The Comics CurmudgeonSassy's gotta do what Sassy's gotta do

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Sassy’s gotta do what Sassy’s gotta do

Mary Worth, 10/29/09

I would appreciate anyone who could help explain exactly what the hell I’m looking at in panel two. It seems that the effect intended is “dramatic camera angle shot from just behind Scott’s shoulder, for some reason,” but everything’s also skewed at an angle that makes it look like Adrian and Scott are villains in the Adam West Batman TV show (if only), so it’s sort of hard to look at it and not see Scott’s chest as kind of rising up and his head tilted back. My interpretations: either Adrian is disconnecting Scott from the machines keeping him alive and forcibly dragging his dying form to the altar, or he’s convulsing at her very touch in a desperate attempt to escape their impending matrimony.

Mark Trail, 10/29/09

You know, Sassy gets a lot of crap from you people, but she and she alone seems to realize that Mark is on the verge of leaving the swamp without physically assaulting anybody, and is thus taking matters into her own itty-bitty paws. I’m assuming that we’re going to get the overly complicated plot-sequence of “Sassy almost gets eaten by alligators, Mark rescues her, Mark spots poachers while out and about,” or maybe even “Sassy almost gets eaten by alligators, Rusty rescues her, Rusty gets captured by poachers, Mark must rescue them both,” for all you Rusty-in-peril fans. I’d sort of like to see a version that cuts out the middle steps, where the poachers spot Sassy and recognize that her beautifully spotted off-tan pelt would make a charming muff. Fortunately, Mark’s ability to hear piteous mewling at a distance is superhuman.

Family Circus, 10/29/09

It seems that we’re only now seeing the consequences of the Keane’s decision to keep any and all information about sex and procreation out of the Kompound. Clearly Dolly believes that her parents “made” her baby brothers Jeffy and PJ out of clay or some other random crap they had lying around the house, though looking at them you can hardly blame her.

Pluggers, 10/29/09

Think what you will about this installment of Pluggers, but it can’t be worse than my initial misinterpretation, in which a starving, impoverished dog-man was about to eat a lint-covered hot dog he found underneath his couch cushion for lunch.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 05:27 pm and is filed under Family Circus, Mark Trail, Mary Worth, Pluggers. |

168 responses to “Sassy’s gotta do what Sassy’s gotta do”

True Fable
October 29th, 2009 at 5:34 pm [Reply]

I had the very same reaction to Pluggers. Well, aside from the intense retching. That was my special touch.
PeteMoss
October 29th, 2009 at 5:36 pm [Reply]

Pluggers – Hot Dog! I found enough meds to forget I’m a damn Plugger!
m1ngle
October 29th, 2009 at 5:36 pm [Reply]

I don’t think that plugger, or most pluggers for that matter, have missed too many lunches.
Uncle Lumpy
October 29th, 2009 at 5:37 pm [Reply]

God, I feel bad enough about giving kids candy instead of children’s books — why can’t I just take a break and mock a cartoon dog for a while? Is it to be only Dick Tracy for me?
Yolm
October 29th, 2009 at 5:37 pm [Reply]

The dog looks weird, I do not remember any beige haired spotted dog that exists.
Jason D.
October 29th, 2009 at 5:37 pm [Reply]

Actually, intense retching is my reaction to about 90% of all Pluggers strips.
Nekrotzar
October 29th, 2009 at 5:39 pm [Reply]

That’s no orange, that’s Jeffy!
mr 12 oz can
October 29th, 2009 at 5:40 pm [Reply]

i think in todays mary worth adrian is telling the detective . that he can work with a magician in the old saw a detective in half trick . because it just boggles my mind what the artist was thinking with that impossible angle . larry king interview moy and that old fossil who draws this . i need to know
tb4000
October 29th, 2009 at 5:41 pm [Reply]

FC: I was going to make a comment about how that pumpkin most have done some fucked up drugs to produce such a mentally disabled looking baby, but I stopped myself.

