The Comics Curmudgeon

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Thursday quickies

Spider-Man, 6/25/09

Actual super-hero combat has been taking place over the last few days in Spider-Man! Since it doesn’t feature the strip’s core storytelling competencies (whining, television watching, costume forgetting) it hasn’t really held much appeal for me, but I have to say appreciate the vague sexual awkwardness that underlies the slapstick here. It’s like somebody made a porno version of The X-Men Meet The Three Stooges.

Archie, 6/25/09

It appears that Archie and Jughead will be fired from one job after another this summer; already their trail of failure has led them to the ultimate shame for any middle-class suburban teenager: actual physical labor. Sadly, they’ll never have a chance to learn the true dignity that comes from working the soil; instead, they’ll inevitably be sent packing once Jughead leaps onto that ice cream truck like a feral animal, tearing it to pieces and devouring anything even vaguely edible within, including the driver.

Family Circus, 6/25/09

“So whatever happy-time pills you gave to your brother to make him look so blissed out, you’d better share ’em, if you know what’s good for you.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 09:53 am and is filed under Archie, Family Circus, Spider-Man. |

198 responses to “Thursday quickies”

buckyswife
June 25th, 2009 at 10:00 am [Reply]

y129 Calico: Oh, I’m so sorry! We’re dog people, too, and so I understand that you’ve lost a member of your family, and you’re grieving. I’m just really, really sorry.
Bootsy
June 25th, 2009 at 10:02 am [Reply]

y129, Calico, my condolences. Hugs to you during a difficult time.
commodorejohn
June 25th, 2009 at 10:05 am [Reply]

A3G – Oh, Margo brough the large-print edition. How thoughtful.

Archie – I have to admit that I’m kind of charmed by the open-armed abandon with which Jughead pursues his quarry. On the other hand, it’s possible the ALGJU3K is just using poorly-articulated character models.

AS – Oh, perspective is just weeping here. There’s at least three different camera angles in this one shot.

BB – Get a room, you two.

Crankshaft – Hey, CrankMom, maybe your daughter would actually care about listening to you if your interactions with her up to this point hadn’t consisted solely of judgemental horror. Maybe if you hadn’t utterly alienated her, you’d have someone to tell your stories to. Of course, you could just deny everything and blame technological advancement. That works, too.

FC – “Happy times get even happier when they’re shared. Would either of you kids like one of Grandma’s special sugar cubes?”

FB – I find the fact that the traiil bubbles on Fred’s thought balloons are closer to the camera than the balloons themselves (with Jock in between) much more interesting than the ostensible joke.

FW – “By having sex. You know, with you. Look, you’d better take me up on this before I change my mind.” “Sorry, what? I was just talking to the cat in my head.” “*sigh* Never mind.”

GA – I also find the fact that the lady here thinks in pictographs much more interesting than any of the events of the strip. Is this meant to indicate that she’s stupid? Or perhaps she’s been time-displaced from a period in history where there was no written language? I mean, if she turned out to be from some ancient hunter-gatherer culture, it would both explain why she’s intent on finding the beer right NOW, and raise the possibility that Slim could get killed with either a jagged flint edge or perhaps a nice heavy club. Either possibility is extremely appealing.

GT – So I guess the moral of the story is that snooty principals make you lose at baseball?

JP – You remember the Litany of Gifts from the FOOBocalypse? Yeah, this is starting to remind me of that. At what point is Congress going to unanimously pass a law establishing June as Sophie Spencer-Driver Month?

Love Is… – easily misinterpretable when you have to scroll down to see the caption.

Luann – Okay, it’s official. I now feel more charitable towards Tiffany than Luann. She’s just trying to make a new friend feel at home, she’s not even being deceptive or anything, and all Luann wants to do is badmouthing her to her face. What a bitch.

MT – She cants her hairdo to one side to indicate surprise. I’d like to see a Sunday about the common North American double-breasted female just to get these kinds of things explained, but I suspect Mark knows even less than we do.

MC – *golf clap*

NS – You can’t, Danae, because that would be interesting and exciting. Besides, there’s another three weeks’ worth of corporate executive jokes coming down the pipeline, so you need to have the studio cleared out by Monday.

OBH – This. Strip. Is. Awesome.

Popeye – This is taking so long I feel like I’ve been lost at sea.

RMMD – I think I’m in love with Agnes. Also, by the time this storyline’s over, that bathrobe is going to be completely transparent.

SF – Ted is manlier than Gunther. Myth confirmed!

SM – Uh, yeah, folks, one superhero with near-precognitive reflexes and one who’s just that badass, and they get out-nimbled by a chunky middle-aged man. Check in next month, when they face down the deadly Banana Peeler! (P.S. “octopus sandwich?” In a family strip?)
150
June 25th, 2009 at 10:11 am [Reply]

At risk of destroying my cred forever, would consent to be the filling in a Wolverine/Spidey sandwich.
Izzy
June 25th, 2009 at 10:18 am [Reply]

Archie: And in every misadventure, the gang will be haunted by a grinning rodent, snickering like that dog in Duck Hunt.
zenvelo
June 25th, 2009 at 10:20 am [Reply]

Given the “decoration” in Margo’s room, has the Apartment 3G story line actually been a ploy to drug Margo and have her wake up “in China” which is really the Sunnydale Home for Mental Rest?
Chyron HR
June 25th, 2009 at 10:23 am [Reply]

Curtis – It means your Creepypasta needs some work.

Edge City – “I’ve noticed a big difference–he’s farting little hearts now. We’ll have to give him to Rose is Rose.”

Gasoline Alley – Scancarelli returns to what he does best–”HAW HAW PEOPLE HAVE WEIRD NAMES FOR THINGS!”

Gil Thorp – Christ, Rubin and/or Whigham, throw Milford a bone once in awhile.

Popeye – Olive isn’t so much surprised that there are ghosts, just that they’re still on the sea ghost storyline.

Pluggers – Yeah, well, the Plugger “diet” is “die”ing at 40 from five simultaneous heart attacks, so don’t get too smug.

Spider-Man – And now I want to see a comic along the lines of “The only meat in a Plugger sandwich is beef or pork or chicken. But not the sentient kind, the eating kind. Being eaten, not having sex.”
zenvelo
June 25th, 2009 at 10:23 am [Reply]

Seeing the gopher, I thought Archie had warped the space/time/comic/movie continuum, and shown up in an alternate universe version of Caddy Shack.
teddytoad
June 25th, 2009 at 10:24 am [Reply]

“Hello? Is this the King Features Syndicate Child Molestation Reporting Hotline? I’d like to report an incident in today’s Family Circus…”
NoahSnark
June 25th, 2009 at 10:25 am [Reply]

“Happy times are even happier when they’re shared”. That’s why Grandma baked a special batch of brownies for you children.
jzimbert
June 25th, 2009 at 10:26 am [Reply]

I’ve read Marvel comics for years, and I never realized the the tubby, near-sighted scientist with 300 lbs of extra arms was the single most agile person in the universe.
Shlomo
June 25th, 2009 at 10:28 am [Reply]

That’s a gopher in Archie? I thought he got a job of burying teddy bears in the ground. And I was beginning to think that now there was another job in the world better than mine.

If Wolverine’s left hand was a little more inward, we would have had a Spidey Shishkabob.
Icepick Jones
June 25th, 2009 at 10:31 am [Reply]

I think it’s nice of Spidey not to make a joke about the second face growing out of Doc Ock’s cheek. He obviously absorbed a twin while in the womb, and that’s probably one of his “hot buttons” if you make fun of it.
Artist formerly known as Ben
June 25th, 2009 at 10:33 am [Reply]

S-M: Two burly men promising to make an octopus sandwich? No thank you. Doc Ock got quite enough of that his last stay in prison.

MW: The more I see Delilah, the more I think that Lawrence is a very lucky man. Lucky that this nitwit has run off and left him alone. Of course Mary will ruin it, because that’s what she does.

DT: “An ace, huh? Well, the only thing I have that beats that is… nine millimeters of hot lead in your brain pan!”

Luann: She calls it her “headshot” because of what Crystal is giving her in the picture. That’s right. Tiffany shows those Milford nerds how sexting is really done.

BB: Lt Peachfuzz slinks away, thinking “I had to ask, didn’t I?”

Blondie: “So I told him, it’s not pizza sauce, it’s blood. And that we had seen the last of Bill from accounts payable.”
mav
June 25th, 2009 at 10:34 am [Reply]

3. Luann – Oh, I think Tiffany is asking for it. It’s pretty clear that she’s trying to hit on the new guy (not that there’s anything wrong with that, though it isn’t exactly her role with the C of C) and trying to dominate him to the exclusion of all other females. I don’t call that “trying to make a new friend feel at home.”

Luann and friends are always a bit quick to insult Tiffany, no doubt partly based on petty jealousy, but there’s also plenty of backstory to support their disdain, not all of it based on Tiffany’s supposed loose ways. (And, I’d say that’s hardly uncharacteristic of many teenage girls.) Luann’s just not as subtle at snideness at Tiffany is. For instance, Tiffany greets Luann and Gunther with “Hello, librarian people.” In her mind, at least, that’s clearly belittling, as evidenced by her parting shot in 6/25. Then when new guy shows the tiniest interest in Luann’s work in the library, Tiffany tries to dismiss it (I’m hearing “how sweet” as similar to “bless your heart” in a southern dialect) and change the subject.
UnknownEric
June 25th, 2009 at 10:36 am [Reply]

S-M: “I’m the best there is at what I do… and what I do… is dance cheek-to-cheek.”
Master Softheart
June 25th, 2009 at 10:45 am [Reply]

Today’s comics are even funnier when they’re shared:

SF: The forthcoming spinoff strip, “Ted Forth the Menace,” will be awesome.

RMMD: Agnes hits the psychotic break that marks the phase shift of her manic-depressive cycle. Someone should get her more booze (or some of grammy Keane’s happy pills) quickly before she hurts herself.

FB: Team Basset brings another actual joke. I know Fred’s core competency is wry, trivial observations, but I like to see him stretch a bit.

Luann: If this is the alternative, bring back the long and fruitless quest to shed Brad’s virginity before he files for Social Security. Honestly, Woody Wilson has more insight into teenage girls than this.

