pm
TRAZE-E – Today’s strip seemed to be missing a dimension. It had action, color, but it lacked poetry. So, here’s the rhyming version of the dialog.
Hi&Lois – Believe it or not, the book I was working on that kept me away from here last week was… a zen golf book. And now you know. The rest. Of the story. … Good Day!
MWorth – Oh, great. Mary’s going to meddle in front of an audience during a sporting event. Do you think she’ll put her reproachful phiz up there on the Jumbotron for everyone to see, or just use the giant screen to show a card reading, “LYNN… WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO SAY? WE HAVE TO TALK! –MARY”? Of course, there’s always the possibility that Mary will don skater’s costume (after first dispatching their wearer with the customary lead pipe to the knee) and join Lynn on the ice. I expect the event is inside, which will at least rule out the possibility of using the Goodyear Blimp.
Mutts – Is that the bird from Maakies in the title panel? It would have been cool if it had been.
1BHappy – Aw, hell, that’s just sweet.
Phantom – I’ll bet he wishes he could take it easy some Sundays, and instead of meddling in the lives of a bunch of his neighbors, just spend the time instead talking about animals. “The anteater eats ants. His long tongue is perfect for ant eating. His powerful paws can be employed for tearing apart ant hills to get at the ants, which he then eats. When ants see him coming, they probably say, ‘Oh, shit! Here comes that animal that eats us!’ Have I filled up the page yet?”
SFox – Slylock figures Weirdly’s investment will fail utterly because he’s trusting a shifty male gigolo to make the star-gazing attraction out of the wreckage of his roommate’s house, which he inadvertently destroyed while cooking food.
TomDBug – Sharply observed, once again.
John C Fremont
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:55 pm
# 19 – Thank you, Dingo! And Angry Kem and “Aunt Brenda.” I’ve printed it out and plan to fix it on Thanksgiving. In the mean time, I’ll be trying the Apple-Curry-Tuna Melt tonight. Mmm. Apple-y.
Alan's Addiction
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:25 pm
A drunk Tommie starts channeling Margo – the rage, the bizarre obsession with relationships, the egomania. She’s therefore more interesting than when she’s sober. Using these facts, I strongly encourage an infusion of booze into boring strips to enliven them. Mary Worth discusses Frank’s rage issues in a bar. Mark Trail “loosens up” at a speakeasy. Judge Parker meditates on his latest legal brief over a G&T. All these characters might suddenly become interesting (or start channeling Margo, which is even better).
I would recommend that the audience get drunk, rather than the characters, but that obviously won’t work. To paraphrase Winston Churhill, we may be drunk, but Spider-man is still boring.
Tats
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
It occurs to me that you can find some version of “the Tommie” in the back of every wig catalogue from about 1975 on. “Entice your husband with ‘the Tommie!’ So effortless, so glamorous, he’ll think he’s dating Zsa Zsa!”
Tats
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Also, “let it go, Mary?” I’m always impressed by how often the characters in Mary Worth overestimate Mary’s ability to not be a completely terrible person.
Amateur
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:41 pm
A3G: I’ll bet a chill runs when it sees Margo coming.
(With apologies to the writers of Bringing Up Baby)
Esther Blodgett
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:49 pm
#12 –
“FW – If nothing else, that’s a very nice alligator drawing. But this being Funky, it’ll probably horribly mangle someone’s limb in the next day or two.”
Actually, after Tony and his fellow golfers beat the poor animal to death with their niblicks and slice it open to retrieve the lost golf ball, they find the decomposed remains of Wally Winkerbean, who apparently moved to Florida after being dishonorably discharged from the army for blogging obscene haiku about Gen. Petraeus, where he opened the Miami Beach location of Montoni’s and, to comply with Funky’s draconian cost-cutting measures, took to making cheap sausage and pepperoni out of poached gators, only to be devoured by his quarry one summer day when an unexpected cell phone call from his lost love Becky (whose love for Wally still burns like a phantom pain in her missing arm and takes her mind off her loveless marriage to John the Emotionally Retarded Comic-Book Store Owner) distracted him for a fatal moment and ended his life in one swoop of the great reptile’s jaws.
The golfers, fearing retribution from the Fish & Wildlife Service, sewed the gator back up after stuffing Wally’s corpse back inside and nursed it back to health, after which it moved to New York and married Cindy Summers following a whirlwind courtship. Then it got cancer and died.
Islamorada Girl
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:52 pm
GT: Obviously, Marty Moon needs to invite the sort of guests on his show who marry their own siblings, smash chairs over each other’s heads and otherwise behave badly to get their Marty Beads.
Death to Gil Thorp.
Thank you.
