The Comics Curmudgeon

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Being Jeffy is awesome

Herb and Jamaal, 9/8/09

Perhaps stung by allegations of rampant nonspecificity, Herb and Jamaal has decided to go the political cartoon route and just start labeling the crap out of things. For instance, while Herb’s coffee mug has long been designated as such by a label that reads Herb, Herb’s mother-in-law has traditionally drunk her morning pick-me-up out of a mug decorated with a triangle-ish shape that looks vaguely like the Star Trek logo. However, it seems that, having gotten tired of people asking her if “that’s the logo from the science fiction TV show first broadcast in the ’60s that everyone’s talking about,” Eula has traded her old mug in for one that simply has “STAR TREK” written on the side of it.

Alternately, it could be that her name is actually Star Trek, and Eula is just a nickname, a shortened version of what she said to her parents when she finally got the nerve, which was “You lunatics named me ‘Star Trek’?”

Family Circus, 9/8/09

Boy, Billy and Dolly sure look depressed, don’t they? And the reasons are obvious: they have to dress nicely and troop off to school for the day, but, as we can see from Jeffy’s appearance, if they got to stay home they could just wander around in their underwear, covered with filth.

Mark Trail, 9/8/09

I’m not some kind of big expert on killing and skinning alligators, but I question the utility of that tiny little knife that sideburnsy #1 is brandishing in panel two, unless he’s planning on tickling the great thick-skinned beast.

Mary Worth, 9/8/09

Isn’t this what we all hope for when we pop the question to that special lady? That she recoil from the shock, and cover her mouth so that she doesn’t splatter you when she vomits in terror?

Gil Thorp, 9/8/09

So these are the protagonists of our Gil Thorp football-season adventure: a kid who’s learned that he doesn’t need alcohol to have a good time, and a marginal athlete who likes to come up with nicknames for himself. Pretty thin material to work with, but things should get more exciting upon the arrival of the invasion fleet of spherical alien spacecraft that you can see in the background of panel one. Once Milford’s inhabitants have been rounded up to toil in the Zyrgt mines back on Planet Nebulon VI, there’ll be all sorts of interesting dramatic possibilities.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 11:49 am and is filed under Family Circus, Gil Thorp, Herb and Jamaal, Mark Trail, Mary Worth. |

263 responses to “Being Jeffy is awesome”

bats :[
September 8th, 2009 at 11:56 am [Reply]

At least Jeffy has underwear. Looks like PJ’s Commando today.
Daveh
September 8th, 2009 at 11:56 am [Reply]

Looks like Thel is already 3 sheets to the wind. Hope the kids don’t need her to pick them up in the afternoon. She’ll be lucky to throw some Frozen dinners in the microwave for dinner if she keeps drinking like that.
CanuckDownSouth
September 8th, 2009 at 11:57 am [Reply]

I thought the GT 1st panel background showed that the story takes place on a moon of a double-Jovian system. Although the identical striping of the two Jovians looming in the sky seems to indicate a single Jovian central planet with some severe warping of light-ray paths (a swarm of blackholes in the area perhaps?). That would certainly go a long way toward explaining the art. Here we were snarking while the artist laboured to correctly convey the twisted perpectives of the planet Moofpix!
Brick Bradford
September 8th, 2009 at 11:58 am [Reply]

Wow! I kilt me a thread.

DT: Look out! A HIT ELEPHANT! AUGGGHHHH!!

Gil: I see a teen alcoholism thread coming!
And when was the last time you saw a teenager drinking an RC? Could this be the stupidest paid product placement ever?
Niall
September 8th, 2009 at 11:59 am [Reply]

Question: are there any other inter-city bus lines than Grayhound now? Don’t they have a monopoly on the service?

Which is bad, as Greyhound (in Canada) will stop next month all service to Manitoba, effectively splitting the country in two and isolating a large number of people in the prairies. This is pretty much like saying Amtrak won’t service any of the states directly west of the Mississippi. There remains little point of the company staying in business after that.
Calico
September 8th, 2009 at 11:59 am [Reply]

FW Sunday-yes, I’m going backa couple days, but something’s been bugging me about this strip.
Stupid Frosh forgets his locker combo.
Stupid Frosh forgets locker number itself.
Shouldn’t Les have a spreadsheet printout featuring
a) Kid’s name
b) locker number, followed by
c) locker combo?

This sensible structure kills any stupid “joke” that attempted to insert its ugly head in the final panel. Congratulations, Tom.
Sequitur
September 8th, 2009 at 11:59 am [Reply]

MT: I agree with Josh. That knife looks like a butter knife. “Here, Gator! Kitchi kitchi koo!”
Big time poachers indeed.
Calico
September 8th, 2009 at 12:00 pm [Reply]

#5 – Aren’t they stopping routes to Iqaluit as well?
Stupid Bus.
Brick Bradford
September 8th, 2009 at 12:01 pm [Reply]

Ooops. No I didn’t. Kill me a thread I mean.

Is the girl in the last panel of GT the first to be blasted by one of the alien death rays?
gnome de blog
September 8th, 2009 at 12:01 pm [Reply]

The characters in (Death to) Gil Thorp should be required to wear their names on their clothing, like on football jerseys. Except Coach Kaz, as long as he’s sporting his earring.
Darkefang
September 8th, 2009 at 12:02 pm [Reply]

Is there any way we could stop seeing the Family Circus kids in various states of pantslessness?
bats :[
September 8th, 2009 at 12:02 pm [Reply]

And a few quick mop-ups from the last thread (hey, Thel, hand me the Swifter):

Yes, indeed, Dr. Zorba hung out with Ben Casey (I guess I always preferred Richard Chamberlain to Vince Edwards).

Dingo, J Bone’s Wolverine looks a little too Hellboy to me (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Substitute King Radnor is pretty toasty, though. (The site is pretty tame, sorta kinda the equivalent of a really good week at Juggs Parker.)
Calico
September 8th, 2009 at 12:03 pm [Reply]

#9 – “Not me!” : D

#4 (again) – Kid needs a Moon Pie to go with that RC.
Calico
September 8th, 2009 at 12:06 pm [Reply]

#4, again –
I’m praying that Chinbeard’s souvenir kilt he brought back from Scotland has more than one thread.

*ducks cream pies flying through air*
gnome de blog
September 8th, 2009 at 12:08 pm [Reply]

Maybe Jeffy aims to be Ziggy when he grows up.
Josh
September 8th, 2009 at 12:09 pm [Reply]

#5 Niall — Here in the US, anyway, there’s been a resurgence over the past decade or so of independent bus operators. I think the trend started with the so-called “Chinatown” buses, generally operated from Chinatown to Chinatown along the Boston-Washington corridor, super cheap, and operated by somewhat dodgy companies and driven by drivers who often speak very little English. Once these started getting popular outside of Chinese immigrant communities, some other companies started popping up with almost-as-low fares, based on the models of European bus service; these tend to be nicer vehicles than Greyhound and feature amenities like Wi-Fi and power outlets. Bolt Bus and Megabus are two examples that stop in Baltimore. However, I’m not sure if service like this has shown up to compete with Greyhound anywhere outside the northeast US.

None of that changes the fact that “that bus line that uses a dog as its logo” is not something that any human would ever say, ever.

Josh
One-eyed Wolfdog
September 8th, 2009 at 12:10 pm [Reply]

How about, “Once Milford’s inhabitants have been rounded up to toil in the Zyrgt mines back on Planet Nebulon VI, there will be a different set of dramatic possibilities available, but those possibilities will still be avoided with all the usual surgical precision you’ve come to expect.”

Or, “Once Milford’s inhabitants have been rounded up to toil in the Zyrgt mines back on Planet Nebulon VI, the background art might, for all we have reason to believe, become a lot more earthlike.”
Ed Dravecky
September 8th, 2009 at 12:19 pm [Reply]

Baldo: Ha, it’s funny because Baldo still has the tiny genitals of an infant.
bats :[
September 8th, 2009 at 12:20 pm [Reply]

5. Niall: many years ago, my mother and I were in Louisiana, and there was a commercial bus line there that either subcontracted from Greyhound or used their old buses, the logo of GH minimally amended and the local company’s name proudly displayed as “Phydeaux”. It might not make sense to a native French speaker, but in the bayou/Cajun areas…I loved it.
towels
September 8th, 2009 at 12:20 pm [Reply]

MW- It’s more disturbing to think that whatever bile is coming up out of her mouth she has now spread across her face as her left hand has moved from the right of her nose in panel 1 to holding her left ear in panel 2.
Or whatever that mutation is coming out from behind her hair in panel 1.
Mela
September 8th, 2009 at 12:22 pm [Reply]

FW: When I read that Batiuk used to work as a junior high/high school teacher, I was surprised, but then I remember his all-consuming hatred for both his parents’ generation & his children’s generation, and his total disconnect from how high school actually works. He’s blocked that horrible time among the non-Boomers from his memories. On the other hand, Cory (who’s pre-miserabled himself so he never need feel the agonies of his elders) is back being as bastardy as ever; unfortunately, he’ll never get the respect he deserves for the high crime of being young.

PBS: I’m gonna hope this seques into a parody of 9 Chickweed Lane, the most obtuse and self-congratulatory pretentious strip EVER. If not, I’m gonna pretend it is.

Now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna make like Thel – get plastered and arrange an “accident” to burn down the house & free myself from a life of soul-crushing enslavement to my mutant spawn.
Sequitur
September 8th, 2009 at 12:23 pm [Reply]

GF – I dunno. Can a ping pong ball actually break a mirror with the strength of velocity a cat could produce?
Fashion Police
September 8th, 2009 at 12:35 pm [Reply]

One sincerely hopes that when the Big Day arrives Adrian will march down the aisle in her salmon-accented Vera Wang, while her intended awaits her in a burnt-orange tuxedo, perhaps with a chic ’70s-style pink ruffled shirt and an oversized clip-on velvet bow tie. No doubt the fashionistes from Fifth Avenue and the rue de St. Honoré will be taking notes.
Canaduck
September 8th, 2009 at 12:39 pm [Reply]

…why does Jeffy have no left hand?
cj
September 8th, 2009 at 12:40 pm [Reply]

Worth:
I don’t know what expression that is on Scott’s face, but it isn’t confidence. Perhaps he’s trying to match the awkwardness of having a raccoon paw. No wonder Adrian is looking at her soup!
bats :[
September 8th, 2009 at 12:42 pm [Reply]

24. Canaduck: it’s what’s for breakfast!
buckyswife
September 8th, 2009 at 12:42 pm [Reply]

5 Niall: I’m guessing that Josh read this WashPost article, too:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/27/AR2009082703374.html

I’m a big fan of Bolt Bus to NYC—and it’s a far cry from Greyhound in my college days, when I was an innocent little 19 year old being regaled with stories from the likes of juvenile-delinquents out on leave (I hoped) and Northern California pot farmers.
Artist formerly known as Ben
September 8th, 2009 at 12:43 pm [Reply]

Pretty thin material to work with, but things should get more exciting upon the arrival of the invasion fleet of spherical alien spacecraft that you can see in the background of panel one.

That would also explain the trees in panel three glowing phosphorus white.

y66 Muffaroo re: Popeye,
Yeah, that’s a disturbing concept on many levels.
cj
September 8th, 2009 at 12:43 pm [Reply]

Obviously he struck his father. The Keane Kompound is one of the last bastions of the Code of Hammurabi.
teddytoad
September 8th, 2009 at 12:44 pm [Reply]

Just as facial hair signifies villainy in Mark Trail, horrible taste in clothes apparently signifies conjugal virtue in Mary Worth. We saw Del’s wonderful purple jumpsuit and canary-yellow whore clothes, and now we have good ol’ Scott’s woolly orange sports jacket on top of a black plether sweater. He should be shot for it, and doubtlessly he will be shot by Santa Royale’s lone heroin dealer in the upcoming plot, but until then, at least he will ultimately decide not to cheat on Adrian.
Poteet
September 8th, 2009 at 12:44 pm [Reply]

When one is proposed to by Scott, terror-vomiting seems reasonable.
Gary
September 8th, 2009 at 12:44 pm [Reply]

“Scott, how about if I just say, ‘it depends’ as in ‘it depends on how fast you can put me as your beneficiary on your life insurance policy. I know there’s a heroin epidemic and you’re going to die in some unspeakable way and I wracked up some pretty heavy debts on my last boyfriend so I have some ground to make up.’”
B. Racoon
September 8th, 2009 at 12:46 pm [Reply]

cj @25. Not awkward at all.
Fashion Police
September 8th, 2009 at 12:46 pm [Reply]

Margo’s buttoned-up white shirt and little strand of pearls provides a sweet spinsterish twist to her Hillary Clinton pantsuit. It’s the first glimmer of style in Apartment 3-G since Tommie wore her Gay-90s-meets-the-mod-1970s outfit to the theatre a couple of years ago.
Poteet
September 8th, 2009 at 12:50 pm [Reply]

FC — Billy is almost ready for his secret transport to a 1976 high school prom. He only needs to trade that black tie for a shirt ruffle and boutonnierre.
fillmoreeast
September 8th, 2009 at 12:53 pm [Reply]

I love how Bil Keane’s just openly taunting his kids now. “Hey, guess how long it’ll be before you’re an adult and can act on your own behalf rather than relying on me? God damn NEVER, that’s when. I mean, you’re already both in your late seventies. Now get me my Jamesons on the rocks, you stubby-armed little malapropping gremlins.”
gnome de blog
September 8th, 2009 at 1:00 pm [Reply]

Why did it take Popeye so long to snork down a load of spinach to counteract the witch’s poisoned tomato?

