Metapost: Vote early, vote often for the COTW
Your somewhat truncated comments of the week are coming up, but first! As I mentioned earlier, I have been nominated for Best Humor Blog at the 2008 Weblog awards! As I discovered when I rocketed to the top of the list in the hot blogger competition, these things are all about setting your minions free to stuff the ballots, and luckily for all of you itching to do so, the polls are now open! Go, vote early and often! (I’m not advocating fraud; you really are allowed to vote once every 24 hours for as long as the polls are open, which will be for another week.)
But this blog isn’t the only nominee near and dear to my hearts! You may also find it in you to cast votes for the following:
- Wonkette, for which (if you don’t know) I write a weekly column about political cartoons, has been nominated for Best Liberal Blog.
- Sally Forth writer/faithful reader Ces Marciuliano’s online comic offering, Medium Large, has been nominated for Best Comic Strip.
- Faithful reader Alex Blaze’s Bilerco Project has been nominated for LGBT blog.
At some point in the next 24 hours or so I will try to figure out how to put a graphic up top that will REMIND YOU TO VOTE FOR ME AND CES AND ALEX REPEATEDLY. And hey, if there are faithful readers out there who have also been nominated (fully possible, as there are like a gazillion categories), just let me know and I will shamelessly promote you.
On a less fun note: A couple of readers have written me with reports of odd redirects and pop-up windows when visiting this site. I am trying to figure out of these are isolated incidents or possibly indicative of more serious problems with my server. So please e-mail me or chime in the comments if you’ve run into similar problems. (UPDATE: I have now removed some recently added ads that may be the source of the problem. Please let me know if you continue to see these nefarious pop-ups.)
And now: your comment of the week!
“I really can’t think of a single plot I’ve read in Spider-Man that couldn’t have used a ‘special note to perplexed readers’. Personally I could have used notes like ‘that is a magic spider-sense resistant brick’, ‘that fat guy is tougher than he looks’, and especially ‘yes, Peter really is too stupid to remember he is walking around with full length underwear on during the summer.’” –rhymes with puck
And the runners up! Also hilarious!
“I believe Brooke has built himself the largest Suspension Bridge of Disbelief in the world, starting with a priggish teenage dancer who also just happens to be an accomplished pianist, who is paired with a geeky boy cellist who can manage to kiss his girlfriend despite the fact that neither of them have chins. After all that, showing a former parochial school couple capable of having hand-sex that inspires the world just sort of falls into place on the bridge.” –True Fable
“When I first saw the Gasoline Alley Christmas Greeting strip, I thought I should cut it out and attach it to a whiskey bottle. Then I realized I didn’t own any whiskey cheap enough. In the end, I found a used bottle that once contained generic diet cola, glued on the December 25 strip, and filled it with gasoline. If you drink enough of that, Gasoline Alley suddenly starts to make sense. That happens right before you go blind, which can also improve Gasoline Alley.” –Adjuster
“Meanwhile, in Mark Trail, our latest facial hair sporter comes across a dead animal, a development which despite being entirely expected in a swamp full of people who kill animals for fun, still seems to surprise him. Or maybe he’s just angry he wasn’t there for the good part.” –gogiggs
“So is the big Spider-Man change just that every day, there will be a text box explaining that there is a big change?” –Anne
“Spider-Man/ Spider-Man/ Shunted into the/ Past by Stan/ He was trapped/ Now he’s free!/ He loves Aunt/ May’s T.V./ Let’s watch/ Cable with Spider-Man!” –Angry Kem
“The next surprise in Spider-Man will come on Feb. 17, when analog television broadcasting is turned off. Spider-Man will spend the rest of the year trying to find out what happened — assuming of course, you consider sitting in front of the television, looking at static, and yelling at it a form of trying to find out what happened.” –Worthinator
“I think this marks a bold new direction for the strip. Ditch the costumed crime-fighting angle. That wasn’t working anyway. Now the strip will be about how Peter Parker dozes off every couple of weeks and awakes to find himself in a different historical era with different tentative plans for his midday meals.” –Joe Blevins
“I’m hoping that Sam is followed around by large, tangible sound effects for the rest of his miserable days. They can change according to his mood and the moods of those around him, which generally will mean the air being filled with repetitions of the words ‘DISAPPOINTED SIGH’, on most occasions.” –richbachelor
“I know this should really go without saying, but I hate Mary Worth. She’s so infuriated by the thought of a stranger being able to raise his own child without her input that it’s actually causing her neck pain. Next up for Mary: a Vicodin and Flexeril addiction and the inability to urinate that comes with it.” –bitter law student
“Even as a child, I thought the way Blondie and Dagwood’s chairs were arranged (so that she never has to see whatever disgusting, food-based perversions he finds on late-night cable) was unspeakably depressing. It’s like they used to have separate dens, until a ‘marriage counselor’ with ‘new ideas’ suggested that they spend more time together. This almost, sort-of, counts.” –Sarah
“I’d say Beetle Bailey is about to retcon himself back to college, but without a third panel explicitly saying so I can’t be certain.” –Comrade Denny
“Attracting Mark’s Attention In Ten Easy Steps. Chapter 1. Wrong: I hope he notices I’ve changed my hair. Right: I hope he notices I’ve groomed my pelt.” –One-eyed Wolfdog
I must give a hearty thank you to everyone who’s put cash in tip jar! And our advertisers know how a clean election is run:
- Hot blogger action: If you only buy one sexy calendar this year, make sure it’s this one, featuring your Comics Curmudgeon, Josh Fruhlinger! Plus Sally Forth scribe Ces Marciuliano, and other hot dudes. Also available: a calendar full of hot blogging ladies. Don’t miss out!
To find out more about advertising on this site, click here.
Rusty
January 5th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Congrats to all!
Muddtallica
January 5th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Good crop this week; the momentous Spider-Man Great Leap Backward really seems to have got the creative juices a-flowin’! I was partial to Angry Kem’s theme tune composition myself, but heck, they’re all worthy entires. :)
commodorejohn
January 5th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Gah, this working-8-to-4 thing is going to be hell on my posting schedule. Why can’t the rest of the world share my priorities? …aaaand I miss the COTW deadline, but that’s okay, none of my snark today could compete with such a worthy crop anyway.
9CL – Hey, kids! It’s Comic Writing Tips with Brooke McEldowney! *sex cello fanfare* Today’s tip: have a character you like, but nobody else does? Want people to look up to your horrible, condescending bitch of a protagonist’s-mom? Simple! Just surround her with cardboard foils who are even worse!
Crankshaft – Pam, the way the Winkerverse works, you have to have a certain number of bad things in your life. If one of them is a mouse in the attic, I wouldn’t be rushing to free up that slot.