JP: Mrs. Norton is so scorching with the hair falling across her face and the heavy lidded, mysterious eyes behind those glasses that one could almost miss her meaning: “Sophie, the reality check you should be having is that we’re having a Jr. High School cheerleader tryout, not holding Olympics trials. Aside from a couple of airheads trying to relive their shallow youth vicariously through their daughters, no one could possibly care enough to… um, wait, what are all those cars that just pulled up?”

FW: Well, pity sex was always the most hopeful outcome. Now it’s time to leave the Fancy Feast on the porch for your friend and take comfort in knowing that you’re scoring higher than Brad or Gunther from Luann. Seize the awkward, middle-aged groping after half-forgotten lust that might offer a brief surcease of misery, Les!

Peanuts: I would be very grateful if someone who remembers popular news of the 1950’s or 60’s could explain the ‘Lieutenant Commander Carpenter’ reference…
Artist formerly known as Ben
June 25th, 2009 at 10:47 am [Reply]

y129 Calico,
Very sorry to hear about your dog. They do become part of you, I know. Hope we see you in high spirits later on.
Calvin's Cardboard Box
June 25th, 2009 at 10:48 am [Reply]

R=R – This strip helps confirm the theory that the whole Gumbo family are, in reality, mentally-challenged individuals living in a half-way house. “Jimbo” doesn’t actually have a job, but they let him dress up in the morning, grab an (empty) lunchbox, and then wander outside and sit under a tree all day. This explains how he can instantly appear at the wading pool, clothes falling off because he’s not mastered the art of fastening them, at a moment’s notice.

JP – Josh’s comment yesterday is re-enforced with today’s evidence that the fix is pretty much in for Sophie, just as the Cheer Moms feared.

I know the author has posted here in the recent past, so I’ll throw in this comment: Sophie has become “The Wesley”. Whatever the faculty and the author may think of her wonderfulness, most readers don’t seem to agree that spending a night studying the manual, then putting a braid and clip in her hair gives her the right to accomplish this little scheme she has been dreaming of for … oh, about 24 hours now, strip-time.
JC Lisbon
June 25th, 2009 at 10:52 am [Reply]

I like how Wolverine has his arms spread in the final panel. Like his claws were out for show and he really just wanted to give Dr. Octopus a big bear hug.
commodorejohn
June 25th, 2009 at 10:54 am [Reply]

#15 mav – I’m sure that’s what Evans intends, but I still feel sorry for her, because she’s basically the underdog of the strip; she’s not allowed to have any redeeming characteristics because she is the cardboard villain. I don’t really feel like holding a character’s flaws agaainst them when they’re plainly not even getting a break from the universe.

Besides, I’d feel sorry for anybody whose creator depicts them with porn star lips.
sully
June 25th, 2009 at 10:56 am [Reply]

“Bumblers! Nothing can overcome my agility!
Now prepare to die from my Octo-fart!”
Artist formerly known as Ben
June 25th, 2009 at 10:56 am [Reply]

#17 Master Softheart,
It’s a tad before my time, but according to this tidbit Linus is referring to a splash landing by Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter. I have seen The Right Stuff but it was a while ago.
Bitter Scribe
June 25th, 2009 at 10:59 am [Reply]

I wonder why that gopher looks so happy. My guess is, he thinks Archie is building him an extension on his home.
Old School Allie Cat
June 25th, 2009 at 10:59 am [Reply]

FW – “Blackbirds on Your Shoulders”? Is this one of those expressions like “Solo Car Date” that is used only in small parts of Ohio and I’m just not aware of it?

And I said it yesterthread and I’ll say it again…that is the friggin’ death cat. Les and Cayla are going to knock boots, and then she’s going to accidentally “Aldo” over a cliff on the drive home.

Luann and Juggs Parker In re: cliques – at my high school, most of the cheerleaders were also in the AP classes, and even the drama clubbers and Odyssey of the Mind geeks like me were friends with them. I never felt especially jealous of them, though I admired their athletic ability and their confidence. Of course, the head cheerleader ended up joining the Peace Corps and just got back to the states after a decade of good works in Africa. So… to me, cheerleaders were never the enemy. Now, the Yearbook Staff? Assholes each and every one.
Anonymous
June 25th, 2009 at 11:05 am [Reply]

So let me get this straight — BOTH Wolverine and Spidey had, as their sole tactic, a *headbutt* of Doc Oc? Man, Spidey’s lucky Wolverine didn’t swing those claws and instead chose to charge chest first…
Hogenmogen
June 25th, 2009 at 11:06 am [Reply]

Does anyone remember Happy Days? The “Malochi Crunch”? Fonzie was in a demolition derby, and the two Malochi brothers were winning, becasue they used the “Malochi Crunch”. They were about to crunch The Fonz, but he pulled away, and the Malochi brothers smashed themselves! Oh, let me tell you, it was one of the pinnacles of television history.

And now we have Doc Oc, outwitting two supers – one of whom should have learned the lesson thoroughly since the most super thing about him is his prodigious TV viewing capacity.
Bootsy
June 25th, 2009 at 11:08 am [Reply]

#4, 150. I too would consent to that. Because Spiey would be in the living room watching teevee, whilst Wovie and I would be going at it like crazed ~~wolverines~~ ferrets in the other room. Rowr!
the good ship thetis
June 25th, 2009 at 11:11 am [Reply]

What kind of employment do Archie and Jughead have that requires them to dig random holes? Could it be that they are actually working for the gopher?
UncleJeff
June 25th, 2009 at 11:12 am [Reply]

17 Master Softheart & 23 Artist formerly known as Ben: For those of us of the age when we could remember those first forays into space, three thoughts:
1) How I wish today’s youth had the same experiences of awe and wonder we had during those days of space exploration.
2) Scott Carpenter was a true hero, flying (as he realized just before blast-off) a largely untested vehicle built by the lowest bidders.
3) What the heck were the people at the syndication company thinking when they let out a storyline with such a dated punchline?
Ms Avery
June 25th, 2009 at 11:13 am [Reply]

I’ve obviously commenced the long, horrible slide into senility: I think whichever melonheaded Keane boy that is looks utterly adorable.
bats :[
June 25th, 2009 at 11:14 am [Reply]

25. OSAC: nah, that’s Chat Bleu (who looks like he’s gotten washed in bluing and is much whiter as a result). Death Cat has slightly different markings and is better drawn, to my way of thinking. Maybe they’re from the same litter. If that’s the case, I nominate my own crazy tuxedo cat Tobu as yet another littermate.
At any rate, I’m a cat person, so I might be biased, but any strip in which the cat is the most personable character (9CL, FW, Edge City, Crankshaft, GA) is in serious trouble…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/3658599751/sizes/o/
bats :[
June 25th, 2009 at 11:17 am [Reply]

y129. Calico: although 16 is a venerable age for pups and kittehs, it just never seems like enough time. It sounds as though your Pom had a good run and most excellent Mum, and even better runs on the other side (small tight circles, I suspect).
commodorejohn
June 25th, 2009 at 11:19 am [Reply]

#25 Old School Allie Cat – Actually, the kitty in Wanky Funkerbean is Le Chat Bleu (that’s Pretentious for “the blue cat,” which she most certainly is not.) She’s a sort of figment of Les’s imagination who shows up to smarmily mock him when he’s even further into depression and self-pity than usual; also, there was a very weird implication last time that there was some sort of emotional affair between them.

I expect her appearance today means she’s going to launch into a lecture about how pathetic Les is for letting the memory of his ten-years-gone wife keep him from pursuing the very, very alive lady who inexplicably wants him. Naturally, he will sulk and mope and reject every opportunity for comfort or happiness regardless.
Dragon of Life
June 25th, 2009 at 11:20 am [Reply]

Wolverine being brought down to Spider-Man’s level sends tingles up my spine. Peter Parker apparently has the proportionate ability to make other people as stupid and incompetent as he is OF A SPIDER!
Alan's Addiction
June 25th, 2009 at 11:20 am [Reply]

Kudos to Spider-Man for portraying Doctor Octopus as a literally two-faced mutant in the first panel. It’ll get even better if the strip actually portrays the awkward, morning-after apology/conversation between Spider-Man and Wolverine that will inevitably result from today’s weird, fumbling slam.
I have never, ever seen anyone run the way Jughead does in that second panel. Even little children are aware that running like that is an invitation to years of psychiatric testing of one’s intellectual competence and/or attention span.
Today, Family Circus returns to what it does best: serving as a sort of illustrated “Ask Abby” or as a vehicle for grandparent daydream fulfillment. In today’s strip, I’d like to know where Dolly’s hands are. Did grandma bite them off? Also why is she holding PJ in front of her like that? Is he supposed to be a hostage/human shield? I supposed to me some sort of human sacrifice/offering to the Elder God in front of Dolly?
commodorejohn
June 25th, 2009 at 11:23 am [Reply]

#32 bats :[ – The character design is about equal, quality-wise, but Chat Bleu is much better “acted;” she moves and looks more like a real cat, even when she’s anthropomorphized with Winkersmirk, as in panel two today. Death Cat just kind of wanders around staring wide-eyed at things and leaving mortality in his wake.
bats :[
June 25th, 2009 at 11:23 am [Reply]

31. Ms Avery: I think you’re okay. That’s PJ, the youngest and still technically the baby (yeah, yeah, a 45-year-old baby, but I digress). If I had to choose one, he’s it. PJ still doesn’t talk, so we’re spared the Spoonerisms and malapropisms of Jeffy, the meanness of Billy and the general assholiness of Dolly, to say nothing of the whole realm of crap-in-the-pants-and-in-the-thought-balloon of Marvin.
Will
June 25th, 2009 at 11:30 am [Reply]

GF: Is Rob a blackout drunk? It seems like every week there’s a strip where he wakes up and wanders disorientated around his apartment.
Not that I blame him, mind, if I lived with Bucky, I know I’d drink.
bats :[
June 25th, 2009 at 11:30 am [Reply]

37. commodorejohn: I think you’ve just described the two types of cats in the world. We have one of each. Tobu is the evil genius (she hasn’t mastered the smirk, but she’s very good at the “I’m pretty, I’m cute, I love you so much” cat-smile that precedes the sinking of teeth into your hand –she was a declawed stray, so she works with what she’s got). Hoho is the wide-eyed, clueless variety; he doesn’t leave mortality in his wake, just hair. Clouds and clouds of hair.