I’m waiting for the next strip to showcase what a Plugger’s public option is…finding a bottle of penicillin in the street.
PeteMoss
October 29th, 2009 at 5:42 pm [Reply]

MW – In today’s episode, Adrian will be portrayed by Prince Valiant.

Hey, Josh, I was more puzzled by the first panel. Is she gripping Scott’s arm and is it in a sling (ouch)? Why is his arm in a sling if he’s lying there in a coma or whatever?
Baka Gaijin
October 29th, 2009 at 5:48 pm [Reply]

Mary Worth: Actually, Scott’s head is at the perfect angle for a straight windpipe for CPR. Pinch his nose and blow…into his open mouth, you pervs! Chest pounding optional but very gratifying.
Amateur
October 29th, 2009 at 5:53 pm [Reply]

MT: The coloring in this strip confirms our theory that Sassy is made out of chocolate-chip cookie dough.
buckyswife
October 29th, 2009 at 5:57 pm [Reply]

FC: My initial response was to snark on Dolly’s poor artistic skills, but then I realized that in her world, that’s pretty true to life.
Red Greenback
October 29th, 2009 at 5:58 pm [Reply]

Hi Josh. I think that’s today’s Mark Trail you have posted up there. Unless it’s a crossover thing where Sassy’s wandering off to become a therapy dog.
Baka Gaijin
October 29th, 2009 at 5:59 pm [Reply]

Y136 MolyBendum, on Ziggy: Yes, Ireland made cars.
Mac
October 29th, 2009 at 6:00 pm [Reply]

Yeah, Dolly’s actually doing pretty well considering that PJ’s upper torso is apparently turned completely around from both his head and his butt.
Violet
October 29th, 2009 at 6:03 pm [Reply]

I think we’re seeing things from the perspective of a disembodied Scott Hewlett floating over his hospital bed. I can only assume, upon catching a glimpse of panel two Adrian, he immediately runs shrieking for the white light.
Ed Dravecky
October 29th, 2009 at 6:04 pm [Reply]

Should the Pluggers dog be exclaiming “Hot Dog!” here? Do people routinely exclaim “Hot People!” after successfully scrounging enough change for a final meal?
Josh
October 29th, 2009 at 6:04 pm [Reply]

#14 Red — Oops, you’re right! I fixed.

Josh
m_faustus
October 29th, 2009 at 6:09 pm [Reply]

I swear, if Mark Trail leaves the swamp without punching an alligator I am going to be very disappointed.
The Ridger
October 29th, 2009 at 6:10 pm [Reply]

Pluggers still think you buy lunch with the change you find in your sofa.

I’m looking forward to Mark Trail punching out Cruella deVille.
Calico
October 29th, 2009 at 6:10 pm [Reply]

I have an idea for Halloween handouts-clip out strips like Mary Worth, FOOB, and Momma and drop them in the kiddies’ bags.
Oh, and Family Circumference as well.
It\'s time to pay the price
October 29th, 2009 at 6:13 pm [Reply]

Sacramental wine and bread, with oranges for hands and pumpkins for heads. That’s what Keen kids are made of.
Hell Toupée
October 29th, 2009 at 6:13 pm [Reply]

MW: I may be horribly misreading the Santa Royale to us time continuum but if Adrian is committing to wait as long as Scott did for her, isn’t that like 4 days or a week tops?
Charlene
October 29th, 2009 at 6:14 pm [Reply]

#9 – You mean there are Pluggers young enough not to be on Medicare?
Naked Bunny with a Whip
October 29th, 2009 at 6:18 pm [Reply]

Pluggers: So “Hot Dog” wasn’t a missing pet hamster?
Adjuster
October 29th, 2009 at 6:19 pm [Reply]

Luann: there’s still a chance to redeem yourself, Greg Evans! (Really there isn’t, because tomorrow’s strip is already at the publisher’s, but I can dream….)

