The comics vs. Mother Nature
Oh, look, it’s Earth Day, and once again many comics are awkwardly leaping on the environmental bandwagon! Let’s check out the oddest strips:
Beetle Bailey, 4/22/09
Ha ha, it’s funny because “earth” can mean the planet or dirt, and also because Zero is stupid! Of course, this is infinitely preferable to another tree-fucking strip.
Phantom, 4/22/09
You might think it’s kind of weird that Mrs. The Phantom has a special Earth Day briefcase that she just happens to have prominently displayed on the day that she will parachute onto a cargo ship bearing her family and a bunch of lizard men. (If you’re not following this strip, she’s doing this to keep the ship’s sexy lady captain from putting the moves on her spandex-clad husband, FYI.) But since she works for the UN, and the whole environmental movement is just a cover for the brewing one-world-government conspiracy, it all makes perfect sense that she’d be required by her job to tote propaganda around with her at all times.
Spider-Man, 4/22/09
You have to hand it to Spider-Man (the comic strip) for constantly working on new and innovative ways of making Spider-Man (the character) completely unlikeable. The buffoonish, semi-competent Electro has been given one, and only one, redeeming characteristic: his sincere love for his son. So naturally Spider-Man is using this fatherly affection to entrap him, keeping it foregrounded in the story and making Electro seem more sympathetic; as if realizing that this is the case, Spidey apparently has decided to just go all out with the dickery and make some cheesy joke about Earth Day while the villain desperately tries to break free to find his injured child. Naturally, Spider-Man cares not a whit for the environment: to generate all the electricity that his unceasing television-viewing requires, whole West Virginia mountains must be leveled to extract the precious coal within.
Curtis, Marvin, and Dennis the Menace, 4/22/09
Meanwhile, these three strips are here to show us the true meaning of Earth Day, which is that children of all races are filthy, disgusting monsters.
Funky Winkerbean, 4/22/09
Speaking of filthy and disgusting, in non-Earth Day news, today’s Funky Winkerbean features one character telling another about vomiting, and, as a “punchline,” the second character recoils in disgust. Funky Winkerbean, ladies and gentlemen!
Family Circus, 4/22/09
Yup, she sure is making life grand! By sitting there in the living room, quietly reading the newspaper. While the kids gather in the doorway, watching her, enraptured. Seriously, this family creeps me out so God-damned much.
Uncle Lumpy
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Family Circus, like Foob (if I remember correctly) is in end-stage self-congratulation.
Sheila Sternwell
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Bob Keane gets all of his material from the Shoebox Greetings [1] section of his local Walgreen’s.
[1] A subsidiary of Hallmark Conglomerated Emotional Manipulations, Inc.
Sheila Sternwell
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Whoops, I mean Bil Keane, or possibly Jeff(y) Keane. Hey, leave me alone, I spend as much time as I can trying to forget the existence of “Family Circus”. This often involves vodka.
Gal Friday
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:13 pm
How could you pass up “Mark Trail”’s Earth Day celebrations?: The ducks singing in panel 2 while Rusty is kidnapped.
Stroker Ace
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:14 pm
‘Duke – Here’s a hint Mrs. Hitler: if he sniffs your butt first & then there are paws on your shoulders it’s the dog.
Daveyk
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:15 pm
“…havin’ her here makes life so GRAND! It took us days of relentless hunting to trap Mom and Dad. But Grandma’s old and slow. So we can get to feasting on her flesh without any annoying delays.”
bats :[
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Ohhhh…that tree-fucking strip. I thought you meant this one (yes, this is recycled; no it wasn’t a previous Earth Day one, just Miss Buxley doing the right thing. I guess.):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/3466364565/
Brock Sampson
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:26 pm
I don’t read Spider-Man except when it’s featured here, but why was he spraying water at Electro a couple weeks ago if his webslingers work against him? Wouldn’t that have been the first thing to try? So confused…
Abbot of Unreason
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Re: Family Circus. They’re just happy that somebody still reads the paper to keep them alive.
Josh
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Hi, everybody, I just read yesterday’s threads and it occurs to me that I apparently have to make some rules explicit:
1) Don’t post boring, unfunny diatribes about politics under the guise of talking about comics, because that makes the comments section irritating.
2) If other people violate rule #1, don’t feel like YOU HAVE TO RESPOND OR ELSE THEY’LL WIN OH MY GOD THE FATE OF THE WORLD HANGS ON THIS, because that makes the comments more boring and more irritating. If you want to get into political fights with people you have, you know, the whole rest of the fucking Internet for that. Doing so makes the comments section irritating. Keep in mind always this comic.
3) Don’t deliberately bait other commentors by doing either #1 and #2, because that makes the comment section ESPECIALLY irritating.
I only check the comments a few times a day, so it’s wholly possible that violations of these rules will go unnoticed for hours at a time. That does not mean that you too should go ahead and violate them. Bans to be handed out capriciously and arbitrarily.
Josh
Phred22
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:30 pm
BB: Who would’ve expected Zero to dish the dirt?
Rusty
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:31 pm
FC: It’s about time for floating Grandpa ghost to tear the place apart in a Poltergeist-like maelstrom.
Rusty
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Marvin: Once again, comic book artists, perspective is your friend. Little Marvin here is about the height of the adults’ kneecaps, which does not occur in nature. Unless he is Matt Roloff.
Scherzo
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:44 pm
I didn’t just talk about Earth day, I did something! My seedling trees came today (you really can buy anything on eBay…), and we just finished planting them! Take that Mrs. Ghost-who-can-only-hang-onto-her-tacky-briefcase!
Mac
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Anyone seen this? American tax dollars paid for this.
cj
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:46 pm
The inability to speak renders silent the only voice questioning Billy’s unwitticisms. PJ is a prisoner in his own home, unable to effect change even in the most trivial of situations. This is not just his story, it is the secret fear within us all. It is the American Nightmare.
Jamus The Bartender
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Family Circus: When I was in NW Wisconsin, visiting the family, my nephew…the one who likes to fart in my face, said to me, ” You ain’t good for nothin’ but eatin’ and watchin’ TV.” Little harsh, but at least it was honest, and he showed himself to be smarter than all four FC kids combined.
Rusty
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:51 pm
#15: Whatever that is, it started an instant download on my machine. Not cool.
Soccerhead
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Curtis: What is with this “Discount on Baby Heads” sign and all these other signs Gunther has in his shop? are these actually found in barber shops?
Funky: I don’t need that image, but compared to all the other images in Westview, this is pretty mundane.
Mac
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:55 pm
It’s a PDF. Sorry — here’s a better link.
Rusty
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:57 pm
#20: Thanks, that looks like a good read.
True Fable
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Regarding Snark
We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t comics fans, and snarking on the comics is how we express our interest or lack thereof.
Knowing that Bob Weber Jr. (who draws goats! ) and Ed Power and someone over at the controls of the AJGLU3000 come here to read and comment, tells me that cartoonists care very much for our feedback. Even when the snark is sharp or stinging, there is something they can take away from it that might inspire or goad them into a joke or direction.
UncleJeff at Y289 is right: the commentary and praise about Woody Wilson is similar to our reaction to Al Scaduto and TDIET, and with good reason: we admire them. They represent consummate professionals and regarded as very nice, human, creative people. Al was a wonderful gentleman and the comics pages are the worse for his loss. Woody does his job day after day to bring us the ongoing stories we avidly follow, and that is no mean feat when you consider he knows he’s going to be snarked on it here.
But there IS a difference in snarkdom here. Woody has our respect and admiration because it is apparent in Judge Parker that his goal is to entertain us and tell us a tale, and it shows in the storylines. When we snark him, it’s like teasing a friend when they have bedhead or when they mutter a malapropism at the worst time during a party. It doesn’t mean we don’t like him, it means we’re kidding him and actually think he’s a good guy.
Bob Weber Jr. provides a comic for kids, something rare these days when you think about it. Most so-called “comics” are mistakenly assumed by the mainstream as all being for kids but they aren’t. Look through the Chron lineup and you’ll see most of the humor is geared toward adults or at least, people over 13. Bob offers puzzles and find-’ems and things that make younger kids’ neurons snap and function, and he should be commended for it.
Ed Power and Melissa deJesus give us a smart, funny grown-up’s comic that reflects a lot of the emotions we recognize in our own lives, and makes us chuckle at our own foibles. We can see the effort in the balance of making it smart, making it funny without making it syrupy or pandering.
The people at Archie are doing the kinds of jokes that has brought Archie along for the past 50 years, and they at least try to kept it contemporary. It seems (to me) to be geared for tweens, kids who are just getting into the stuff of adolescence. What we may term as ‘trite’ and ‘groan-inducing’, Archie’s target audience may be reading as if it’s new to them – and it may well be. And the AJGLU3000 people can poke fun at themselves. Every time I see them put the AJGLU3000 logo somewhere, I am reminded that these folks have a sense of humor and that makes me feel good about them. They can take it and they dish it right back out. Cool.