[mr. bats :[ and I have been catching up on the first season of "True Blood," and damn, I wish Cayla would be replaced by TB's Tara. Tara might have Issues, but I'd love to see her take on the Man of Malt-O-Meal...Les would be in freakin' little pieces by Tara's second sentence. Might do him good. Would do the rest of us worlds of good.]
Chyron HR
June 25th, 2009 at 11:34 am [Reply]

#19 Calvin’s Cardboard Box – “Josh’s comment yesterday is re-enforced with today’s evidence that the fix is pretty much in for Sophie, just as the Cheer Moms feared.”

Uh… technically the case the Cheer Moms are making is that Sophie shouldn’t be allowed to try out for the squad at all on the grounds that she’s “a bookworm” and that “it will ruin school spirit”.

You might be confusing it with the sequence published a few years(?) back when the hive queen, Mary Davis, insisted that Sophie be suspended/expelled/sent to Gitmo/sent to the cornfield for hitting one of the cheerleaders who glued her to her chair, and claimed that anything else would be giving Sophie special treatment because she’s rich.

(Of course, letting a bunch of women who apparently don’t need to work for a living dictate school policy would be showing solidarity with the proletariat.)
Bootsy
June 25th, 2009 at 11:35 am [Reply]

I’ve obviously commenced the long, horrible slide into senility: I think whichever melonheaded Keane boy that is looks utterly adorable.

Ms. Avery, that’s because he’s dead.
commodorejohn
June 25th, 2009 at 11:39 am [Reply]

#41 Chyron HR – Uh, that was actually back at the start of this storyline. You could be right about the “years” thing, though; it certainly feels that way.
Cranky
June 25th, 2009 at 11:41 am [Reply]

Archie and Jughead did not get a new job, they’re enjoying a workout.

(You just know if the camera panned over we’d see dog-man and chicken-lady.)
Lawyerbob
June 25th, 2009 at 11:42 am [Reply]

Spider-Man: Definitely got the “Three Stooges” vibe going. Doc Ock is obviously Moe, given both his haircut and that he’s incrementally more intelligent than Wolverine and Spidey. Wolverine is Larry–again, the hair gives it away, as well as Wolverine being the victim of the other two’s malice and incompetence. That leaves Spidey as either Curley or Shemp. A tough call. Curley, like Spidey, has a habit of screwing things up for others. On the other hand, Curley has way too much energy and life force for Spidey. On balance, Spidey’s more of a Shemp–a whining schlemiel.

Archie: The gopher was in Wednesday’s comic too! What fell beast haunts Riverdale, leading its youth into temptation and thence to perdition? A boy can hope.

FC: “Happy times get even happier when they’re shared! So next time Mommy and Daddy lock their bedroom door and tell you kids to play outside, peak through keyhole and tell Grandma everything you see!”
un malpaso
June 25th, 2009 at 11:43 am [Reply]

Ummm.. why has the “Archie” “artist” suddenly developed a strange fascination with rodents?
First there was the squirrel-man in the suit, now this (extremely similar-looking) gopher sticking its head up.
Maybe he/she/it has reached a new lesson page in their “how to draw comics” book? If so, I recommend skipping the “Small Animals” section and heading straight for Volume 2, “Writing Actual Humor.”
Paul1963
June 25th, 2009 at 11:50 am [Reply]

Les Moore’s Unending Bout of Depression: Y’know, I’m starting to wonder if Les’ erstwhile girlfriend is aware that Les has been a widower for ten years.
I have a friend whose wife of over 40 years died a few years back, after a long illness. I saw him within a week of her death, and he wasn’t as down then as Les is after a decade. Seriously, Les needs professional help.
Duke of Earl Grey
June 25th, 2009 at 11:52 am [Reply]

I can see why Elton John might want to attach four mechanical arms to his body. Imagine his range on the piano! But why’s Spiderman after him?
Master Mahan
June 25th, 2009 at 11:57 am [Reply]

That doesn’t look much like the proportionate speed, strength, and agility of a spider. Are we sure Peter Parker wasn’t really bitten by a drunken fratboy?
Snorri
June 25th, 2009 at 11:58 am [Reply]

I don’t understand Zits today.
Calvin's Cardboard Box
June 25th, 2009 at 11:59 am [Reply]

@41 – Chyron HR

I guess I’m referring to the whole feel of this storyline, which is that the cheerleaders and their moms believe that Sophie is getting preferential treatment because she is rich. And if she gets the position, without having ever practiced the moves before, by virtue of having a parade of celebrities and limo-driving pilots show up to cheer her on, they will certainly have a prima-facia case.

The whole “bookworm” issue is just another nonsensical subtext. The cheer moms don’t like her because she is a bookworm, but the Principal and Sophie herself do seem to believe that grades are the only relevant factor affecting who gets to make the team. Maybe she can work it into her cheers?

“2x + 8 – How does it integrate?
x^2 + 8x + c – Now wasn’t that easy?”
bats :[
June 25th, 2009 at 12:01 pm [Reply]

36. Alan’s Addiction re FC: you have no idea (well, maybe you do, given the nature of the Elder Gods and the unspeakable horror that is FC) how many variations on a theme you can find on the intertubes.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/3660416698/
queek
June 25th, 2009 at 12:01 pm [Reply]

32: to bats:[, with love: http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/funny-pictures-crazy-cat-lady-starter-kit.jpg

my ferrets are envious of the lifespan of dogs, much less cats. Calico, may your Pom be happy over the Rainbow Bridge, its never easy helping a pet cross over.
Hogenmogen
June 25th, 2009 at 12:02 pm [Reply]

Doc Oc: “Octopus sandwich”? That’s the best you’ve got? Sounds like a goddamn Ringo Star ditty.
Wolverine: Yeah, Bub, what’ it to ya?
Doc: Not “double your pleasure”?
Spiderman: Hmm… that has potential.
Doc: Or “double or nothing – and you’re the nothing!”
Wolv: I’m writin’ this down, Bub.
Doc: “Two for the price of one”? A “tag-team tackle”? “Spiderine’s Web & Wild”? “Marvel Comics meta-mashup”? “Shameless movie cross-marketing”?
Wolv: Is that “too” spelled with two o’s?
Spiderman: NO, that’s the number two.
Wolv: I should write “number two”? He didn’t say “number”.
Spiderman: T – W – O. Two.
Wolv: Is that right, Bub?
Spiderman: Yes.
Wolv: Not you, Bub, the other bub. Bub?
Spiderman: Doc?
Wolv: Bub? Where’d he go?
queek
June 25th, 2009 at 12:05 pm [Reply]

50: to Jeremy, merely starting the lawnmower is a Sisyphean task.
tb4000
June 25th, 2009 at 12:08 pm [Reply]

S-M: This guy I used to work with told me about the time in college he made an octopus sandwich. He assured me he was just drunk and curious.
Mrs Threeway Taint
June 25th, 2009 at 12:09 pm [Reply]

Zits: I don’t care what he does with that lawnmower. At least he didn’t try to put his lips over the collection bag.
Muffaroo
June 25th, 2009 at 12:12 pm [Reply]

9CL – The balloon order would have been clearer if the question had been placed so that it wasn’t under the tail of the answer. Placing the balloon squarely in front of Thorax’s face would have not only solved that problem, but would have alleviated another that I didn’t mention.

A3G – Roger Baker’s the one who sold them out! I know, because he’s a very old friend we haven’t met before, and he’s in an important position. We’ll find that he’s responsible for anything bad that’s happened so far, including perhaps the Communist takeover of China.

BBailey – To Beetle is John Waters; to Sarge is Divine.

Cshaft – Six-cent stamps are insufficiently humorous. Three-cent stamps — now, that’s Comedy Gold!

DTracy – Well, any Ace beats Clubs. I’m guessing Tracy will reach out and grab Big Ace himself. In a violent, many way, of course.

FCircus – “Happy times get even happier when they’re shared.” “Give me PJ for about an hour. You go ride your bike.”

Smirky Schadenfreude –
Doomity-doo-dah, doomity-ay
Jesus Christ, what a bleakity day.
Masky McCat smirks in my way
Typical feeling, typical day.

Mr. Blackbird’s on my shoulder
It’s the truth! No drama! Everything is gloom-a-rama!
Doomity-doo-dah, doomity-ay
Don’t cheer me up, I’m gloomy to stay!

love is… – Grinding it in your sleep.

MWorth – “I don’t want to his compromise ~~his~~ to work.” That’s how I saw it, and that’s how I prefer it.

R=R – Wait. I know how Bugs hides his ears when he’s in drag, but what did he do with his furry tail? Stick it between his legs? There can’t be enough room for it there.

Frank Parsnip @y98 – Not only is Dagwood a sandwich man, there’s no way he’d stay in the office when Dithers wasn’t there to hector him. He goes home to be hectored by Blondie and Elmo.

Calico @y129 – From one pet owner to another, my sincere sympathy. Good puppy.
BigTed
June 25th, 2009 at 12:18 pm [Reply]

Jughead actually is being called away on an emergency — he noticed the evil smile on the face of the giant cone on top of that truck, and realized he was being faced with capturing the meanest, most delicious Spider-Man villain of all, Ice Cream Man.
It's time to pay the price
June 25th, 2009 at 12:19 pm [Reply]

Honestly, I think this is the first time I’ve seen “Bumblers!” used in the a context that made sense. I’m not sure exactly what Spidey and Wolfie are doing, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t a classic display of bumblage.
Steve S
June 25th, 2009 at 12:25 pm [Reply]

Ever notice how much Grandma Keane looks like Bil in a wig? There may be a little Norman Bates thing going on with him. Hey kids, don’t go in the basement!
Joe Blevins
June 25th, 2009 at 12:25 pm [Reply]

S-M: See, this demonstrates the danger inherent in finishing other people’s sentences. Wolverine was going to say: “–you cry like a little girl.”
Calico
June 25th, 2009 at 12:36 pm [Reply]

Hey y’all –
Thank you for your kind condolences and words.
It’s never enought time with our four-legged beauties, is it?