Simply have Luann give out her old childrens’ books for Hallowe’en, and then discover that some of them were rare first editions worth hundreds of dollars. And have some kid notice, sell a book and buy candy!

Or better yet, sell the book, buy a handgun and steal the candy! That might take some of the sanctimoniousness out of everyone.
sugarpie
October 29th, 2009 at 6:21 pm [Reply]

MTrail I agree with you Josh, I dont think Sassy is as stupid as she looks. Well, in all honesty, none of the characters in Mark Trail could be as stupid as they look.
DaveyK
October 29th, 2009 at 6:21 pm [Reply]

Mock all you want, but Nathan’s makes a killer Couch Cushion Hot Dog. Lint is an optional condiment, but I highly recommend it.
Jacob
October 29th, 2009 at 6:21 pm [Reply]

Pluggers: I like to think that Hot Dog is the dogbeast’s hotheaded son.
Tiako
October 29th, 2009 at 6:21 pm [Reply]

Wait, pluggers are college students?
One-eyed Wolfdog
October 29th, 2009 at 6:22 pm [Reply]

I picture Elrod with some kind of reverse-lookup index where you can flip through the alphabet to ‘D’, scan down to “Dogs definitely aren’t this color”, and it tells you ‘Pantone 14-1012′ or gives you the necessary RGB values (0xFFEAC8) or something.
Hell Toupée
October 29th, 2009 at 6:22 pm [Reply]

FC – Like Dolly, medical professionals are known to practice injections on oranges. Unlike Dolly they don’t invoke Moloch to bring the oranges to life first… that I know of.
Red Greenback
October 29th, 2009 at 6:23 pm [Reply]

Pluggers: “HOT ME! “
Hell Toupée
October 29th, 2009 at 6:25 pm [Reply]

#34. Red Greenback -

I got Diet Coke in my nose laughing at that one. Oww.
teddytoad
October 29th, 2009 at 6:28 pm [Reply]

FC just joined Cathy with a subtler, but no less acute meta-comment, quietly conceding that, yes, its characters’ heads are shaped like large fruits, and yes, they are terribly drawn to the point of looking deformed and deranged. Next up: a Mark Trail Sunday strip about the boxing kangaroo and how much it hates people with sideburns.
Charterstoned
October 29th, 2009 at 6:28 pm [Reply]

MW – I actually looked at the screen from above my computer to see if the strange angles in today’s strip made any sense from a different perspective. They don’t. It’s clear from any angle, however, that Adrian has fiercely clenched Scott’s broken shoulder in the first panel, and in the second panel she’s apparently crowding him off his own hospital bed whilst he’s still grimacing in agony from her diamond-studded claws. He’s about to topple! Fortunately, he’s got one of those lifeline buzzers around his neck so he can alert the staff: “Help! I’ve been pushed off my bed by my fiance and god help me what was I thinking when I asked her to marry me and now if I don’t die she’s going to be my wife for cryin’ out loud and even worse than that is that now that idiot Bum Boat ass Dr. Jeff will be my stinkin’ father-in-law which means I’ll have to put up with Mary Worth for the rest of my life oh god. And who sent me those nice flowers? Oh, yes, and I can’t get up!”

MT – I wonder when somebody is going to notice that Lost Forest apparently has some sort of fungal infestation that is slowly but inexorably changing everything to the color of Doc Davis’ rubbery scalp?
AirForbes
October 29th, 2009 at 6:29 pm [Reply]

I have no doubt that Sassy is smarter than Rusty, or Mark for that matter. But she’s one unnatural looking dog.
Chupper
October 29th, 2009 at 6:31 pm [Reply]

Since when does Dolly smoke stogies?
Skullturf Q. Beavispants
October 29th, 2009 at 6:32 pm [Reply]

You’re a Plugger if you unironically use the expression “Hot dog!” as an exclamation of delight.
frostee
October 29th, 2009 at 6:34 pm [Reply]

