The Comics Curmudgeon

49 responses to “The huh-huh files”

1. Mr.
   July 10th, 2005 at 12:10 am [Reply]

   >Oh, yeah, does anyone get the ostensible “joke” of this one?<

   Josh, did you just actually use the word “joke” while thinking of “Marmaduke?” The “joke” is always, “boy, what a big bossy dog. HA Ha!” Today’s theme is that Brad Anderson is a dirty old man. End of lesson.

2. el st ruby
   July 10th, 2005 at 12:21 am [Reply]

   this is the new economy. jokes are optional.

3. Tyler
   July 10th, 2005 at 12:31 am [Reply]

   There’s no way that the joke here wasn’t the cartoonist seeing what he could slip by the editor.

4. Dave
   July 10th, 2005 at 1:06 am [Reply]

   Maybe he likes his bones au jus.

5. ven
   July 10th, 2005 at 2:25 am [Reply]

   We’re all a little nervous in this post-9/11 world.

6. Mark
   July 10th, 2005 at 6:30 am [Reply]

   Oh, I get it. They’re robots.

7. Zorba the Geek
   July 10th, 2005 at 7:06 am [Reply]

   Smitty, a big congratulations for COTW! I had a feeling that comment on “sweet, sweet rhino love” would catch Josh’s attention, so I half-expected you to win for that comment. Great job!

8. Frank Drackman
   July 10th, 2005 at 7:34 am [Reply]

   HAHA when I was in Medical School one of the surgeons was named Dr. Bone(not an orthopod unfortunately) and there was a Dr. Dick also(not an urologist).In the prepager days, we medical students would ask the operator to page fake names(Mike Hunt,etc).And in highschool, the principal was Richard(Dick) Head.

9. Mooncity
   July 10th, 2005 at 8:20 am [Reply]

   I’m trying to picture sweet, sweet rhino love at the relative speed of a rhino… but without a doubt, it must involve a fine Merlot and and some Barry White albums.

10. Sourbelly
    July 10th, 2005 at 9:38 am [Reply]

    Um, let’s see…. Soup bone? Marmaduke wants to heat up his bone so that it, um, no.

    Okay, my wife explains that you stick a sliced ham bone into soup to extract the great taste of marrow. But I don’t think you’d get much flavor by dropping an entire femur into warm water. And besides, is Marms then going to, like, drink the spa water?

    So, in short, I think this just refers to Marmaduke sticking his dog cock in the water.

11. AprilP
    July 10th, 2005 at 9:44 am [Reply]

    Well, you see, Marmaduke is BIG! And he’s a DOG! He’s a BIG DOG! And he’s got this bone, and. . . . Sorry, I’ve got nothing!

12. T Campbell
    July 10th, 2005 at 10:12 am [Reply]

    Bones are better moist.

13. Islamorada Girl
    July 10th, 2005 at 10:39 am [Reply]

    Did anyone else notice that Prince Valiant is RUNNING TO HIGHER GROUND today?

    I think they may on to us. . .

14. Marc
    July 10th, 2005 at 11:38 am [Reply]

    That cartoon really freaked me out. Marmaduke is one of those comics that should have been cancelled years ago. The “Dog on funnies” in the Sunday strips are just stupid. Sue Jones of anystate, USA has a labrador retriever who chews his bone and then leaves it at the foot of Sue’s bed! Hahaha. Isn’t that funny? It’s knee slapping funny! Who gives a crap about those lame jokes?

    On the other hand, maybe Marmaduke has a fetish for sticking his bone into warm water that his neighbors have been sitting in for a while. Nothing says yum like your neighbors filth!

15. Matt
    July 10th, 2005 at 12:29 pm [Reply]

    A big dog doing something that doesn’t make sense is inherently funny.