Doing a bit better this afternoon – I just met a young female Rottweiler down at the local food store-she gave me a few kisses on my hand and made me smile. Animals are all kinds of awesome!
Calico
June 25th, 2009 at 12:38 pm [Reply]

310 – I think Les Moore could use a few of those special brownies right about now.
Gallowglass
June 25th, 2009 at 12:38 pm [Reply]

It was very thoughtful, if unfortunate, of Wolverine to spread his claws out to the side and avoid impaling Spiderman which would have mercifully ended his whining, ennui-rotted life. Now he will have to soldier on, whining, googling, watching the “Price is Right” and having inexplicable flashbacks.
Poteet
June 25th, 2009 at 12:40 pm [Reply]

Y129 Calico — I am so sorry. They never live long enough when they are wonderful and loved. I am thinking of you.
Poteet
June 25th, 2009 at 12:55 pm [Reply]

FC — What I want to know is what the Keanes actually had in mind when they created this weirdness. Hmmm…

HA! I have it! Grandma, a.k.a. Ogasel (Our Glorious Amazing Spiritually Effervescent Leader), is such a incredible font of eternal knowledge, as the Keanes have shown us before, that she inspires total awe and happiness in her followers. PJ is so blissed out just from gazing at Her Radiant Presence and hearing Her Utter Wisdom that he would fall if not held up by Dolly, who can barely contain her own rapture.

If PJ and Dollly were adults, they’d hand over all their possessions to Ogasel and follow her to her secret cult compound in Belize. Maybe they will anyway.
Artist formerly known as Ben
June 25th, 2009 at 12:57 pm [Reply]

#30 UncleJeff,
I agree with you on points 1 and 2. As for point #3, the only other alternatives were:
A. Break up the sequence of the arc, which is a pain in the ass and would have left the kite story without a conclusion.
B. Rewrite Schultz’s punchline, which is usually a recipe for disaster.
So maybe their best bet was to just let it roll and deal with a lot of the readers being confused.
Frozen
June 25th, 2009 at 1:05 pm [Reply]

Crankshaft hasn’t been featuring enough Crankshaft lately.
Joe Blevins
June 25th, 2009 at 1:22 pm [Reply]

Outside a furry convention — or an LSD-incuded hallucination — how often do you get to see a wolverine and a spider double-teaming an octopus? I want one of these guys to step back and say, “Wait a minute, guys. What are we doing here? We’re three grown men men pretending to be animals, using fake names, fighting in the streets like wild dogs. This is no kind of life for an adult. Look, you two can do what you want, but I’m going to go to Men’s Wearhouse, pick up some normal-people clothes, and start combing the help wanted ads for a job with a dental plan and retirement benefits.”
ScienceGiant
June 25th, 2009 at 1:22 pm [Reply]

#67 Poteet: actually, I thought the FC caption originally read when they’re sCared. Which lent your beautific visual an extra creepy quality. Sort of “smiling children know they shall be raptured”…
commodorejohn
June 25th, 2009 at 1:32 pm [Reply]

Re; Peanuts – I’d much rather try to figure out a dated strip than watch a bunch of syndicate suits prove somehow even less effective at modernizing a comic strip than Lynn Johnston. Peanuts is so clearly a product of the ’50s and ’60s that there would be no chance of it ever appearing otherwise.
Steve the Pocket
June 25th, 2009 at 1:33 pm [Reply]

Gasoline Alley:*sigh* I really don’t know about this comic… I made it through the Earl Lee Bird saga, the worst travesty of characterization I’ve probably ever seen in the funnies, without giving up and deleting Gasoline Alley from my custom page. But now that we’re into a story that actually has a setup and promise of conflict in it, I’m finding myself constantly bogged down by the characters’ insistance on referring to each other by their oh-so-ha-ha-larious full names every freaking time.

Rhymes with Orange: In any other medium, this might be the setup to a Hichcock-esque horror story, or perhaps a parody thereof.

Zits: I didn’t know the Duncans lived in the same neighborhood as Calvin!
Professor Fate
June 25th, 2009 at 1:40 pm [Reply]

FW: More pity sex in funkytown – other than the teen first time get knocked up sex it’s the only sex in this strip.

So this is what I’m hearing when read this strip

Song is done in 50’s acapella do-wop style harmony –

Pityfuck pityfuck I need a pity fuck
Pityfuck pityfuck I need a pity fuck
Pityfuck pityfuck give me a pity fuck
Pityfuck pityfuck please be my pityfuck

My wife’s been dead of cancer
For I think at least ten years
But it’s really hard to remember
Because of all the tears

My daughter thinks I’m a creep
And I see a talking cat
Please darlin’ only you
Have a cure for all that

Repeat Chorus

I’m middle aged and depressed
My friend’s worse than me
Sometimes we sit up on the roof
And mope about what used to be
The past is nothing but misery
And the future is pitch black
Come on honey just this once
I Promise I’ll pay you back

Repeat Chorus to fade out

(Ad lib lines as chorus fade)

Did I tell you my wife died of cancer?

It took a long time

Did I mention I was a horrible athlete?

I was picked on in high school too.

I’ve been very lonely –

-end-

Now I really hate this strip – i have an imaginary song running through my head – thanks tom
mojo
June 25th, 2009 at 1:42 pm [Reply]

Archie: Sadly, the economic downturn has hit Archie and his friends especially hard, and, like the Joads in The Grapes of Wrath, they have become itinerant day-laborers slaving under cruel capitalistic taskmasters. Jughead must now R-U-N-N-O-F-T after killing some dude who deserved it at a hobo jungle dance. Archie, meanwhile, continues to work the fields while hoping in his heat-induced daydreams that Veronica will play Rose-of-Sharon. He also hopes their trials will follow the book more so than the movie, so at the end he might perchance catch a glimpse of some hawt Veronica boobage before the wedding.

PS to 63 Calico: Belated condolences for your loss. Albert Payson Terhune used to say something along the lines of “All dogs die too soon. Some humans don’t die soon enough.” I always liked that.
Icepick Jones
June 25th, 2009 at 1:48 pm [Reply]

Who rushes face first into combat anyway? Let’s pretend Doctor Octopus hadn’t jumped out of the way, and instead was standing in-between Spidey and Wolverine in the final panel. Spider-Man has his arms pinned back with his face jutting forward. Was Spidey going to catch Doc Ock or clumsily make a pass at him? “Oops, I seem to have tripped, smooch smooch.”

Wolverine is no better. Nothing like attacking an opponent with your bladed arm hanging lazily to the side. I’m sure the Cheek-Smash Technique™ is much more effective than the razor sharp knives sticking out of your hand.
Down With OPP
June 25th, 2009 at 1:50 pm [Reply]

Let’s say Doc Oc haden’t jumped out of the way and that Spidey and Wolverine’s plan had actually worked. Does anyone think an “Octupus Sandwich”, wherein they both ran face first with their arms at their sides into Doc Oc’s steely tentacles, would have been a particularly effective strategy?
Hogenmogen
June 25th, 2009 at 1:51 pm [Reply]

GA- The only way to read this strip is by staring at the floozie of the week’s enormous breasts. Any other way may cause dain bramage.
Hogenmogen
June 25th, 2009 at 1:55 pm [Reply]

So, picture yourself as Wolverine. Your skeleton is made of indestructible adamantium, you have four razor sharp blades on each arm that can cut through tank armor like butter. So, when rushing at a deadly enemy, you lead in with…

…Your Dippy-do gelled mutton chops?
kris
June 25th, 2009 at 2:03 pm [Reply]

ok…in the plain dealer (clevelands right wing rag) all week family circus has had different print for the comics…same picture but the print has been about the easter bunny. todays said ‘isn’t it about time for me to write my wish list to the easter bunny? wtf is that about. marmaduke had things about ‘books’ all week until today. wtf??
Calico
June 25th, 2009 at 2:05 pm [Reply]

Poteet and Mojo, thank you also for your kind condolences.

My Dad would have absolutely loved the Albert Payson Terhune quote.

I think Schultz also said via one of his Peanuts, “I love mankind – it’s people I can’t stand.” LOL.
mojo
June 25th, 2009 at 2:09 pm [Reply]

Clearly Wolverine and Spider-Man are fans of the old Chris Elliot show, Get a Life. Once he and his father (the esteemed Bob Elliot; all hail!) were getting their asses kicked at a father-son picnic and I remember him telling his dad something like “Try to fall on your face, Dad–it’s nature’s shock absorber.”
Greenbrastic
June 25th, 2009 at 2:42 pm [Reply]

“Happy times get even happier when they’re shared” – Grandma wants to get in the middle of a PJ and Dolly sandwich. That’s right.
anaceofkidneys
June 25th, 2009 at 2:44 pm [Reply]

Hahahaha “octopus sandwich”.

Hey, that actually sounds kind of good. As long as it’s not canned octopus, that stuff is horrible.
Joe Blevins
June 25th, 2009 at 2:45 pm [Reply]

FC: Immediately prior to this moment, Dolly took PJ aside and told him (in the voice of Robert De Niro): “Never rat out your friends, and always keep your mouth shut.” So you can forget that bullshit “good cop” routine, Granny. He ain’t snitchin’.
Charterstoned
June 25th, 2009 at 2:53 pm [Reply]

Archie – Today’s strip reminds me of the summer job I had for two whole days, driving an ice cream truck. I got lost and ended up going into neighborhoods that had never seen an ice cream truck before (and might not have again, as on my second day in the truck I couldn’t re-trace my “lost” route from the day before). That same day, the truck that was pretty unsafe on a good day up and broke down in a busy intersection, and being just 17, I had Clue None about what to do except trudge back to the distribution office and inform them as to the whereabouts of the melting ice cream. That, and quit.
Calico
June 25th, 2009 at 3:07 pm [Reply]

#85 – Damn you Joe, you owe me a new friggin’ keyboard. : D Shiiiiiite!
Elizabeth Helena
June 25th, 2009 at 3:10 pm [Reply]

Oh man, Hugh Jackman is going to be pissed. Wolverine’s adventures have been released to the general public with unfinished special effects again.
Soccerhead
June 25th, 2009 at 3:32 pm [Reply]

FUNKY: Les is still embarrassed about the remark about Pop Warner and baseball, since he has no interest in sports except H.S. girls basketball, he being in the bleachers faithfully for every practice during the season (“We’ve got Special K?!”)
Of course, Cayla could be seeing blackbirds the way Les is seeing cats.
I’m guessing the cat’ not really there. Cayla didn’t say, “Gee, Les, I didn’t know you had a cat.”
Katya
June 25th, 2009 at 3:34 pm [Reply]

#87 — Calico:

Now I’m really confused…

When did Muslims enter the picture?
Master Softheart
June 25th, 2009 at 3:50 pm [Reply]

# 23 AFKAB: Thank you – makes perfect sense now, and I suppose the syndicate had to run it because it is part of the continuity arc for Linus and his lost blanket, but it’s still kind of out of left field.