Mooncattie
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:55 pm
MW – My request for this week: Lynn’s long program is flawless so far, and the packed arena is silent as she launches into her all-important Triple Lutz. At which point Mary shouts out “Lynn, how do you really feel about your father?”
What can I say? Figure skating is sweet.
Jamus The Bartender
November 23rd, 2008 at 7:59 pm
8. Buckyswife, I gotta agree with you on your last point, but as I learned with Cassandra, that’s not always a bad thing* drumshot*.
commodorejohn
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:08 pm
#46 Esther Blodgett – You’re right. Silly me, thinking it would be that quick.
cheech wizard
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:09 pm
A3G – Tommie vents her anger upon learning that this guy too, has a penis.
Dingo
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Mary Worth: For the past week, Lynn has been wearing a purple warmup suit while sitting on her bed talking to Mary while a blue and black tshirt idled its time waiting to rest against her pert, supple breasts. Now she’s wearing some Diane von Furstenburg wraparound with a black bulletproof vest. Is skating that volatile these days? My favorite panel is panel 7. Please notice that Mary has placed her purse in “ninja” mode and is about to throw it like a silver star. I can’t wait for the competition when Lynn is attempting a move and Mar’ throws the purse at her, knocking Lynn to the ice.
Seismic-2
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Tommie, following up on Billy’s confession from Saturday’s FC, wants Gary’s pen stuck in her pencil sharpener. Of course, she is being figurative about the pen but literal about the pencil sharpener.
MrsIrB
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:31 pm
#19
Obviously, it is now time for a recipe swap.
Artist formerly known as Ben
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:50 pm
11/23
FOOB: Oh, how cute. Little Mikey wants to give his mom lots of chances to see him naked.
SFx: Count Weirdly almost snookered the canine Willy Wonka. As it is, I guess Willy will keep his money invested in the chicken ranch.
OBH: Gift horse in the mouth, Ruthie, gift horse in the mouth.
MW: Yes, the last panel. Perfect. Have you ever seen Mary Worth summed up in four words like that?
Garfield: Ah, Garfield’s love of lasagna. A subject with much untapped potential. Seriously, why don’t they build more strips around it.
FC: Love the teddy bear in PJ’s thought bubble.
“These aren’t your real family, PJ. They’re impostors, and they’re bad. I can help you find your real family, but first I need you to do a few things for me.”
Lettuce
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Tommie’s frustration at all males is not based upon their behavior — like all of us, she’s merely incapable of telling the various males in the strip apart.
Dingo
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Much better Thanksgiving strip than FC: Kyle’s Bed & Breakfast As usual, it’s the dog with that “come hither” stare that steals the show.
Gabacho
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Mary Worth – The last two panels are the best narrative of Mary’s descent into meddling hell. “No, Mary. Let it go.” followed by “I can’t. I won’t.” What would be really cool is if Frank popped up with a Steve Carrell grin saying, “That’s what she said!”
Brenda Starr – I never really got the whole online porn thing but that Basil St. John, whoa.
Bobdog
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Was Tommie absent the day they covered that aspect of human physiology in nursing school?
bmrr
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I was pleasantly surprised to see the Blondie cross over in Adam@home today. Either Mr Dithers has a version of Mary Worth’s meddling gene in his makeup or he needs to finally retire as he’s mistaking Adam for Dagwood. In any event it caused me to crack a smile.
Joe Blevins
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:27 pm
A3G: “I could shake my tiny fist and swear I wasn’t wrong. But what’s the sense in arguing when you’re all alone?”
GT: Panel one proves the old adage about the camera adding ten pounds. I see Marty’s also keeping the “1980s cartoon villain” schtick alive, refering to Gil simply as “Thorp” just the way Dr. Claw used to refer to Inspector Gadget as “Gadget.” Bonus points for rocking Al Pacino’s Scarface duds — which he presumably picked up at the Milford Party City the day after Halloween when they were clearing out their unsold costumes.
BG&SS: “Ned, what you need is an Ozark Annulment. I’ll go git th’ blindfold an’ the shotgun.”
Anonymous
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Wait, Tommie is complaining about men being male?
I thought she was complaining about the men her in life being “so..Somali.” This explains both Gary’s secrecy of their affair, so as not to incur the wrath of the new A3G character Mandingo, and Margo’s sudden prudish fastening of her top button, since Margo is a well known racist.
True Fable
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
A3G Tommie, I can’t understand your hostility against us.
JP Yahoo! A Sam Driver in peril storyline is really kicking in gear! With ANY luck, Eduardo Barreto will give us a Thanksgiving feast of perfectly done breasts, lovely brown legs and very little dressing, as this darling little chick beats the living snot out of Sam. Who, of course, will live since he is the star of the show and there’s only ten minutes left in the hour if this was a TV drama.