DT – AAAAIIIIEEEE
FC – As previously noted, my take on today’s Family Circus can be seen at The Family Circus Of Values.
FW – “But, you know, since you’re decrepit and disabled, you could be pretty much anybody around here. It all kinda starts to blur together after a while, know what I mean?”
GF – Okay, Darb. You’re back on my good list.
GT – Even Milford couldn’t lose against a team named the “Westminster Owls.”
JP – Begone, murderous wench! Long live Dixie Julep!
Love Is… – satisfying his fetishes, even if it takes a little work.
Luann – Say. Delta? Not everybody who goes to D.C. actually meets the president. Odds are most tourists don’t even see him. You know that, right?
MT – ha haha hahaha hahahaha hahaha haha ha
MW – Oh, Mary Worth. Oh, Mary Worth.
OBH – “The Pants On” what? WHAT!?
Phantom – Uh-oh, guys, you’re in trouble. Now the Metrons are going to declare humans the bigger threat and destroy us.
Popeye – Guys, I don’t think this is going to stop any time soon. They may as well just retitle it The Popeye & Brutus Masochism Fest.
PC – !?
SF – Say, is that Count Morgu in the background of today’s Sally Forth?
Canuckguy
January 5th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
So Spiderman’s just a bad Quantum Leap ripoff now? This surely must be what happens when someone bitten by a radioactive spider watches too much TV (heaven knows it doesn’t give him super powers or anything … )
AndyPOP
January 5th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
I don’t know how many people actually know this because even as a huge fan and collector of comic books, i didn’t for a really long time, but retcon means retroactive continuity. I just nodded along for a very long time until i figured it out based on context clues (or possibly, i asked somebody.)
yellojkt
January 5th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Josh,
Looks like you’ll do all right in the faux-wards, but Ces is getting killed by Garfield Without Garfield. Does that even count as a comic?
Come on, mudges. Defend our own.
Angry Kem
January 5th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
1) Congratulations, and 2) Yaaaay! Plus, 3) Thanks, Muddtallica.
It’s interesting that the hideous train-wreck that is Spider-Man is capable of inspiring so many people to such heights of creativity. It seems every horrible, soul-destroying monstrosity of a comic strip has a silver lining.
Farley's Revenge
January 5th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
I laughed so hard over the CoTW that my family came in to check on me, whereupon I regaled them with the CoTW. They, who have no idea what this site is about, laughed equally hard.
Well done, Rhymes with Puck and all the other very worthy float-riders!
Artist formerly known as Ben
January 5th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
Josh, you bet your sweet bippy I voted for you. Represent! I voted for Sadly, No! as best liberal blog, but won’t be disappointed if Ms Cox wins it.
Angry Kem, once I started singing your comment to the old Spidey theme song, I couldn’t stop laughing.
Much merriment in the COTWs.
sugarpie
January 5th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
This COTW has (almost) made me want to start keeping up with Spider Man. Congrats to all.bats :[
January 6th, 2009 at 12:07 am
Funnee Stuff! And remember, in the event that rhymes with puck
is pushed off the COTW float under mysterious circumstancescannot fulfill the duties of the COTW winner for the coming week, it is the duty of the Runners Up tobite and scratch and pull hair like a Mawitaan gang memberdetermine who will wear the tiara.My money’s on True Fable (he’s got goats)…
Angry Kem
January 6th, 2009 at 12:11 am
#11 bats: But I’ve got rhythm.
(Sorry. Had to be said.)
Big Sims
January 6th, 2009 at 12:16 am
Angry Kem is my new hero.
True Fable and Rhymes with Puck have always been my heros.
Now you see, that wasn’t so hard, not like I needed an entire third panel or anything.
Muffaroo
January 6th, 2009 at 12:31 am
Cat’s got my tongue. I can’t think of a thing to say. I’m probably just jealous of everybody’s quips.
mollificent
January 6th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Yay COTW! Congrats to all!
Off to vote…
Poteet
January 6th, 2009 at 12:50 am
Wow, what a lineup of pure funny. I’m in awe. Congrats to all, especially rhymes with puck!
And with five out of thirteen, Spider-Man wins this week. And no wonder.
Big Sims
January 6th, 2009 at 1:34 am
In the 90’s I left college and joined the service.
Just today I received an acceptance letter from a University I’d applied too.
If Beetle Bailey continues to track my life I’ll either be really tickled or really freaked out.
Or both.
Angry Kem
January 6th, 2009 at 1:38 am
#17 Big Sims: I think you’re safe. BB seems to have hit the Reset Button already. I can’t imagine that Sarge would be calmly reading the paper (or trying to) if he had an AWOL Beetle to hunt down and beat up.
Come on, Walkers. All we asked of you was that you should introduce a damn story arc for once in your withered little lives. Would that really be so difficult?
Alex Blaze
January 6th, 2009 at 1:40 am
Thanks for the shout-out, Josh!
Everyone, go out and vote for the Comics Curmudgeon! This will help his site grow a lot, and we all know he doesn’t ask for much from us!
Steve the Pocket
January 6th, 2009 at 1:56 am
In re: yesterday’s Beetle Bailey: There’s no way Beetle could be leaving the Army. In fact, this strip expertly demonstrates the reason he stayed in it in the first place: it stopped making sense someone his age to be wearing a hat everywhere… except in the army. There, at Camp Swampy, he has to endure grueling marches, inedible food, the occasional random battle against an unknown enemy, latrine duty, and a commanding officer who keeps trying to force him into a gay relationship, but at least it’s better than being laughed at for being a twentysomething wearing a hat in the 21st century.
ChennuxFanGrl
January 6th, 2009 at 2:39 am
I did get a redirect to one of those “virus scanning” sites the other day. It was just once, and when I closed my browser and came back with a new browser window I didn’t have the problem.
I don’t know if it matters but I always come to the site via the RSS feed and I use IE 7
Sparky
January 6th, 2009 at 3:19 am
Wordpress hates me and thinks I’m duplicating a post. I am sure “Beetle” is Blondie’s kid brother and his original nickname was “Spider” – maybe they’ll blend his strip into Spiderman’s? Sarge could become “the Rhino” and continue to force his attention on him. Neither strip could suck more – could it?
Uncle Lumpy
January 6th, 2009 at 3:36 am
Cherry Trail décolletage: world ends.
Gojira
January 6th, 2009 at 3:47 am
On Sunday, got redirected to a page that started installing “Antivirus 2009.” Recognized it as a trojan (here’s Symantec’s write-up on it), brought up Task Manager, and closed the window via End Task. Ran a virus scan afterwards, came up all clear, think I caught it in time.