And why doesn’t he have an emergency can of it stashed in his blouse like he does in the cartoons?
Crankenstank
September 8th, 2009 at 1:02 pm [Reply]

Give credit where credit is due: today’s Family Circus is obviously a sharp criticism of the very low number of instructional days we have in our school year compared to other industrialized democracies. Either that or the Keanes are crossing off each day that one of their progeny doesn’t go on a shooting spree. Either way, chilling and pointed commentary from one of our nation’s most subtle social critics.
One-eyed Wolfdog
September 8th, 2009 at 1:03 pm [Reply]

For characters appearing in Mary Worth, I’m not sure that horrible taste in clothes can be said to signify anything of distinction beyond “I am a character appearing in Mary Worth.”
Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)
September 8th, 2009 at 1:04 pm [Reply]

Curtis: This is the method of discipline my parents used on me. It worked wonders. Once when I was 8 I tried to shoplift some stupid item from a store. I was grounded for a month, but the fact that my parents were so disappointed in me was the real punishment, being grounded was nothing. I never did anything like that again. Never underestimate the power of shame.
Larry Fine
September 8th, 2009 at 1:06 pm [Reply]

The guy who does the Herb & Jamaal strip must have set his phaser on ‘mediocre’.
Poteet
September 8th, 2009 at 1:11 pm [Reply]

MT — So what is Bob actually contributing to this poaching operation? The Voice of Pessimism?
Joe Btfsplk
September 8th, 2009 at 1:11 pm [Reply]

And just how is Mark and Rusty’s woodsy excursion any different from what they do every other day of the year?

How poaching works in the Mark Trail world:
1) Shoot an alligator
2) Draw on its belly with a Sharpie ™ marker
3) Pole your johnboat away without taking any part of the alligator with you

Unless I’m missing something? Maybe they were just after the alligator’s eggs, and they’re the other kind of poachers.
Jordan
September 8th, 2009 at 1:12 pm [Reply]

I live in Manitoba, and yeah, Grayhound’s lost a ton of business ever since some nutcase sliced off another passenger’s head. (No kidding. Happened just a few miles from where I live.) Obviously this is all the bus line’s fault, so now they’re shutting down. Yeah, THAT’S a smart way to handle it.
Poteet
September 8th, 2009 at 1:15 pm [Reply]

GT — I look forward to the Zyrgt mines on Planet Nebulon VI. Maybe then I’ll be able to understand what the hell is going on.
commodorejohn
September 8th, 2009 at 1:21 pm [Reply]

#43 Joe Btfsplk – And just how is Mark and Rusty’s woodsy excursion any different from what they do every other day of the year?

Because they’re eating fish instead of pancakes.
T. Chicana
September 8th, 2009 at 1:22 pm [Reply]

#6: Calico, that bothered me, too. Creepy Les would have the kid’s name on the print-out, I would think. And besides, what does Creepy Les have to be smirkin’ about?! When he was this kid’s age, his head was in the toilet before he even got to his locker. Arrgh, the smirking.
Poteet
September 8th, 2009 at 1:23 pm [Reply]

# 43 Joe Btfsplk — Bwahaha! Thank you. I was wondering what bizarre kind of poaching this is. If Bob was supposed to become the brains of the operation, it doesn’t seem to be working.

And I think the duck and turtle, like me, are wondering where the hell Mark and Rusty pitched their tent. As for the placement of the shading in the second panel, I give up.
Calico
September 8th, 2009 at 1:27 pm [Reply]

#44 – Yes, I remember this recent weirdness.
One passenger, a young male, was interviewed afterwards and his eyes looked like saucers, he was so freaked out.
The psycho killer also engaged in a bit of snacktime while still on the bus, if you know what I mean, and I hope you don’t.
: P
AhClem
September 8th, 2009 at 1:29 pm [Reply]

If Bob keeps pissing and moaning about the alligator poaching, his buddies will appoint him to be anchor rope manager.

And by “anchor rope manager,” I mean “bait.”
Joe Blevins
September 8th, 2009 at 1:31 pm [Reply]

H&J: Damn, it must take forever to get anything said in Herb & Jamaal! Say the word “Greyhound,” damn you! Maybe this is a generational thing. My father (in his early 70s) insists on referring to Election as “that movie about the election.”
Black Drazon
September 8th, 2009 at 1:31 pm [Reply]

“This sure is fun, Mark!”

“I wish all kids had a chance to enjoy the outdoors! And you can help! By donating pennies a day to regional wildlife camps and charities like the Mark Trail Send A Kid To The Swamp Fund–”

“Mark, who are you talking to?”

“–you can assure that a new generation will learn the hearty, all-American activities like roughing it, fishing, and absolutely never poaching alligators. I just can’t stress that last part enough, I will drive that point home with my iron-hard fist if I have to, I swear to God.”

“Mark, you’re scaring me.”

“Hey, Rusty! Didn’t see you there, have I ever taught you how to clean a fish?”
Larry Fine
September 8th, 2009 at 1:34 pm [Reply]

Mary Worth — What better way to get your intended to say yes to your marriage proposal than by proposing in a booth smack dab in the middle of a dense forest?
smoeone
September 8th, 2009 at 1:38 pm [Reply]

I assume “the great thick-skinned beast” refers to Mark Trail’s fist?
Lauren
September 8th, 2009 at 1:38 pm [Reply]

#15 gnome de blog: Don’t we all.
Isaac
September 8th, 2009 at 1:38 pm [Reply]

Seriously, Herb and Jamaal? That joke only works when come out and SAY “Greyhound” a panel before hand. And you didn’t. You said “the bus.”
On the bright side, labelling the coffee mugs has finally determined conclusively for me who is Herb and who is Jamaal. Unfortunately, I’m going to begin referring to the old woman as “Star Trek.”
Larry Fine
September 8th, 2009 at 1:45 pm [Reply]

Mark Trail — Bob says, “I hope we don’t get caught”. He also says, “I hope this boat doesn’t sink”, “I hope the alligators don’t get us first”, and “I hope these mosquitos aren’t carrying West Nile virus”. By now the Sideburns Twins are probably wondering where a good location would be for Bob’s shallow grave.
Sequitur
September 8th, 2009 at 1:46 pm [Reply]

52. Black Drazon
“Hey Rusty! Do you like movies about gladiators?”
“Hey Rusty! You ever seen a grown man naked?”
“Hey, Rusty! Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?”
Poppinjay
September 8th, 2009 at 1:50 pm [Reply]

Wasn’t it just a a week ago that Thel was looking forward to the start of school, while Billy and Dolly already had their frowny faces?

Even the dogs are frowning today. I guess Jeffy will have to learn how to milk them now.
Larry Fine
September 8th, 2009 at 1:54 pm [Reply]

Dennis the Menace — I think what Mr. Wilson meant to say was along the lines of ‘go play in the freeway’.
UnderstatementJones
September 8th, 2009 at 2:01 pm [Reply]

Josh, I’m continually baffled by your ability to ignore the Big-Lebowski-meets-Cool-Hand-Luke fascistfest that is Judge Parker these days. For shame.
Taquelli
September 8th, 2009 at 2:05 pm [Reply]

Is…is Duncan Daley wearing a Gears of War shirt? Man, this hipster is just too cool for school. I look forward to the continued line of inappropriate shirts that the artist found after five minutes of frantically searching the Hot Topic website.
Larry Fine
September 8th, 2009 at 2:10 pm [Reply]

Family Circus — Despite her tired appearance, Ma Keane is actually doing another task: Figuring what parts of the household budget can be cut in order to pay to have her tubes tied.
Wes
September 8th, 2009 at 2:21 pm [Reply]

Herb & Jamaal, panel 1: What is going on here? Why does that rooster have a 5 o’clock shadow?
AeroSquid
September 8th, 2009 at 2:27 pm [Reply]

FC: Is….is Jeffy eating his severed hand ?
Li’l Bunnë FooFoo
September 8th, 2009 at 2:36 pm [Reply]

FC: Today’s cartoon features one of my favorite bizarre Family Circus tropes… as if the panel were not busy enough as is, the two dogs have been shoehorned into the picture, the faces each a rictus of despair. They look like some sort of canine chorus from a Greek tragedy, and I expect them to relate off-scene stories of schoolday tragedy: “Young Dolly will be pushed down in the playground by the girl they call Veronica! And I hear Billy is pee-shy. WEEP, WEEP, GOOD FAMILY!”

The entire Keane family has been wedged into the scene, save Grandma and Kittycat the cat. Maybe I’ve missed something, and those two characters have died. Or maybe Jeff Keane assumes that in scenes of family tragedy, the cat and Grandma will be where they always are, asleep under the bed.
Old School Allie Cat
September 8th, 2009 at 2:37 pm [Reply]

MW – In buying Adrian a ring, Scott has deferred his dream of owning a second suit – one that’s not Irish Setter colored – for a few years. Also, Adrian is really rockin’ those Livestrong bracelets. Jeez, Adrian, even Sheryl Crow didn’t like Lance that much!

Also, what were Moy and Giella thinking doing a big reveal like this on a Tuesday? Tuesday?!? A true professional would have dragged this shit out until Friday.

S4th and FC Where do these people live? In both my hometown and current place of residence, kids have been in school for a few weeks already.
Gary
September 8th, 2009 at 2:44 pm [Reply]

FC…And how many days will Bil have to count off when he finds out his wife has been sent to jail for letting the baby crawl into a hot stove? And why is Bil carrying what appears to be the world’s largest newspaper? How much can really happen in Anytown, USA to warrant such an investment each morning? Well, at least we have the sun rising through the window in the kitchen. The fact that it’s black and white serves as the perfect metaphor for the bleakness that awaits the family later in the day.
Calico
September 8th, 2009 at 2:58 pm [Reply]

#68 – I also consider this scene odd, as Bil with white shirt and tie in the strip, as is Bil in Real Life(tm), is a stay-at-or-near home cartoonist.
BigTed
September 8th, 2009 at 2:58 pm [Reply]

I think he heard her wrong. You would too, if someone reacted to your proposal by immediately calling for “Scotch!”
Sequitur
September 8th, 2009 at 2:59 pm [Reply]

FC – The older Keane kids got radioactive while at school!
That’s what happens when you attend Three Mile Island Elementary.
Digger
September 8th, 2009 at 3:00 pm [Reply]

GT: I’m assuming that the two big circles in the sky are moons, which would mean that Gil Thorp takes place on another planet. Actually, that would explain a whole hell of a lot.

MT: So do thick sideburns and bushy eyebrows count as facial hair? I just want to know if we should expect any punching action in this storyline. Perhaps this pseudo-facial hair is meant to represent moral ambivalence, in which case the poachers will probably be viciously mauled by an alligator, after which they’ll learn a valuable lesson. I’ll settle for that.
Dingo
September 8th, 2009 at 3:03 pm [Reply]

RC Cola? Is there money under that cork? You know this is set decades ago because none of the girls is sporting a tattoo.
Bryan
September 8th, 2009 at 3:14 pm [Reply]

Gil Thorp: They look like Posleen command dodacahedrons to me. Too bad author avatar Michael O’Neal isn’t around. These guys are thresh for sure.
gnome de blog
September 8th, 2009 at 3:18 pm [Reply]

67 Old School Allie Cat – everywhere in the U.S. I’ve ever lived school starts after Labor Day. Gotta get the crops in first.
buckyswife
September 8th, 2009 at 3:20 pm [Reply]

67 Old School Allie Cat: In Arlington, VA, where I live, school starts today. Yeah, it feels late.

I’ve just been picturing Keane pere et fils recycling this strip each year, adding days to the school year as times have changed. So that means the first time this strip appeared, it read something like, “only 27 more days of school until we break for the harvest!”

MT: I guess Mary gave Bob permission to become a poacher? I can picture that domestic conversation: “Okay, dear, you can go off and poach ‘gators with your friends, but be careful with those knives. And be back in time for dinner!”

And that can be Bob’s excuse as he cowers in terror before Mark’s Fist o’ Justice: “But my wife said it was o-” POW!
Niall
September 8th, 2009 at 3:22 pm [Reply]

8. Calico: Iqaluit never had bus service. or train service. Just a small airport.

16. Josh: I think the NE is about the only place where alternate intercity non-charter bus service can spring up. California? use “public” transit? Ha! They don’t even plan cities for pedestrians. The rest tends not to have the population density required for profitable service. But, good to know it exists somewhere.

19. bats :[ : I stand corrected. And Phydeaux is hilarious. :) (It makes sense to a French/English bilingual speaker…)

27. buckyswife: Wow. Obviously Greyhound up here is not relegated to dregs and scum; the article mentioning professionals, students, uncles, government workers, have been quite the staple for bus riders here – for as long as I’ve ridden busses, which is about 25 years. Up here, people rarely strike up conversation with an unknown seatmate unless something happens to spark a conversation. And more often than not, the other person is just not looking to talk, just enjoy the ride in silence. Also, at the big terminals out east (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto) the line will dictate how many busses will be filled; I think 15 is the minimum number of people left to require getting another bus. Many of the popular, hourly-departures to Montreal fill 2 busses; afternoon rush hour fill 3, one directly to the Dorval airport. They don’t do the “fill the bus 30 minutes early and let everyone else stew” from the article. The NY-Wash trip is the same length of Toronto-Ottawa/Montreal, but is mostly on highways with only one stop (for Ottawa) for the Super-Express, the only one to take if you’re not going to the milk runs’ local stops (and takes 3 hours more).

37. gnome de blog: If Popeye had cans of spinach stuffed in his skin-tight shirt, how would he explain their absence? “Hyar, them ain’t me nipplies you been staring at!”

(Brain Bleach Industries report another solid day of trading…)

44. Jordan: Yeah, I can kind of understand Manitoba business being down after that horrific incident. Fear displaces normal reasoning processes; people will associate the place of a crime with its perpetration. I wonder if people, seeing the result now (loss of inter-city bus) and the lack of alternative (Via?? hah!) are having second thoughts. A little too late.
Josh
September 8th, 2009 at 3:35 pm [Reply]

#77 Niall-

California? use “public” transit? Ha! They don’t even plan cities for pedestrians. The rest tends not to have the population density required for profitable service. But, good to know it exists somewhere.

Hey there, my former home in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the more transit-friendly regions in the country, would beg to differ! 2 million+ densely packed people, several different rail and bus transit systems, etc. Not all of California is Southern California! And even Southern Cali may be more transit/pedestrian friendly than you might think, at least in LA County (they’ve got their own subway down there…)

#67 OSAC — School always started the day after Labor Day for me in NY state, but in late August for my cousins in Ohio; similiarly, we didn’t finish until late June, and they finished just after Memorial Day. It varies from place to place, and the variations may have something to do with the different growing seasons in different parts of the country, as the whole purpose of summer vacation was originally to use schoolkids as child labor on farms. Labor day is the latest it can possibly be this year, which made schools on the day-after-Labor-Day schedule seem to open particulalry late.