If there are other comic writers or artists who come here and read the snark by ninja ways (do you know my goats?) I invite you to consider that snark is opinion. There are backhanded compliments everywhere, and our ribald jokes tell you how things are coming across, perhaps in ways that you never intended but it is the way our hoary minds run.
And yes, there are just flat-out complaints and hey, that is opinion too. I make no bones about the comics I dislike and I will say why. So will many other ‘Mudgeons. We may not be able to solve the world’s problems but we can make our preferences known in this tiny corner called the Comics Page. If you see unrelenting irritation aimed at your strip with an explanation thereof, cop a clue. When we use vitriol to express our displeasure, then it would behoove you to use that as a learning tool.
Don’t be lazy and recycle the same six jokes week in and week out; show an effort, for Pete’s sake. Do some research in this century and bring your characters out of the 1950’s PERMANENTLY. Cut back on the incessant whiiiine in your supposedly ‘likable’ characters. If that’s your stock in trade, then trade your stock now because baby, it’s low.
/rant
anaceofkidneys
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Okay, so Curtis is (completely non-innuendo-ly) dirty. But that doesn’t explain his five o’clock shadow.
Black Drazon
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:05 pm
“She makes life here GRAND! And MA can she… urm… hold on. Ho– no, hold on a second, Dolly! I can do this. I can make this pun work. I’ve been making the puns work for fifty years, I can do this one, dammit!”
mojo
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:07 pm
AUGH! Why did Mary Worth stop the exciting Ted the Incompetent Con Man storyline just to jump to Mary pruning ROSE BUSHES and gabbing non sequiturs about EARTH DAY? We Mary Worth um … fff … ffff … fffannss are on TENTERHOOKS! Tenterhooks, I tells ya! Will Adrian do what I don’t think has EVER been shown in comic strip form before?!? Meaning PUT A STOP ON HER CHECK? Imagine! All the Mary Worth watchers who will DROP DEAD from the EXCITEMENT! Why, it’ll more thrilling than the time Mary spent a week perusing the Charterstone BYLAWS! Well, okay, maybe not THAT thrilling. But FROZEN SHRIMP SCAMPI thrilling, fer shure!
McManx
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:08 pm
F Circus– I thought it was because she was built like a baby grand piano.
M Trail– This strip appears to have missed recognizing Earth Day, but actually it did not. When Rusty is murdered and buried in a shallow grave, his decomposition will demonstrate the value of biodegradeable refuse.
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Rusty @ 18: The download linked to by Mac @ 15 is a PDF file of a Rex Morgan comic book about fetal alcohol syndrome. I’d place it somewhere in the 1970s. Don’t worry, it’s virus-free; the worst thing about it is the fact that you’ll never get back the time it takes to read it.
Mr. O'Malley
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:12 pm
20. 1980! Whew! Rex came perilously close to practising medicine there for a few moments!
Nurse June Gale. I remember my father going on about Rex finally marrying June, although I don’t remember the strips at all.
Shlomo
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:14 pm
I wish Family Circus would have celebrated Earth Day by burying Billy in the Earth.
yellojkt
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Alternate Family Circus caption:
“…because when she dies, we each get a grand!”
Jamus The Bartender
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:20 pm
The Cat And The Curmudgeon
Cat’s In The Cradle.
Cassandra and I stared into our respective bowls of gumbo and jambalaya for a good five minutes.
” How far along?” I asked.
Cassandra took a small drink. ” The doctor figured between a month and six weeks.
I counted back. Yeah, that sounded right. That was the week she got busted for putting fake diamonds onto a dog collar, we got into a fight…
Then there was after the fight.
Saved me the trouble and potential embarrasment of asking if I was responsible.
I was.
I took her hand in mine. ” Okay….um. Well then. Here we are. There’s two things….make that three things to square away.”
” First is this. We need to see a doctor about this, and I don’t mean a regular pediatrician. I mean, sure, but given we’re a mixed species, we should see an expert about that sort of thing.”
Cassandra nodded. ” Yeah, I know….”
” Second thing….Cass…Cass, look at me baby….” I took her hand in mine. ” Do you want to see this through? I mean, do you think you….I mean, do you think we’re ready for this?”
She whispered, ” I don’t know…” then burst into tears, burying her hands in her face, ” Jamus, i’m so scared….”
Someone who was a lot stronger and braver than I was got up from his chair and took Cassandra into his arms and told her everything was gonna be okay and that he was gonna be right there for her and that we were in this together and that he’d support whatever decision she made, and that the third thing on his list was to tell her that I loved her.
I honestly don’t know how long we stood there, holding each other. It must have been a long time, because the bussers were cleaning tables, and the manager said that dinner was on the house.
As we hit the street, I mentioned the specialist I had in mind.
” Jamus, are you fucking nuts? Oliver Wendell Jones? That kid is insane. He switched my dad’s brain with Donald Trump’s. ”
” That’s what I mean….look, just the fact that he spent so much time studying your father’s DNA and physiology means he’s the most qualified to ….to help us take care of our baby.”
Our baby.
Yeah, there it was. Our baby.
Even as I said it, my heart dropped. This was gonna be our lives, depending on what Cassandra decided. Diapers and preschool and baby-proofing outlets and making sure the kids got their Dip-Tets…
Cassandra felt it too. She had been six months at Narcotics Anonymous, and five of those months were clean. But there was the other thing.
The stealing. The “procurement of exotic items for resale”.
And, of course, there was the ” us” situation. ” Jamus…”
” Yeah?”
” Remember the time we heard Mark Trail tell that story about the couple in the woods with the lost deer, and how when they found out they were having a baby, they thought everything was gonna be okay?”
I did. Ashley and Maureen and Dick Tracy were listening to the story with us. We all had a good laugh after Trail left, shaking our heads as to how he could be so clueless.
” Babies don’t make things better, Jamus. Sometime’s it makes things worse.”
I took her hand in mine. ” I know that baby. Listen, I promise, no more running around, no more fights…”
She stopped me. ” Don’t….don’t say stuff like that. Just promise me you’ll do the right thing when the time comes. I know you’re kind of flighty, and we’ve been off and on for years….but you’re a decent guy….” Tears welled up again. ” …and I love you..”
We held each other again. It began to rain. A lot, like sheets. We found refuge under an awning of an Ace Hardware.
” One thing’s for sure, we’ll have to go with cloth diapers…” I said, pointing to a sign in the window that said ” Plant A Tree For Earth Day–Shovels On Sale Half Off”
Cassandra smirked, then grinned and said, ” That seemed a little forced…”
I nodded…” I know, I know, but it beats hell out of flying ducks……
Fin
Mr. O'Malley
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:23 pm
1959 LA Times comics page.
Some real classics: Out Our Way, Our Boarding House, Mike Nomad, Pogo, etc.
BeeF
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:28 pm
And yet, no recognition in any of these Earth-day-y strips that they are all supposed to be published on chemically drenched and processed newsprint then distributed through a carbon-footprint heavy system of belching trucks.
(As opposed to the web, you see, which my best sources assure me is run on unicorn tears and the 100% procycleable sound of baby laughter.)
True Fable
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:31 pm
I’ve always wondered: Why are none of the Keane kids’ pullover shirts ever shown with the necks stretched out? Heads that big have got to warp a few stitches if not generate its own gravity.
druidbros
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:31 pm
MW – Oh noes! Mary has become aware of Mother Earth. Run Mother Earth, run!
MT – what the ?????? I guess every day is Earth Day in the Lost Forrest so there is no need to bring it for the forefront of the readers attention.
Non Sequitur – My favorite of Earth Day. Bring on the tubes!
terrene
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Check it out, Momma Menace’s chin is trying to detach itself and escape the terrible, terrible comic.
Peaches
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Lio – Today’s Lio put my brain through a loop. Before I finally got the joke, I was rifling through my paper looking for some explanation for why a tiny, lonely panel of Gil Thorp was waving its arms and asking for “a little help”
Digger
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:42 pm
FW: So I guess if Les and Cayla decide to sneak off to the faculty restroom for a little hanky-panky, they’ll be in for a nasty surprise.
MT: It appears the criminals are going to make off with Rusty! But first, they’re going to swing by Mark and Cherry’s place to throw five hundred dollars at them.
Also, some may not have noticed, but Mark Trail did commemorate Earth Day, as the command “Celebrate Earth Day!” was written in the second panel below the giant mutant ducks. I’m sold. If we don’t do something soon, the planet will soon be conquered by this race of enormous mallards.
Dave
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:42 pm
I’d like to believe Zero just handed over a box of his own feces. Makes his pride so much more believable.
True Fable
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:43 pm
#34 – Correction: A head that big has got to warp a few stitches if not generate its own gravity.
Okay, Mrs. Savage? Years after dragging my ass to your English classes, your browbeating lectures on the sins of butchering the English language have paid off. I am chastising MYSELF. Geez, you’re a tough old bird, Mrs. Savage, even to this day.
xy
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Ah, Earth Day. the only day of the year that you can give a box of dirt to a whore and not expect sex in return.