16. Anne Nonymous
    July 10th, 2005 at 1:27 pm [Reply]

    Either the strip’s writer is completely dense, or he’s a lot cleverer than we give him credit for. Maybe he’s being deliberately provocative, trying to slide this strip by in more conservative newspapers. Does anyone remember the strip some weeks back, with Mrs. Marmaduke-Owner crawling into his doghouse with her rear-end in the air? Very suggestive. I suspect that the writer is clueless, but he could be a complete subversive- if that’s the case, maybe we need to go back over old Marmaduke’s, looking for the double meanings. No, never mind, I don’t want to read any more Marmaduke than I have to.

17. Smitty Smedlap
    July 10th, 2005 at 2:58 pm [Reply]

    Whoo! Comment of the week! Yes! Thanks Josh, thanks Zorba, thanks Stan Lee, thanks Liltin’ Larry Lieber, thank you one and all! Most of all, thanks to the ever-lovin’ Rhino, who once was strong enough to battle the Hulk to a standstill, but now apparently can’t even break free of Spidey’s webbing.

    And I hate myself for knowing that.

18. Marc
    July 10th, 2005 at 3:07 pm [Reply]

    People just to let you know, Marmaduke’s owners have names. The guy and is Phil. The woman’s name is…uhhhh…let’s just call her Mrs. Winslow because that’s their last name. lol :-)

19. Mooncity
    July 10th, 2005 at 3:20 pm [Reply]

    I think Marms just wants to warm his boner up– er, I mean, warm his bone up!

20. ComicsFan
    July 10th, 2005 at 3:28 pm [Reply]

    Sadly, I-Girl, I DID notice Prince Valiant running to high ground today. And all I could think was “Capture a dragon in a trap? Run to high ground!”

    Cullen Murphy, who writes PV, also is an terrific Atlantic Monthly columnist, and an ironic one at that. Could be an inside joke to the 2600 readers of this blog? Mr. Murphy? You out there?

21. Mooncity
    July 10th, 2005 at 3:42 pm [Reply]

    I was struck by how these dragons looked like Nessie with an attitude. If they ARE peiliosaurs (sp?), which they do appear to be, they would be plant-eaters. I dunno. But the artwork is cool.

22. Anne Nonymous
    July 10th, 2005 at 4:12 pm [Reply]

    Smitty- Wonderful! I knew you could do it! Huzzah, bravo, kudos, and cheers! Hugs and kisses, too.

23. RBF
    July 10th, 2005 at 5:40 pm [Reply]

    Way to go Smitty! Your COTW was most spew-worthy.

    Now I’m gonna try to muster up enough nerve for my first-time visit to one of the new-fangled forum rooms, where I will be known as RBF-at-home, as opposed to just RBF (that’ll be when at the office – had to use two diff. e-mail addy, ya know.)

    Anyone care to join me for cigars and brandy that Bombay drink?

24. RBF
    July 10th, 2005 at 7:36 pm [Reply]

    Josh, I think you had the same take on this one as I did, ala Beavis and Butthead, LOL

    I cannot see any other “ostensible” joke here, either.

    Agree with prev. posts re: what the writer could get past the editors, but……. why?
    Maybe to get OUR attention? hmmmm

25. RBF
    July 10th, 2005 at 7:46 pm [Reply]

    and btw, Thanks for the forum! We’un’s are still feeling our way around in the dark, so to speak, but I think this will be awesome and more befitting to our somewhat varied (read: nutzo) group.

    Fearless Leader always looking out for us kids, Thanks Josh! and Happy Birthday (in the next few). Hope you don’t get any older (yeah, uh huh)

26. erin
    July 10th, 2005 at 8:29 pm [Reply]

    It’s as lame as you think. Marmaduke wants soup, not just a raw bone. It’s lame, lame, lame, lame. Bad soup joke. All there is to it.

    Feh.

    Love the blog.

    Love from your namesake that other blog about reading the comics so we don’t have to and reporting on the latest lame uses of Oreo in crosswords, the very concept of the “For better!” or “For worse!” ratings of “For Better or For Worse,” which is for both.

    Hate the B&W serials. Hate the H&L, HtH, BB, and Blondie knock-offs of themselves. Hate Foxtrot. Hate Garfield beyond all telling. Hate what happened to Bloom County after Bloom County. Think Boondocks deserves multiple Pulitzers.