Actually, here in Baltimore, the private schools start up a week before the public schools, for reasons that are mysterious to me.

Josh
gnome de blog
September 8th, 2009 at 3:35 pm [Reply]

77 Niall – In the old cartoons, whenever the crisis came Popeye always pulled out a can of spinach. The lack of an unsightly bulge was not a matter of theological concern.
Robert Synnott
September 8th, 2009 at 3:43 pm [Reply]

Hmm, the two Family Circus dogs are drawn in completely different styles. Perhaps one is clipart.
Red Greenback
September 8th, 2009 at 3:44 pm [Reply]

2 Guys: What a coincidence. My cup happens to be filled with that beverage named for that bus line that uses a dog as its logo.
Talking Squirrel
September 8th, 2009 at 3:45 pm [Reply]

MW: That background sure reminds me of the time in the early 70s on the Big Island, when we dragged the blue backseat of a van out to the edge of the clearing and sat out there night and day ~~guarding our crop till harvest~~ keeping a sharp lookout for heroin smugglers.
Bootsy
September 8th, 2009 at 3:47 pm [Reply]

Niall, # 77, you think the Phydeaux is hilarious? You, then, will love the bumper stickers say “Geaux Tigers” (for LSU) and pretty much any word that ends in an “oh” sound is frangled (I just made that up. It means mangled into psuedo French.) for a sign or a bumper sticker. I admit I did like the “Geauxbama” t shirts during the election.
Pharmacistrix
September 8th, 2009 at 3:49 pm [Reply]

#5 Niall

Add the bus line named “Indian Trails” (romantically recalling Manifest Destiny) – I thought it was a national line but maybe it only exists here in the heartland of the USA.

Brings remembrances of busing and hitchhiking across the landscape in the late ’70’s…
Sequitur
September 8th, 2009 at 3:54 pm [Reply]

School start up in Texas used to be up to the individual school district (each city is it’s own district unlike some states where each county is a district). We had school districts trying to beat other districts with the start of school to where some districts were starting classes near the beginning of August. A couple of years ago the state stepped in and regulated the start of school for all districts so they would all be the same. (This may have had something to do with football scheduling.) This year, I believe, school started August 24th.
Private schools were still on their own but, like Josh said about Baltimore, most of them started a week before the public schools did.
Sequitur
September 8th, 2009 at 3:58 pm [Reply]

81 Red Greenback
Then there’s that beer from the Plank Road Brewery that has a dog for it’s logo. Just remember, the dog’s red, not the beer.
Charterstoned
September 8th, 2009 at 3:58 pm [Reply]

MT – Today’s strip puts me in mind of that hilarious Far Side panel: Suddenly, Fish and Wildlife agents burst in on Mark trail’s poaching operation. Don’t have the link, but if someone can pull it up it’s definitely good for a laugh.
Underbuckle
September 8th, 2009 at 4:02 pm [Reply]

I always assumed that Eula stood for End User Licensing Agreement, another thing that fascinates nerds.
Hinako Sensei
September 8th, 2009 at 4:02 pm [Reply]

I’m really hope that the idiotic roller coaster that is Adrian’s love life will continue come up every other story in Mary Worth. First there was Ted the grifter and unsubtle thought ballooner. Next comes the paternally approved Scott who will get himself in a boring legal mess when it’s discovered that in an attempt to keep up with his early promise to financially take care of Adrian, he stole a pathetically small diamond ring from evidence. Finally she will discover the perfect man from well bred stock who was right in front of her all along: her own brother. Together they will create children with a penchant for bad haircuts, checkerboard suit coats, and an overestimation of their charismatic skills. Sadly, the Corey family tradition of doctors who all work in the same hospital will end, as obviously such children will be an abomination and will have the mental capacity of a spoon.
Fashion Police
September 8th, 2009 at 4:03 pm [Reply]

#69, Calico:

We find it gratifying that Mr. Keane regards a shirt and necktie as everyday attire, although we reserve judgment on his lack of a proper jacket. A bit casual, one would think.

Mrs. Keane’s shapeless lavender-and-pink sweater, however, leaves much to be desired. It looks to be a castoff from one of the more down-at-heel residents of Santa Royale, California.
Silhouette
September 8th, 2009 at 4:04 pm [Reply]

The only question is will tomorrow’s Family Circus take place in the emergency room or the morgue, after Jeffy pulls a searing hot iron down on his face by pulling on a shirt sleeve and PJ is splattered by sizzling bacon grease or boiling water.
buckyswife
September 8th, 2009 at 4:07 pm [Reply]

re: bus lines—In the Philippines, one of the main inter-city bus lines is the Rabbit line, so named, as the story goes, because the company wanted to promote themselves as “rabbit transit.”

And you haven’t lived until you’ve had a 10-hour bus trip on the winding mountain roads of Luzon, with a lead-footed driver who has exactly one cassette tape that he plays over and over and over…. and it’s the Everly Brothers.
Pozzo
September 8th, 2009 at 4:09 pm [Reply]

“All kids *do* have a chance to enjoy the outdoors, Rusty, because unlike you, most of them have figured out how doorknobs work.”
Baron Bizarre
September 8th, 2009 at 4:17 pm [Reply]

Sequitur @ 86: I couldn’t drink that stuff after the Simpsons episode where it was parodied as “Red Tick” Beer…”Needs more dog.”
He Brought Queenie Baby Jesus
September 8th, 2009 at 4:19 pm [Reply]

OK, OK, Greyhound, Star Trek, chainsaw, whatever. I always thought that was Herb’s mother.
Brick Bradford
September 8th, 2009 at 4:22 pm [Reply]

Dingo–cork under the bottle caps? Major flashback!

The fact that I can’t conceive of anyone having an RC Cola without a moonpie only goes to prove that I did live in Georgia for 6 years.
viscosity
September 8th, 2009 at 4:22 pm [Reply]

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/12/recession-takes-bite-out-floridas-gator-hunters/sports-outdoors/
These guys in Mark Trail seem to have confused their math a little. I don’t know how big these LoFo alligators get (large enough to eat a crappy dog, apparently), but at $10/ft split 3 ways they’ll have to be slaughtering a lot of them to reach minimum wage. Given Bob has been balking at slaughter one, I’m not investing with them. Additionally, although I have no experience in butchering an alligator (or anything else), I’d expect there to be significant amounts of blood and stuff all over these guys. Maybe they should take up cosmetic surgery?
Alan's Addiction
September 8th, 2009 at 4:22 pm [Reply]

I think I know that look on Herb’s mother-in-law’s face; Godzilla probably gets a similar look on his whenever word reaches him that Mothra or Rodan are planning on visiting Tokyo. It can only mean that we will be treated to an epic battle of the monsters, played out on the funny pages. I can only pray that one segment of the battle will include a euphamism conest.
It looks like Mommy Keane (or “Thelma,” according to Wikipedia) is already three sheets to the wind and it’s not even eight o’clock. In her defense, I’d probably need a lot of alcohol to stand being around a pantless Jeffy and an irritable Billy.
I can only pray that Mark’s unfinished thought today is, “I wish all kids had a chance to enjoy the outdoors; where else would they get the opportunity to punch the sideburns off some ridiculously incompetent poachers?” As a side note, if you need to loudly pronounce, right in the middle of your illegal activities, “GEE, I SURE HOPE WE DON’T GET CAUGHT!” you should probably be in a home.
Adrian’s love life is, once again, looking bizarre. Scott’s known her for less than a year, and he’s already proposing. I seem to recall a similar pattern with Ted… Perhaps this can turn into a cautionary tale about “rebound relationships” and Mary Worth can be relevant and semi-original, for the first time in her existence. Or, better yet, Adrian turns Scott down, and he goes berserk, taking Adrian hostage in a story line that ends in a hail of gunfire (hopefully taking out the hideously boring Adrian with it).
I like the “random glowing silhouette” theme of the party in Gil Thorp. Apparently, some enterprising prankster has painted trees, fences and people in glowing paint rather than using conventional light sources.
Al of the Christian Singles Jungle Patrol
September 8th, 2009 at 4:25 pm [Reply]

re School startup dates… Where I went to public school, we always started the Wednesday before Labor Day. The way I saw it, it eased the students back to school (a 3-day week, then a 4-day week, before that first full 5-day week).

I do concur that my son’s private school did start a week earlier than the public schools around here. But they are going into a teacher in-service period 8 weeks earlier (at the end of this month) than anybody else I know also.
Sequitur
September 8th, 2009 at 4:26 pm [Reply]

94.Baron Bizarre
I don’t drink it because it’s just a bland pilsner (as are most advertised beers). They all began tasting bland after I started drinking various ales which are more robust. My wife, however, still prefers Coors Light.
Li’l Bunnë FooFoo
September 8th, 2009 at 4:27 pm [Reply]

re: School starting after labor day, apparently it starts after labor day in many coastal communities because the life guards are mostly high school students, and they need them on the beach till Labor Day.

This is a thing I just learned!
UncleJeff
September 8th, 2009 at 4:28 pm [Reply]

75 gnome de blog: Here in Wisconsin, it’s the tourism industry that sets the school calendar (or tries to). They’ve lobbied for years to follow Minnesota’s lead and forbid school districts from starting classes until the day after Labor Day.
This year, most school districts in my area started on September 1st…the earliest date currently allowed by the state.
When I was in school, we’d sometimes start as early as August 10th…and that was in a farming town!
UncleJeff
September 8th, 2009 at 4:29 pm [Reply]

101: bunne — And they also need minimum wage cashiers, ride operators, hot dog stand operators to get a couple of more weekends so they can pay their college tuition.
No Catskills glamour here (like in “Dirty Dancing”)
One-eyed Wolfdog
September 8th, 2009 at 4:31 pm [Reply]

In the previous thread, TheDiva wrote

DT: I can’t decide if that’s an extraordinarily tall woman or a very short elephant.

I think it says volumes about this strip that (until just now when I finally got around to looking at the bottom-of-the-barrel strips), I read that comment and the idea of a woman riding an elephant never even occurred to me. The whole concept was blocked by the ease of imagining a disturbingly ambiguous, Locher-scrawled elephant/woman.
Al of the Christian Singles Jungle Patrol
September 8th, 2009 at 4:31 pm [Reply]

92 — buckyswife — You and I have had the same experiences in the PI, evidently. My dear mother won’t take a taxi in her hometown (Cebu) for fear of being ripped off, so she takes the jeepneys everywhere she goes when she visits home.
Gypsymoth
September 8th, 2009 at 4:34 pm [Reply]

GT: I don’t think that they are going to be taken to the mines. I believe that they are going to be taken to Nebulon VI in order to restock thier sports teams in hopes to make the intergalactic playdowns.
viscosity
September 8th, 2009 at 4:35 pm [Reply]

Weighing in CT from on the whole school thing – my kids go to schools in different towns and one started last Monday (Brookfield), the other started last Thursday (danbury). The town next to ours (Bethel) started 2 weeks ago. It’s entirely at the discretion of the school board.
viscosity
September 8th, 2009 at 4:41 pm [Reply]

MW – it’s clear we’re being set up for the following here : Adriennnnne agrees to marry Officer Diamondballs. Everyone agrees it’s the best match since Lawrence dated the childhood prodigy Del. Jeff Redford gets killed in fierce fighting following a botched shakedown of hemp manufacturers. Adriennnnne ends up in a bried, yet torrid, affair with Charley, who subsequently leaves her at the altar as he runs away to lead a new life in Caracas. Heartbroken, Adrienne devotes her life to a new branch of the peace village while her baby is adopted by Ian and Tobey and later grows to become an accomplished floor tiler.

What do I win if this is true?
buckyswife
September 8th, 2009 at 4:48 pm [Reply]

77 Niall: Well, to be fair, in that particular 40+-hour round trip, I never felt threatened or unsafe; everyone was polite, friendly, and solicitous. Actually, I guess I was a little worried when I walked into the Portland station ladies’ room at 1 a.m. and woke up a sleeping, uh, gentleman—who wasn’t happy to be awakened. But otherwise, it was kind of a fun trip for a sheltered suburban girl.

105 Al: Ah, jeepneys! Yep, I’ve ridden a number of those myself—what a convenient way to get around!
Sequitur
September 8th, 2009 at 4:51 pm [Reply]

A sampling of Homer Simpson alcohol related quotes:

When will I learn? The answers to life’s problems aren’t at the bottom of a bottle – they’re on TV!

Ah, beer. The cause of and the solution to all of life’s problems. (my favorite)

I like my beer cold, my TV loud, and my homosexuals flaming.

Beer – now THERE’S a temporary solution.

How could you? Haven’t you learned anything from that guy who gives those sermons at church? Captain What’s His Name? We live in a society of laws! Why do you think I took you to all those “Police Academy” movies? For fun? Well, I didn’t hear anybody laughing – did you? Except at that guy who made sound effects. Where was I? Oh yeah, stay out of my booze.

Apu, you got any Skittle Brau? Never mind, just give me some Duff and a pack of Skittles.

Son, when you participate in sporting events – it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how drunk you get.