Dagger
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Meanwhile, across the country, Mark Trail readers are taking heed of the strip and celebrating Earth Day by kidnapping children. It’s eco-friendly!
Mr. O'Malley
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:45 pm
31. (Chuckles) So if Bill the Cat was her father, who was her mother?
The cat that Pepe LePew was always chasing?
The cat from Allegro Non Troppo (sob) ?
Arlene from Garfield?
The never-seen-but-by-implication-must-exist female cat-Plugger?
One of Mr. Jack’s girlfriends?
Charlene
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Mary Worth looks today as if she were drawn by Terry Gilliam. I keep expecting to see her jaw unhinge and all kinds of 60s magazine illustrations pour out.
NJP
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:50 pm
I’m dubious of Mrs. Phantom’s so-called eco-consciousness. What sort of carbon footprint does a trip from UN headquarters to the American South, where she apparently rendezvoused with the helicopter to fly her out to the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, leave? Luckily, the Walker family has plenty of resources they’ve plundered over generations squirreled away in the Skull Cave if she wants to buy carbon offsets.
Rana
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Run Mother Earth, run!
35. druidbros, this is now my favorite tagline. *rubbing hands together* I’m gonna use it for everything!
Jamus The Bartender
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:56 pm
43. As a matter of fact, it was Arlene. I like the Mr. Jack link, I think I saw them in a book many years ago.
Sheila Sternwell
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:00 pm
#32 Mr O’Malley – I love the comics scanned in at the LA Times blog. It’s one of my favorite blogs, although Harnisch is so prolific that I can’t keep up with his posts.
cj
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Re: 31. Jamus
Wow! Do you write books? You should. I haven’t read bound fiction in like a year (because I don’t like to wade through crap to get to diamonds).
Jordan
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:01 pm
How long is the family going to just stand there as Marvin slops water all over that sickly little sapling? Hours? Days? Until Marvin gets bored with the hose and uses his own?
Sheila Sternwell
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:02 pm
#22 True sez: When we snark him, it’s like teasing a friend when they have bedhead
I was so sure you had said “when they have beheaded”, even after multiple readings. Now I’m afeared of your friends.
Speaking of beheadings, when was the last villain who lost his head to Dick? Dick Tracy, I mean.
Mariko
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Aww, I was so proud about being the first one to mention the environmental effects of Spider-Man’s returning the electricity, and here Josh just goes and shames me by saying it in a much funnier way.
Donkey Hotey
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Doesn’t one of our group have a li’l crush on Bonnie of Bonnie and Boo Boo? I can’t think who it is, but this must have been a red-letter day for him. Or her.
sugarpie
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:10 pm
31 Jamus “Someone who was a lot stronger and brave than I…” Surprise ourselves sometimes, we do.
I’ve got two sets of old friends who found themselves in this story arc. And they were damned near different species, also. Sadly and happily, the outcomes were 180 degrees apart.
You’re breaking my heart sir.
Eldaglass
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:11 pm
I came here really hoping someone would explain today’s B.C.. Never mind the oddness of the fish-getting-tans idea. What’s a “green backhoe” have to do with anything? Are backhoes known for blocking the sun from would-be tanners? How can a backhoe block the sun for a fish? And why a “green” backhoe? This is slang for something, right? Or some kind of anti-Earth Day strip about how all those “green” people think they’re saving the planet, but their efforts are just backward and blocking the sun for the fish (who don’t worry about polar icecaps or holes in the ozone as long as they get a little color)?
If that’s what this is, I won’t even be mad. I just need it to mean something.
bats :[
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:12 pm
32. Mr O’Malley: Gordo! Not only Gordo, but a strip with Poosy Gato! Gracias!
Lots of fun reading there. But if we complain that some of today’s strips are mired in the 50s and 60s (Blondie, Archie), wow — Out Our Way seems to be firmly entrenched in the 30s!
Alan's Addiction
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Attention, Beetle Bailey, when I have to puzzle through your strangely-worded punchline for two minutes, and it’s a very lame pun, you are no longer considered a “comic strip.” At that point, you are “homework.” And I have enough of that already.
I want to know where The Phantom’s Wife (I’m too tired to look up the character’s real name) got that cool Earth Day bag. I also would like to know if this will be the strip’s way of dealing with every other holiday from this point in time. Imagine next Thanksgiving, in the middle of some adventure, a single cut away panel of Phantom Wife holding a “Thanksgiving” bag.
If you can see an obvious, direct connection between a pseudo-holiday established to raise awareness and physically battling spandex-clad man-children, then, congratulations, you’re qualified to write for Spider-Man. Either that or you’re on some powerful hallucinogens.
In today’s Family Circus, I really don’t know which is creepier: the children clustering together to plot the poor woman’s downfall, or dear old Grandma studiously ignoring them, lulling them into a false sense of confidence. It’s almost like watching a group of lions move into position around a bull elephant.
Sheila Sternwell
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Eldaglass, I think it’s a joke about the whale trying to get a tan, but those pesky do-gooders think he’s beached and so they get the backhoe to go put him back in the water and save him.
A green backhoe, though… no idea. Probably added the word “green” to make the comic Earth Day Appropriate.
Jamus The Bartender
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:21 pm
49, 54. Thank you cj and sugarpie, high praise indeed. No, I don’t write books, but….yeah, I probably should. And, just to let everyone know, the story you’re about to read didn’t happen to me, but I know people who have been in a similar situation, and wanted to see what would happen with Cassandra and ” Jamus”.
Stev0
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:37 pm
The bad news is the next plot features Spiderman fighting Aunt May. The good news is he loses two times out of three.
Uncle Lumpy
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Earth Day is all about saving the planet for our children. Our disgusting, filthy children.
wooddragon
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Took me many readings to get BC. I thought that big fish thing was a shark…
Dragon of Life
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Spider-Man has valorously defeated his opponent by webbing him to the very door he was attempting to reach in the first place. Next he will foil a robbery by webbing criminals to the money, then foil an arson by webbing a criminal to the gas can and matches, then foil an attempted rape by webbing the criminal to the victim’s I’ve gone too far with this.
DrPill
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Oh, Mr. O’Malley at 43, I knew every one of those references, thank you. One you left out was Krazy, but that’s understandable ’cause no one was ever sure of his/her gender. He/she could be mother and father.
True Fable
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:18 pm
#51 Sheila Sternwell – bwahahaha…!
zadig
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Jamus, that was a beautiful [sniff] story, and I’m rooting for those two lovesick kids to get it together and just face life as it comes, and oh god I think I’m crying again. Beautiful. Just beautiful.
Rotten Arsenal
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Eldaglass (55), Sheila (58), & wooddragon (62)… Thanks!
I was so utterly baffled by today’s BC that it has bothered me all day. I thought it was a shark as well. Which brings up my next comment, was this drawn at the last minute after an all night bender? Criminy, how freaking hard is it to draw a couple of aquatic creatures… and there’s not even any background…nothing! It’s like they gave Don Knotts a pencil and said “Draw a whale and a fish talking… you’ve got 20 seconds. GO!”
Muffaroo
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Mr. O’Malley @32 – Ohhh, man! I’ll take a subscription to 1959, please. Gordo! Pogo! Lil’ Pedro! (Okay, he doesn’t really belong there. I was going for the terminal -o sound thing.) Alley Oop! Priscilla’s Pop! Out Our Way! Oddly enough, that one’s a re-run from sometime between 1936 and 1945, because I have it in a book from 1945. It appeared on 3/1, but I can’t tell from which of the years mentioned on the copyright page. (It’s the “Born Thirty Years Too Soon” collection shown on this page. Note the original art at the bottom — and the size choices of each.) Williams wasn’t getting lazy — he’d died in 1957 at the age of 70. I had no idea all these collections existed. Now I want ‘em.
Who! What’s this? Somebody is publishing Collections of Our Our Way!
Galuaboy
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Getting to the comments a little late (and admittedly skimming them), but what about “Mother Goose & Grim” and “My Cage” using the same gag? I thought it was clever–just weird to see them right next to one another on my MyComics page on the Chron. (And still infinitely superior to Spiderman and Mark Trail’s lame Earth Day shout outs!)
It's time to pay the price
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:51 pm
So is that “turgid gloppage” all over Curtis’ face? God, why does every strip that takes place in his babershop have to degrade into sex sex sex?
Poteet
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:01 am
I was one of the two organizers of the first Earth Day at my very large high school back in 1970. So does that make me in any way responsible for the very strange ways in which comics celebrated Earth Day in 2009?
Hell no.