    Am ridiculously white, yet think the previous.

27. RBF
    July 10th, 2005 at 9:18 pm [Reply]

    Well, glad you like somethin, erin

28. RBF
    July 10th, 2005 at 9:21 pm [Reply]

    I like all of ‘em – even tho guzzzzin em (is that a word?)

    is what makes it fun (in my opinion) the ones that make guzzzzzzzzzzzzzzin are the BEST

29. RBF
    July 10th, 2005 at 9:25 pm [Reply]

    Like, where would we be if all comics were perfect? Not here, for sure.

30. RBF
    July 10th, 2005 at 9:28 pm [Reply]

    I think the correct word is gzzzzz (no vowel)
    gzzzzz that’s why we are here, to Gzzzzz

31. fluffytufts
    July 10th, 2005 at 9:44 pm [Reply]

    Heya RBF – might you be imbibing this evening? I’m sippin’ a tasty Sapphire and tonic, light on the tonic, extra limes. Life is good.

32. Lor
    July 10th, 2005 at 10:04 pm [Reply]

    I just gotta say, apropos of nothing: FIVE DAYS TILL HARRY POTTER 6! WOO-HOO.

    That is all.

33. just mama
    July 10th, 2005 at 11:35 pm [Reply]

    This Marmaduke reminds me of all the Bugs Bunny cartoons where someone is tryin to cook up Bugs for dinner in the big stew pot and he does the ol’ “hey, what’s cookin doc?” Then the “chef” says “you” and they do the little chase until the chef winds up in the pot.

    Now, all we have to do is figure out who is the chef and who is Bugs.

34. Adam-12
    July 10th, 2005 at 11:56 pm [Reply]

    Could have been worse… We could have had a “joke” involving Marmaduke “burying a bone.”

35. TwoClubs
    July 11th, 2005 at 8:05 am [Reply]

    or he might have had a “sausage,” and been looking for a place to “hide” it.

36. Smitty Smedlap
    July 11th, 2005 at 8:16 am [Reply]

    Von Haney’s about to find out who put the M*lf in M*lford.

    We know this about our mystery caller — she likes martini’s (or possibly cosmopolitans) which she drinks continental style (pinkie out!), she owns several volumes of Readers’ Digest Condensed Books, and she keeps a small Torah next to the plant that she hasn’t watered since the Carter administration.

37. yellojkt
    July 11th, 2005 at 8:55 am [Reply]

    Speaking of hot tubs, in my absence, NO ONE has pointed out that Rose Gumbo was skinny dippin’ yesterday.

    While “baby Rose” is clearly wearing a swimsuit, adult Rose is amiguously bare shouldered. Couple this with Vicki extolling the joys of diving au natural, plus the blush on Rose’s cheeks, and it’s very clear that Rose “lost” her rather tiny bikini in there somewhere.

38. Bill Brasky
    July 11th, 2005 at 10:29 am [Reply]

    Check out Marmaduke’s paws. Usually he looks somewhat canine, but today his feet are going every which way. In fact, his whole body is odd. Today’s illustration of Marmaduke looks like it belongs in a Roald Dahl book.

39. J.Po
    July 11th, 2005 at 11:04 am [Reply]

    Buongiorno, Cardinali – back in the U.S. and trying to get my brain and body out of Tuscan time…lots of catching up to do, plus figuring out the new Community (good to see it’s not spelled with a K) forum!

    More later…and, BTW to WrenWah, thanks for the heads-up and thinking of me on the Pibgorn strip…mmmm, arboreal fairy coverings…

40. Willowy1
    July 11th, 2005 at 12:24 pm [Reply]

    First randy ol’ Marmaduke appears ready to slip his master the bone while dipping her in a Astaire like fashion, now he needs a prop to get the neighbor’s wife off in the hot tub. His paws are actually curling at the mere thought of a steamy threesome. Soaking the bone signifies that “the Big Dog” is a gentle lover. Also, the husband has clearly been been tenderizing the meat too long, and as a result, has performance problems. The joke is that it could happen to anyone who has a spa and a neighbor with a dog.