Y: 129 Calico: Please allow me to join in the condolences – losing a friend of 16 years hurts no matter what the species. Celebrate the good memories.
Mibbitmaker
June 25th, 2009 at 3:54 pm [Reply]

FC:

Happy times?? There’s global warming, Osama’s boys still trying to kill us, a crushing recession, 2 wars, joblessness, a harshly divided country, Kim Jung Mentally Il ready to incinerate the Western Hemisphere, giant deficits and debt, newspapers are dying, bizarre weather, “My Name is Earl” cancelled, Ed McMahon and Farrah dead, savage repression in Iran, Thorax and Monty all over 9 Chickweed Lane, endlessly depressing Funky Winkerbean, Pluggers, Aldo’s still dead, Lynn Johnston won’t go away, a riot about to go under way at Sophie Driver’s high school, human sacrifice, cats & dogs living together, mass hysteria….!!

Happy times?? HA! What happy times, Grandma?????
TheDiva
June 25th, 2009 at 3:55 pm [Reply]

Adding my condolences, Calico. Sixteen years is a good run for a dog, but that doesn’t diminish the loss a bit.
Eldaglass
June 25th, 2009 at 3:56 pm [Reply]

#5: CotW!
Judas Peckerwood
June 25th, 2009 at 3:57 pm [Reply]

FC: Actually, from the looks of it Dolly has murdered PJ and turned him into a meat puppet. Happy times indeed!
Mibbitmaker
June 25th, 2009 at 3:58 pm [Reply]

#90 (Katya): Possibly either 1979 or 2001, depending on who you ask.
wagmore barkless
June 25th, 2009 at 4:00 pm [Reply]

#51 Calvin’s Cardboard Box

I am fully expecting Sophie to break into the old cheer from my alma mater, an engineering school:

e to the x, dy, dx
e to the x, dx
Cosine, secant, tangent, sine
3.14159
Come on [team mascot], hold that line!
scott
June 25th, 2009 at 4:01 pm [Reply]

FW- My only question is will Les ever go back?
‘Shaft- Hey Mom, try giving your daughter some good advice, like “Hang around the chem and engineering school. Don’t end up like me.” Capice, momma?
Katya
June 25th, 2009 at 4:04 pm [Reply]

Thanks a lot, people. I resisted, but you finally got me to read “Funky Winkerbean.”

Now I’m depressed…because he’s depressed…because he’s got her depressed…because they’re all depressed…because everything’s depressing…

Aaagh!
Jesse C
June 25th, 2009 at 4:11 pm [Reply]

“happy times are even happier when they are shared…

and that’s how Magic Johnson got AIDs kiddies”
Katya
June 25th, 2009 at 4:13 pm [Reply]

#97 — wagmore barkless:

Yeah, I’m hearing it! Very rhythmic!
gts1303
June 25th, 2009 at 4:20 pm [Reply]

re: Cathy

Did Irving’s mom just feed him dog treats? And if so, does that explain how he could get so messed up that he ended up married to Cathy?
Mr. O'Malley
June 25th, 2009 at 4:54 pm [Reply]

Anachronisms in the comics today:

GA: Beer cans without poptops.
Crankshaft: 3¢ letters
Peanuts: OK, it’s a classic, but who knows what a telegram is any more?

Ruben Bolling takes on the Lockhorns and more—Super-Fun-Pak Comix.

Calico. It’s a sad event to go through. Condolences.
Chibigodzilla
June 25th, 2009 at 5:00 pm [Reply]

#45 – Lawyerbob

I peg Spidey as more of a Joe he fills in the third stooge role with just that tiny bit of despair that betrays his awareness that he is totally replaceable and so terrible that he wont be remembered at all. (At least Shemp gets to be “that guy who replaced Curly and wasn’t anywhere near as good.”) The previous week of strips have shown that if Spidey had stuck to doing what he does best, things would have been much easier for Wolverine and deep down, Spidey knows that.
Violet
June 25th, 2009 at 5:03 pm [Reply]

Delilah: Mary, whenever Lawrence and I try to discuss our marital difficulties, I find we just say the same things over and over and cover the same ground ad nauseam in this endless, pointless rehash of the same ideas that drags on and on and never moves forward by even a fraction of an inch.

Mary: (blank stare) What’s your point?
Carly
June 25th, 2009 at 5:48 pm [Reply]

I wish that “Spider-man? Wolverine? What’s next?” could have been followed by an increasingly large list of superheroes, ideally more and more ridiculous and obscure. “The Thing? Green Lantern? Green Arrow? The Comedian? Sailor Moon? Buffy the Vampire Slayer? White Tiger? Lifeguard? What’s next?” [pause] “It’s the goddamn Batman!”

Yes, I know I mixed publishers there. In other news, while I was trying to find a suitably lame/obscure character, I learned about Lifeguard, a.k.a. Deus ex Machina, who would fit in well in the Spider-Man comic.
Pester
June 25th, 2009 at 7:12 pm [Reply]

Luann- Could the title character look any more like a muppet today?
Jason1981
June 25th, 2009 at 7:30 pm [Reply]

102 – If you look at the bag Cathy’s mom is holding you can see it says “Cheese Balls” or something like that. (Dogs DO seem to love cheese.)

S-M “What’s next?!”

Ock hears 5 or 6 voices off-panel: “We call on Titanus and the power of the Ultrazord!”

Ock :” ….I need to learn to keep my mouth shut.”
Mr. O'Malley
June 25th, 2009 at 7:41 pm [Reply]

They haven’t been posting many of these, but since I’m sick today and can’t do anything useful, I went back and got them.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/files/1959_0616_mirror_comics.jpg
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef011571070456970b-pi
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/files/1959_0613_mirror_comics.jpg

Did Michael Jackson make any comics appearances? I seem to have some vague recollection of them.
Will
June 25th, 2009 at 7:48 pm [Reply]

109: I remember Jacko being a prominent storyline for a week or two in Bloom County. This must have been around the time that his eccentricities began showing, because Breathed showed his manager wearing a Humpty Dumpty costume, and Jackson made Opus into a Mini-Me.
bats :[
June 25th, 2009 at 8:00 pm [Reply]

110. Will: it seems the Michael Jackson thread in Bloom County can be found in the collection “Penguin Dreams and Stranger Things.” While I haven’t read my collections in a long while, it wouldn’t surprise me if Michael didn’t make several other cameo appearances, what with Binkley’s closet of anxieties and all.
dimestore lipstick
June 25th, 2009 at 8:15 pm [Reply]

If the mom in Crankshaft was college-age at the time of three-cent postage, then she must be at least 68 years old. No wonder she can’t begin to relate to her daughter. (A first-class letter was 3 cents from 1932 until it went to 4 cents in 1958.)
Mr. O'Malley
June 25th, 2009 at 8:58 pm [Reply]

110, 111. Bloom County was it, I think.
UncleJeff
June 25th, 2009 at 9:00 pm [Reply]

109: Mr. O’Malley: You might also be remembering an episode of “The Simpsons” where Jackson had an uncredited appearance as a mental patient who called himself “Michael Jackson.”
Donkey Hotey
June 25th, 2009 at 9:30 pm [Reply]

#49 Master Mahan -

This ex-drunken fratboy — no, wait, make that drunken ex-fratboy — would like to nominate you for COTW.
Jamus The Bartender
June 25th, 2009 at 10:09 pm [Reply]

The Cat And The Curmudgeon
One Sad Day

It was a busy day, and as Arbuckle had just sold Goldberg’s to us for a song, Cassandra and I had a lot of plans for renovating the bar without damaging it’s initial charm. I had spent the whole day talking to architects, inspectors….it was gonna take two to four months to get the new place up to code. So, in contractor-speak, about four to six months.
Around the same time as the new baby was due, I thought.
I came home to find Cassandra sitting by my stereo turntable , crying, listening to one song over and over, It was “Girlfriend” , written by Paul McCartney, but much improved upon by the late King Of Pop.
I had just heard the news over the radio.
I sat next to Cassandra, holding her close. It was close to ninety, but she didn’t mind. ” I used to listen to this album over and over when I grew up at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. All the kids at school would make fun of me…” then she trailed off…” It made me feel happy again.”
” It’s okay, baby”
Well, it wasn’t okay, for a lot of reasons, but she understood. When the needle moved to ” It’s The Falling In Love” , we decided to order out some Chinese.
We sat there, staring at the stars, the rest of the night. News about the work would wait, for now.
Michael Jackson
1958-2009
Hank
June 25th, 2009 at 10:15 pm [Reply]

Oh, jeez, are we going to get all broken up over a dead child molester now? I can’t wait until OJ dies and we all mourn the passing of “a football legend.”
Muffaroo
June 25th, 2009 at 10:18 pm [Reply]

Chibigodzilla @104 – Fun fact: Shemp was a Stooge before Curly. One book on the trio states that he was the first one hired by Ted Healy. The fact that I can’t find confirmation of this at Wikipedia in no way deters me from believing it, because, you know… Wikipedia!
Muffaroo
June 25th, 2009 at 10:21 pm [Reply]

I have no idea if Jackson lived down to rumor or not, but I was looking at a flickr photoset of scenes at Neverland, one of which shows an oversized pocket watch prop. I must confess that when I read one comment, “Shouldn’t the big hand be on top of the little hand?”, I snickered way too much.
Jamus The Bartender
June 25th, 2009 at 10:23 pm [Reply]

y129. I just heard about your dog, Calico. I’m really sorry too.
commodorejohn
June 25th, 2009 at 10:41 pm [Reply]

#117 Hank – Whether or not someone’s a creep and/or pervert has very little to do with whether or not they were a good musician (see also: Chuck Berry.) I’m not a particularily big fan, but still, the man gave us Thriller, ’nuff said.
tb4000
June 25th, 2009 at 10:48 pm [Reply]

Just chill with all the MJ molester stuff…those people are in the minority who think that of him anyways.
Anonymous
June 25th, 2009 at 11:10 pm [Reply]

122: somehow, I seriously doubt that. Dude’s been a walking horrorshow for decades now, no matter how good his music was back in the day.
queek
June 25th, 2009 at 11:12 pm [Reply]

123 was me. This isn’t the place for the discussion, but I didn’t want to leave the post Anonymous due to browser switching, either.
boojum
June 25th, 2009 at 11:24 pm [Reply]

Fame does strange things to people’s heads. So do people who surround and feed off those who have the talent to achieve fame. (Anyone want to trade childhoods with Michael Jackson?) It’s always sad when the craziness overtakes the creative achievement – either in real life or in the public’s mind. I found MJ a mesmerizing entertainer but increasingly pathetic individual.