In my case, clicked on a Favorites shortcut linked to the latest comment I read in the “Prodigal Blogger” post. This fake “Antivirus” trojan is nasty business. Last summer, a friend of mine got hit with “Antivirus 2008″ and several others, the PC became unusable, had to be rebuilt from scratch. The pop-ups about “discovered viruses” keep you from doing anything else until you send them money to clear it.
Josh: While previewing, got redirected to a page for Mevio.com. Earlier, got redirected to Edmunds.com. The redirection seems to take place while loading the ads, which come from various sources. Suggest checking with the advertisers and with your host, ServInt, to see if they’ve been compromised.
True Fable
January 6th, 2009 at 4:00 am
Kwanzaa Curtis Well, that wraps up another wonderful Kwanzaa Special. The story is sort of incomplete but I suppose leaving folks hungry for more even after looking at women vomiting up spiders IS impressive.
DtM I am menaced by wondering where those thumbs have been lately.
(WT)DT Dick Tracy uses smokestacks, easily torn up robots and things that go ‘Qwink’ . Are you sure you want this job, lady?
FC Self-preservist Billy knows the value of a human shield.
WTF GT It’s nice to know the first and last name of Random Ballplayer # 1 of the Randleman Tigers. There will be a test after the storyline is over.
JP For the love of heaven WHY?! Unless it’s because they believe Sam makes a handier victim/target than the rest of their squad, he really didn’t do much more than watch a half-naked stripper get interviewed and stand around in a bathrobe and get the lead detective all worked up for nothing. Heidi, PLEASE: He’s not that into you.
Of course, this DOES set the stage for Abbey to come to the Scottsdale horse show just to get jealous over the hot detective’s interest in the GQ Counselor at Large. Abbey, PLEASE: He’s not that into you either. He’s Sam Driver; he’s not that into anyone.
Luann Is this strip being produced in conjunction with some sort of Scholastics Weekly Reader story or something? “What it’s like to go to an Inauguration: Getting lost amid thousands of other people!” Because there’s just way too much WTF being used in this premise otherwise.
MF Oh, fuck YOU, Tinsley.
MT Oh BOY DARE TO DREAM! Now’s Jackelrod’s chance to make this an escaped nutjob who will kill off Cherry and in turn, will cause Clean-Cut Mark Trail to turn to the Dark Side and become a punch-throwing, fist-flinging vigilante bent on avenging The Affectionate Female Who Lives In My Den With Me! And the Honeycomb Hideout looks different today; no honeycombs or large placemats on the wall and what’s this, a Deer’s Head? Must have been a member of the family they wanted to memorialize.
Amateur Snark
January 6th, 2009 at 4:11 am
That last one is a winner. Something, maybe the italics, pushed it from ‘guffaw’ to ’silent gasp laugh’ in one second flat. That, and “pelt” is fun to say. Go on, say it. Pelt.
True Fable
January 6th, 2009 at 5:24 am
Oh Lord! Where are my manners?!
Congratulations to rhymes with puck for a well-earned COTW, and to all fellow float riders! And thanks, bats :[ and Big Sims; you are aces.
And a Very Big Thanks, Josh, for giving me a ride on the float too! Now everybody, wave! Hey, look this way and wave!
dl50583
January 6th, 2009 at 6:09 am
Seconding #24, the same thing happened to me yesterday (running Firefox). Today I got sent to Yellowpages.com when clicking thru on one of the COTWs. And here I was accusing my guy of visiting scammy Bulgarian porn sites…
stacey
January 6th, 2009 at 6:46 am
hi, new reader here, got redirected to yellowpages.com while reading your blog initially, and came back, now it looks like it’s working on redirecting me to “pixel.quantserv.com”
thanks!
teenchy
January 6th, 2009 at 7:22 am
Yesterthread, MT: Could Pop’s baby blue cardigan and orange shirt be an homage to the John Wyer/Gulf Oil racing team of the 1960s and ’70s? Maybe he was an extra in the movie LeMans?
gleeb
January 6th, 2009 at 7:34 am
Brenda: Trad isn’t letting the chippies turn his head. That’s the calm you want in a child abductor.
9CL: Another way of reading this is to say the students know they can derail a dull lesson by getting Dr Burber to insult them.
A3G: I’m a bachelor, yet I don’t have a leather couch. Then again, I’ve never rescued lamas.
Archie: Reggie is marked with the ace of spades; he will be the first to die.
Curtis: The rest of the villagers died because they never hit on the idea of feeding cheese to a stump.. The end.
Fuzzy: Has Our Hero realized that his dog goes outside more often than he does?
Sam Driver, witness!: Ooh, an invitation to an inquest.
Mark: How lonely Cherry longs for Mark’s key to slip into her lock.
Little Guy
January 6th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Congrats to the COTW and the Floaters!
MT: Sam’s been invited to stay at Sherriff Joe’s Tent City.
Candorville: In this case, waterboarding is not only permitted and encouraged, but mandatory.
9CL:Dr Julli is one woman which I can look at and think “What an ass” without risking sexual harassment.
Curtis: Kwanzaa Lesbian Slash?
Zits: I forget…. which one is the immature teen?
yPC: As ghostedwritten by bats:[
MT: Sadly, this is the closest we’ll get to Baretto-level fanservice in this strip.
papa zita
January 6th, 2009 at 8:46 am
9CL: Explains much about Edda. Mother hurls abuse like it were wisdom. To a student who asks a civil question. Yeah, Edda must’ve had some fun being raised by Miss Insult Machine.
A3G: Margo makes decorating decisions about a room she’s, at the moment, looting.
Rex Morgan, Croaker: Once again, June defenestrates her child’s self-esteem. Rex, being the wonderful father he is, has staggered off to the ship’s bar.
Little Guy
January 6th, 2009 at 8:51 am
y89: So….. would Delta be still excited if the election was different as, say….. RON PAUL won? Just askin’…..
kalki
January 6th, 2009 at 9:15 am
9CL: Braaaaiiinnnnsssssss
Archie: Sorry, no Brenda. Brenda is not an approved Archie Comics girl character name. Approved girl names come off the 1940s sex symbol list. You are currently assigned “Rita”. Now go, and don’t come back without a “Rita”.
Beetle: ha ha Just wait until Otto pinches a loaf on the comics page ha ha
Blondie: I’m kind of worried where this is going if Dagwood says he is going to have sex with Blondie…
Crank: Maybe the whole family should have some fruitcake and Kool-aid.
DTM: Well, Dennis, why don’t you go suck his….thumb?
CircusJerk: Get em, Cujo!
FW: He’s just an old fart band director…not Captain Freaking America for pity’s sake.
Hi/Lois: Nope. Minnie is fucking Goofy! ha ha (I couldn’t resist)
GA: What’s with Corky and that Neo Matrix pose in the first panel! “Sorry, Slim…I know kung-fu.”
Luann: Tiffany has to go on the trip! We know she’ll bring down some Congressman with her flirting.