Son, a woman is a lot like a… a refrigerator! They’re about six feet tall, 300 pounds. They make ice, and… um… Oh, wait a minute. Actually, a woman is more like a beer.
Dingo
September 8th, 2009 at 5:02 pm [Reply]

Oh, Brick (Brick Bradford). I remember opening up bottles of RC Cola as a youth and fighting with my wretched sisters over who got to look under the cap. My best was 25 cents but one of my cousins got a $10 cap. I think the local paper wrote a story on him. Pretty light news around here back then. Must be why I always remember the Pork Queen of Bureau County story.
Jym
September 8th, 2009 at 5:03 pm [Reply]

=16= H&J (Josh): I was totally planing on mentioning the bus line that travels from a town named after a large country on another continent to another town also named after a large country on another continent.
Bootsy
September 8th, 2009 at 5:06 pm [Reply]

Sam and Barfy. I actually went to Wiki to look up the names of the Keane family dogs. Shoot me. Shoot me now. While my doing that is pathetic and sad, it’s nowhere near as pathetic and sad as the poor wretch who wrote that entry and knew all that shit.
Dingo
September 8th, 2009 at 5:06 pm [Reply]

viscosity, alas her name is Adrian, not Adrienn’nn’e. A manly name for a handsome woman. She’s got bigger balls than an Atlanta debutante season. Once Officer Smallberries is offed, she won’t sob on their favorite park bench. She’ll pick up a floozy nurse at some low-down bar and have a threesome with her dad. Just not sure who’ll be Lucky Pierre.
Dingo
September 8th, 2009 at 5:10 pm [Reply]

Bootsy, I just downloaded Sunny Anderson’s recipe from Food Network for watermelon mojitos. If ever there were two persons deserving of a drink, I’d say it was you and the person who wrote the wiki article. Stop over tonight. We’ll have sloppy joes, Pringles, and watermelon mojitos. Later, we can TP Juggs Parker’s house and then dance naked through Poteet’s lawn sprinkler.
Sparky AKA Able Bodied Seaman Craggy Fjord
September 8th, 2009 at 5:15 pm [Reply]

http://assets.comics.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/200000/90000/4000/800/294813/294813.zoom.gif
Trogdor
September 8th, 2009 at 5:25 pm [Reply]

MW: All of the normal MW snarking aside, I can’t help but observe that Adrian and Scott had their first date less than four months ago! And they didn’t meet much before that. (In MW time that’s, what, sometime last week?)

My wife and I knew each other for years before we started dating. And even then, we waited for over a year before we got engaged.

I don’t want to say that every guy who proposes after knowing a woman for four months is a desperate freak. But klaxons should be going off in Adrian’s head at this point. Then again, maybe that’s why she’s recoiling in horror.
OMJulie
September 8th, 2009 at 5:28 pm [Reply]

I can see why Adrian is so shocked; in Mary Worth time, haven’t they been dating for like, 10 minutes? No, sorry, I’m thinking of Judge Parker. Adrian and Scott have been on at least two hours of one date together, which is certainly enough time to realize that as long as they stay in Santa Royale, they’re never going to find anyone better. So that seems appropriate.
OMJulie
September 8th, 2009 at 5:29 pm [Reply]

OK, Trogdor posted while I was writing. I did not copy the post directly before me. I usually wait at least 5 posts before I do that.
mr 12 oz can
September 8th, 2009 at 5:29 pm [Reply]

i wonder how many times detective scott hit queenies tweeter before popping the question and getting that ring out of the pawn shop.
Poteet
September 8th, 2009 at 5:30 pm [Reply]

# 115 Dingo — Y’all are welcome to visit, especially while naked, but alas, I can’t offer lawn-sprinkler-running, having neither lawn nor sprinkler. As an alternative, I could take us to a pond for skinny-dipping and supply Scotch.

Barfy. Barfy. I think I’ll have a little Scotch right now.
Daveh
September 8th, 2009 at 5:40 pm [Reply]

H&J
I find it puzzling that while they can’t mention “Greyhound” by name, they can stick “Star Trek” on a mug. I guess the artist didn’t feel like tying to fit “science fiction TV show first broadcast in the ’60s that everyone’s talking about” on the cup.
ratnerstar
September 8th, 2009 at 5:43 pm [Reply]

That’s one glowy ring Adrian’s getting. Is it radioactive? Presumably, when she puts it on she’ll gain the proportionate strength and speed of a cop in a orange blazer.

Tomorrow: Morning of The Meddler!!!
Laziestmanonmars
September 8th, 2009 at 5:49 pm [Reply]

Billy and Dolly have good reason for looking so sullen and defeated. This is like the 50th school year they’ve started the exact same class. It’s like if the movie “Groundhog’s Day” took place at Oral Roberts University
zerowolf
September 8th, 2009 at 5:59 pm [Reply]

Thel is wearing the same outfit as the night before and looks like there was more than just coffee in those cups.
queek
September 8th, 2009 at 6:02 pm [Reply]

I will probably never be funny enough to be a Float Rider here, but at least I got a post mentioned on Ces’s blog. Moving up the snarking world. Finally got a piece of the pie. . . .
queek
September 8th, 2009 at 6:03 pm [Reply]

124: CotW nominee, right thar.
Fashion Police
September 8th, 2009 at 6:03 pm [Reply]

#125, zerowolf:
If that is Thelma’s idea of evening wear, we are astonished she has a husband, much less four children.
Poteet
September 8th, 2009 at 6:05 pm [Reply]

Ah, bus stories. I took a bus through rural Morocco in the Seventies. The assorted livestock made the trip interesting, as did the stops when beggars would board the bus and go through with their cups. But the best part was when our driver decided to pass a large truck and the truck’s rear-view mirror smashed through the bus window behind mine. Memories.
commodorejohn
September 8th, 2009 at 6:17 pm [Reply]

#128 Fashion Police – Well, remember, they have to feed four gluttonous melon-heads and two adults on a cartoonist’s salary. She probably couldn’t afford anything nice even if Bil would let her buy it.
Mordock999
September 8th, 2009 at 6:37 pm [Reply]

Today’s Herb and Jamal – 09/08/09

Uh, WHAT in the WORLD is UP with the FLOOR in Panel One??

I mean, either these Folks are walking around in an Oil Slick or Their shoes Have TEETH!

________________

DEATH to TJ!
Jym
September 8th, 2009 at 6:48 pm [Reply]

=110= The Simpsons (Sequitur): You left out the best part of that last quote!
LUJBEM FEJF
September 8th, 2009 at 6:51 pm [Reply]

MT- Where exactly in the little dingy that they’re floating around in, is the alligator they just Weissmullered?
mojo
September 8th, 2009 at 6:52 pm [Reply]

Oh, Adrian, our little walnut-brained, helmet-coiffed Adrian! How we’ve missed you! Child Prodigy Delilah just didn’t hold a candle to your dim, dim bulb! And who’s your little friend here? Scott, is it? Nice to meet you, Scott. Hmmm, “Scott” rhymes with “Shot”, doesn’t it? Oh, nothing. Just making conversation, is all. Congratulations to the happy couple!
seismic-2
September 8th, 2009 at 7:14 pm [Reply]

DT: In what was at its time a bold act of political caricature, but one that now serves to date this story to the era of its origin, the face of the GOP elephant is drawn to resemble Richard Nixon.

Luann No, Mr. deGroot, it’s not love, it’s this comic strip that’s like a roller coaster – it has its ups and downs during which you’ll see things that will make you scream in terror, and you may have brief bursts of fun, but pretty soon you’ll throw up.

A3G: Lu Ann’s brain has short-circuited in an attempt to respond to Margo’s asking her to explain what she means. Of course, that is a common reaction for anyone who has been asked to try to explain what the hell Lu Ann is talking about.

MW: From the direction of Adrian’s horrifed stare in panel 2, and the unseen placement of Scott’s other hand, it appears that he has tried to further his case for their marriage by unzipping his trousers and showing Adrian what he’s packing under his holster. Adrian’s reaction shows that, like the zircon bauble that Scott is extending with his left hand, what he is extending with his right hand is also just a gaudy dud..
Lorem Ipsum
September 8th, 2009 at 7:19 pm [Reply]

queek, whether you ride the float or reign as COTW…I still think your snark is top notch…that goes for others as well…actually everyone but me. Im just saying!

Dingo…dinner at your place, Im on the way, expect me in about 4 hrs.

Jeepneys, never heard of them until today..

School start dates for the area I live in vary, but most schools started mid august…My kids 8/19.
bats :[
September 8th, 2009 at 7:38 pm [Reply]

129. Poteet: was it more of a “Hideous Kinky” or a “Sheltering Sky” experience?
seismic-2
September 8th, 2009 at 7:45 pm [Reply]

When I was growing up, back in the South so long ago, school always started on the day after Labor Day and ended a few days after Memorial Day. In the cotton-producing areas of the state, however, school started in mid-August and then closed down again for about 3 weeks starting in mid-October or thereabouts so that the kids could help bring in the crop.

I suppose nowadays the proliferation of technology has changed all that, so the Keane-like parents there probably tell their melon-headed offspring, “Remember, you can be replaced by a combine. And diesel fumes smell better, too, Jeffy,”
Fashion Police
September 8th, 2009 at 7:49 pm [Reply]

!30, commodorejohn:
We beg to differ, sir. Given the books, calendars and other merchandise, we suspect the cartoonist business will be able to keep Mrs. Keane in polyester for many years to come. Heretofore she has exuded the kind of middle-class, middle-brow respectability easily found at Target, J.C. Penné, and the sale counter at Macy’s. It is her taste in question here, not her finances.
trey le parc
September 8th, 2009 at 7:58 pm [Reply]

Guys, I’ve recently auditioned for a role as a minor character in a strip that often receives unflattering commentary on this site. I’m told I have a pretty good shot at the part (my agent says it’s definitely a ‘go’), and in the interest of avoiding a conflict of interest, I’ve been advised to refrain from participating in this forum. So, this is it. I’ve enjoyed the camaraderie and the occasional float ride, but I have to consider my career. Keep a lookout on the comics page for a trim and affluent middle-aged white male attorney with chiseled good looks and a dignified bearing. I’m about to hit him on the head with a cudgel and kidnap and assault his wife. It’s the role I was born to play!
Sequitur
September 8th, 2009 at 8:00 pm [Reply]

132. Jym
Oops.
Bart, a woman is like beer. They look good, they smell good, and you’d step over your own mother just to get one!
Red Greenback
September 8th, 2009 at 8:13 pm [Reply]

FC: Holy Herald-Examiner! That is one big newspaper!
sugarpie
September 8th, 2009 at 8:21 pm [Reply]

Mary Worth What with all these guys wanting to marry Adrian, I’m guessing she’s a real wildcat in the sack. I mean, in today’s strip it look like she’s showing Detective Wojo that she can swallow her own fist: it’s not bragging if you can actually deliver.

In the less-advantaged inner-city neighborhoods here, there are lots of moms without cars and the schools don’t provide bus service if you live within two miles of the school. Enterprising women have bought retired school buses, and for a reasonable fee “Miss Ramirez’ Bus Service” will pick up and deliver your kid to the local school.

Poteet No lawn, no sprinkler…is there a place I can unfurl my slip’n’slide? Yeah? Hot Damn! Im calling Greyhound right now-see you Friday.
Soccerhead
September 8th, 2009 at 8:47 pm [Reply]

Cathy: So Irving is going to return those jeans, which he got at MALL.
But he’s going into JEANS, which doesn’t seem to best a mall.
Irving shouldn’t try to wear skinny jeans, or anything else with the word “skinny” in its name.
The Real Rick Detorie
September 8th, 2009 at 8:47 pm [Reply]

Posting on the Comics Curmudgeon is a first for me. Last year, when I murdered Josh in my strip, “One Big Happy,” A Rick Detorie posted a few gangland-style threats against certain snarkers, but it wasn’t me. I was tempted to protest, but whoever was playing Rick Detorie that day was a much funnier Rick Detorie than me, the REAL Rick Detorie.

First off, let me explain the confusion that’s often raised about different versions of my strip running on the same day on various websites. Newspaper websites, like the Houston Chronicle and Washington Post pay $10 per week to run comic strips. Someone at my newspaper syndicate came up with the brilliant idea of selling 20 comic strips as a package for the same price. Do the math. That’s 50 cents per week per strip. I requested that my strip be dropped from the package, because it was undercutting the newspapers’ price. Why should they pay ten bucks, when they could get it for 50 cents, plus 19 additional strips? We (the syndicate and I) compromised and I allow them to include reruns of “One Big Happy” in the package. They call them “Classics,” but as far as I’m concerned, for 50 cents a week, they’re reruns.

And now, to address the charges against me brought by “Little A of the Green Goddess Concourse” that “One Big Happy” is no longer funny and I’m a lazy slob whose drawing has degenerated into indecipherable scribbles.

As to it not being funny: What can I say? That’s your opinion, and I disagree with you. Although the strip is character-driven, I make sure that every strip has some kind of a gag in the last panel. (The only exceptions are the Charles Schulz tribute strip and my September 11th strips). Some gags are funnier than others, and I have had plenty of misfires – gags that angry readers claim are old jokes, or, in one case, a stolen line from a 1946 Elmer Fudd cartoon, or a situation I lifted from a “Leave it to Beaver” episode.

I mean, come on, people.

Okay, I’ll admit to the “Leave it to Beaver” thing.

Do I think every gag I come up with is funny? No. On the rare occasions that I can make myself laugh at an idea that comes to me, I know I have a winner. However, by the time I carry it through to pencil sketch, lettering, re-sketching, and final inking, it’s no longer funny. That’s because the element of surprise is long gone. It usually takes about a year or two for me to laugh again at one of my own cartoons, but only because I’d forgotten how it played out.

As to what makes my readers laugh, I’ve come to the conclusion that I have no clue. I don’t think it’s a secret that we comic strip cartoonists run our least favorite strips on Saturdays, the day when the fewest people read the newspaper. Yet, it always amazes me when someone praises a particular strip, and I go back to look it up and find that it ran on a Saturday, and I’m thinking, “You want to buy the original of THIS one? What is WRONG with you?”

As for Little A wanting to see more of the characters Avis, James, and Myrna – There’s plenty of James and Avis upcoming. I use those characters when I come up with a gag and situation that suits them. Myrna’s another issue. She has to come for a visit from out of town to make an appearance, which means a 5-7 day story arc, and I haven’t come up with a story and enough new gags for her return appearance.

Now, the issue that the present artwork sucks, and isn’t what it used to be. We’re looking at the same thing and seeing something different. When I look at those drawings from the collections (1993-97), I cringe because I see the stiff figures, thick necks, and the three, count ‘em three, same old facial expressions used over and over again. What YOU see is the fine detail work – the elaborate backgrounds and the crosshatching in the clothing.