MW Mary has been thrown off her meddling timing. Damnation to all who defy the power of Mary!
MT It’s a great time of year!….for everyone but turkeys,yes!
RMMW This strip begs the question, Who is the nerdier, Sarah Morgan or Judge Parker’s Sophie?
willethompson
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Welcome to Obscure Reference Acknowledgement/Sunday Edition!
#40 Muffaroo: Change ‘meat heads’ to ‘meat bags’ and you’ve got a 2009 Grammy.
#46 Esther Blodgett: A golfer would never beat an alligator to death with a niblick. Hell, do you what a niblick costs? Especially a fairway niblick??
#47 I-Girl: Thanks for reminding us why it’s (DT)GT.
#61 Joe Blevins: Why is the world in love again? What are we marching hand in hand? I think you know.
True Fable
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Scenes from Suburban Hell After being forced on the wagon by the Comics censors, Thirsty tries TM and discovers some karma has run over his dogma.
FC As the rest of the family babble in a bizarre Disneyesque one-upmanship, little PJ prays he might be given the sawdust stuffing of his teddy bear instead of the plate of bread crusts shoved at him last year.
DtM The turkey that writes for Dennis the “Menace” comes home to roost.
Canadian Zombie We learn that Michael can crush pop cans with his bare feet, which might explain why Elly’s feet are so misshapen. She’s been grinding John under her heel at least as long.
Crankenstank
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Tommie reminds me: run this on Comics Curmudgeon sometime:
http://genderanalyzer.com/
Zach
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Zits: So, Jeremy has come up with an organizational system that works for him and helps him get the sleep that the majority of developmental psychologists say teenagers need and, rather than accomodate this system and adapt it to meet both their needs, she merely growls at him.
Muffaroo
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:17 pm
willethompson @64 – Okay, consider it done. We have an empty spot on the mantel that just brings the whole decor down. I had “meat beings” in an earlier draft in which the rest of the line was slightly different as well and changed it moments before I hit ’send.’
Re golf, there’s an excellent comedy record from last century by George Grossmith, (Jnr.), yclept “Murders,” in which the narrator confesses to having dispatched several of what his father would have called ’society offenders who might well be underground. The piece ends thusly:
The record, still funny after 93 years, is available at archive.org. Incidentally, there was a TMBG recording available there as well, recorded at the Edison Museum, on a cylinder, from the sound of it. I don’t see it there now, but there is at least one TMBG show on the site, “Live at Amoeba,” which I will see to after I hit “Post.”
A New Day
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:34 pm
#35/ Mac – perhaps you’re right about Ned’s age. He is the only one without horrifying facial hair.
A New Day
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:35 pm
follow up to #69… (not that I find facial hair in general horrifying. Just the portrayal of it in this strip.)
Carly
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Margo does not catch colds; colds run from Margo in fright.
Esther Blodgett
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:50 pm
#64 willethompson – You caught me; I have no idea what a niblick costs, or in fact what a niblick does. But I read the word in B.C. many years ago and decided it was about the funniest word ever. I knew then and there that someday the World Wide Web would have to be invented, and when it was I would have to use the word niblick in a post, as soon as I found out what a post was.
What would a golfer use to kill an alligator?
Angevon
November 24th, 2008 at 1:28 am
#66 Sadly it’s not working for this site. And apparently I write like a male, since it gave me a 70~99% chance of being male by various posts of mine. I’m not, by the way. But it’s fun to play with, anyway.
My newspaper got rid of Opus (yay) for The Argyle Sweater. I never heard it mentioned here. So far it seems funny enough. Anyone else get it / like it?
Canaduck
November 24th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Nice post title, Josh. :D
Bill_Parcells
November 24th, 2008 at 2:47 am
Of course Snuffy Smith and friends find it amusing….Thats what you deserve when you marry your 10 year old cousin!
juggernaut
November 24th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Godspeed, Josh. Godspeed.
Rocketboy
November 24th, 2008 at 8:24 am
That last panel of A3G is just begging for an animation.
Just sayin’…
Lolsworth
November 24th, 2008 at 8:33 am
GYBE reference = now officially the best website in the world.
queek
November 24th, 2008 at 10:45 am
73: oh, its mentioned quite a bit here. Usually under such terms as “derivitive” or “unfunny” or “Hillburn, you plageristic hack.”
Larsen retired for a reason, and having this rip-off of the Far Side just grinds my gears.
Dik-Dik Vendetta
November 24th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Tommy is so angry that between panel 1 and panel 3, she transferred her drink to her left hand and rolled up her sleeve…presumably to accentuate the animal rage hiding underneath that pinpoint oxford.