How the hell did Delta get the DC through so damned quickly!!??
Whippersnapper
January 6th, 2009 at 9:16 am
DT: I, for one, do NOT want to use what Dick Tracy uses. I enjoy having human facial features and hands that are in proportion to my body.
One-eyed Wolfdog
January 6th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Phantom: Oooooh, I’ve seen this before. I believe the Mystery Machine comes rolling up in a couple of minutes.
The Divine O'F
January 6th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Congrats to all the float riders, especially Goat Man.
And congrats to Josh for his future weblog awards win. I just voted, and also tried to help Ces.
The Divine O'F
January 6th, 2009 at 9:32 am
And as long as I’m here, since I rarely comment, I just have to say that with the comment Josh linked us to the other day explaining the re-run of Chickweed Lane, Brooke McEldowny (sp?) has redefined the word pretentious in such a way that I don’t think it can ever again be used in another context.
Also, Mary Worth has gone way beyond self-parody in this latest story line. I get the impression that Karen Moy is trying desperately to bring back the adulation of the old Aldo Kelrast days and failing miserably.
And finally, I’m SO glad I don’t read and never did read Spider Man.
One-eyed Wolfdog
January 6th, 2009 at 9:34 am
(BTW, I think the best part of Joe Blevins’ comment was the ‘Call it Quantum Lunch‘ at the end, which seems to have been truncated.)
Brick Bradford
January 6th, 2009 at 9:37 am
SM Jeez, a real villain? With superpowers and everything? That’s more like it. However, given the drubbing Spidey took from Big Time I fear that Electro will fry him like a tater.
Archie I just want to state that I have never seen a human being wear a shirt anything like the keen ace of spades number Reggie is sporting this morning.
A3G And Margo begins to spin her webs.
MT If we go with Josh’s Cinemax metaphor this will not be Mark but a studly log repairman. Cue the boom chick a wow wow music!
Chyron HR
January 6th, 2009 at 9:50 am
9 Chickweed Lane – So, Dr. Burber, what sort of sophisticated intellectual pursuits do YOU engage in? Oh, you like to masturbate while two homosexuals suck face on the couch next to you? Well, you sure showed us beefwits a thing or two.
Dick Tracy – Yes, everyone wants to smell Dick! The men, the women, the buy-curious…
Edge City – Looks like it’s time for Len to bust out Disc X and blast the Sheriff with a Solitary Wave! (Disclaimer: The actual continuation of this storyline will be MUCH LESS INTERESTING.)
Luann – Class, if you don’t have at least a C+ average, you don’t get to go stand outside in DC in the winter. Wait, did I mention there will be vendors selling T-shirts made of recycled paper, and pretzels made of recycled paper?
Mary Worth – Hey, dad, there are exactly one time in history when anybody cared about figure skating, and that was when one lady had another lady beat in the legs. Congratulations on wasting your daughter’s life.
Mark Trail – Mark and Cherry just don’t quite get the idea of “I’ll wait in bed, and you come wake me up”.
Gojira
January 6th, 2009 at 9:52 am
S-M: No need to zap that guy, Electro. From the way he’s smiling, looks like he’s already discovered “The Electricity of Love.”
Scott Simmons
January 6th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Got redirected through a chain starting with /jump2/?affiliate=netzter2&subid=01&terms=engine%20performance%20part and ending at Fashion Designers (Results 1 – 12 of 12) ~ fashion Richardson TX ~ Simple Search ~ SuperPages.com: Yellow Pages while I was reading your note about strange redirects.
Fortunately, I was in desperate need of a good fashion designer, so it didn’t really bug me.
ragthetiger
January 6th, 2009 at 10:26 am
http://www.americanhairlines.us/
I… don’t know what to say about this.
Muffaroo
January 6th, 2009 at 10:34 am
BBailey – The fact that Beetle came back shows that the Sarge is working!
Blondie – “Then I thought we might have sex.” “You’re not going to get your dick out, are you?”
Curtis – Appropriately, this strip was written with the help of spirits of wood alcohol.
FCircus – There’s no reason to split up the line between the panel and the text below, except to be a jerk… ah, well, there’s the reason right there.
FBasset – “I am wet.” – “(It is raining!)”
GThorp – There’s such craftsmanship in the way they give names to the ciphers on the other teams. It’s almost as if they matter.
HtHorrible – Lucky Eddie feels threatened by the Acme guy using the ladder to say something stunningly irrelevant and anachronistic. He wanted to use it to ask if he could use their bathroom.
JParker – Quoting MOVIE MOVIE:
“All I did was be there.”
“Nobody could be there like you did.”
MFmore – Tin-eye, make a resolution this year to at least look at a picture of the person you’re caricaturing, and retire the all-purpose, one-size-fits-all face you’ve been using up to now. And lay off the sauce at work.
Mduke – “Wrong color? Squeaker broken? Tastes yucky?” The funny part is that Marmaduke has nothing to do with the sex toy she’s returning.
Phantom – “Wow! When you shine a spotlight on them, they pull out hats and canes and start doing numbers from ‘42nd Street.’ Okay, blast away.”
Pluggers – Yeah, go ahead and laugh, but Pluggers are the last group in America that it’s still okay to make fun of in a daily syndicated panel. “Turnips are plugger’s pocket watches.” “How many pluggers does it take to change a light bulb? None! They don’t change them at all, they take them to their workbench and try to fix them!” “Pluggervania was nuked today, and the total damage was estimated at $73.49.” Arise, pluggers, and throw off your chains, which you could then use as a sort of improvised substitute for snow tires!
PCity – Oh, Marmaduke! What undogly thing are you up to now?
Hey, wait a second.
Zippy – At the miniscule size they show this, Zippy’s last line looks like “I didn’t know it was a Metapost!” I think it reads better that way. I do wish to commend Griffy for the perfect 50s ‘kids in action’ poses today.
Calico
January 6th, 2009 at 10:42 am
#45 – Now. That. Is. Just. Weird.
Mark’s supplemental income!
I’ve had no redirect problems or pop-up issues from this site. I do always have Norton Protection Center “On” on the PC, regardless of what programs I’m using.
Esther Blodgett
January 6th, 2009 at 10:56 am
My resolution for 2009: Make it to the COTW float, even just once. Until then, I’ll stand on the sidelines and wave to all you fabulous winners. Hey, if I flash you, will you throw me some cheap, crappy beads? Maybe a string of Jack Elrod balls? Ooh, shiny, talking beads.
Gotta go vote for Josh now!
Esther Blodgett
January 6th, 2009 at 10:59 am
OK, I just voted. So far, CC is way in the lead. Rah! Rah! Rah!