41. Joe D.
    July 11th, 2005 at 1:09 pm [Reply]

    I just got back from Canada (where unfortunately I heard not one person use the terms “roadside” and “gig”), so I’m all behind on knowing WTF is going on with the Curmudgeon. I’ll eventually catch up, but first, I need to ask the Cardinals a few questions, as I’ve missed everything that has happened in the last week.

    Rex Morgan: Does Royal Gilstrap have a disorder where he cannot straighten his neck? Or is it that if someone is touching him, he has to look at the place on his body where the touching is taking place?

    Family Circus: What is the book that Thel is holding, and why does it ask that question? Also, where can I get a copy, and why is Billy’s head glowing?

    B.C.: Does anyone use those four letter words cleverly disguised as the ground during a round of golf? I’m more likely to use something a little stronger.

42. yellojkt
    July 11th, 2005 at 4:21 pm [Reply]

    OMG, Hart is so insidious. Now we have to analyze every part of the artwork for the subtle hints and secret messages he is going to leave everywhere. I’m sorry, the first time I see an anthill with sand pebbles that spell out “John 3:16″, I am losing it.

43. daChipster
    July 11th, 2005 at 5:08 pm [Reply]

    Hart’s joke is a rather more mundane form of pandering.

    This week is the B.C. Golf outing at the “En-Joie” Golf Club at Endicott NY. The comic is shilling for the event, clearly.

    In what I can only term a stroke of justice, this tourney is completely devoid of big-name golfers, as they all appear to be “over the pond” in Scotland for some reason.

44. Speed Racer X
    July 11th, 2005 at 6:48 pm [Reply]

    BTW, yet another art-house cubist rendering of our favorite alabaster-theighed one today in 9 Chickweed Lane. I like it, yet I’m puzzled by what it’s supposed to be….

45. Michael
    July 11th, 2005 at 8:40 pm [Reply]

    Hey, watch it! I live in Marin county, and I’ve never been nude in a hot tub, let alone with a dog. There are a lot more hippies up north in Sonoma and Mendocino, as well as down in Santa Cruz than here, man.

46. PizzaBagel
    July 11th, 2005 at 11:16 pm [Reply]

    Welcome back, Joe D.

    Ida Know what that book is that Thel is holding as she grills son Billy. But I’d like to know why there are quotes around her half of the dialogue, which are in a balloonless word balloon. I can understand them in the context of the kid’s mouthings, which are presented outside the circle, at the bottom. But why do her vocalizations require quotes?

    As far as Billy’s head glowing, check out the 7/7 strip, in which said child is positively radiating. Not quite Spidey sense-like, which are wiggly lines. His are more like little lightning bolts surrounding his watermelon-dome.

    Re Royal Gilstrap: Doesn’t he realize that he’s dickering around with the wrong guy about money (probably chump change to him)? He’s gonna have a more severe neck disorder in a few seconds – or worse – if he doesn’t cough up the 500 bucks.

47. Islamorada Girl
    July 12th, 2005 at 11:40 am [Reply]

    Mmmmm. Tuscany! Whaja bring us, J.Poe?

48. erin
    July 12th, 2005 at 5:34 pm [Reply]

    Should have mentioned I love quite a few comics–Boondocks, Doonesbury, the late great Calvin and Hobbes, even recycled Peanuts, and a bunch of the further-off-the-beaten-track comics that don’t show up here too often. Comics have such fabulous potential–we shouldn’t be distracted from that point (and ideal) by the crap that is wildly inoffensive and pointless so as to stay in business, which is simply that, business. Art rarely shows up in newspapers.

49. Vu42
    July 25th, 2005 at 4:12 pm [Reply]

    My sister teaches fourth grade. From what she says about the snickering over words like “but” “bone” etc I gotta assume her whole class posts here.

All the cool kids…

…buy Comics Curmudgeon merchandise!

Randomly Selected Post O’ Mystery

• The first rule of marital fight club is: don't talk about marital fight club