Jeff
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:07 am
Slylock Fox came out on top in the Columbia, SC online comics survey. You can see the results here:
http://www.thestate.com/living/story/737433.html
sugarpie
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:07 am
71 Poteet So you’re the one? You know that we do have to answer for our life’s actions when its all over, don’t you?
Alison
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:08 am
Why is it that Dennis’s parents both have long, pointy noses, while Dennis has a short, round nose? It’s the same with the Pattersons in the non-zombie version of Foobiverse-Elly and John had huge honkers while Mike, Liz, and April had little noses. I guess all the kids in both these strips were adopted, which worked out pretty well since all the characters in these strips, parents and kids alike, are idiots, and they all deserve each other.
True Fable
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:18 am
#72 Jeff – YESSS!
sugarpie
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:19 am
32 Mr. O’Malley, Muffaroo Gordo! And that Pogo is just the best! Its what Zippy in his wildest rants wishes he could be. Just… I’m in awe.
I’ve got a new goal-find some Pogo anthologies.
True Fable
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:22 am
#73 sugarpie – Oh damn, if that’s true then I had better start working on some good excuses right now to account for my body of work.
KarMann
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:23 am
#74 Alison
Notice that Mr. Wilson’s nose is large and round, though, isn’t it? And Dennis does seem to be drawn* to him, almost like some sort of… figure*.
* If you call that “drawing”, and a “figure”.
Poteet
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:23 am
4/23
A3G — “My door could use a good scrubbin.’
Yew touched it yesterday
As yew were headin’ out the door
And lyin’ all the way.
But now I know, yew cheater yew,
And yew’ll come back no more!
Ah bleached your clothes, Ah trashed your stuff
And now Ah’ll scrub my door.
FW — Could she, um, smell him?
RMMD — Willy reminds me of one of the Barrow gang in BONNIE AND CLYDE, but I mercifully can’t remember which one.
Poteet
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:28 am
# 76 sugarpie — My brother has some old Pogo anthologies, but I suspect he’d downsize to living in his car before he’d give them up. Pogo fanatics can be quite fanatic:-).
And yes, I know my future is grim. Maybe I’ll be reborn as a Funky Winkerbean character. *shudder*
NoahSnark
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:33 am
Spider Man attending an observance instead of a party is just the kind of energy and excitement regular readers of the strip have come to expect.
True Fable
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:34 am
#79 o Poteet, my queen! – Michael J. Pollard?
commodorejohn
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:34 am
#72 Jeff – Fantastic! Everybody, give yourselves a pat on the back, and fling the contents of your chad buckets into the air like so much confetti.
Poteet
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:37 am
# 32 Mr. O’Malley — Thank you!!! I had forgotten about MICKEY FINN and PRISCILLA’S POP. And I remember that particular OUT OUR WAY from an anthology. It’s great to see it again.
Poteet
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:39 am
# 82 Sir Fable MTK — Yes! Do you see it too? Thanks.
Winky\'s Spleen
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:46 am
Jamus The Bartender #17 – A comic strip about a kid who farts in relatives’ faces would be so much better than Family Circus, I’m not sure there are words to describe the degree of difference. Just a suggestion for any aspiring cartoonist.
At the other end of the spectrum, if papers are going to insist on printing reruns of old strips, why not Pogo? Most of what I know about the ’50s comes from my parents’ old Pogo books (Apparently Joe McCarthy was a cat whose eyes had no pupils…).
Baka Gaijin
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:47 am
#Y298 Old School Allie Cat:
Ah ha ha ha ha HA! “Stella’s Stout and Nosy Shoppe!” Ha ha ha ha.
sugarpie
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:57 am
86 Winky’s S. That thought went through my addled brain too. If reruns there must be, then why not good ones? Maybe on May 1st? All the nations newspapers will be required to print one page of the best strips from the past. Who’s to decide? Me. I’ll decide. Or hell, they could take a poll. They’re polling about every thing else.
Goodnight.
Lisa
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:19 am
Is anyone here responsible for the ads at the top of the page? That cat thing on the bottom is horrifying and scary. I can’t stand to look at it…. it’s a nightmare…. :o(
Cool not Cold
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:27 am
#10 – Josh, thank you! Jeez, we come here to get AWAY from this kind of crap! Please, please, please put these wanna-be political pundits to the Cockpit, or as you warned, banished. But please make it For-Evah! *glurg* gag*
True Fable
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:34 am
Open Up Tommie That’s the most banging Tommie’s ever going to get.
C’haft zzzzt.
Children of the Circle That’s not his tummy. Cheese it, Jeffy’s gonna blow!
Canadian Zombie OMFG, THIS is the strip that made me gag years ago and started my initial dislike of this comic. Spittle and gluttony; damn that’s gross.
Scenes from Suburban Hell It’s a wonder Ditto hasn’t revealed more than just his secret identity, standing around in his skivvies like that.
Sam Driver, Inexplicable Chick Magnet I wonder how pleased Sam would be if Randy did the same thing to Sam in a hearing. Then it’d be all, “Why that sorry &$#% claw-wielding *&# punk who’s still tied to Daddy’s belt loops -!” Clam down, Sam. Just clam down.
Sweet, shallow and morally fluctuating Argument about what? So far this guy’s treated her a hell of a lot better than any of her so-called “friends” ever has.
Fist O Justice oooh mama get the popcorn, honey grab the cocktails! There’s going to be a Fist-O-Rama coming up soon that can’t be missed!!
Marmadick He’s going to eat you, FYI.
Master Poopypants Oh for cryin’ out loud, Armstrong! Is Scatological humor the ONLY humor you ever explore any more?
Meddling Heights Look out, Ted. She’s got a Pointy Finger and she knows how to use it.
Kit Walker, 3-Way Ranger Wasn’t the captain all decked out in fancy duds a moment ago? Then how…what… ah, I see. the Ghost-Who-Does-Quickies is on board!
Rex Morgan, Innui Central It’s a nice close-up of Rex all right, but his offering Michael J. Pollard something else to eat besides donuts is just askin’ for a snarkin’.
S4th Way to go, Hil.
Spider- bastard Bonus, Spidey: they have TVs at the hospital!
Mr. O'Malley
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:54 am
56. bats :[ Aside from being a repeat (as Muffaroo says at 68), I think Out Our Way was always a kind of nostalgia strip. Notice the knee britches on the boys—even in 1945 I think this was way out of fashion.
An OOW collection. For (after clicking through a whole lot of links) $12. I’m tempted!
If you really want to see a strip that didn’t change much, compare Our Boarding House there to these much earlier ones. But the time difference is no greater than with the old FOOBs that are re-running. Or the DeGroot parents having started out as van-dwelling hippies.
76. sugarpie. Well, good luck. I’m with O Poteet’s brother on that one, I’m hanging on to mine. There were some reprints that came out in the 1980s that might be easier to get.
Reading Pogo does require you to have some knowledge of people and events of those days. It’s a shame Walt Kelly wasn’t around longer. He had a much defter and more barbed style of satire than either Gary Trudeau or Berk Breathed. Bloom County came the closest to filling the void, I think, but good as it was, it wasn’t quite in the same league.
It was for the first Earth Day in 1970 that Walt did his famous We have met the enemy and he is us poster (revised in 1971) that I think has never been equalled by anyone else since.
What got me on the original blog was
“Too much” water?!?!? Greedy bastards!
Mr. O'Malley
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:14 am
86. 88. One thing I enjoy about the SF Chronicle is that they reprint articles and columns from 20, 30, 50, 100 years ago. And they’ll never let Herb Caen go (although they seem to be try to develop Willie Brown as the next version). It’s very interesting, and of course the selections often are chosen for the light they shed on today’s issues.
They should do cartoons too. Some of those classic strips, printed at full size, would be awesome. They could even do a few political cartoons. Stuff like this seems right up to date. (Not commenting pro or con, you understand.)
KarMann
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:22 am
#86 Winky\’s Spleen:
Isn’t that Marvin, though?
Harold
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:35 am
What the hell is Curtis talking about?! They actually went INTO the river, and cleaned the bottom? By hand? That sounds like a winner for “Least Effective Organized Earth Day Activity.”
And just how many kids got swept downriver? (Obviously, one too few.)
bats :[
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:41 am
A few Thursday observations:
A3G: woohooo! Three of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are gettin’ ready to whoop Joe’s ass (the fourth horseman, LuAnn, is riding one of those horsie rides in front of the market in East Dakota).
RMMD: I gotta admit, that is a fine portrait of Rex! Straight shooter! Humanitarian! A friend to all! (I really do like it.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/3467898790/
(sorry, you’ll have to size it up)
Sparky AKA Able Bodied Seaman Craggy Fjord
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:57 am
Pogo: Sigh.
Log Cabin Duck: Ugh.
FC: I read it as “Gran Diva” and wondered WTF – I think I need bed.
A3G: I want Tommie to beat the shit out of Dr. Kelly. Naked. I’m tired of bullies.
Wangdoodle
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:03 am
Bizarro: Damn you, hippie, if you’re going to refer to comic-book characters, at least update yourself from the ’60s. Cap’s dead and Bucky was dead, but Bucky got better and bionic to boot and is now Cap. (Ironically, a complete-asshole Cap wannabe called U.S.Agent was sent off to Canada to watch their superheroes for us.)