Only thing I wanted to add: It is… jarring… to read so many kind and sympathetic expressions of support for one of our number on the loss of her pet, then to find quite different remarks on the death of someone who, for all his real or imagined faults, was still a human being. A little perspective, please.

Also: RIP Farrah Fawcett, an individual with her own problems who could still tear up the screen in such films as The Apostle, one of my favorites. The lady could hold her own against Robert Duvall, and that’s saying something. She picked a bad day to die.
Hank
June 25th, 2009 at 11:31 pm [Reply]

RE: boojum June 25th, 2009 at 11:24 pm . I’m guessing the pet wasn’t a child molester.
Uncle Lumpy
June 25th, 2009 at 11:33 pm [Reply]

Boy, The Apostle was a great movie. Ought to be sold as a box set with Steve Martin’s Leap of Faith, for two completely different points of view on a subject.
boojum
June 25th, 2009 at 11:37 pm [Reply]

Hank: No. No, I suppose he wasn’t. And if I’ve unintentionally given pain to anyone with private grief in that area, I apologize.
Anonymous
June 25th, 2009 at 11:38 pm [Reply]

#110 Will –

Opus and Michael Jackson switched places ala “The Prince and the Pauper” so Jackson could experience an ordinary life for a while… that’s why Opus was dressed up like him.
Mibbitmaker
June 25th, 2009 at 11:41 pm [Reply]

At one point in the mid-’80s I was cutting out the better strips from the paper and double-stick taped them in a drawing pad to keep them, and one of those I still have had a series of Funky Winkerbean strips where Les was a pariah at school for not being a (Thriller-era) Michael Jackson fan. Sure, in modern FW, that would sound like depressing stuff. But those are nice reminders of the still-good and funny FW, the few I have in my posession.
Charlene
June 25th, 2009 at 11:57 pm [Reply]

#121, I suppose some of us disagree.
bats :[
June 26th, 2009 at 12:38 am [Reply]

TGIFunnies…not to much to comment on.

FW: for god’s sake, Les, you have no idea how I wish a new principal takes over at Westview, young, single, handsome, and immediately sweeps Cayla off her feet. She’ll never look back at you.
I guess there’s always Stalker Susan, though…and then someone else, and then someone else, etc. You can put off these seemingly intelligent women forever, and then sit in the dark and masturbate, bemoaning the fact that you’ll be alone forever. Asshole.
KarMann
June 26th, 2009 at 12:53 am [Reply]

The Michael Jackson sequence in Bloom County just ran within the past couple of months in the reruns I follow at Yahoo. You remember it fairly accurately.
sugarpie
June 26th, 2009 at 1:02 am [Reply]

132 bats:[ & FW Yes exactly! Mr. Moore doesn’t deserve one quarter of what he’s getting. Cayla must be deaf, since she isn’t hearing the chorus, crooning: “Get out, Get out, Get out. He doesn’t deserve you, you can do so much better!” Batiuk really does deserve his own special circle in hell.
ka-pwinggg
June 26th, 2009 at 1:02 am [Reply]

My local paper has been printing Family Circus with the same caption all week. (“Is it time to write my wish list to the Easter Bunny?”) I thought it was some kind of running joke.
Deena in OR
June 26th, 2009 at 1:05 am [Reply]

‘Mudge shout-out in “Cleats” !!
sugarpie
June 26th, 2009 at 1:13 am [Reply]

MW Oh dear god! Mauve, Mauve, Mmmmmmmauve! Puke-o-Rama!

I thought everyone was sort of kidding about Mary being Kali.

Now I believe! I’m sorry I ever doubted.
Uncle Lumpy
June 26th, 2009 at 1:14 am [Reply]

Hey, how the hell can they talk without a mouth?

And it’s “without mouths”, dammit! And another thing. . . .
Cool not Cold
June 26th, 2009 at 1:19 am [Reply]

Calico – my deepest sympathy regarding your dear departed dog. Even though I don’t know you and didn’t know your dog, I cried at learning of your dog’s passing. I lost my German shepherd, Zeus, when he was 16. He was my greatest protector, my constant companion, my bed-mate. I was just devastated when I had to have him put to sleep due to cancer. But I now have two Boxers, both rescued, who are just so goofy and playful and full of zany energy that it helps me forget about my sadness. I hope you get another dog soon!

On a lighter note, Finky Wankerbanger: Les is gonna get laid! Or at least he’s gonna get a hand-job on the porch. But that will just lead to the cops coming and arresting him and Cayla for indecent exposure charges. Ha ha! More hilarious FW hi-jinx! Woo hoo!
Hank
June 26th, 2009 at 1:21 am [Reply]

Conan O’Brien’s Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at the Michael Jackson trial
Josh
June 26th, 2009 at 1:27 am [Reply]

Wait, you guys have seriously chosen Michael Jackson as a topic to be pissy to each other about on my site? Lame. Be nice or be banned.

Josh (DON’T MAKE ME COME IN THERE)
Carrie
June 26th, 2009 at 1:28 am [Reply]

106: Today I found out about an old-time superhero who’s even lamer than Spidey! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_Eater_Lad
Yes, Matter-Eater Lad, whose superpower is being able to eat things.

I’m so sad that Matter-Eater Lad was DC because this dude was born to team up with Spidey. There would be no TV show they can’t watch, no snacks they can’t eat while watching it.
wagmore barkless
June 26th, 2009 at 1:34 am [Reply]

#136 Deena in OR:

Sorry, but I think you must be mistaken. They specify: “…about the most trivial things.” Clearly, not a reference to this site at all.
Cool not Cold
June 26th, 2009 at 1:34 am [Reply]

BTW, my dog Zeus was my bed-mate in a non-sexual way. Not like Marmaduke or anything. Just wanted to clarify.
Mr. O'Malley
June 26th, 2009 at 1:46 am [Reply]

Archie: What is that face? Is the AJGLU-3000 trying to depict Abner Almond, Mr. Peanut’s no-count cousin from Hootin’ Holler?

MW: We have decided you belong together! Do you have the temerity to defy us?

OBH: This set of strips has been good. More imaginative than most of the kid strips.

Pluggers: I must admit, even from Carpinteria driving to Australia is hard.
bats :[
June 26th, 2009 at 2:13 am [Reply]

134. sugarpie: well. There. I feel better.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9545446@N07/3661394651/sizes/o/
boojum
June 26th, 2009 at 2:23 am [Reply]

Sorry, Josh.
Jeff
June 26th, 2009 at 2:25 am [Reply]

I have to say, as a dyed-in-the-wool Marvel Comics guy I kind of like seeing Stan Lee’s handling of the characters. I mean, in the books anymore everything is so overblown and ridiculous…these guys look kind of human. That was once the Marvel way: it was what made Spiderman that much cooler than Superman. Stan’s approach is a little anachronistic now, but I think I like it even more for that reason.

Sorry–that was awfully unsnarky for this blog. I’ll try to do worse next time. The last couple of days’ worth of FW have been cueing me up for a slam or three.
boojum
June 26th, 2009 at 2:44 am [Reply]

I have, unintentionally, provoked the wrath of Josh. I repent me in dust and ashes, and hereby voluntarily ban myself from this site for a period of ten days. When I return, I vow to be… a bigger person.

Actually, that sounds a lot more noble than it is. Basically, I’m going down to N’Awlins for a week to stuff myself on shrimps and ersters. I will be too blissed out on dirty rice, and too passed out from heat and humidity, to post.

Please note any earth-shaking developments in Judge Parker, Mary Worth, Rex Morgan and Apartment 3G and alert me when I return. I just know all heck’s about to break out, and I’m gone miss it.
Mibbitmaker
June 26th, 2009 at 3:02 am [Reply]

The date directly above these words:

Cleats:
p1 — Ooh, a shot.
p2 — okayyy…
p3 — Ouch! Kinda mean and nasty. Aaand…
p4 — In on the joke! Masterfully played, Hinds.

666CL: “I hate those guys!” — Dean Wormer

Archie: “We Will Rock You” by Queen. Excerpts:
“Mud on you face, big disgrace…”
then
“Blood on your face, big disgrace…”

BBailey: “…What practice session?”

Curtis: Curtis wants to be a lawyer (don’t tell David Wiley Miller).

DT: So what else is new?

H&J: It’ll also help him nod his head “yes”. She didn’t think this through.

JP: “Convoy” fading back in…

MT: Proper emphasis in word balloons?? That’s not Mark Trail! STOP, you imposter!!

MW: That did it! Karen Moy has definately been ghostwriting governor Mark Sanford’s/his mistress’s illicit love e-mails!

S-M: Doc Ock is a spoiled brat. A sense of entitlement like that can get one into cheerleader tryouts someplace…
boojum
June 26th, 2009 at 3:05 am [Reply]

bats :[ Have you seen this yet?

http://www.marriedtothesea.com/062609/bat-realtor.gif
Cool not Cold
June 26th, 2009 at 3:12 am [Reply]

#149- boojum: I hope you do come back a bigger person after eating all that good N’awlins food!
You are SO right that all *heck* will break loose in the strips you list: but I’m too lazy and have had too many glasses of wine to forecast what that is going to be. Prepare to be underwhelmed, though! Except maybe for JP…this should be good! And of course MW: this bonehead Delilah makes some of the rest of the recent MW female cast look positively genius-like! And she’s a “PRODIGY!” Bwaahhahahaha!
Mr. O'Malley
June 26th, 2009 at 3:18 am [Reply]

145. I’ve decided that my Pluggers line was too subtle. Let me try a revision.

It would certainly be hard to drive to Australia from Carpinteria. On the other hand, it would be easy to drive to Australia from Carpentaria.