Well, that all looks great on the original art and in the book collections, but you may have noticed that over the past 20 years the comics in the newspapers have shrunk drastically. Many years ago, a fellow cartoonist pointed out to me that in his newspaper, The Atlanta Constitution, the comics were now so small that my crosshatching looked like mud and the backgrounds were a mangled mess. So, gradually, I’ve made adjustments: wider crosshatching lines and simpler backgrounds, thicker brushstrokes and more close-ups. Another problem with the newspapers is that many of them compress the strips, which distorts the curved lines.

Now I hear you saying, “But I read it on the web, and I still think the drawing sucks.” Yeah, and I say, “Tough shit. Get over it.”

As for me being lazy? I still put in as much time at the drawing board as I always have. I don’t have any assistants and all my drawing and lettering are done by hand. My hand. The only thing I use the computer for is to color my Sunday strips. And consider that I do a 4-panel daily strip. That means I’m doing four separate illustrated panels for each daily strip.

I don’t draw well. I know that. But it’s hardly suck-worthy. I’m not one of those very talented quick-sketch cartoonists, like Sergio Aragones, who can whip up a drawing with a few quick strokes, and mere seconds later, the final result is beautiful and brilliantly funny. I dread it when someone approaches me with a sketchbook and a felt pen and requests that I do a drawing of Ruthie. I leaf through the pages to see the drawings other cartoonists have done – professional quality, all – and I’m tempted to ask permission to take the sketchbook home, where I can take my time, and using my HB pencil, kneaded eraser, #1 sable brush, Rapidographs, and two kinds of white-out, perhaps provide a halfway decent sketch of Ruthie.

Even though I’ve been doing the strip for over 20 years (that’s over 7500 dailies and Sundays), I still experience a childlike satisfaction when I draw something, and miracle of miracles, it winds up resembling the very thing it’s supposed to be.

My perspective really does suck, and there are plenty of things that I’d rather not draw – cars, dogs, bicycles, people on bicycles, a person cutting with scissors – but I do them anyway, even though it takes a bit longer.

And, Little A, as to your comment that my drawing is in danger of degenerating into Mell Lazarus-type scrawls, you may be right. That is, if I, like Mell Lazarus, were to undergo 6 months of excruciating chemo-therapy that causes permanent nerve damage to my extremities, leaving me with numbed fingers and the inability to firmly grip a pen. If that were to happen to me, I may not want to EVER draw again. But chances are that sooner or later I’d probably pick up a pen and start drawing, no matter how painful or difficult it might be, and for the exact same reason Mell does it: We love doing this. It’s our passion.

My personal advice to you, Little A of The Green Goddess Concourse, is that if you don’t like where I’m taking the strip, please get off the bus. But if you choose to stay, and unless you can offer constructive criticism, then sit in the back and shut the hell up.

Or better yet, you should follow the examples of Josh and many of the regular snarkers of the Comics Curmudgeon, and kill us with some cleverness. Yes, their attacks may be nasty, but there’s a rich bounty of very witty, talented writers who post here. Lighten up; they’re only comic strips. Your tedious rants are harshing our mellow, man.

Such a kvetchmeister.

I am now off into the wilds of Manhattan, where for an entire week, I will stay off the Internet. So, go ahead and post all the comments you want about what I’ve written, but know that I’m not going to be reading any of them, because, to paraphrase Rhett Butler, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a rat’s ass.”

Ciao,

The Real Rick Detorie
Comrade Denny
September 8th, 2009 at 8:57 pm [Reply]

GT: Thinks those strange orbs are the killer spheres from Phantasm. Too bad for the Tall Man that everyone in Milford is already a freakish, brainless zombie.

MW: Since no one in Charterstone is allowed to be be happier than fair-to-middlin’ Mary, Adrian’s chance for true happiness will be dashed when Detective Fiance is gunned down by Santa Royale’s heroin kingpin, who also happens to be Mary. What do you think that Peace Village bullshit in ‘Nam is really all about?

MT: Props to Mark Trail for pointing out that it’s material economic conditions that lead to crime. And facial hair. That’s where the Bolshies got it wrong, you see, with the facial hair.
Drunken Housewife
September 8th, 2009 at 8:57 pm [Reply]

I was disappointed that “Luann” wasn’t skewered, err, “discussed” here today. Brad has somehow acquired Hellboy’s oversized, misshapen fist of stone. I think this also means he has inherited Hellboy’s title of “Beast of the Apocalypse”, as the fist is meant to be used as some sort of key in a lock to be opened at the End of Times. Frankly I am heartened at the idea of the end of the world coming soon, as I’ll take anything to get me out of more of that tedious Brad-can’t-get-the-nerve-together-to-make-a-pass-at-Toni moaning.
Joe Blevins
September 8th, 2009 at 9:02 pm [Reply]

MW: From which angle does Adrian’s hairdo look worse? I’d say from the back. From the front, you might almost think she attempted the Zooey Deschanel look and failed. But from the back, it’s clear that she’s been wearing her hair the same way since she was four and that her main styling tools are a collander and a pair of kitchen shears.

FC: School is the least of their problems. They are, after all, being haunted by the ghost of their last ironing board. Oh, and Big Daddy Keane apparently “forgot” to pay the family’s gravity bill again this month. Either that or their house is tilting downward at a 30-degree angle.

GT: Boogie on, reggae woman. Boogie on indeed.
Ukulele Ike
September 8th, 2009 at 9:03 pm [Reply]

Rick @ 145: Put more of the blonde Mom in the strip. Preferably beach shots.

(just kidding. If you’re still reading this, and I know you are, let me know where you’re staying in NYC and I’ll come by and buy you a few martinis.)
LITTLE A. OF THE GRAND CONCOURSE JUNGLE PATROL
September 8th, 2009 at 9:11 pm [Reply]

Mr. Detorie:

If you had read all of my posts about your work, you would have determined that I am disappointed because in my opinion One Big Happy was one of the great current strips (and it ain’t bad now either). Read carefully.

I had no idea that Mell Lazarus has been or is ill. This was never mentioned on this blog, to my knowledge. I am sorry about that. However, he scrawled before he got sick. I am sure we are all sorry to learn about this. By we, I mean everybody who reads this blog and contributes to it or just reads it.

Be that as may, you have just posted a very nasty response. I will be very curious to see what the other bloggers have to say about what you have to say, particularly Poteet, who is one of the few people on this site who actually responds to me, once in a while. I repeat, you didn’t read all of my posts.

However, in my opinion, your drawing has gotten sloppy and careless, and I don’t accept your explanation that because the strips have been shrinking, it is okay to scribble in the backgrounds because no one notices the details anyway. Since you have been rather nasty to me, I will say to you: bullshit.

I was a fan of yours, up to fifteen minutes ago; I think it was obvious from my posts that I loved your strips and that I am upset because I noticed a change.

And Miss Tord, my 7th grade French teacher would be pleased at me for using this: Mr. Detorie: qui s’excuse, s’accuse.

I am very sorry to learn that Mell Lazarus is not well.

Yours sincerely,

Little A. of Various Manifestations, Who Does Have a Sense of Humor, Which is Why He Loves Your Older Strips and Your Recent Ones Too, Disappointing As Some of Them May Be

And As we used to say in the Bronx, I should lighten up??!!
bats :[
September 8th, 2009 at 9:14 pm [Reply]

140. trey le parc: break a leg! And when you’re Rich and Famous and can throw caution to the wind and do what you damned well please, come back and visit! I always enjoy your comments.
Sequitur
September 8th, 2009 at 9:14 pm [Reply]

Now, if only Tom Batiuk would post…
buckyswife
September 8th, 2009 at 9:17 pm [Reply]

MW: Adrian’s right to look horrified; Defective Hewlett might be trying to kill her by proposing.

136 Lorem Ipsum: The efficient, convenient jeepney!

(Not included in image: My story of the jeepney trip to Subic City sex clubs with a group of Marine snipers—my friend’s and my interest was more anthropological than prurient, although we kind of did get more than we bargained for.)
LITTLE A. OF THE GRAND CONCOURSE JUNGLE PATROL
September 8th, 2009 at 9:17 pm [Reply]

What’s also surprising to me is, how can a man who has written a mostly funny strip about children and grandparents and families, for over twenty years — how can a man who has done that, display such nastiness? This just doesn’t go together.

I am disappointed.

As we would say in The Bronx: it just don’t make no sense.
sugarpie
September 8th, 2009 at 9:33 pm [Reply]

145, TRRD I hope it is the real you! Thanks for OBH! Yours is one of the few strips I almost never have a beef with, and sometimes it even makes me laugh out loud. Can’t put my finger on why, though. Maybe because you seem to genuinely like your characters?

I dont want to seem more of a suck up than usual so I’ll shut up now. And again, great job!

ps I’m just now reading the last few posts when I hit preview. I dont know… it didnt seem that nasty a reply considering whats been said over the last few weeks.
buckyswife
September 8th, 2009 at 9:41 pm [Reply]

re: the OBH discussion…. I’m a fan of OBH, too, and I don’t have a real opinion on the exchange here, except this: Does anyone else ever feel, I don’t know, unnerved at the thought of snarking on the work of people who are (invisibly) reading this blog? Maybe I’m such a relatively novice and limited internet poster that it seems like a strange kind of transaction to me. And I guess I wouldn’t want to say, either, that I’m only willing to make jokes if I know that the objects of them won’t read them; that seems odd, too.
Farley's Revenge
September 8th, 2009 at 9:52 pm [Reply]

MT: If these poachers demonstrate the same skill poaching as the hired killer in the last episode showed in his ability to kill, why do we even need Mark? I’m quite sure he could remain safely encamped in the bowels of Lost Forest-which resembles Lost Swamp at the moment-while Andy keeps watch on the various inept ne’er-do-wells.

Then, when the moment was right, Mark could appear and swing the Right Fist O’Justice because, let’s face it, Andy’s Right Paw O’Justice simply doesn’t have the same panache unless he’s hiking that paw and peeing on the hairy bad guys.
bintie
September 8th, 2009 at 9:53 pm [Reply]

As a greyhound owner, I object to “Herb and Jamaal”. Of course, as a person with a working brain, I already objected to “Herb and Jamaal” so I guess I’m being redundant.
buckyswife
September 8th, 2009 at 9:59 pm [Reply]

157 Farley’s Revenge: If this Mark Trail plot plays out like the last, the Sideburn Gang will at last be defeated when a huge pile of dead alligators collapses on top of them.
Farley's Revenge
September 8th, 2009 at 10:00 pm [Reply]

MW: I’m quite sure Adrian’s patients would be thrilled to know their doctor, the woman who may literally hold their lives in her delicate little fingers, is an idiot who needs a service animal to prevent her from doing harm to herself and others.

And someone needs to inform Det. Boyfriend(no relation to Dr. Girlfriend, I hope) that the Don Johnson Miami Vice look went out a quarter century ago.
Farley's Revenge
September 8th, 2009 at 10:03 pm [Reply]

#159Buckyswife: Right after they fling one of those butter knives at the pile of gators, and Bob yells “Kapow!”

The Right Paw O’Pee is beginning to appeal to me:

“Get ‘em, Andy!”
*whizzzzzz*
“AARGH! Stop! We give up!”
Joe Blevins
September 8th, 2009 at 10:06 pm [Reply]

Easiest job in the poaching game: being the guy who stands off to the side and says useless things like, “I hope we don’t get caught.” Really, what skills is that guy bringing to the table?

In his defense, the advent of the thought balloon has not come to Lost Forest, so the characters are forced to actually say aloud every thought that comes into their heads. That’s why you don’t want to go anywhere near the public bathrooms there.
Sequitur
September 8th, 2009 at 10:08 pm [Reply]

One Big Happy!
Kallista
September 8th, 2009 at 10:08 pm [Reply]

I think Barfy looks like he’s going to throw up because PJ just ripped his scrotum off.

And, GAH with the purse already! Does Thel bring it everywhere? Maybe it’s the quick-stash for that turkey leg she’s holding. As soon as the older kids leave and the younger ones get dashed-line booted outside, Bil has to lay out the newspapers on the floor and assume the position. “But leave your tie on, Bil, while I half-seat this, it makes me feel powerful.”
NoahSnark
September 8th, 2009 at 10:23 pm [Reply]

Apparently love in the land of Mary Worth means dragging a restaurant booth into a field of marijuana so you have the proper atmosphere to make a marriage proposal.
Sequitur
September 8th, 2009 at 10:24 pm [Reply]

PJ ripped his scrotum off, doo-dah, doo-dah;
PJ ripped his scrotum off, o-dee-doo-dah-day.
Barfy looks real bad,
And he’s feeling sad;
PJ ripped his scrotum off, o-dee-doo-dah-day!
Lisa
September 8th, 2009 at 10:27 pm [Reply]

Norm and Bridget get back together just as Ashley breaks up with her boyfriend. What irony. What relief…
Sequitur
September 8th, 2009 at 10:28 pm [Reply]

ALTOGETHER NOW!
Muffaroo
September 8th, 2009 at 10:30 pm [Reply]

Little A @y68 – I like Toggle. I wasn’t making fun of him, just following a train of thought.

Herb & – That’s not a personalized coffee cup. It seems like it, because of the coincidence of the name, but it’s really a small storage canister. Wait till he realizes that he’s gotten so high he poured coffee into his stash!

Niall @77 – Wow; now that I think of it, it’s probably been about 25 years since I stopped riding interstate buses, after quite a few years of being a frequent passenger on long trips. I’m guessing my last run was right after the hurricane hit Houston, so the bus station didn’t have a working gas pump, and the bus’s fuel gauge was bad, so they ran out of gas on the shoulder — the shoulder where there were fire ants, as it turns out. That made me miss the connection in Dallas and I had to try and sleep on seats designed to defeat attempts at sleep, while the video games gibbered at me all night, and after all that (and having to run off the bus to barf at one point) I arrived in Colorado to find out that an old friend of mine was undergoing a change of gender; and another trusted friend was deciding at the same time to stick a knife in my back when he judged it was time, though I didn’t know that then.

In Massachusetts, we lived in a suburb of the town where Peter Pan bus lines originated and operates, but I never tried their services.