Curtis: If a white guy drew today’s strip dot dot dot.
FC: No, Jeffy’s just getting physically ill from the strip. Huh. I guess he IS human.
Mallard: Now, let’s talk about Tinsley’s endless outrage over the three Jeff-Gannon-wannabees kicked off Air Force One by one President, versus his complete lack of outrage over the treatment of Helen Thomas and promotion of Jeff Gannon (formerly of militarystud.com) by another President. Because I don’t quite grok those standards either.
Luann: But…wouldn’t you have to have both a heart and a mind for that?
S4th: I’ll bet it was hard to cram up that lettering like that, too.
True Fable
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:07 am
#96 bats :[ – Ah Luv Yew!
mordock999
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:28 am
Today’s Luann 04/23/09
“Um back from takin’ yer Daughter out for a ‘test drive’. Here’s tuh downpayment. Have ‘er cleaned up ‘an ready when ah gits back!” – ELwood
____________________
DEATH to TJ!
Mibbitmaker
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:10 am
4/23:
A3G: Oh, good, here comes the cavalry at last (and by cavalry, I mean Margo).
Cleats: Ms. Marmaduke.
FW: Aaaand he’s throwing up over her shoulder!
Garfield: Oh, no, not that again, baby!
H&J: No wonder — that’s not George Washington on the dollar, that’s Porky Pig.
RMMD: “A shave, please, Dr. Morgan.”
Patrick
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:07 am
Miss Buxley’s just doing her thing, hanging out in a featureless void, sitting at her completely empty desk wearing pearls and a black cocktail dress, when Zero shows up with a miniature treasure chest full of dirt. The army is really different than I imagined.
Talking Squirrel
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:11 am
FW: “Thorax” has to be one of the most inapt names in the comics. It’s like calling Olive Oyl “Headlights”. If there was any truth in advertising, dude’s name would be Omentum.
Talking Squirrel
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:14 am
FW, WTF? Obviously I meant A3G, er, 9CL. Too much Δ9THC…
monsieurjohn
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:34 am
Door-scrubbin’ ex machina!
One-eyed Wolfdog
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:02 am
A3G: “Aristotle! That noise is coming from 3-G!!” “Well… it’s got a good disco beat.”
gleeb
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:12 am
Yesterday’s BC: Whale? If that thing is a whale, I’m a backhoe-driving caveman.
Brenda: There we go, another man for Brenda to use up and toss on the ash heap with the others. Now we can get this thing started.
9CL: Thorax. I ain’t readin’ that.
A3G: Dr Joe Kelly, this will be your Waterloo. And Margo is Blücher.
’shaft: Fidel Castro used human growth hormones on a baseball?
Edge City: Let’s keep score from the “homework rubric” stupidity: keeping strictly to a rigid set of rules, 2. Letting her little darling’s creativity run wild, 1.
‘bean: Ha! Just a simple black suit, appropriate for funerals, performances of The Magic Flutophone, and other tragic occurances.
Sam Driver, Princeton grad!: So, now that we’ve all praised Wilson & Barreto, how does Sam Driver get the stripes on his tie’s knot to run in the same direction as the rest of his tie? And what does he want from the new Judge Parker that he’s buttering him up so thoroughly?
Red & Rover: Yes, a “special” love tree for a kid and a dog.
Rex & Willy: Guys, you’re making this way too easy.
Sally: A twitter reference? Nooooooooo!
Zippy: Remember, Zippy defenders, Griffy thinks of you as an indistinct gray mass.
yellojkt
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:22 am
Josh isn’t the only one that takes long vacations and neglects his blog. I went on vacation before I posted the finalists in National Kinkiest Komix Kompetition. Some of the winners may surprise you. Go here and vote for your favorite.
Little Guy
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:40 am
22: (Standing Ovation).
Well played.
buckyswife
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:05 am
MT: In a better comic, this plot would evolve into a wacky “Ransom of Red Chief” story, with our hapless criminals slowly worn down by the predations of their “victim.” Instead, they’ll blather while Rusty manages to look both wide-eyed and glum–but I can still fantasize that they’ll suddenly become aware of the horrific creepiness of his face, and strangle him with his kerchief.
MW: Watch out, Ted! Adrian has chosen the bold move of employing the Judge Parker Pointy Finger of Accusation ™!
FC: Mommy, is it lunch time yet? Jeffy’s gnawing on my arm. ….. Mommy, is it lunch time yet? Jeffy’s lost consciousness. …… Mommy? Mooommmmyyy?
Mock En Espanol
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:32 am
“Nothing’ll stop me from reaching Tommy!”
oh noes! Electro is really Dr. Joe Kelly! And Spiderman’s Margo-sense is tingling, too!
Hogenmogen
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:43 am
A3G: I called it yesterday – Margo & the Prof to the rescue, aided by little Miss Muffett.
H&J: That’s a rerun from last year!
Perky Bird
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:58 am
Why is Electro’s costume green? Shouldn’t it be, I dunno, electric blue?
Hogenmogen
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:58 am
#79 – Poteet – yes she could smell him. He has vomit on his breath, remember?
A3G: This is really the funniest strip of the day. From the first panel Ruby’s ridiculous outfit. “Mah door could use a good ol’ scrubbin’, y’all… What the???”
Then as an added bonus, Margo appears in the last panel armed with the Penguin’s umbrella/machine-gun/soon-to-be-anal-probe.
I will take the first panel out of context and blow it up and hang it on my wall. It’s a true classic.
MW: “You’re making a mountain out of molehill!”. Actually, claiming 10 years instead of 10 weeks is making a mountain out of molehill. Your average 5 year old would say “I know you are, but what am I?” Given her maturity, but add that she is a side character in Mary Worth, she will undoubtedly say something less intelligent and more mundane.
Phantom: The sexy captainess can’t see that if Walker has kids and a wedding band, he probably also has a spouse somewhere. Shocked, she makes the entire family walk the plank.
Hogenmogen
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:00 am
Crankshit: I thought Fidel was supposed to be a good pitcher. He’s bouncing the balls off the plate.
And, hot, humid air is terrible for performing aerial trickery with balls or airplanes. It’s low pressure. You want cold air for that.
PeteJayhawk
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 am
Has there ever been a comic more cynically designed to be cut out and pasted on the refrigerators of America’s elderly than today’s Family Circus? I submit there has not.
kalki
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:03 am
9CL: I thought maybe that was supposed to be R. Allen Stanford, but there’s no moustache, so I guess it is a generic corporate CEO or maybe a Cabinet appointee who didn’t pay his taxes.
Archie: Insulting Archie to his face and making the class laugh at him by publicly displaying his bad grades isn’t enough…dump some hot goat blood on him now or make him eat a donut while the rest of the class has to do pushups. Time to foment some real hatred of Archie so the rest of the class has a military-style blanket party at his house tonight.
Blondie: Unbeknownst to Dagwood, the visual image of “pie” that comes to Mr. Dithers’ mind isn’t food, but Dag’s wife, Blondie.
Crank: Fidel Castro, pupil of Gaylord Perry. Who’d have thought?
DTM: Off to the Hitler Youth meeting, I see.
CircusJerk: “That isn’t your tummy making that noise, honey, and stop doing Kegel exercises in front of your brothers.”
FW: “Now, he’s already fingering me, isn’t he?”
Luann: A few more installments and Elwood will pretty much own Luann, according to the laws of several countries.
S-M: Yeah, this is beyond sad now when Electro is the more honorable of these two characters. I think maybe it is time to drop Pete as the main character and change the strip name to “The Elegant Electro”.
Hogenmogen
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:03 am
MT:
Criminal 1: “We should take the kid with us. We may need him.”
Criminal 2: “Yeah, I have no idea how to work the camera. What’s an F-stop, kid?”
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:04 am
Gotta hurry, a few quick snarks:
A3G: I will be mightily disappointed if those sounds aren’t Tommie’s big ol’ noggin being beaten against the floor. One character with brain damage isn’t enough for this strip!
Bizarro: I think Sarge and Beetle have been supplanted for the title of Gayest Couple In The Comics.
C’haft: Juicing the ball is not the same as what they call “juicing” these days, you ossified old loon.
HtH: What’s the fourth thing a woman needs? Is it oral technique? Tell me it’s oral technique.
Luann: Unless one of those organs has moved to your panties and started oozing, I don’t think those are the two involved in this discussion.
Marvin: Oh boy oh boy, a poop joke! Get it? The cat pooped in the sandbox! Who would have ever expected it from Marvin? I hope to see more of this sassy, self-important, crap-filled feline in this comic in the future! There aren’t enough characters like him on the comics page as it is!
MW: And you’re making a decade out of two and a half months!
PMP: Ha, ha! It would be funny if “refuse” the verb were pronounced the same as “refuse” the noun! Ha, ha! Who wrote this strip, Fredo?
RMMD: Rex’s plan: 1. Give Willy the same food the crew eats. 2. Watch to see if he gets sick. 3. …? 4. Cure!