As long as you didn’t go too far out in the water, that is.

There are no bears in Australia, so it’s no wonder he doesn’t get along with the in-laws. They probably call him a “Seppo” behind his back.
Jack Parsons
June 26th, 2009 at 3:48 am [Reply]

Phantom: bow-bow-chicka-bow-bow-chicka-chicka-bow
gleeb
June 26th, 2009 at 6:13 am [Reply]

Baldo: Tia Carmen always knows where the condoms are.

‘bean: Creepy Les wants this al fresco handjob to last.

Gil: He’s loosening the top of the salt shaker. You see, being a jackass is all about constant spadework.
Little Guy
June 26th, 2009 at 7:13 am [Reply]

9CL: Bah. I’m rewatching “The Princess Bride”.

Curtis: And, if Barry is right, their parents are assholes.

MT: And soon, she’ll regret having hired the Amish Security Force as her staff security.

Funky: This isn’t ‘earning an ending’. It isn’t even a happy ending. Oh, it involves an end, but painful and without lube.

S4th: So they did build that Space Elevator.

BB: They’re being fired upon by 1960s Batman sound effects.

MC: Well, it is a promotion for the grandmother. She gets to join the Funkyverse.

And RIP, Farrah and Jacko.
Deb
June 26th, 2009 at 7:40 am [Reply]

FW: He did *not* just tell Cayla she had to “earn” sleeping with him? That’s so awesome, because now he’s assigned her the role of “slutty chick desperate to get laid” and he gets to be the one who slowly doles out sexual favors. Well played, Les, the power card belongs to you now.
Ham Gravy
June 26th, 2009 at 7:49 am [Reply]

Cathy – What are these little characters constantly pointing up at? Does Guisewite fear that readers will overlook the word balloons unless she calls attention to them? Or maybe there are bugs or unsightly stains on the ceiling?
sugarpie
June 26th, 2009 at 8:14 am [Reply]

146 bats :[ As I look at FW today, not being quite as ~~squiffy~~ tired as I was last night, I realize how weird and repellant this whole week has been. I’m losing respect for Cayla and have to remove FW from my chron.com roster. Just when it seems Batiuk cant get any worse, he somehow manages to push on through.
Brick Bradford
June 26th, 2009 at 8:20 am [Reply]

MW: Way to ladle on the guilt there, Mary. Delilah couldn’t possibly have felt badly enough about her marriage, along with all her hopes and dreams, collapsing into a slag heap of pain. It’s good you found just the right words to make it worse.

MT: I don’t recall Mark being this assertive before. Is this how he acts out sexual arousal?
One-eyed Wolfdog
June 26th, 2009 at 8:35 am [Reply]

–You spent years learning to draw your comic?
–OK, I spent months learning to draw.
–Months?? Really?? This represents months of learning your craft?
–OK. I have a damaged motor cortex, a pen, and a burning hatred of paper.
queek
June 26th, 2009 at 8:58 am [Reply]

Cleats: shout-out already covered

Frazz: just wonderful. also a bit of a x-over/ref.

Ghost-who-sends-memo-to-coloring-monkeys: coloring monkeys got the memo, Hawa is back in black! :-)

RwO & SF: I lol’d. Well done, Ces!
Tom
June 26th, 2009 at 9:12 am [Reply]

Re: “Crankshaft”: Just how old is the mother? If she was sending letters using 3 cent stamps. I’m 46 and have a college age student and back before I went to college stamps wer .15 then .18 and finally .20 cents, so how old are the parents, hell my sister’s oldest just graduated and she’s not 50 yet.
lunarhalo
June 26th, 2009 at 9:16 am [Reply]

Both Family Circus and Spiderman would be vastly improved if they swapped lines.

“Happy times get even happier when they’re shared.” would be some cold ass shit to say to a pair of superheroes as your robotic legs lifted you to the perfect vantage point from which to witness them crashing into each other like bighorn sheep on a methadone binge.

And Grandma Keene uttering “Bumblers! Nothing can overcome my agility!” would be the perfect thing to say before making her final exit from the Keene compound.
buckyswife
June 26th, 2009 at 9:17 am [Reply]

A3G: A compliment makes Margo’s eyes go all googly! And the ever-solicitous Mr. Magee has found a hotel in India that only allows in white people.

MT: Amazingly, in this storyline we have a chemical company dumping toxic waste in the forest, killing helpless woodland creatures. And on the other hand, we have an “assertive” Mark Trail—who is being such a dick that I’m actually starting to root for the chemical company.

Curtis: Barry has a fine future career as a PATRIOT Act enforcer.
KarMann
June 26th, 2009 at 9:24 am [Reply]

MW: To illustrate and remind Delilah of that perfect love, Mary will now show her the past few weeks of 9 Chickweed Lane.

So just remember, ‘Mudges, when Delilah and Larry finally make the happy announcement, look forward to a healthy 9 lb. cockroach. I wonder what color baby shower gifts they get?
Jimmy
June 26th, 2009 at 9:27 am [Reply]

Luann: Can’t wait ’til Quill meets TJ !!
Mooncattie
June 26th, 2009 at 9:27 am [Reply]

JP – I’m sort of in love with Mrs. Norton. Well, that’s it from me!
Artist formerly known as Ben
June 26th, 2009 at 9:46 am [Reply]

6/26

JP: Think nothing of it. The honking just means Rocky Ledge is grabbing Godiva’s tits.

RMMD: Agatha has a husband? I vaguely recall a man sitting at her table and getting plastered with her, but it’s awkward to remind us he exists now. During the whole donut urchin/human smuggling episode, has he just been lying around their cabin reading Golf Digest?

Shoe: So the editor’s job is to say something that sounds trenchant and penetrating, even if it means nothing.

FT: It’s sort of refreshing to see two female superheroes who definitely don’t have the most common superpower.

DtM: Alice, your boy is old enough to take baths by himself. For the love of humanity, please let him.

S-M: “Whatever Doc Ock wants, Doc Ock gets”? Sorry man, but you’re no Lola.

GA: I know my reaction is supposed to be, “Oh noes, Upton O. Goode is gonna rob the parsonage!” But at this point anyone who entrusts anything to Slim deserves what they get.

Baldo: How cute. That’s where they keep the family weed supply.

BB: Sarge and Otto are apparently getting there just as Adam West starts fighting Burgess Meredith’s henchmen.

FW: In Les’ case, endings tend to involve him shoveling dirt onto a coffin. Agreed, you don’t wanna hurry getting there.

Phantom: “Watch your trim”? Has anyone told the Unknown Commander that sexual harassment is already rampant in the Jungle Patrol?
Calvin's Cardboard Box
June 26th, 2009 at 9:49 am [Reply]

re: Yesterday’s ’shaft – I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt that “3 cent stamp” was a deliberate exaggeration on the part of the character in order to emphasize her age gap with the daughter, and not meant to be a literal reference to the cost of postage in the 70s-80s.
Artist formerly known as Ben
June 26th, 2009 at 9:57 am [Reply]

A3G: What the hell is that wink and nudge business going on between Margo and her dad? Please tell me nothing happened in their hotel suite. Maybe their just trying to squick out Alan Alda here.
TheDiva
June 26th, 2009 at 9:59 am [Reply]

FW: Les, it’s been ten years. Widows in Victorian England would have put away the mourning clothes by now.

MW: “Nonsense, your relationship is perfect because we all said so! Now suppress your discontent and go home like a good girl!”
commodorejohn
June 26th, 2009 at 10:07 am [Reply]

#148 Jeff – Whatever fun I have to poke at Spider-Man the comic strip, I definitely agree with you there; the main reason I never got into American comic books is because of the prevailing notion that guys in spandex using mutant/magic/super-science powers to beat up other guys in spandex (and their clones, and planet-eating god-beings from space, and…yeah) is Serious Freaking Business. It’s the same reason I hate 9 Chickweed Lane. If nothing else, the Spidey newspaper strip does not pretend to be some kind of high-art epic.

A.D. – I laughed.

Crankshaft – What? People can fight on the Internet now!? Damn technology! Damn it all to Hell!

DTM – Yes, but on the other hand, the chances of you “accidentally” drowning on your free time are much slimmer.

DT – Okay, we know that a brutal mauling is just around the corner, but I’m going to take this moment and enjoy the notion that Dick was actually stupid enough to stake his entire operation on not even a game of skill and chance, but the pure luck of the draw, and lost. It’s a beautiful thought.

FC – “Seriously, mother, I’ve looked exactly the same for years now. What am I? Eight? Twelve? Sixty-two? I don’t even know any more!”

FW – What the fuck does that mean? Does Les believe in some sort of spiteful god who will punish you for being happy if you haven’t completed your assigned term of misery first? Oh, yeah, I guess so. I believe he’s called Thom Baht-Ehk.

Garfield – Oh peachy, now Garfield is turning into Cathy.

GA – Given which side Slim is on, I’m rooting for these two.

GT – Hey, Shep, if you want to “work on the salt shaker,” do it in private.

HOTC – Tatulli, you win.

JP – That’s Harpo, Sophie. He’s trying to tell you something.

Love Is… – mutual bondage.

OBH – Okay, that’s pretty great.

Phantom – Whoa! That is some epic bobbling for a strip that isn’t Apartment 3-G.

Pluggers – Let’s just pray the technological malapropisms stop before we get to a “Plugger dongle.”

RMMD – “In other news, I seem to have come down with PJ’s Disease. I expect I’ll be about a foot tall by this time tomorrow.”

SM – I dunno, Doc, when you have the power to utterly defy perspective like in panel two, I’m not sure you need anything else.
Calico
June 26th, 2009 at 10:14 am [Reply]

One more big thank you, everyone.
Helluva week.

However, I steadfastly refuse to let Le Chat Bleu sit on my shoulder. Or my porch. Or anywhere near me for that matter.
Awesome McCool
June 26th, 2009 at 10:18 am [Reply]

Apropos of nothing, I was reading Part 5 of the Shvetasvatar Upanishad and came upon the following verse:
Whoever has qualities performs works that brings results.