Dingo @111 – Hey, talk about a slow news day — here I am on my first day of third grade. Sadly taking leave of a dog I never saw before or since.

trey le parc @140 – I got my fxngers crxssed for ya! (By an odd coincidence, I’ll go audition for Carousel tomorrow night. I’m hoping to get the part of the sumbitch sailor who gets Billy… well, who gets him where he is in act II. Maybe I’ll get it, maybe not, but at least I’m getting to audition for stuff again.)

Rick @145 – When I first started snarking here, I used to rag on your strip something awful. Now I think it’s funny.

Dick the other day – See, I still think that was funny. Dick says he’s going to get to the bottom of things, and then Ringo says, “That’s what she said!” Get it? The bottom of things! She fell to her death! Oh, god. Do I need to wear a funny hat?
Niall
September 8th, 2009 at 10:37 pm [Reply]

Very briefly: Little A, I found Mr Detorie’s remark to be mostly a detailed factual response, explaining what he believes are facts that could lead to your opinions. His temper got a little the better of him at the end, but for the most part, it didn’t seem a nasty response, but a hurt one. Myself, I found that your multiple and repeated accusations over several threads bearing essentially the same message went from a snark to something resembling equine pulp… State your case once, and if no one else agrees, let it drop, please.

For what it’s worth, it’s true that most strip artists haven’t done much detail due to strips printed smaller and smaller – and this started during Schulz’ reign, so it’s not new. On top of that, you have the natural and very logical process where a new artist is very detailed but stiff, and gets less detailed but with more fluidity (or so goes the hope). The two combined can very much lead to what you call “sloppiness”.

In any case, you clamored for his attention, and you got it. I think it’s rarely the case that one gets what they wanted or hoped for in these situations. :)
Farley's Revenge
September 8th, 2009 at 10:44 pm [Reply]

To paraphrase #170Niall: Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.

I think Niall should be elected Curmudgeon Arbitrater for his excellent way of rephrasing a debate so people nod and say “Yes, of course that’s what I meant.”
Buck Ripsnort
September 8th, 2009 at 10:46 pm [Reply]

FC– “Or, considering that you’re all eternally little kids, 179 more YEARS of school! Bwha-ha-haaa! And that goes for you and the dogs too, Thel!”
Dingo
September 8th, 2009 at 10:47 pm [Reply]

Muffaroo #169: That’s classic. I bet it was the photographer’s dog. Sort of like Mary Worth throwing one of her meddle bombs into the Charterstone pool.
Niall
September 8th, 2009 at 10:51 pm [Reply]

156. buckyswife: we knew Mr Detorie was reading the blog, since he “killed” Josh a year or so ago. Not to mention the Archie people, well-documented by now, incorporating the AJGLU3000 joke in the strip itself. For myself, I try to find things that are inherent to the strip as a whole to either point out humorously, or suggest might be improved. In Momma’s case, after learning of Mell Lazarus’ condition, the level of artwork is more understandable; however, the writing is where it squicks most of us due to the oedipal undertones far too easily surfacing, for example. It’s a tough snark balancing act, which also depends on how much you care about what the creators might think of it all.
Toronto
September 8th, 2009 at 10:53 pm [Reply]

Bucky’s Wife@92: At least it wasn’t a compilation tape including “Teen Angel”, “Dead Man’s Curve”, and “Stan.”

Niall: Voyager/Colonial, Acadian Lines/Southern Maritime Transit, Orleans, Limocar, etc. I rode “Ontario Northland” up to Englehart last summer – was much nicer than the Dog.
Niall
September 8th, 2009 at 10:59 pm [Reply]

171. Farley’s Revenge: Aww, thanks, but that wasn’t my intent. I don’t want to be the Typical Canadian who’s all for peace and all. Okay, I am, but still. :) I can just sometimes see someone answering a question agreeing with the questioner, and the latter thinks it’s a negative response because of the tone or a turn of phrase used… All about expectations, attitude (as in comportment and mannerism – i.e. everyone has one) and whatever social/cultural filters are in place (again, everyone has one or two or ten).

175 Toronto: Okay, okay, I give! It seems I was the only one not exposed to or cognizant of anything else than Greyhound. :)
Talking Squirrel
September 8th, 2009 at 11:10 pm [Reply]

I always assume the writers/artists are all checking CC all the time, and if I was concerned about cheesing ‘em off should they happen to look … I’d never get anything written. So, as the old-timey saying goes, let the devil take the hindmost.
Doug Puthoff
September 8th, 2009 at 11:20 pm [Reply]

9-8 S4th–Faye and Hilary are still on the bus. They probably missed the Presidents brainwash–er, speech.
Doug Puthoff
September 8th, 2009 at 11:23 pm [Reply]

9-8 Real Life Adventures–My resentment toward this strip has reached a new low. Why would anybody want to ask for a raise when 9.7 percent of the country is out of work. The subtext, as it usually is in this strip, is that all men are stupid.
Doug Puthoff
September 8th, 2009 at 11:25 pm [Reply]

9-8 FW–Corey’s back. And by the looks of his shirt, he’s still the same putz he was at the start of summer vacation. He’s about the only interesting character in this strip now.
Doug Puthoff
September 8th, 2009 at 11:28 pm [Reply]

9-8 Arlo & Janis: When you can’t think of a punchline…
Doug Puthoff
September 8th, 2009 at 11:30 pm [Reply]

9-8 GT–I’m hope Turbo Shemp narcs on them. He’s about the most interesting character in the strip in years. And is Jamarr trying to replace Andrew Gregory as the team jerk?
Doug Puthoff
September 8th, 2009 at 11:32 pm [Reply]

FC–Both Jeff and PJ are walking around without pants. Dude! Sick!
BryanBryan
September 8th, 2009 at 11:45 pm [Reply]

Neither Jeffy or PJ are wearing any pants, and momma Keane seems to be on the verge of death while clutching what looks like a wooden handled brush in her hand. I think I’ve seen a few movies like this, but they were all in German.
ChattyGenes
September 9th, 2009 at 12:00 am [Reply]

#145 Mr. Detorie. I don’t post here a whole lot these days, so just in case you have not realized it, I am an American woman who has lived in Japan for the past thirty years. My husband is Japanese and we have two bi-lingual, bi-cultural daughters (now on their early twenties), who like me, love comics.

One of the high points of our vacation trips to the U.S. to see my family there is the many visits we make to bookstores. Yes, we buy comic collections. I’ve always enjoyed reading the comics aloud to my girls and laughing at them with them. One of our favorites has always been “Ruthie” which is their name for One Big Happy.

I remember one rather sad day when Daughters were in their early teens. We three were sitting in the Detroit airport with my parents, waiting to board the plane back to Japan. It was announced that the flight would be delayed, and suddenly we had time to kill—-unwelcome time. It’s hard enough for my parents and us to say goodbye to each other for another two years without dragging out the goodbye any longer than it needs to be.

Then we remembered that one of us had packed, in her carry-on bag, some of our comic collections to read on the plane. “Ruthie” was the unanimous choice of all, and out it came. Suddenly things were a lot happier. One by one, my mother, my dad, my two daughters, and I took turns reading “Ruthie” comics aloud while holding up the book so that the others could see the drawings. We read through the entire book. At the end of it we all felt so much better for the number of times we had laughed. We were all in good moods, and the inevitable airport “goodbye” that was finally said was not NEARLY as sad as it might have been.

I still read the comics to my daughters, even though they both live in the U.S. now (they’re college students there). Every now and then I’ll call them up and say, “Hey, X-comic is really funny today; get on the Internet and pull it up and I’ll read it to you!” And they do, and we laugh together over the miles. And more often than not, “Ruthie” is the one I’ll read to them.

Just wanted to say thanks for a wonderful strip, which is still great after all these years!
un_malpaso
September 9th, 2009 at 12:13 am [Reply]

“Relax, Bob! The world economy has pushed us into a dilemma where we can’t work at the mill any more. It’s up to us to provide a cheaper source of bear bile and alligator armpit fat than the Chinese can!”

“Thank you, Poacher #1! I was a bit tense, but now, I am relaxed. I wish all kids had the opportunity to enjoy an honest American trade in the swamp, like ours, which involves real profit!”
un_malpaso
September 9th, 2009 at 12:16 am [Reply]

Oh, and by the way, how come this whole freaking rigamarole about the “bus that has the logo of the four-legged animal of a shade between black and white”, if Herb and Jamaal are otherwise getting all product-placement on our ass?
kurtthecomicreader
September 9th, 2009 at 12:23 am [Reply]

Not many strips to comment on as it looks like whatever clobbered Comic.con, for nearly a week, has now crept over to King Features Syndicate, for most of the sites getting comics from KFS have been displaying “content unavailable” for at least two days.
Donkey Hotey
September 9th, 2009 at 12:27 am [Reply]

Little A -

I’ve now read Mr. Detorie’s response three times, and I do not see the “nastiness” to which you refer several times. I DO see an artist who takes pride in his work defending himself against your repeated attacks on that work. I’ve also re-read your earlier posts criticizing his strips, and I do NOT agree with your claim that “it was obvious from [your] posts that [you] loved [his] strips.” If anyone’s posts were nasty, they were not Detorie’s.

I’m going to side with the cartoonist and not my fellow curmudgeon on this one.
bats :[
September 9th, 2009 at 12:47 am [Reply]

But keep posting, Little A…I like your comments.
bats :[
September 9th, 2009 at 12:54 am [Reply]

Some humpday comments:

MW: Okay, I give up on the time frames in this universe. Wasn’t the only story that separated Queenie and the Tramp from Queenie and the Champ the Delilah one? That didn’t take MONTHS to resolve. Are we supposed to believe that there are parts of Mary’s little world that we’re not supposed to see?
I think not.

Phantom: oh, no! Paprazzi!

S-M: oh, the unkindest cut! But you were expecting it, Peter.
Fran Ledue Page
September 9th, 2009 at 12:54 am [Reply]

144, Soccerhead: JEANS would seem to indicate a specialized boutique, no doubt selling denim abominations for $169 per pair and up. That may best a mall, depending on your standards. The only place at which Cathy and Irving ought to be shopping for apparel, however, is BODY BAGS.
curlyfries
September 9th, 2009 at 1:13 am [Reply]

Well, that little set-to was interesting. Chacun à son goût, as Ms. Mandell of my 9th grade French class used too say, but I think the accusation of “scribbles” regarding One Big Happy artwork really is groundless. However, I do have a big issue with Rick’s response. Real Rick, Mell Lazarus himself was making fun of his own drawing style years ago (see the Mad parodies someone posted over the weekend). It hasn’t improved any, so you didn’t need to wave his chemo-induced neuropathy like a flag. It wasn’t germane and it’s really cheap when you drag in someone else’s suffering to try to score guilt-points for your cause – really not cool, dude.

Art is my profession, and it doesn’t have to be bad to make me want to full-bore snark on a strip. I’ve certainly handed Tom Batiuk a heapin’ helpin’ – his artwork is good, and it has nothing to do with why I dislike his “writing” so much. If a strip is funny and has crappy artwork, I’ll give it a pass, because for me it’s all about the content, not the art. The only exception I’ll make to that is 3G – even if it were brilliant, I’d hate it. It creeps me out because it looks like the characters have lumpy necrotic tumors (or perhaps it’s those “botox” and “collagen” injections Tommie got them that turned out to be industrial-grade silicon) moving around on their faces. But bad art/dumb story/lame gags? I’m there – and I’m bringin’ it.

Little A obviously has a problem with both aspects. I know of it but don’t read the strip, so I can’t speak to its appeal re consistency of humor, but sometimes the way you “remember” things isn’t really the way they were at all – and what you’re missing is something that never was there in the first place. Sometimes that evolutionary change is in you, sometimes it’s in the artist. We either grow or we stagnate. I’ve dropped strips because I don’t enjoy them any more – whether they got stale or I changed, who knows? To be bitter or disappointed because someone isn’t performing the way they used to is understandable – and it’s good for a few posts. And then you have to let it go and move on.
True Fable
September 9th, 2009 at 1:47 am [Reply]

Keepin’ it real.
curlyfries
September 9th, 2009 at 2:03 am [Reply]

Scary Worth: Past “happenings” are still with her? Bish plz, look at Adrian’s face and tell me she’s not doped up to the eyeballs. Which, ironically, makes her perfect as Scotty’s life mate. All his unfortunate wardrobe choices will pass unnoticed thanks to that sweet, sweet shot of China White between her toes.

Stanky Weensnbeans: So the school let this big lummox play football all last year while remaining uninsured? Is their coach Gil Thorpe? Good news is while they let this slide, they micromanaged every last little detail of the Annual Band Candy ~~Ground Assault~~ Sales Campaign.

Cathy: Anything Irving chooses will give him a muffin top. Shoot me now before I have to see it.
Lisa
September 9th, 2009 at 2:04 am [Reply]

158 for COTW?

I’m staying out of the OBH brouhaha… I like the strip. That’s all I got to say about it, too.
True Fable
September 9th, 2009 at 2:32 am [Reply]

Yeah, I like OBH too. I have no problem with it.
Mr. O'Malley
September 9th, 2009 at 2:50 am [Reply]

Pluggers use fifty year old road maps while driving their decrepit 1970s cars?

In fact, Pluggers’ road maps are so old they don’t even show states. Or roads. Pluggers travel up and down the waterways of the continent in canoes, trapping small fur-bearing animals to exchange for their simple needs.

This cartoon could have almost humorous with a caption like “A Plugger’s GPS is a roadmap”. But claiming that Pluggers use roadmaps dating back to the Eisenhower administration is just nonsensical.
True Fable
September 9th, 2009 at 2:52 am [Reply]

WTF GT Ghost-Who-Talks, they are going to keep walking away; apparently those Martian landers in panel three are more interesting than your third-person-talking self.

Scenes from Suburban Hell Sticking with its established timeline of the ’60’s, today Trixie talks about protesting and sit-ins. Right on, mama! Stay groovy and… and… good lord, even I can’t recall much of that lingo the way Chris Browne can.

Fist O Justice Theater “Whoever catches the most fish, the other one has to clean it.”