One-eyed Wolfdog
January 6th, 2009 at 11:03 am
(Also I have to confess there’s a certain amount of irony in that “Ha ha, Mark prefers animals to women! Ha!” comment, considering who it’s coming from.)
buckyswife
January 6th, 2009 at 11:29 am
MT–Given the eager look in Cherry’s eyes as she flies down the stairs, I can’t help but think that “Mark forgets his house key” is some sort of Trail family sex game. (I tried to help it, but sadly, I was unsuccessful.)
Curtis–That’s it? It’s all about sharing? And friendship? And not about vomiting spiders the size of baseballs? What kind of holiday story is that?
SM–Dear Lee & Lieber: Last week, you PROMISED us surprises. And so far–Peter Parker whining about his life: not a surprise. Peter Parker complaining about working for Jonah Jameson: not a surprise. Spiderman web-swinging with a camera in his pants: okay, a little surprising. Stupidly dressed villain with equally dumb name, accompanied by a narrated warning for Spidey that he’ll have a tough time with this guy: not a surprise. Perhaps you could give us a date for when the surprises actually WILL begin, and then we can return to the usual SM snark in the meantime. Thanks!
JP: I’m a little perplexed by the uniformed cop who seems to be hovering behind Det. Heidi, but I kinda like the doofus who shows up in the first two panels’ background; he’s like one of those strangers who somehow ends up in a bunch of your vacation photos, even though you weren’t aware of him at the time.
Saluki
January 6th, 2009 at 11:37 am
JP: Giggle giggle, paperwork! Is that what they’re calling it these days?
Anonymous
January 6th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Just remember, the more you vote for the CC for blog of the year, the better the chances are that you will be on the float!
Artist formerly known as Ben
January 6th, 2009 at 11:52 am
1/6
H&J: Neither. Both you guys are cut off.
MT: Quite a different tack today. Instaed of giant talking animals, the middle panel has giant floating sound effects. In fact, far from giant, the deer head on the wall looks like it’s actually a hamster with antlers stapled to its skull.
Phantom: You guys realize that if you manage to somehow kill one of these lizard men, you’ll only start a war with their people. And don’t expect me to bail your dumb ass out, even if we are both mammals.
9CL: Do Julia’s students receive extra credit for providing straight lines to her insult humor?
SSmith: Beautifully sadistic. “Haha, I stole your chicken, my wife baked it up, now we’re winning a prize.” Way to rub it in, Smifmeister.
Ziggy: Ziggy faces the possibility that talking birds may take center stage in his comic. Luckily for him, they’re not funny either.
Archie: Does Reggie’s ace of spades sweatshirt mean he’s working for the Joker, or is he in the Mad Hatter’s gang? Either way, Batman will take a special pleasure in wiping the leer off his face.
JP: Apparently, Scottsdale has a shortage of self-satisfied pricks. Or at the very least, they’re always scouting for talent.
FW: “Aaah. It feels so good to have my ass kissed by a professional.”
S-M: “You’d better open that safe, or I’ll use my powers on you. Because I totally have them. Powers, I mean, and they’re really awesome. It’s not just because I glued cardboard lightning bolts onto a track suit.”
DT: She’s got fully articulated fingers on her hands. She must be up to no good.
Baldo: That’s actually pretty funny.
MW: Don’t complain, Frank. At least you know why your daughter hates you. That’s more than most parents of teenagers can say.
FC: Actually that looks more like a pitbullist. But the important thing is that if the Keane kids are about to be torn limb from limb, they’re gonna die topical, dammit!
OBH: Charlie Brown could have used Ruthie as a life coach.
A3G: Eric: Tenzai, did you just feel a chill.
Tenzai: It does get rather windy on these mountains.
Eric: No, this is different. A deep cold biting into my very soul.
Artist formerly known as Ben
January 6th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Correction
A3G:
Eric:Tenzai, did you just feel a chill.
Tenzai: It does get rather windy on these mountains.
Eric: No, this is different. A deep cold biting into my very soul.
Artist formerly known as Ben
January 6th, 2009 at 11:54 am
#53.
The voting is anonymous. As anonymous as a troll, you might say.
gh
January 6th, 2009 at 11:56 am
I’m coming off house arrest that left me Joshless since Dec. 18th, and what did I miss in Mary Worth? Well, apparently, nothing. I’m no geologist, but while the pacing in Dick Tracy may be glacial, I swear reading this story line in Mary Worth is like watching the break up of Pangaea. Technically (or tectonically) something is happening, but I’m beginning to fear it will be eons before we can tell what it is.
Congrats to all the COTWers, past and present! And, hell, future!
Anonymous
January 6th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
You say the voting is anonymous. As anonymous as the Internets ever is.
Just saying.
Edgy DC
January 6th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Fewer meth jokes = more votes.
I’m serious.
Calico
January 6th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
#48 – Hahahaha – “String of (Elrod) Pearls”
What I’d like is a T-shirt with just a big ol’ Elrod ball with his name in it. Simple, elegant, unpretentious.
Now I am going to place some cheese near a stump, just to see what happens.
I wonder what happened to all those frogs and
baseballsspiders.Angry Kem
January 6th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Oh, Momma…you’re so medieval.
Dear Brooke McEldowney:
I have made allowances for you. I have defended you in public fora. I have held out hope that you would swerve from the self-destructive path on which you seem have placed yourself.
No more, Brooke McEldowney. No more.
I understand that you enjoy bondage, but I respectfully submit that it may be time for you to wander off to DC and start writing for Wonder Woman. Your current Pibgorn arc really needs to end now. In fact, it really needed to end about a year ago, but it really needs to end now. You’ve tied Pib to things again, and you’re about to stick arrows in her! There is no reason for you to do that! This is not a story! It’s self-indulgent soft-core porn! Stopitstopitstopitstopit–
*Takes deep breath*
At any rate, Brooke McEldowney, I beg you to pause for a moment and maybe read through your own archives (both lots). You have the potential to be a decent Jedi, but you seem to have turned to the Dark Side.
Yours Angrily,
Kem.
AmazingThor
January 6th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I have to say I’m rather enjoying this new twist in Popeye. I think other strips should pick up on this trend. I could really get behind a whole week of Mary Worth where characters she has wronged in the past come together and beat the holy sh** out of her.
Niall
January 6th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Hearty Bwahahas to start 2009! I’m still only way back at the Bumstead Party thread, so I hadn’t seen a number of these. Angry Kem’s ditty itches me to complete it, but it stands so perfectly as is, I don’t think I can improve upon it by lenghtening it.
And one-eyed wolfdog’s entry at the bottom had me giggling furiously, because I had rather risqué thoughts about “pelt”, then I realised this is Mark Trail, and then I wasn’t sure it wasn’t a combination of the two…
Great job everyone! Strong snark for a new year!
gnome de blog
January 6th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Dear Angry Kem,
You have to give Mr. McEldowney credit. Where else can a middle-aged man get paid for working out his junior-high-school fantasies in public?