SFx: Today’s “How To Trace A Manga” artist is Kayla Wagenhofer, or as she wishes her friends would call her, “Kawaii Neko.”
tAS: Nope. Still too soon.
One-eyed Wolfdog
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:14 am
Say, this is pretty awful.
Hogenmogen
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:20 am
FC: Ah yet another malapropism from the Keane factory. Yeah, just keep spitting them out like the public can’t get enough of ‘em. Here are some ideas for future malaprops:
Special July 4 – Jeffy: I can sing the Star-Strangled Banana!
Billy: I can count to 70, but Dolly keeps askin’ me to go to 69!
Dolly: Billy says he’s playing with his pianist, but there’s no piano in the bathroom!
Billy: Yes, I do like gladiator movies! How’d you know? (ok, not a malaprop)
Old School Allie Cat
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:26 am
A3G – Maybe this makes me a bad housekeeper, but when I was living in an apartment, I never thought to scrub my front door.
Although, come to think of it, once somebody attacked the front door of the building with mustard packets, and another time I found raw pork chops in the pine island where I walked my dog. And then one other time, at 6AM, I saw one of my neighbors scrounging through beer bottles leftover from another neighbor’s party looking fot remnants.
Let’s just say that eventually, I got wise and moved.
These Strange Worlds
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:27 am
A3G
I wish they’d reimage A3G based on today’s strip.
They could have a crime fighting trio:
The Professor: Master of the criminal mind, planning, and cooking. “Here’s the plan. Unlock the door. You go high and you go low and I’ll go make some spanokopita.”
The New Dolly Madison, and her scrub brush of retribution. “Unhand her or feel the wrath of the original American Revolution.”
The Claw and her optional umbrella fighting stick (keys sold separately). “I have a question, Mule… Should I disembowel you with my umbrella or just use my lacquered fingernails? Hmmm. Why not both.”
Artist formerly known as Ben
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:30 am
4/23
Phantom: Diane makes her grand entrance in act 1 of “Ghost’s Wife: The Musical.”
Baldo: And that’s how Tia Carmen created the new observance of “Show Your Titties in Church Day.”
DtM: Unless Grampa van Dyke is totally deaf, he can hear Dennis’ stage whisper. Still, passive-aggressive condescension falls a little short of “menace.”
JP: “Really. Randy, I’m not just saying that. At first I was a little pissed when your dad retired and they didn’t rename the strip ‘Sam Driver: Attorney at Law.’ But I gotta say, you knocked it out of the park.”
DT: Just as I thought, One Eye Jack is Bond villain monologuing like a mofo.
A3G: Sigh. All this commotion just as Ruby was about to lie on the mattress, pull her pants down, and scrub her door.
Marvin: Seems like the sandbox will quickly fill up with urine and feces either way.
S4th: That’s just awesome.
S-M: “Maybe you can visit your son later. We’ll see how I feel after sodomizing you for half an hour.”
H&L: Ditto is secretly Zooperman, defender against copyright infringement lawsuits.
Luann: “My heart says he must have crawled out of the deepest bowels of Hell. But my brain has been an atheist since I realized Bernice was my best friend.”
GT: “Or at least her vagina is being consoled, if you know what I mean.”
HtH: Helga is right that Homi doesn’t have to worry about that other thing. Which is good, because the look on her face doesn’t give me much confidence in her intelligence.
H&J: Herb buses the dishes while mulling over how much cash he’ll need to led Generic Obnoxious Whitey sleep with Sarah.
Artist formerly known as Ben
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:35 am
#122 OSAC,
Pardon my ignorance, but what are fot remnants?
kalki
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:44 am
125. Artist formerly known as Ben:
Urban dictionary has some scary definitions for fot. I thought maybe it was remnants won in battle, like “I fot the law and the law won”?
Old School Allie Cat
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:52 am
#125, 126 – It’s defined as : a typo when attempting to use the word “for”.
She was searching *for* dregs of beer among the empties.
This is why I shouldn’t post before my first doughnut.
Jennifer
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:55 am
I thought Cassandra’s mom was Riff Raff’s girlfriend Cleo.
Dingo
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:01 am
A3G: I’m not up on the kids and their language these days. When Ruby says that her “door could use a good scrubbin’” is she referring to her vagina?
MW: Ted Confey really knows how to rub it in. Can’t he see that Adrian is Queen(ie) of the Molehill?
RMMD: Is it just me? Is it? I look at Willy’s face in panel three after Rex’ query about what he’d like to eat and I swear I see the thought balloon “How about your cock?” off in the distance.
commodorejohn
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:08 am
A3G – Ruby, it’s your own business if your “door” needs “scrubbing,” but we don’t particularily want to hear about it. Also, OH MY GOD MARGO IS GOING TO KILL JOE WITH AN UMBRELLA HELL YES
BBlue – That’s right, Zoe. You have to suffer so your parents can spend a week in token homage to something they nominally believe in so they can feel noble. It’s like Lent.
Blondie – Oh. It’s the pie chart. For a minute there, I thought the joke was the “foreign competition” thing, and Dithers was getting all raged up about Dagwood wanting that goddamn Italian shit instead of real American food. I’m still not sure that isn’t the case.
BrS – “But when you look up again, Sylvester Stallone has stumbled into your office, absolutely hammered.”
Crankshaft – So…wait, the whole point of this loony Cuba storyline was so that Jacks could say that cheating at baseball is bad because Fidel Castro did it? It’s like he’s trying to make a point through Godwin-ing the conversation.
DT – “We had a system – all strictly legit. Except for the murder part. We’re still figuring that one out.”
FW – Becky, it’s not generally considered polite to pop a zit while standing at the podium, except on very rare occasions.
GA – The thing I keep reminding myself of is that we could be stuck watching Slim, who is just as obese but a whole lot more annoying.
Luann – You know how Josh was hoping that Ted from Mary Worth would prove to actually be an honest guy after all, and everybody would have been doubting and harassing him for nothing? I’m kind of beginning to feel the same way about Midget Elvis here. At the very least, he’s less creepy than Gunther.
MT – So let’s see here: all Rusty knows is what you look like (public knowledge) and where you are living (about to be irrelevant, since you’re leaving shortly.) Moreover, to the best of your knowledge, you have confiscated the only “evidence” (in massive sarcasm quotes) that he holds against you. Do you A. tie him up and leave him in the cabin while you pack and head out, B. let him go, knowing that you can be miles and miles away by the time he gets back home, or C. take him with you, making yourselves wanted for kidnapping as well as theft, after having been seen in a public place with your victim and his parents? If you answered A or B, congratulations, you are not the dumbest criminals ever to grace the comics page.
Marmaduke – Holy crap, did Marmaduke just get an art upgrade!?
MW – My God, did Mary teach her the Deadly Pointer technique? She could pierce you right through the heart with that thing, Ted! For God’s sake, be careful!
MC – See, this is why you don’t use spell-checkers.
PBS – Aww…
Phantom – I can’t help but think that she’s going to break into a showtune the moment she sets foot on the deck. The orchestra is probably already playing the opening strains.
Pluggers – Pluggers mysteriously have the exact same prescriptions as their spouses.
RMMD – AAAIIIEEE
SF – This is one thing I love about Ces: his ability to make a point and then turn around and smart-ass at himself to double the funny. Also, cripes, is that an organic basketball or something? If not, why is it hemp-colored?
SFx – There is just no way a twelve-year-old should be that good.
SM – Wow, a solution where Spider-Man gets to win and still be a dick, without having to expend any extra effort. Isn’t that convenient!
Hogenmogen
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:13 am
#15 – Mac – I’ve seen that somewhere before. Probably through this site somewhere. I got lots of laughs the second time through.
Heavy-handed message.
The woman’s friends throwing a party when they find out she’s pregnant?
Staying overnight in the hospital for a cut on the hand?
Dr. Morgan seeing patients – that are injured?
Dr. Morgan with a black friend??
The biggest laugh is the 2nd to last panel where he literally SHOUTS AT HIS PATIENT WHILE WAGGING HIS FINGER. The final panel he merely loudly diatribes to no one in particular with a friendly wave.
As for taxpayer dollars, I sort of think reducing fetal alcohol syndrome to be a worthy cause. I’m sure even a company like Budweiser would sponsor such a thing.
Hogenmogen
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:14 am
Sorry, there is no “company” of Budweiser, the company is Anheiser-Busch, the brand is Bud.
CanuckDownSouth
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:15 am
‘Shaft … so Possum spoke up, and the next thing you know there was this firing squad….
Winky's Spleen
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:21 am
KarMann #94 – Yikes; point taken. Still, I would counter that Marvin is more a pooper than a farter; I was envisioning something along the lines of “Terrence and Philip: The Early Years”.
DtM: I dunno; a snot-nosed little kid who can display that degree of condescension towards his grandfather suggests to me at least hint of menace, considering what he’ll be like when he finally grows up if nothing else.