Does this mean that the fish will emerge from the water as one fish each in measured segments, and whoever can haul in the largest amount of said fish will win? Otherwise, shouldn’t it be, “the other one has to clean THEM”? “All the fish”? or even, “Just stare at the fish, Rusty, and they will disembowel themselves”?
Sister Sestina
September 9th, 2009 at 3:02 am [Reply]

Gil Thorp may be going to Planet Nebulon VI, but Herb & Jamal come from Planet Nebulous Nth.
Jack Parsons
September 9th, 2009 at 3:12 am [Reply]

GT: Apparently the aliens have fractal hair.
MolyBendum
September 9th, 2009 at 3:26 am [Reply]

Wednesday

Archie – Yes, Andy, be very concerned about the impressions you make on a fast food manager when you’re 17. They can be life altering.

Cathy – Grrrfff. My mom still likes this strip. I say, “Why mom, why?” She says, “Because there’s so many choices at the mall! It’s so easy to not know what to do! I can relate!”
Every. Fucking. Week. For 33 years.

FC – The WEEDS….in case you didn’t know that was the joke….the WEEDS, I say. Not the GRASS, the WEEDS. Or maybe the joke is that Jeffy is impugning Thel’s gardening skills, saying she’s so inept she can’t even maintain a weed. She should smack him.

Garfield – As a vet, you should know cats can’t understand english. But if they could understand english, and also communicate telepathically with you allowing you in turn to leer slyly through the fourth wall, then I think by all means they should be allowed to have their coffee. You ginormous-lipped bitch.

Pluggers – Few and far between are the days you can’t substitute “Loser”, “Idiot” or “Drain on Society” for the word “Plugger”. No exception today.

Shoe – Oh no you di-int! Snap! You go girlfriend!

#169 Muffaroo re Dick – I thought it was funny too. Anytime you can work in a “That’s what she said” and have it be remotely relevant, it should be done.
MolyBendum
September 9th, 2009 at 4:03 am [Reply]

Gil – Good lord, it’s Shawn Wayans from White Chicks. How dare these girls diss “The Ghost”? He’s so fast you don’t know if you fucked him! He’s so pale, he’s not even black! He’s so ineffectual on the playing field, it’s like he’s not even there! Come to think of it Jamaar the Jammer, you may want to rethink that nickname.

Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick – Yay, the FBI is here to speed the conversation along. Good thing there was a wormhole between FBI headquarters and the circus so Agent Karenina could squirt through in seconds.

Rex MMD – I’m hoping for a raining night rendez-vous between the bumper of her car and Henry and Pearl. Or a rainy night bumping of nasties with Chester the Molester. Death or sex, that’s all I ask.

Judge – The cop in panel 2 is a shoo-in for the Village People. “Come up and see me some time!”
Ed Dravecky
September 9th, 2009 at 5:13 am [Reply]

Wow, kudos to The Real Rick Detorie for dropping by to speak his mind. Whether you agree with his tone or his tactics, it’s damned refreshing to have a creator vent at length in an environment where that’s okay.

Now if only Jack Elrod would stop by so that, on behalf of all non-evil bearded people, we could have a nice chat.
True Fable
September 9th, 2009 at 5:47 am [Reply]

#204 Ed Dravecky – I wonder if Jack Elrod speaks with random boldness and no contractions? And just how big are the animals at his place?
Dondi
September 9th, 2009 at 6:06 am [Reply]

JP: So we’re to believe these two miscreant paparazzi dudes are on their way to the airport and out of town, ehh? And so the car with the “FOTOG1″ rear plate was what . . . a rental? What a wild coincidence. Or is Hertz offering vanity plates now as an option along with the over-priced insurance and collision damage waiver?
John C Fremont
September 9th, 2009 at 6:20 am [Reply]

GT – Such is the awesomeness of “The Ghost” that both the sun and the moon appear together in the night sky to greet him with a reverential, “Meh.”
LITTLE A. OF THE GRAND CONCOURSE JUNGLE PATROL
September 9th, 2009 at 6:46 am [Reply]

I give up. I lose. I skulk off into the sunset. Just for the record, I repeated myself because I didn’t get any response from other snarkers. Which was because nobody agreed with me, I have learned.

Ah well. Great.

“I don’t give a rat’s ass.” Very nice. Very polite.

Even James wouldn’t say that — right now. Maybe when he turns eight or nine.

As for my French quote, it applies to me, too.

Mr. Detorie, just do one thing, for your own sake, and mine, too. Compare the backgrounds in the last few months’s strips to the backgrounds in the strips in one of your collections, Nice Costs Extra, and see what I am talking about.

As a matter of fact, that’s a pretty relevant title for your rant, isn’t it?
casey32168
September 9th, 2009 at 6:58 am [Reply]

I, for one, welcome our alien overlords.
True Fable
September 9th, 2009 at 7:03 am [Reply]

Whee! It’s Buxley Wednesday!

what? I wasn’t going to spend a perfectly good linky on Miss Buxley!
MolyBendum
September 9th, 2009 at 7:19 am [Reply]

If you don’t want to know the answers to Wednesday’s JUMBLE, don’t read this!

HERPES COMA ANNOY RETARD

What did she hope to develop with the trainer?

A “COCKINSERTION”

Yep, I’m pretty sure I got that one all right.
Kallista
September 9th, 2009 at 7:34 am [Reply]

211: deep unlady-like guffaw!

you braggart with your jumble skills.
Little Guy
September 9th, 2009 at 7:44 am [Reply]

MT: “The most of nature’s creatures one kills, wins!” And this is a conservationist strip?

JP, aka Ghost Who Tasers: Now I know where Kit Walker moonlights. Bengalla must have been hit real bad with the recession.
Mibbitmaker
September 9th, 2009 at 7:55 am [Reply]

9/9/09…. #9, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9……….

BEATLES DAY!!!:

A3G: Keeping feelings to yourself? In a soap???
HEY, you’ve got to hide your… love awaaay…

A3G2: I’ll refrain from doing a Dave Sim joke here…

Arch: Evil McClown is going to get sued by McDonalds for sure!

BBailey: ….or the thesaurus.

Other Coast: “…Now I’m going through a digestive tract! Oh, great!…”

R=R: They wouldn’t tolerate that during World War II, lady!

ZtP: Sometimes a pinhead is just a pinhead.

Blondie: “…Oh, by the way, Blondie, I’m leaving you for Angelina Jolie.”

DtM: Actually, she’s so smart because she got A’s on her report card AND THE SCHOOL YEAR JUST STARTED!

DT: Her name’s not a pun, it’s an echo!

Edge City: “Oh, sorry, I meant Altamont.”

GT (kinda more yesterday’s strip): He still doesn’t have as many nicknames as Katina Choovanski. Work on it.

MT: Oh, thank God Mark’s gotten rid of that creepy troll Rusty and is now fishing with some man! … oh, wait….

Marvin: Too Freakin’ Freaky Week continues…

PCity: “Fascist!”? Not “Socialist!”? Not used to mocking right-wingers yet, are we, Stantis?
Vince M
September 9th, 2009 at 7:59 am [Reply]

Since the filling stations gave away free maps in the 1950s, a Plugger won’t buy them on principle.
Talking Squirrel
September 9th, 2009 at 8:03 am [Reply]

203 MolyBendum: “Judge – The cop in panel 2 is a shoo-in for the Village People. ‘Come up and see me sometime.’”

Alas, he seems to have an unlisted (badge) number. Also, he’s no pushover — he’s wearing two belts, gotta get past ‘em both. Lastly, he’s clearly flaunting the symbol that indicates “no barbarians” — i.e., there can’t be any cheese in his mouthful of meat.
Baron Bizarre
September 9th, 2009 at 8:20 am [Reply]

Bootsy @ 113: Sam and Barfy. I actually went to Wiki to look up the names of the Keane family dogs. Shoot me. Shoot me now.

I already knew the names of the Keane family dogs. And that Sam was the second dog they adopted. And that the cat’s name is “Kittycat”. I don’t have alot going on.
Mordock999
September 9th, 2009 at 8:20 am [Reply]

Today’s Luann – 09/09/09

WHAT the…,

Brad – “Worry that Toni loves the ‘HERO’ who saved Her.”

??!!??

Frank, your HAND is EXTENDED in Panel One.

REACH over and SLAP some SENSE into your IDIOT Offspring!!!

____________________

DEATH to TJ!!!
Talking Squirrel
September 9th, 2009 at 8:28 am [Reply]

MT: Since Rusty’s the only one fishing, it looks like the one who’s doing all the talking is gonna be doing all the cleaning too. Suits me. I just hope Rusty’s using high-test monofilament, so it doesn’t snap when he tries to haul in that dead 200-lb gator he’s just hooked.
Talking Squirrel
September 9th, 2009 at 8:41 am [Reply]

218 Mordock999: Hmmm, I think Frank is actually giving Brad some good advice here. Toni’s ready to fall bigtime for a guy who’s sweet, gentle, kind … and isn’t afraid to accessorize with a matching muff, a nice lightweight one perfect for a balmy summer day.
Tom
September 9th, 2009 at 8:56 am [Reply]

Regarding school start days, where I’m from, school doesn’t start until the day after Labor Day, which means the kids are in school through June.
The Spectacular Spider-Brick
September 9th, 2009 at 8:59 am [Reply]

Time for some non-Detorie snark!

9CL: Is there some reason Amos shouldn’t know about Mary’s visit? Is there some reason we readers shouldn’t know what that is? Knowing McEldowney’s mind, it’s because Mary is going to be an impossibly fit, buxom, man-eating temptress who Edda fears will steal her ~~Anus~~ Amos away. But until that’s confirmed in-strip, I’m convinced it’s because the visitor will be Mary Worth, come to meddle the fuck out of the Burber clan. Then get rampant on a Bosendorfer with Thorax. Yeah, it’s my idea, but this is still 9CL.

A3G: “I tried to tell ‘em, but they aren’t the most observant knives in the woodshed, Margo. After all, I got to come to the city because I was the smartest one in the family.” “Point tak… wait, really?!”

(WT)DT: “Hell of a stutter you got there, Karen. What’s your last name?”

HotC: Don’t let the critics get you down, Mr. Detorie. I just LOVE Heart of the City.

…Wait, what?

H&J: “Whippet Bus Lines”? This is too close to a sight gag. Shouldn’t it be “Canine Coach Lines” or, even, “Four Legged Carnivorous Mammal Vehicles”?

JP: “Don’t worry. You won’t see me, Monkeyface, or our friend Thing the Disembodied Hand again!”

Big Dog: That’s not his “burn rubber” look. That’s his “Pretty soon you’ll wish you were smelling burnt rubber” look.

MW: “Less than a year”? As slow as this strip moves, hasn’t it been more like a week and a half?

PC: I thought the artist was a conservative. Shouldn’t he be on the protesters’ side?

tAS: Normally this strip is so uninspired that it isn’t even worth snarking. Today, though, I must give the artist props for including “Ace Ventura 2″ and “The Love Guru” in the non-comedy section.
Jumper
September 9th, 2009 at 9:05 am [Reply]

I can’t remember the official cartoonists’ jargon for squiggly lines that mean different things, but Keane has employed almost the whole gamut in this panel. The “sparkly clean” lines, the “steaming hot” lines, the “sun is bright” marks, and Thelma has both the “sweat of frantic exhaustion” marks and the masterful “helix of derangement.” Why he did not go ahead and put in the “wavy lines of of stink” and the “flies of foulness” near PJ and Jeffy, I can’t say.
MolyBendum
September 9th, 2009 at 9:06 am [Reply]

Heehee, cheese in his meat…..

A3G – “Hi Dad, I’m home from the big city!”
“Oh, Lu Ann, how nice to see you. Come on over and sit here on the couch with me.”
“Sure! Where’s Mom?”
“Oh, she’s out for a bit. Why don’t you scooch a little closer.”
“OK. Y’know, there’s been some things…..”
“Say, why don’t you sit in my lap, like you used to when you were a little girl.”
“Well, I don’t know, you see there was this guy…..”
“Now now, Lu Ann, there’s plenty of time for talking. Hop up in Daddy’s lap. Yeah, there you go. Now isn’t that comfy?”
“I guess, Daddy. So there was this guy I was seeing….”
“I like when you call me ‘Daddy’. You’ve grown into quite an attractive girl, Lu Ann. Call me Daddy again.”
“Okay……Daddy.”
“Mmmmmm. You don’t mind if I just kiss your neck while I talk, do you? No? Mmmhmm, you smell so good, Lu Ann.”
“Dad, did you just undo my bra?”

You know how those country folks are. It’s so hard to get any good “talking about feelings” in between all the a-rapin’ and a-molestin’.

Honestly, though, when I was in college I had a blow up doll that looked EXACTLY like Lu Ann in panel 2. Exactly. Literally. Li-ter-ally.
One-eyed Wolfdog
September 9th, 2009 at 9:06 am [Reply]

Shoe: “Do you have a manifold for a Ford?” “No, all I’ve got is is a finite CW complex for a, let’s see, a Chevrolet. Hey, we’re birds here. people! Laugh a little.”
One-eyed Wolfdog
September 9th, 2009 at 9:08 am [Reply]

Argyle: “We’re so badly drawn that I can’t rely on the art to support the joke and I have to spell it out painfully here — but sometimes I just don’t feel like laughing, Kate.”
One-eyed Wolfdog
September 9th, 2009 at 9:12 am [Reply]

Edison: Hambrock has learned that, in the absence of a joke, you can always give the illusion that a joke has occurred by ending with “Check please!” – which, incidentally, would have been a much better line for Adrian in the second panel of MW.
Orange Mama Laid
September 9th, 2009 at 9:19 am [Reply]

Marmadork: That “burn rubber look” is their euphemism for the bloodcurdling leer on Marmadork’s face when he gets so horny his rubber starts melting. (Their car’s interior does look quite smoky compared to the others…) This bodes ill for Hitler Lite. But hey, you gotta better idea for how to kill time when you’re stuck in traffic?