Yours in sympathy,
-gnome
rhymes with puck
January 6th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Wow, I’m somebody again! Since I stopped buying the local rag and became only an occasional commenter, I thought I’d lost my mojo.
Luann: Illiteracy is funny!
MT: Am I the only one confused as to why a man who devotes his life to saving animals has a deer head in his house? Did it die of natural causes?
9CL: What idiot asks his professor if her lifestyle compromises her teaching?
RMMD: Between Rex’s fishing trip that turned into a homoerotic kidnapping story and now the cruise ship to nowhere, I’d say that the moral of the story is NEVER go on vacation with Rex Morgan. Not that it will come up much in life, but still a good lesson nevertheless.
Spider-Man: He’ll have no chance against Spider-man? Did they also retcon in some competence?
Curtis: Yet another heartwarming story of two friends who let the rest of their village go thirsty while they water their lawns.
Comrade Denny
January 6th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
MT: I wonder if the door knocker isn’t Mr. Mustachio the swampland developer who hired some shrimpers to kill Mark. That was a pretty big loose end to leave dangling, especially since Mark trail seems to tie up its plotlines into perfect little packages of two-fisted justice.
Also Cherry’s bathrobe and nightgown should make it easier to chain her to a log.
kalki
January 6th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
54. Artist Formerly known as Ben:
Actually, what with the http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/7753966.stm you will have to settle for one of his former boy wonders.
kalki
January 6th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
hmm…my link screwed up. I said “what with the Batman job opening at the moment,”
Harold
January 6th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Now that the Curtis Kwanzaa madness has ended, I have to ask: WHAT THE HELL WAS THE POINT OF ALL THAT???? This is the story of the One Selfish Maiden, who knew the secret of having plenty while the rest of her tribe slowly died? And the Three Desperate Maidens who tried to steal her secret were punished? And the One Ass-Kissing Maiden was rewarded for agreeing to be this selfish monster’s friend? How does this at all reflect the Seven Principle of Kwanzaa?
…Unless this is a clever parable about the selfish practices of pharmaceutical companies withholding life-saving medication from those African nations unable to pay ridiculous patent fees? Maybe? Possibly???
PeteMoss
January 6th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
rhymes with puck!
He shoots and…scores!!! Whoo hoo! Your COTW observation is spot on! Today’s S-S strip could surely benefit from a special note to this perplexed reader as to why the latest villain looks like a refuge from Carnival in Rio. I’m just grateful we can’t see that he’s wearing nothing but a thong below the panel.
Nice bunch of runners-up, too. Good rip on 9CL, my man Tru! I get, like, 300 channels of Satelite TV at home but not one of them is broadcasting any Belgian Cello competitions. Lately, Pibgorn has been the more grounded of Brooke’s two offerings.
AmazingThor
January 6th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Snuf: That poor old guy is thinking “I don’t own any chickens! But my cat has been missing for about a week…”
S-M: Electro? Robbing banks? Sticking with the example left by Big Time, shouldn’t he be stealing electricity from the utility company?
LuAnn: “I guess you won’t be going, Tiffany.”
Tiffany: “No I don’t do any tiff. I don’t even know what tiff is.”
Batman Beatles
January 6th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Luann – Ha ha. Tiffiney doesn’t know what Washington DC is. Is this Legally Blonde 2?
PeteMoss
January 6th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
FC – Ordinarily, when I read in my paper about pit-bull viciously attacking children, I am horrified, angered and saddened. In this instance, I can completely identify with the ultimate political goals of this terrior-ist and would subscribe to his newsletter.
PeteMoss
January 6th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
MW- Lynn is sooo mad that she’s begun shaking herself free from panel 2 and will drop right into the tv listings.
fillmoreeast
January 6th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
So the moral of this years Curtis Kwanzaa fable is “if you don’t want to vomit three-eyed frogs, be sure to feed cheese to the tree stump.” It’s like Aesop, if he’d suffered a catastrophic head wound and developed aphasia.
Muddtallica
January 6th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Apartment 3G – Margo has found the ideal place to put her throne of bones.
Archie – Those are some big-ass books they’re carrying there, particularly Archie’s, which resembles a giant tome of arcane medieval spells. That shocks me, because I’d never assumed that any of the cast of Archie could read.
Curtis – So here’s my confession: being a Brit myself, I have pretty much no idea exactly what this whole Kwanzaa shebang is about, and I was really rather hoping that this Curtis Kwanzaa story would at least give me a rough idea of the traditions and morals it honoured. Whilst this tale of spider-vomiting and cheese-on-tree interfacing failed to enlighten me on that front, it did teach me an even more important lesson: that Ray Billingsley is insane, and that next time I want to find something out I should just go on Wikipedia. Thanks, Ray!
Dick Tracy – I know that this plotline is currently proving a boon to snarkers wishing to offload their backlog of “smell of Dick” jokes in one go, but personally I’d like it to end as soon as possible, because I really don’t want to look at this character’s face any more.
Family Circus – Hahaha! It’s funny because Jeffy is about to be horribly killed. Wait, that genuinely is funny.
Fred Basset – Yes, Fred, you can picture it. In fact, there it is, right there; you pictured it, just like you said you would. Good for you.
Mary Worth – …and now Lynn is glowing with a blue, fiery aura. Is there anybody in this strip who isn’t some form of unearthly demon-spawn?
Momma – Yes, yes, Lazarus, we get it, Francis is going to become a meth-addicted tramp and die in his own filth. It’s a testament to the repetitive poorness of this strip that even something as funny as that idea can be driven into the ground.
Rex Morgan – The old guy looks as though he’s considering drowning himself in his own glass; being married to an alcoholic version of Aunt May can’t be much good for the spirits, I suppose.
rhymes with puck
January 6th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
curtis: The end of this story was so obvious. Everyone knows that there is nothing that a tree stump likes more than a hunk of good cheese. Except for brie, of course, tree stumps think brie is just plain nasty.
Artist formerly known as Ben
January 6th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
#67/68 kalki,
That’s true for the time being. I think the fill-ins should be able to handle Reggie just fine. Unless I’ve badly misjudged Mr. Mantle.
Calico
January 6th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
MW – Just go home, Biddy. You know what they say about house guests…
Gregory
January 6th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Those first 6 months of Beetle Bailey’s existence, when he was in college… I’ve always wanted to see those strips and have had no luck. Does a website exist that has these? Or are they in a Mort Walker book that has ‘em?
Thanks!