FC: No, no, Dolly; that’s just the alien preparing to burst from Jeffy’s chest.
Hogenmogen
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:27 am
HtH: She didn’t “forget” about “that other thing”. She said there were three things, then she listed two of them and made a reference to the other.
All told, I’m sort of lost as to what “that other thing” was supposed to be. I’m imagining that because it is not mentioned that we’re supposed to think of something dirty. I can see the autobiography now:
Honi: Viking Whore
Jen X
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:37 am
Turgid gloppage, Curtis? The only time I’ve ever heard the word turgid used was in “10 Things I Hate About You,” when the guidance counselor is writing a bad erotica novel and is using it in reference to her male character’s penis.
So what the hell were you cleaning up in that river and its surrounding banks, dead gigolos?
Someone hold me, I’m scared.
Artist formerly known as Ben
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:44 am
#97 Sparky
Just to be clear, do you want Dr. Kelly naked or Tommie? Or both? If we’re going to Spitzer-ize the action in 3G, let’s get the details nailed down.
commodorejohn
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:47 am
#136 Jen X – Hey, let us not forget one mister Buck Turgidson!
But seriously, yeah, I’m thinking Billingsley thinks “turgid” is onomatopoeiac. Here’s a hint, Ray: it isn’t.
Natalie
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:53 am
Do you think God will think less of me if I pray for Margo to whack Dr. Joe with that umbrella?
survivor
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:59 am
Like Hitchcock, Keane lets the scene tell the audience a lot about the characters.
Grandma is obviously high as a kite after ingesting a whopping amount of vegitation. Billy speaks his mind as he and Dolly observe Grandma. The very young P.J. is coming to grips with his brother Jeffy’s mental retardation.
Jeffy stares at an empty chair.
survivor
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:59 am
*medication
not vegitation.
Obviously, I’m high as a kite as well.
Perky Bird
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:00 am
I think Margo’s about to show that, even though she wears high-necked blouses and carries an umbrella, she sure as hell ain’t no Mary Poppins!
Zaq
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:02 am
Aw yeah, let’s get some Thursday up in here.
RMMD: Oh Rex, Rex, Rex. He looks so… eager in panel 2 there.
MW: Don’t be silly, Adrian. Isn’t being off by a factor of 52 worth it for a man who calls you “Queenie?”
OBH: Holy crap, a discussion of giri and ninjô on the comics page? Awesome!
Crock: what
A3G: Ruby’s become… uglier since we last saw her. Still, there’s an awful lot to love about today’s strip, so I really can’t complain.
MT: Oh, I see absolutely no downside to this plan.
Momma: MONOPOLY DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY.
Big Dog: God damn it, make sense!
Phantom: Whatever that thing she’s riding on is, I want one.
Esther Blodgett
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:24 am
RMMD: Panel 2 is horrifying. Horrifying!
A3G: The Professor was so much hotter in the Kotzky days. Ah, but then, weren’t we all?
FW: Actually cute and funny today. Although I sure do miss the old Harry with his band uniform and his invisible eyes. I guess he was hotter in the Kotzky days, too.
JP: We shall, however, look back upon the Baretto days as the apex of hotness. We girls thank you for your wonderfully rendered man-meat, sir! Now how about Randy Parker in some leather pants?
Professor Fate
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:28 am
FW: was it the heavy breathing or the smell of fresh vomit that clued her in?
150
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:31 am
Listen, Adrian or whatever your name is, there’s an easy way to check Ted’s story without all this tedious fighting. Insist on coming along to meet his sister. If he somehow miraculously turns out not to be a criminal, you don’t look like a mistrustful jerk. If he does…well, after they find the body we never have to see you in another strip, and that’s good enough for me.
kalki
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:40 am
127 OSAC Just kiddding, of course…um, do you have anymore of those donuts? I’m dying here….
AmazingThor
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:40 am
A3G:Tommie doesn’t seem concerned at all that a raving lunatic is trying to break down the bathroom door and beat her to death. Just business as usual when you live with Margo.
Big Sims
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:43 am
I wondering about Professor Aristotle’s motives here. He doesn’t seem the SNAG (Sensitive New Age Guy), nor is he a coward, I mean this is the guy who invited the gals to his home in Greece and not only lives near but seeks out Margo’s company. He always comes across as a Gentleman. So why’s he sending a Lady first into the fray?
(I personally don’t believe it matters one whit who goes first to the cannon’s mouth, and I’ve always thought the person closest to the knob should open and hold the door for others, I just want my Apt G-3 characters to be consistent.)
I think the Prof is just using tried and true tactics. After witnessing first hand the devastating effects of German shock troops (hell, the Prof. probably saw the bashi-bazouk torture his homeland) he knows the power of the disorganized but overwhelming initial onslaught. Send in the Margo! Tommie as collateral damage is a risk… no, not really. You can send in Ruby later on to clean up. At least she’s dressed for it.
bats :[
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:45 am
129. Dingo re RMMD: I guess there’s some possibility for salvation for me yet. Your comment (which is JUST LYING THERE, WAITING) never crossed my mind.
Wow. I’m rather stunned by this. I feel my mind sunning itself, somewhere above the gutter. Scary, actually.
130. commodorejohn re RMMD: honestly, I never thought of the obvious.
Maybe it’s trying to mind my behavior for Woody. I dunno.
Big Sims
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:48 am
Me at 149
Or rather I wish the consistency to be maintained for the characters of Apt 3-G.
Zaq
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:51 am
149 Big Sims: It’s Margo’s apartment. The Professor doesn’t have a key, only Margo does.
That, or he knows that Margo’s the fiercest and most dangerous among them. Doesn’t matter if it’s a game, a story, a movie, whatever, you send the tank in first.
Turgid Gloppage
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:58 am
Mallard: Ha ha! Make an issue about the news making an issue out of nothing.
Ha ha! I did you one better, I made an issue out of you making an issue out of the news making an issue out of nothing.
What are you going to do? Make an issue of me making an issue out of… oh forget it.
Big Sims
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:04 pm
152 Zaq,
That’s what I’m saying! Margo Blitzkrieg!
As to the key… I thought the Prof had a ‘key’.
Hence the ‘right key, wrong keyhole’ issue necessitating the door scrubbing.
Winky's Spleen
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Survivor #140-1 – Naw, you were right the first time: It’s true that Grandma quit taking ’shrooms at the Keane Kompound a long time ago. She could never tell when they’d kicked in, after all. But there is an herb which makes the time there ever so much more bearable…
Crock – I saw “blister on my tongue” and “weenie” and was momentarily impressed by how edgy the strip had become.
Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Look at how giddy Rex Morgan is. Finding a little vulnerable boy in his bedroom with no parents in sight, it’s like Christmas has come early!
DarkStar
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Exactly how much energy was wasted so Mrs. Phantom could take a helicopter to the middle of the Gulf of Mexico to keep an eye on hubby? Happy Earth Day.
Muffaroo
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:21 pm
A3G – Uh oh! Margo has an object in her hand, and no matter what it is, she knows how to use it as a deadly weapon. Joe’s going to wish Tommie had come out with the flaming hairspray.
BBlues – They’ve been spending a whole week on lip service to Earth Day. That’s quite a commitment, actually, and I commend them for it. (Mutts too. Also, Sally Forth is still on it. I hesitate to count Six Chix, since they’re usually all over anything that’s not very funny.)
C2Home – Actually, Marvin had failed to notice anything, assuming it was just the usual drawing style.
FCircus – She said gargling instead of gurgling. Oh, dear. I’m laughing almost as hard as Jeffy at this moment.
GAlley – In this comical world of tiny hands, it’s nice to see somebody whose mitts make his harmonica look like one of those six-hole jobs you used to get in vending machines.
HtHorrible – Honi looks almost as shocked as if Helga had just said, “I looked just like you at your age” and she’d realized what that meant for her future.
JParker – Darn, Wilson might be looking, and I have nothing to snark about here. The story’s moving along, the art is solid — but I don’t want him to feel unloved. Hey! The cross-hatching isn’t perfectly parallel! Way to hatch, um… Not-Perfectly-Parallel-Boy!
MFmore – The straw person even knows she’s made of straw. In capable hands, she’d be a character by now.
Mduke – I like it. The Winslows were way too used to his wacky ways and knew not to have any nice things in or around their house, and never to leave the phone or computer connected when he was around.
Marfield – Diaper-Filling Boy meets Sandbox-Filling Cat.
Momma – A win-win. Their world is so poorly drawn, no shopkeeper can tell the difference between real money and Monopoly money.
N Seq – And inside the plane, the mouse version of William Shatner is freaking out.
Zippy – Hey, I don’t look like that!
Muffaroo
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I’m late to comments today because I’ve been playing Scrabble with my daughter. She’s seven, so I end up playing both sides. I beat myself again!