Think Herb and Jamaal just got owned on the vagueness front.
One-eyed Wolfdog
June 26th, 2009 at 10:27 am [Reply]

God damn those are some sloppy polygons on that talking soccer ball.
Bootsy
June 26th, 2009 at 10:37 am [Reply]

Hey, Boojum, Tuesday was the hottest day ever recorded here in N.O. Bring sunscreen. Also, just a tip: no one from here ever says N’Awlins. It’s more like Noo Awlins, or the real yats say Noo Awlyins. Do not bring a sweatshirt. Nothing screams tourist like someone walking around in 100 degree heat, shorts and sandals, with a sheatshirt tied around the waist. You won’t need it unless, of course, you’re staying until November.
Muffaroo
June 26th, 2009 at 11:19 am [Reply]

C2Home – “Isn’t it sad? The cartoonist keeps wanting to include elaborate Rube Goldberg devices, but he just doesn’t know how to draw them!”

DTracy – I thought Dick was going to get the Ace of Spades and say “Got your nose!”

GAlley – “But don’t steal the gloves. The left one’s always too damn tight for some reason.”

HtHorrible – Ha ha. That house is small. SMALL!

JParker – Don’t go outside, Sophie! A bunch of freakishly large Canada Geese have apparently escaped from Lost Forest.

MWorth – First panel: The artist forgot to draw the rope between Da-La-La’s neck and the ceiling fixture.

Phantom – “Watch your trim!”??? Hey, if I want that kind of filth, I’ll go to Denny’s!

PCity – Time to get the photocopier looked at again. Parts of the image are dropping out in the third panel.

SFox – I’m not sure I’ve yet seen a reader drawing that follows their “how to” instructions. (“HOW TO DRAW a delivery person: Draw a delivery person. Add plewds!”)

Ham Gravy @158 – An excellent question! In actuality, the characters in Cathy are drawn minus a finger — the index finger. So they’re not pointing, they’re flipping off anybody who looks to them for entertainment.

commodorejohn @173 – “What’s that, Harpo? Timmy? The old well? Slow down! Okay, first word… sounds like…”
Will
June 26th, 2009 at 11:29 am [Reply]

129 “Anonymous”: Oh, that’s right. It’s been years and years since I read it.
111: Bats:[, thank you for the reference. I’ve got that book lying around here somewhere. I’ll have to give it a memorial read.
I seem to remember one other Bloom County storyline related to Jackson. Steve Dallas won a part in a music video and a stage pyrotechnic device set his chest hair on fire. He had put mousse on it to make it look fluffier.

I miss Bloom County. If ever there was a strip that deserved the big giant archival book deal, that’s the one.
Chibigodzilla
June 26th, 2009 at 11:30 am [Reply]

#118 – Muffaroo

Yeah, I knew that Curly replaced Shemp before Shemp replaced Curly. However, most people don’t know that and that was kinda my point.
UncleJeff
June 26th, 2009 at 11:38 am [Reply]

JP: “You’ll be fresh air!”
“It’s about time we cleaned out that locker room!”
Phantom: “Midnight! My office!”
Oooh. The base commander is setting up a threesome with the Jungle Patrol Cadets!
UncleJeff
June 26th, 2009 at 11:40 am [Reply]

Oh, and:
Mary Worth: “We saw something in you two that we rarely see. A perfect trainwreck. Two completely gullible saps we could manipulate and laugh at for years to come”
Paul1963
June 26th, 2009 at 11:57 am [Reply]

Carrie @142: Even lamer than Matter-Eater-Lad was the Red Bee, a Quality Comics character who eventually ended up owned by DC. He was a guy in a red suit who carried around trained bees in his belt pouches, and when he tackled bad guys he’d release the bees and have them sting the perps.
No, really!
So very, very lame. Roy Thomas, Mr. Golden Age Expert, actually killed him off in an early issue of All-Star Squadron. James Robinson gave him a nice bit in one of the “Talking with David” issues of Starman in the late ’90s, though.

Will @179: Bloom County will be getting the hardcover-reprint-collection treatment beginning this fall: http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/02/05/bloom-county-library-due-from-idw/
Johnny Knuckles
June 26th, 2009 at 12:01 pm [Reply]

The giant cone on the ice cream truck provides a vital clue to the origins of the famous criss-cross pattern on Archie’s hair.
Calico
June 26th, 2009 at 12:27 pm [Reply]

#184 – Could we then refer to Archie as a Conehead?

(Rimshot, cane, curtain, and all that)
Danny Lilithborne
June 26th, 2009 at 12:27 pm [Reply]

Before you run into a guy, Wolverine, you might want to be sure your claws aren’t pointing at, you know, organic matter. Right?
Joe Btfsplk
June 26th, 2009 at 12:35 pm [Reply]

Popeye – Yeah, it’s moving slowly, but it makes me laugh pretty regularly, so I’m OK with that. Besides, I’m learning so much about the lore of the sea!

Fred Basset – Oooooo… Dude, no… You do not tell the wife that you’ve been working all day, as if she hasn’t. Not when she’s got any kind of kitchen implement in her hand. Not when you’re a comic strip character.

Dick Tracy – “Tinhorn?”

OK, Big Stupid Ace, you’ve never dealt with Tracy before, so apparently you’re not familiar with the rules of his game. Let me fill you in. See, it doesn’t matter which card comes up. Tracy wins. That’s just how it goes. You’ll be lucky if he doesn’t make you dig your own grave with that nose of yours.

Tracy always gets a grim look on before unleashing the violence, but that blank, demonic glow in his eyes over the last two days is a new thing to me. An exterior shot would show a rotating vortex of churning black clouds gathering over Monte’s Casino. Probably with O Fortuna playing in the background, sung by a chorus of all of the damned souls of Tracy’s previous victims.
Will
June 26th, 2009 at 12:48 pm [Reply]

Paul1963@ 183: Thank you! Volume one is available for preorder at Amazon, which finally gives me something to spend a birthday gift certificate on.
Sequitur
June 26th, 2009 at 12:54 pm [Reply]

185 Calico
You could but it’s Jughead who consumes mass quantities.
smacky
June 26th, 2009 at 1:40 pm [Reply]

#156. Little Guy, Glad I’m not the only one who assumed Les meant “Happy endings have to be earned,” which would be the mantra of the practitioner of autoerotic asphyxiation.

Now I guess we know why Les is constantly seeing Dead Lisa watching him. His brain is atrophying after ten years of nearly suffocating himself!
bats :[
June 26th, 2009 at 2:32 pm [Reply]

151. boojum: oh, this is GREAT! Thanks! It’s been printed out and posted in a place of honor (read, the refrigerator door, from when all knowledge is found).

Have fun in NO…there are CCers down there, I think (like Bootsy! — try for a meetup, even if it’s only for a Coke — fun to see your fellow CCers in the flesh, even if it’s hot and humid!). Vampires, too. Throw me some ~~crawdads~~ beads!

153. Mr. O’Malley: there used to be a Carpetaria in Tucson, but they sold rugs (and they had one of those fiberglass giants in front dressed as a genii and holding a rolled carpet). I can’t see Carpinteria as anything but a roadside rug outlet…

169. AFKAB re RMMD: remember, we’re still in the second day of the cruise (this the the first full day on the ship)–considering the booze-fest at the first evening’s dinner, Mr. Dunsmore might still be sleeping it off. Or reading Golf Digest…I don’t think he’d have to be a slow reader, either.
bats :[
June 26th, 2009 at 2:41 pm [Reply]

179. Will re Bloom County: if I recall, the Steve Dallas video story involved, in one panel, the boarding house gang finding Steve rehearsing in the bathroom; he was just wearing a towel and was perched on top of the toilet seat in a mid-moonwalk crouch. (Wow. Vivid flashback! Must go look that up…)

183. Paul 1963: good news about Bloom County. I really like the idea of “context pages”…I really can’t get into Li’l Abner or Pogo much because of cultural or historical references that often took place before I was born. (Heck, even some Monty Python episodes are mystifying, since I have no idea what political figure who the political figure being skewered was (aside from the more prominent members of the Royal Family. Or Mary Queen of Scots.).)
Artist formerly known as Ben
June 26th, 2009 at 3:04 pm [Reply]

#191 bats,
Damn. How could I forget we were dealing in soap strip time here?
Mr. O\'Malley
June 26th, 2009 at 3:06 pm [Reply]

191. bats :[. Carpinteria is like “carpenter”. The Spanish named it because the Chumash Indians used to make canoes there.

Carpinteria is the place for the people who do the real work in Santa Barbara but can’t afford to live there—like Sedona and Cottonwood.

So it’s a Plugger kind of place.

As is the Gulf of Carpentaria. The kangaroo Pluggers must be from the north. Australia is the inverse of the US—the number of pickup trucks with dogs in the back increases the further north you go.

I like your idea of annotated comics collections. It would make a nice little social history. Bloom County and Pogo really defined their times, but as memory slips away into history the references fade away. Now with Ed McMahon gone, the Johnny Carson era of the Tonight show is fading away to join Dave Garroway and Ed McMorrow on the dusty shelves.

My local useed bookstore had some bound copies of Punch from the 1880s on sale fairly cheaply, and even though I like to think I am fairly well informed about history, I couldn’t make head or tail of them.
Readem and Laf
June 26th, 2009 at 5:01 pm [Reply]

JP Life imitates art? I just saw this story from LiveScience:

“The Most Dangerous Sport: Cheerleading

“But cheerleading continues to cause more serious and deadly injuries by far than other sports…

“The next most dangerous sports: gymnastics (nine such injuries) and track (seven)…

“Today, the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill released its 26th annual report on the topic…”
Beth
June 26th, 2009 at 5:15 pm [Reply]

An octopus sandwich…Bowmp-chicka bowmp-bowmp
Muffaroo
June 26th, 2009 at 9:37 pm [Reply]

Chibigodzilla @180 – Okay, but even going back and re-reading, it doesn’t jump out.
Braniff
June 27th, 2009 at 10:45 am [Reply]

FC–It’s safe to say that Grandma once thought of designing greeting cards for the Hallmark people, but all of her designs were rejected. In that case, more power to Hallmark!!!!

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