Angry Kem
January 6th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
#65 rhymes with puck: re. 9CL: Actually, I often get kind of worried that a student who has Googled my name is going to stand up in class and go, “Professor Kem, why does it take you so long to mark our papers? Is it because you’re wasting your time drawing a webcomic?” It hasn’t happened yet, though I’ve had a couple of Google-happy students remark in private that they don’t understand where I find the time to teach and draw stuff for free. (I am not so reckless ever to mention in class that I draw a webcomic, even when I am lecturing on webcomics…which, last term, I briefly was.) I generally end up explaining about buffers. I don’t end up explaining about my brief breaks to work on the webcomic being the only thing keeping me from complete insanity.
For the record, it actually takes me so long to mark their papers because there are so many papers. This term, there will be twice as many as last term. I shall go mad for sure.
In other words, this is my unnecessarily long-winded way of saying that while I don’t really think Professor Burber’s method of insulting her students to their faces is the best way to go, I don’t think it is impossible that a student might ask that question.
PeteMoss
January 6th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
fillmoreeast @ 75, you are now a contender! Ha!
Muddtallica @ 76, you are also a contender for your A3G observation! I believe Margo’s problem with leather is that she prefers chairs upholstered with the skin of human virgins.
bats :[
January 6th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
66. Comrade Denny: yes, the MT storyline has ended way too abruptly (even for the likes of Jackelrod). Who’s behind the door?
(A) mustachioed land developer!
(B) Rabbit! (yeah, I’m sure the Swampland Sheriff’s Department is about as effective as the Scottsdale SWAT team’s physical force ability alone)
(C) Lee Fallon — he’s busted out of jail! He’s angrier than ever! And he’s looking for Rex Morgan, M.D.!
FC: honest to God, I didn’t know what the hell that thing was menacing PJ…a badly drawn cat? a dog, maybe? More than anything, it looks like one of those Japanese mechanical/electronic dogs that you can operated by remote control.
Hmmm….maybe Big Daddy Bil is investigating ways of reducing his number of dependents…
Annon
January 6th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Curtis Let me simply add my “That’s it???” as I can’t top any of the very funny comments above.
Comrade Denny
January 6th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
#83 – bats :[
I’m inclined toward Mr. Mustachio over Rabbit, if only because Rabbit’s already been punched in the face.
Fashion Police
January 6th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
So Margo’s raiding LuAnn’s closet??? Unless she’s wearing a leather pencil skirt and lace-up boots with 5-inch heels that’s not a good look for her.
Muffaroo
January 6th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Luann is gradually tumbling to the fact that you can say anything you want around Tiffany as long as you spell it out.
Dingo
January 6th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
PERIL AT LAKE TRANQUIL (SFW)
AP – Tragedy struck a local family today twice. Frank Griffin decided to take his daughter out skiing in the early morning to take her mind off of a boy in her past that had died. They were joined by a “friend” from California, Mary Worth of Santa Royale. According to operators of the ski lift, Mr. Griffin and Ms. Worth were seated on the chair directly in front of his daughter, Lynn. Midway up the side of Mount Erarse, the young girl witnessed the elderly woman’s head bobbing repeatedly in front of her father. Lynn Griffin threw a ski pole at the chair and hit her father in the back of the head. Mr. Griffin lost his balance and began to fall out of the chair. He was saved from falling by a pant leg snared on the seat edge. Ms. Worth fell to her death.
Mr. Griffin is being treated at Lake Tranquil Community Hospital for hypothermia and shrinkage.
Little Guy
January 6th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
#83: bats:[
If it’s Reanimated Dixie, I’ll be the happiest Mungeon.
Spotted HØrse, Jungle Steed
January 6th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
#73 PeteMoss:
Word, bro. Right now, I’m visualizing onlookers being pelted with bits of warm, wet Keane meat.
Congratulations to rhymes with puck and all of our über-funny Curmudgeons!
Anonymous
January 6th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
#83 COTW!
sugarpie
January 6th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
#62 Thats a great idea. Some of the most aggrieved are pretty dead though. Um…well it is a comic strip, so I guess it could happen. Little guard duck is going to want in on the fun though. Is that OK?FCircus today actually reminds me of those old DFC’s from spinnwebe in the ’90’ssugarpie
January 6th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
FCircus- I just looked at this again and I think Billy is really pushing Jeffy out in front of him. Maybe the terrierist will get both these little bougie oppressor spawn anyway.
Calico
January 6th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
I dunno, this Cherry-door-knock thing smacks of cheap porn, a la a recent much-promoted “film” starring Lisa Ann.
If only! : D
Amateur
January 6th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
#75 for COTW!
Comrade Denny
January 6th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Mama, take this raccoon offa me,
I can’t chain it anymo-ore.
The Big Fist o’Justice
knocked my mustache free…
Feels like I’m knockin’ on Cherry’s do-or…
Knock-knock-knockin’ on Cherry’s door…
bats :[
January 6th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
88. Dingo: one of the other news sources for “The Vail Incident” headed its story with “Man Suffers Exposure.” Yah, sure, you betcha!
This is WHY cell phone cameras were invented. No other reason.
Bootsy
January 6th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
That’s it, Billingsley? That’s it? What happened to the baseball sized spiders? Where’s the glowing otter, huh? Where’s the were-buffalo? Where’s the goddamn giant flying bear with bat wings?! I want a giant flying bear with bat wings right now, motherfucker!
My Kwanzaa sucked this year because of you, Billingsley.
I hope Mardi Gras is better or I swear I’m siccing Dick Tracy on your ass.
Poteet
January 6th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
S-M — As a S-M semi-newbie, I am not thrilled to discover that when he’s not whining about his sorry fate or watching TV, Peter is muttering to himself about how utterly fabulous he is. Gwen, you’re better off staying dead.
Poteet
January 6th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
# 75 fillmoreeast — BWAHAHA!
Little Guy
January 6th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
75: “If you don’t want to vomit three-eyed frogs, be sure to feed cheese to the tree stump.”
That’s not only COTW-able, but I’ll adopt it in 2009 as my personal view of life. Aunt Raylene would be proud!
Perky Bird
January 6th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
What I want to see next year is a Mary Worth Kwanzaa story. Maybe she would force a giant telepathic golden otter to drive over a cliff.
Gabacho
January 6th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Weblog Awards – well, I did my civic duty and went over to vote. Naturally I voted for Comics Curmudgeon and the Bilerco Project as they are the best in class for their categories.
I also went over to vote for Best Web Comic. While I am not so certain that Medium Large is the best web comic, I do have the photo of Ces Marciuliano from the hot blogger calendar carefully placed in my nightstand near the baby oil and a washcloth so I thought “Why not?” Besides I don’t remember seeing the others.
Anyway, I was shocked to see Dilbert in the Best Web Comic Category. What the heck is that about? It’s a print comic that happens to show up on the web! That would make any comic with an ancillary web presence eligible, even Family Circus.