Mr. O’Malley @92 – Note the caption in “Out Our Way” — “Born Thirty Years Too Soon.” This was the subset of OOW strips in which he looked at folks roughly three decades in the past (from his POV), most of whom were seemingly yearning for the comforts of the present. His cowboys existed on present-day ranches, the Bull of the Woods worked in a present-day machine shop, and the families in “The Worry Wart” and “Why Mothers Get Gray” were present-day as well.
Breathed tried hard to mine the same vein as Pogo, but his toothless marshmallow whimsy made it mostly futile. Trudeau never went in much for Pogo-ness (though he handled whimsy for quite a while at Walden Puddle). Dan O’Neill’s Odd Bodkins were very Pogo-ish, though not in draftsmanship. If I happen to think of a strip that really makes it as a successor, I’ll mention one. Calvin & Hobbes, in some aspects. You can tell someone’s trying when their strip is set in a marsh or a holler or a swamp or under water.
Muffaroo
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:23 pm
ps: Or a bayou or a slough or a marsh or a puddle or a pond or a reservoir (except if they’re dogs) or a stream or a rill or a river or…
Poteet
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:32 pm
# 92 Mr. O’Malley — Thank you, thank you. I had never seen that original 1970 poster. It’s really beautiful. And thanks for Mr. Hunt’s quotation, which is a classic of its kind.
I celebrated Earth Day with a prescribed prairie burn, as did a few others I know. Bet that form of observance never gets into the comics.
AMC
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
RMMD – “How about some Rexnuts? All the cabin boys love ‘em!”
If Rex beamed any more in panel two, Scotty would be out of a job.
Poteet
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:47 pm
# 114 Hogenmogen — BWAHAHA!
RMMD — I recently came across the paper version of the Sunday comics from 12/12/04 (I hope I will live long enough to actually get my basement cleaned out). I was reminded that Widdle Sawah previously helped a little boy named Danny who looked a lot like Willy (curly blonde mop, snub nose, occasional terrifying closeups). Probably her first date will look like that too.
Poteet
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:51 pm
# 164 — And it’s handy that the Willy look will also work if Widdle Sawah’s first date is a girl. Or an alien from Planet Zortax, which, from the way Sawah looks and talks sometimes, is not out of the question.
Poteet
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:54 pm
# 164 — Sorry, I meant to refer to # 163. Argh.
Calico
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Deena in OR – I hope your ex is doing better. That’s quite a scare and I hope he heals completely and soon! Good wishes and hugs coming your way.
Seeing someone on a vent sux totally, but thank heavens for the technology. (I remember reading “Intern” and recall the part where the good Dr. had to help a patient breathe by manually clicking a button every few seconds for God knows how long)
Calico
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
#13 – Could we please borrow the Roloff’s pumpkin-flinging device in order to hurl a few into Elly Patterson’s kitchen, or Marvin’s bedroom for that matter? I’d like that, yes I would.
Calico
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
#22 – Well put, O great lover of Caprines.
That’s what I enjoy about JP, RM, MC – there’s little, if any, recycling, and Rex does try to remain topical (MRSA, drug use/abuse, etc., Hospice, which is a wonderful organization).
MW is in her own universe, but I don’t mind. Mare is Mare and I’ll continue to follow the strip, in spite of all those horrible fuschia outfits.
Old School Allie Cat
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:19 pm
That doctored kitten photo of the Chronic Cat at the start of comments is scaring the shit out of me.
Can we get some hot looking Quaker Singles or something?
AMC
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:24 pm
#163 – To me, Willy looks like a Cabbage Patch Kid with an Elwood Druit face transplant.
Al of the Christian Singles Jungle Patrol
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
169 — Is the “Civony” banner ad girl acceptable to you, or do we have to find some sort of middle-ground here?
Julie
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Why does the woman introducing the band director only have one arm?
Wangdoodle
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:31 pm
JenX @ 136: The only time I’ve heard the word “turgid” was in the Ren & Stimpy episode “Space Madness.”
“The cosmic ballet…continues.”
–Leonard Nimoy
Chyron HR
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
#172 – Because she was in a car crash! Ba-dum-bum.
Another Batiuk thigh-slapper.
Esther Blodgett
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:37 pm
#172 Julie – Wally Winkerbean bit it off. Or maybe he was driving drunk and got them in a wreck. Whatever.
Esther Blodgett
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:39 pm
#169 Old School – Amen! I may have to go over to icanhascheezburger.com to restore my faith in non-evil kitties.
bats :[
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:45 pm
169. Old School Allie Cat: I am so sorry for this (more so than most of my mashups):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/3468186921/
Steve the Pocket
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Curtis: The thief won’t be laughing when he gets arrested two minutes after the APB goes out. It’s probably the only Smart Car on the road in the whole state.
Funky: “… I know because I can feel his boner poking me in the thigh.” Seriously, Tom, first “catching for both teams” and now this. You’re just making it too damned easy this week!
The Lockhorns, while not funny, is at least enjoyable because it’s a clever idea… until you realize that a lot of tech support systems ask for a “customer number” or somesuch rather early in.
The Federal Duck: “Our rules”… whose rules? Zombies’? Because that’s what that … thing talking to you appears to be.
Edison Lee: ZING.
And just when you thought the bad Earth Day jokes were over, at least a couple strips apparently missed the memo and thought Earth Day was today.
The Mick
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Dennis isn’t dirty, he’s just being afflicted by Gunther-shirt-itis.
Sans Sense
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
FC:
“Know why she’s called Grandma?”
“Cause she’s older than DIRT. Happy Earth Day! I’ll be here all week, try the veal.”
Uncle Lumpy
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
#136 Jen X –
Re: “turgid”
Well, it’s funny because the counselor is reaching for “tumid.” At least Curtis gets it right.
wooddragon
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Re: 136 and 138: Maybe he meant ‘turbid.’ Or maybe he just thought ‘turgid’ is a great word, darn the meaning.
Old School Allie Cat
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:08 pm
#171 – Al – I don’t object – I’m just saying it’s scary looking. I don’t know what banner ad you’re referring to, but as long as there are no teeth like the one that cat has, I’m cool.
#177 – bats – Actually, that’s hilarious – because right after I wrote it – I thought it sounded like a breakfast product.
Calico
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:35 pm
#177 – Hahah!
I remember one day from my High School Physics class our most cool teacher asking us if we knew what a Neutrino was.
I replied “No, but it sounds like some kind of breakfast cereal.” I got some very good stand-up comedy-style laughter in response to that one.
kkarenb
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Jeffy can’t wait for lunch. Mom’s making black soup again!
blackgoat
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:45 pm
MT: White turtleneck, long sideburns. I’ve got it – these guys have escaped from the 70’s.
Greg
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:16 pm
“Turgid”? When did Curtis learn that word??
Gregory
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Anybody else curious as to who traded Marmaduke for an X-Box? Somebody finally got fed up!
Harry Merkin
April 23rd, 2009 at 5:23 pm
I was excited to see at least three strips replaceing the idea bulbs with compact fluoro bulbs. Very creative. Also, I am excited at the prospect of a three some in the Phantom. I like three.
Eldaglass
April 23rd, 2009 at 5:37 pm
#58 Sheila and #62 wooddragon–Thank you, thank you. I thought the fish/whale/shark was trying to get a tan up near the surface of the water (water being translucent and all), and I kept wondering how you parked a backhoe that close to the water. I also didn’t know backhoes were ever used to rescue whales. Apparently, they are… even if they aren’t green.
Francis
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:06 pm
So, this whole Spider-Man plot line has been taking place on and around Earth Day, then. (I still can’t get the hang of strips that take a year to get through three days’ worth of continuity but still try to celebrate holidays in sync with the real world’s calendar.)
Iris
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:37 pm
I’ve still got a web or two… in my pants!
Sparky AKA Able Bodied Seaman Craggy Fjord
April 24th, 2009 at 12:28 am
@ Artist formerly known as Ben says:
Just Tommie and her two tommyguns.
Mister Munshun
April 24th, 2009 at 4:47 am
Re: Funky Winkerbean
At least she’s not recoiling in sorrow over the news of someone’s tumor metastasizing.
flodnak
April 24th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Okay, okay, I confess! I have indeed washed my front door.
However, it’s an outside door, about fifteen feet from the vehicle lanes on a busy street. It actually GETS DIRTY. I wonder what sort of messy, not to say nefarious, activities take place in the hallways of Manhattan apartment buildings that require residents to scrub their doors regularly. Clearly I’ve led a sheltered life.
willowbarcelona
April 24th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Mary Worth…roses…Aldo.
Please let Mary’s recent rose pruning portend that with the imminent finale of the Adrian and Ted “With my mustache and charm and my 1984 Chevy Cavalier 4-door sedan, I can scam a doctor out of $50,000 faster than any guy on the planet,” a summer story line as great as the 2006 Summer of Aldo is on the horizon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1st_Chevrolet_Cavalier_sedan.jpg
And for those who want to recapture the thrill of 2006: http://joshreads.com/?m=200607
Colinski
April 24th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Yes, children of all races… all two races.