I’m afraid the only way we can effect a permanent cure is to cut the dog putz off.
HighPlainsDrifter
September 9th, 2009 at 9:38 am [Reply]

check out Brewster Rocket – he zings Family Circus—
http://www.gocomics.com/brewsterrockit/2009/09/09/
HighPlainsDrifter
September 9th, 2009 at 9:39 am [Reply]

I meant Brewster Rockit – me bad speler.
nerowolfgal
September 9th, 2009 at 9:43 am [Reply]

RE Little A et al.

Where are these people with the hyper-sensitive feelings and fast typing fingers coming from? Post after post whining. I for one hope they soon find another forum to spam.
Lorem Ipsum
September 9th, 2009 at 9:52 am [Reply]

FC: Yes Jeffy, the weed in our neighbors backyard is most definitely greener…More like Maui Wowie to be exact…now run along, I have some weeding to do..cough cough!
buckyswife
September 9th, 2009 at 9:52 am [Reply]

FC: Don’t bother Mommy now, Billy; she’s off to another get-together with the neighbor ladies, and it’s her turn to bring the basket o’ sex toys.

MT: At first I was surprised that Rusty seems to be just now learning to fish. But then I realized that every time Mark plans a fishing trip for them, he instead becomes involved in another “adventure.” He’s the Mary Worth of the wilderness. And where he has the Right Fist o’ Justice, she has the Jawbone o’ Platitudes.

BB: And it sounds as though “that book on positive thinking” was written by one Mr. Lawrence Jonis!

Blondie: Dagwood thinks he looks like Stephan Pastis?

MW: Adrian’s facial expressions as she examines the ring tell the real story here: At first, she’s thrilled to see it—but then once she sees how small it is, her face turns disappointed and she starts making excuses. Defective Hewlett, though, is probably used to that pattern by now.
Dingo
September 9th, 2009 at 9:53 am [Reply]

Line left out of today’s Apt. 3G: “In my family, feelings are something you keep to yourself. It’s cocks that are shared.”
buckyswife
September 9th, 2009 at 9:55 am [Reply]

174 Niall and 177 Talking Squirrel: I actually put my (minor) qualms to rest by realizing that I’m subject to something similar in my job—i.e., ratemyprofessor.com and the (anonymous) required student evaluations, although the people who write about me aren’t nearly so clever as you all.
One-eyed Wolfdog
September 9th, 2009 at 9:57 am [Reply]

—What’s that bus line called again… Whippet?
—Whippet.
—Good.
Dingo
September 9th, 2009 at 9:59 am [Reply]

One would think with the brightness of that ring, Detective Scott would finally see Adrian’s face and run as fast as possible.
Lorem Ipsum
September 9th, 2009 at 10:00 am [Reply]

MT: Are they in the Land of the Giants? I am starting to think that Jackelrod obtained his skills from the back of a magazine…If you can draw this line you can be a cartoonist!
Anonymous
September 9th, 2009 at 10:01 am [Reply]

When you take the slowed progression of comic strip time into consideration, those two newly engaged kids in Mary Worth have been dating for about, ohhh, a week in their universe.
Artist formerly known as Ben
September 9th, 2009 at 10:13 am [Reply]

9/9

9CL: “Prolonged and improvisatory”? McEldowney continues to toot his own horn. You can read that anyway you like.

H&J: Ha! Betcha didn’t see that one coming.

A3G: Lu Ann just came as close as she ever will to saying, “My dad is a world-class asshole.”

MC: Okay, show of hands. Who thought Ashley was going to talk about dating girls? I’m sure there’s already fanfic out there.

DtM: The school year just started. If Margaret already has straight A’s, she must be an expert forger. Or at least that’s the most wholesome explanation I can think of.

FC: I take it that Thel’s little smile means she’s thinking of saying “You tell me,” and throwing Jeffy over the fence.

GT: After this humiliating run-in, Jamarr gives up “the Ghost” and hires a professional nickname consultant.
Muffaroo
September 9th, 2009 at 10:16 am [Reply]

archie – He got Artie’s name wrong!

Blondie – That’s not Arthur Lake!

C2Home – This makes no freaking sense!

(ps to readers: I made a macro that types the above line, including the name of the strip. It could save me heaps of time.)

Gil – The floating spirits of the damned are looking particularly hopeless tonight.

Judge Fudge – Here’s the funny part. They go back to the hotel, pack, go to the airport, and leave! Har har!

1BHappy – It’s nice to know that Twinkles has found work in his post-cereal* spokesanimal days.

Phantom – Old Man Mozz needs to hurry. It’s getting to be time for Sadie Hawkins Day.

Pluggers – Just plain ridiculous, and not in a remotely humorous fashion. (see also: Rose is Rose)
Lorem Ipsum
September 9th, 2009 at 10:16 am [Reply]

Nooooo! That darn Billy has now invaded outerspace!!! Will it be possible for me to enjoy Brewster Rockit?
Old School Allie Cat
September 9th, 2009 at 10:17 am [Reply]

In re: snarking vs just plain bitching…

I remember after Al Scaduto died (RIP), his daughter came on here and was SO NICE and SO EXCITED that we existed. I felt really bad about all the snarky things I’d said about TDIET and Mr. Scaduto – a man who, by the way, sent me a copy of the cartoon he’d done based on my idea – with a personal note. Once you realize there’s an actual person involved – it makes you think twice.

I try not to be explicitly mean on this site, except for where Lynn Johnston and Tom Batuik are involved. I think we can all agree that those folks have it coming.

I love reading the funnies – I always have. And when the creators post on this site, I think that’s just about the coolest thing in the world.

But that’s just me.
Lorem Ipsum
September 9th, 2009 at 10:17 am [Reply]

ever again?
Muffaroo
September 9th, 2009 at 10:19 am [Reply]

Dondi @206 – Great call on the license plate! That got completely by me.

Mibbitmaker @214 – Actually, tomorrow is Beatles day. The one after 9/09.

Vince M @215 – When I was working the map room at a college library almost 30 years ago, I found an old map of the town in some stuff they were going to toss and brought it to the director’s attention. In return, they let me have a bunch of circa-1940 Shell maps of the 50 states, many cities, and states and provinces in Canada and Mexico. I’ve scanned some of these. Great stuff.

Spider-Brick @222 – I think Stantis is demonstrating that there’s a difference between conservative and crazy.

Anon @239 – Adrian says they’ve been together “less than a year,” which usually means “something more than half or three quarters of a year.” I’m guessing they took their own leap sideways while the rest of the strip was still creeping on in its petty pace from day to day. Perhaps Adrian is in her own separate unreality, and will start to age visibly while Mary remains 70, as she has been since childhood.
queek
September 9th, 2009 at 10:20 am [Reply]

my loathing for the stale “3 Generation Family Strip” format is well known, but OBH (and Cul de Sac) get a pass due to sheer batshit insanity. TRRD, you’re doing just fine in my book.

To the larger question of snarking where authors can read it: I think that is part of the enjoyment of the site. Admittedly, I’m usually saying good things about MC, and joining the fun when SF or SFx gets subtextual, but I’d still consider AS to be a waste of space whether “HACK” Hilburn posted here or not. (just to use an example.)
Dingo
September 9th, 2009 at 10:24 am [Reply]

Seeing the phrase “batshit insanity” made me think: if Glenn Beck were a comic strip, which one would he be?
Muffaroo
September 9th, 2009 at 10:29 am [Reply]

Dingo, let’s talk about something else.
Mibbitmaker
September 9th, 2009 at 10:32 am [Reply]

#238 (Lorem Ipsum): …And he proved them wrong!
Calico
September 9th, 2009 at 10:38 am [Reply]

#243 – I agree. That the creators acknowlege the CC and its posters is really quite awesome.

Even when I have some particularly negative snark, I’m not out to bait the person who made the thing I’m snarking on. They are real people with real trials and issues, just like the rest of us.
Regarless of my jabs, I find it incredible and humbling that a select few can put out jokes and drawings day after day, year after year. They usually do it on an individual basis with a grueling schedule and deadlines, whereas for a mediocre sitcom it takes a table of 15 – 20 overcaffeinated writers-and these shows last hardly as long as many comic strips.

I wouldn’t be here joking if I didn’t have an underlying sense of caring…
Calico
September 9th, 2009 at 10:41 am [Reply]

And I gotta say – props to Blondie today!
Hahahaha!

Mr. Pitt – the mathematical and artistic converse to Dag.
commodorejohn
September 9th, 2009 at 10:52 am [Reply]

A3G – “That, and I was distracted by something shiny for most of my visit.”

AS – Okay, I have to admit that there’s something I honestly like about today’s Argyle Sweater, and that’s the conspicuous placement of a couple of “comedies” (note the Margo-quotes) in the non-comedy section. Nice one, Hillburn.

BC – Look, I know they’re cavemen, but if they know what retinas are, they should damn well know where they are.

BBlue – Look, Baby Blues, are you trying to become the new For Better Or For Worse?

Blondie – Dagwood is Jonathan Frakes?

DT – “Karen Ennen?” Okay, is this a Dick Tracy pun name, or just a stupid one?

Dilbert – Somewhere, Richard Stallman is smiling.

FC – No, Jeffy. Nowhere are the “weeds” greener than on the Keane Kompound. How else do you think your mother gets through life?

Garfield – Ha ha! Liz thinks Garfield is a cat!

JP – …you’re kidding me, right? This has to be some sort of joke.

Lio – Buttons and Mindy called, they want their schtick back.

Luann – No, no, you can keep insulting Brad. We don’t mind.

MT – Fortunately, there will be no innuendo on this fishing trip because Mark has absolutely no idea what sex is.

MC – While the potential hilarity of the Norm/Ashley pairing may be off the table, the hilarity of the work relationship continues. I love the expressions today.

OBH – Best children’s book title ever? Best children’s book title ever.

PBS – That’s Edda, all right.

Phantom – Mozz brings the awesome to the storyline. Horse? He don’t need no stinking horse!

SF – Easy, Sally. Just save it for the next time one of Ted’s childhood loves gets a revival. “Look, honey, I know that giving Uwe Boll the Thundercats license doesn’t bode well, but it can’t be as bad as all that.”

SFx – Bananas contain happy drugs? Why haven’t they been outlawed?

SM – This strip really ought to be about Wolverine.
Artist formerly known as Ben
September 9th, 2009 at 11:01 am [Reply]

#243 Old School Allie Cat,
As far as Johnston and Batiuk having it coming, I guess that depends what “it” is. There were some comments around the time of the Settle-ocalypse that went after Lynn Johnston in a too-personal, too-mean way. Although this is a classy site, so they were the exception.

Creators who read here and occasionally comment have my respect. If you can argue for your work, you’re probably not phoning it in. On the other hand, everyone gets snarked, so an artist has to develop a thick skin.

I try not to harp on any one person or make it personal. My own purpose here is just to be funny if I can and maybe drop whatever dry husk of an insight may be in my possession.
Islamorada Girl
September 9th, 2009 at 11:11 am [Reply]

The Real Rick De Torie- – If you’re reading this, just want you to know I love OGH. It’s one of my favorites.
TheDiva
September 9th, 2009 at 11:14 am [Reply]

Curtis: So, is Barry ever going to get his for being a little shit for this entire storyline, or is that just wishful thinking?

GT: Two moons? So Gil Thorp takes place on the same planet as Elfquest then?

Luann: No, “soft” works. You were right the first time.

Marvin: Okay, now I’m confused. Is Marvin imagining himself as a horribly large toddler, or is he imagining his parents as shrunken doll-like adults? I ask because it may effect the nature of the horror, although not the quantity.

MW: Adrian’s expression in panel two doesn’t suggest “conflicted” so much as “mesmerized by the shiny.”

Pluggers: Great, my late grandfather is a Plugger. Thank God he passed on before discovering the horrible truth.

(Seriously, a couple years back my parents were going on an Inside Passage cruise, and he pulls out this Alaska guidebook for them to use. We look at it and note it was printed in 1969. When we pointed that out, he protests, “It should still be good–it’s not that old!” At which point we reminded him that all his grandchildren were younger than that book.)
Crankenstank
September 9th, 2009 at 3:28 pm [Reply]

145: what a clever impostor! 8-)
Little A and his Verkokte Magic Ball
September 9th, 2009 at 3:56 pm [Reply]

RE Little A et al.

Where are these people with the hyper-sensitive feelings and fast typing fingers coming from? Post after post whining. I for one hope they soon find another forum to spam.

Dear Nerowolfgal: I hope you are not talking about me, because I am very sensitive.

Also I am from The Bronx.
trey le parc
September 9th, 2009 at 4:44 pm [Reply]

140. trey le parc: break a leg! And when you’re Rich and Famous and can throw caution to the wind and do what you damned well please, come back and visit! I always enjoy your comments.

Thank you! This is a great site and I’ve enjoyed reading comments from the regulars. I may get off a good line occasionally, but there are some professionally hilarious people here.

Once I get this out of my system I’ll be back.
Anonymous
September 9th, 2009 at 7:14 pm [Reply]

204 – Jack Elrod participated in recent years in the Washington Post’s online chat. where he offered some interesting insights on the strip about which we all love to snark. I had occasion to contact him about two years ago, and he struck me then as a wonderfully kind and generous gentleman. He really was great to talk with. He took my friendly teasing about his economy-sized animals especially well, and believe me, I think he has a pretty good sense of humor about his strip.
AT
September 10th, 2009 at 10:31 am [Reply]

I like how Bill is taking the opportunity to take a sadistic satifaction in his children’s misery while at the same time remaining completely oblivious to the fact that Thel has apparently just given herself a head injury and PJ is about to be horribly burned.
Seungmina
September 10th, 2009 at 10:50 am [Reply]

I have too much time on my hands, and actually I looked up the Herb and Jamaal archives. From the week surrounding the strip 14 months ago, there is no hint of Herb’s mother, at his house or he at hers. It’s obvious now that the author of Herb and Jamaal doesn’t really care. The question is when he stopped caring.
Tim Cavanaugh
September 10th, 2009 at 1:03 pm [Reply]

Any alligator that can’t break out of a quarter-nelson hold by a guy in a jockey cap deserves to be poached. It’s natural selection.
xrayguy
September 12th, 2009 at 9:52 pm [Reply]

H&J-I swear I thought the old bat in the first panel was a giant talking chicken worman- shades of Kids In the Hall

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