I fear there is massive corruption and intellectual dishonesty in this poll. I still voted though.
Jamus The Bartender
January 6th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Archie: What in hell is Reggie doing with a death card on his sweater? My uncle told me once how back in Vietnam some snipers used to do that sort of thing to Charlie, just like in Apocalypse Now.
Dick Tracy: Does this mean Dick will lend his name to ready made grain alcohol and prune juice mixes? We can only hope.
Luann: Jamus the Bartender, during his high school years, got to go on a trip to Washington DC, and was actually failing geometry at the time. No question of a GPA. He did this by participating in show choir. We sang the national anthem and such. It was fun. We had a poker game going on for a week. Did you know that high school girls miles away from their parents have looser morals than they might ordinarily? Well, it’s true. Damn, the eighties were great. Also, there were monuments.
gh
January 6th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
#104 Jamus The Bartender –
I’m sure there were, but you really needn’t share Cassandra’s pet names for them.
Jamus The Bartender
January 6th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
105. Now you’ve gone and done it…:)
Dingo
January 6th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Hmm… I can imagine Jamus showing a few of those girls
histhe Washington Monument.KT
January 6th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
H&J:
Aaaargh!! “Is the glass half full or half empty? Depends on whether it’s being filled or emptied.” That was MY idea! That was MY half-serious joke! Now, I don’t mind seeing ideas I’ve happened to have pop up independently on the comics page, that’s happened before… but in HERB & JAMAAL of all places?! …I suppose I can take consolation in the fact that the dialogue isn’t as badly written as it usually is; it sounds almost natural.
Jumble:
Heee! “INFISH”. That should totally be a word. Maybe in those cartoons of a big fish eating a smaller fish, who in turn is eating a smaller fish who is eating a smaller fish, and so on, the smaller fishes should be called the “infish” and the biggest one should be called the “outfish”.
Uncle Lumpy
January 6th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
#108 KT –
“Jeff and I considered going to the Bum Boat, but I’ve got some leftover seafood scampi, so we’ll just infish tonight.”
Red Greenback...smiling and holding a donut,
January 6th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Bob Weber, Jr. has been known to place infish in some of his strips.
Congrats to rhymes with puck and the other hilarious floaters!
And I would like to give props to fillmoreeast @#75, as well.
One-eyed Wolfdog
January 6th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Sam: You’re up early this morning.
Heidi: Actually, I haven’t been to bed yet – still buzzed from turning that chick into Purina Stripper Bits. She was, like, such a bitch.
Sam: [squints, stares inscrutably into middle distance]
Heidi: We gassed the dog an hour ago, too.
Heidi: So, you wanna…
Sam: [squints, stares inscrutably into middle distance]
Sam: [motor functions commence automatic shutdown sequence]
commodorejohn
January 6th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
A3G – Why wait, Margo? You’ve already invaded the man’s business and residence, why not go all the way and rearrange it to suit your tastes? It’s not like any of the spineless yahoos in this strip are going to argue with you, anyway.
AS – Dear Mr. Hillburn: you suck.
BlC – Ooh, I didn’t know Bloom County did an interracial-dating storyline. Was this ever in any of the collections?
Curtis – That’s it!? What a gyp! Granted, the spectacular horror of the past couple of days was impressive, but this storyline wasn’t even two weeks long! And there were no insane magical animals, either!
DT – o_O
Dilbert – bats :[, care to elaborate on how wrong this is?
FC – As before, my take on today’s Family Circus can be found at The Family Circus Of Values.
Luann – HA HA! STRAW WOMAN! HA HA HA!
MF – Dear Bruce Tinsley: THAT IS NOT WHAT MICHELLE OBAMA LOOKS LIKE. YOUR CARICATURES SUCK.
MT – Ooh, is Cherry going to be kidnapped in her nightgown? Chances are it might get a little frayed in the fracas, which would be the most skin this strip has ever shown, to my recollection.
MW – Guest-starring one of the enormous disembodied hands from Gil Thorp.
Phantom – Seriously, what the hell is going on here? I admit that I’m not entirely familiar with The Phantom, but I got the impression that it’s pretty firmly grounded in reality, as superhero strips go.
RMMD – I’ve developed a new theory: Sarah isn’t actually the Morgan’s biological daughter. Instead, she’s a strange non-human creature that June found and adopted. Her appearance varies as much as it does because if her mind drifts, she starts shape-shifting. Right now, as preoccupied as she is with her adoptive mother, you can clearly see that she’s starting to look like June.
SF – Occam’s Razor, Sally. Use it.
SM – Why are you called Electro? Given that this is Spider-Man, I can only assume it has something to do with the fact that televisions are electronic.
PeteMoss
January 6th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Sam Driver passes up yet another opportunity to infish while on a business trip.
One-eyed Wolfdog
January 6th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Yeah, Binkley’s crush on Blondie was in Loose Tails. He takes her to see Pink Floyd The Wall, and the critters show up to chaperone.
One-eyed Wolfdog
January 6th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
But for some reason the text in the strip on your website is different from what was in my copy of Loose Tails – and it seems to me I’ve noticed Berke tinkering with the text other times, too. In my book, the last panel just reads (I don’t have the book handy, I’m going from memory here, but approximately)
“Chocolate?”
“…butterscotch. Whatever.”
One-eyed Wolfdog
January 6th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
There is more comic genius in merely the four expressions on Binkley’s dad’s face in that strip than there is in everything on the chron page today combined.
Poteet
January 6th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
# 112 commodorejohn — Interesting theory re Widdew Sawah. An alternative theory that I think has been proposed before, and that sounds reasonable to me, is that Widdew Sawah is Margo’s scary illegitimate child.
But those two theories, come to think of it, are entirely compatible. Margo has managed to get her shape-shifting almost under control, but has yet to fully grasp how to imitate other norms of human behavior, including maternal affection. Most likely she threw Sawah out the window after giving birth in some ladies room.
Poteet
January 6th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
# 117 — Via parthenogenesis.
La Texana
January 6th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Commodorejohn re:Dilbert – thank you! I thought I was the only one going WTF? Besides bats, whales, dolphins, (MAMMALS each!) just what in the animal kingdom has sonar?
dale
January 7th, 2009 at 1:37 am
commodorejohn
Phantom: I don’t think he qualifies as a superhero. He’s strong and dresses funny, but has no super powers. In some ways he’s a lot like the Lone Ranger and also Batman.
Mallard: I gave this a few extra seconds and started thinking the woman is LadyByrd Johnson.
I wrote to the local paper something like: Leave it on the comics page. It’s sort of a joke and not serious enough to move to the editorial page next to Doonesbury.
LerGypeCype
January 20th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I am unable to understand this post. But well some points are useful for me.