Isn’t the Plugger digging through the cushions at someone else’s house? Not stimulus if it is your money. Plus casual theft seems more Pluggerish somehow.
Poteet
October 29th, 2009 at 6:34 pm [Reply]

MT — Hey, I haven’t been giving Sassy a lot of crap. I’ve expressed concern for her wellbeing, which is more than can be said for her oblivious owners Do they think she’s not going to wander off and get into trouble if they go to sleep in a swamp full of poachers and large predators and leave her free to run around? Idiots. Well, even more than usual.
aloha_breeze
October 29th, 2009 at 6:36 pm [Reply]

Didn’t know Brookins is also a painter and draws other things besides those freakish Plugger animals…
Poteet
October 29th, 2009 at 6:37 pm [Reply]

# 42 — Apologies for my missing period.

Um.
Dr. Pill
October 29th, 2009 at 6:39 pm [Reply]

If Amateur at No. 12 is right, then some ‘gator is in for a hell of a sugar high when he swallows that lump.
fnord3125
October 29th, 2009 at 6:40 pm [Reply]

can someone that knows more about dog breed than i do, tell me if sassy could actually be a real dog? every time i see it in a trail strip, it looks unnatural to me. something about the coloration makes me think of a hyena or some such rather than a domesticated dog.
Hell Toupée
October 29th, 2009 at 6:43 pm [Reply]

If I were Sassy, I’d follow that “Jack Elrod” bubble wherever it went too.
Hell Toupée
October 29th, 2009 at 6:44 pm [Reply]

MW: Adrian is Nick Cage in a Prince Valiant wig. Now I got a serious case of the creeps.
Death to the FOOBS!
October 29th, 2009 at 6:44 pm [Reply]

Not only that, fnord, that is the ugliest animal I’ve ever seen, from this wildlife “expert”. The head seems completely misshapen un-doglike and certainly as far from “cute ‘n sassy” as imaginable.
lilaleaper
October 29th, 2009 at 6:46 pm [Reply]

Holy cats, unemployed = plugger. I found 3 of those dollar coins in the couch yesterday and got all excited about being able to afford the *good* bread this week. The kind that isn’t already a week old when you bring it home.

Oh the shame of it all.
Bryan
October 29th, 2009 at 6:46 pm [Reply]

27, Adjuster: Or better yet, sell the book, buy a handgun and steal the candy!

I think the kid should sell the book, buy a handgun and kill TJ! That would erase every bit of contempt I’ve ever expressed for Luann.
mojo
October 29th, 2009 at 6:47 pm [Reply]

Okay, I’ve been sitting quietly throughout this whole Mary Worth Scott’s-in-a-coma cliché for an ETERNITY now and I’m starting to get bored. I’m praying Scott’s not pulling a Karen Ann Quinlan, because just ONE DAY of his coma thus far has lasted longer than their entire courtship. The only thing keeping me reading is my daily affirmation that, even when paired off with someone in a coma, Adrian is STILL the boring half of the couple.
Shlomo
October 29th, 2009 at 6:47 pm [Reply]

Pluggers- I noticed yesterday that the little “educated” girl in Spiderman was reading The Dog in the Fog. Is that a biography about stupid Pluggers?

Family Circus- Either Dolly drew a really good pair of eyes on that orange, or she went a little Michael Meyers on someone in her family.

Mark Trail- Sassy is not leaving to investigate. From the back leg lift, it is obvious she is going to urinate. Silly Jack Elrod.
Yanni
October 29th, 2009 at 6:49 pm [Reply]

This Mary Worth story is brilliant! Now they can move on to telling new stories; as soon as the idea well dries up, its time to wake up Scott!
Esther Blodgett
October 29th, 2009 at 6:50 pm [Reply]

#12 Amateur: If any of the poachers are pre-menstrual, Sassy is in big trouble. That’s when my cravings for chocolate-chip cookie dough always strike.
the good ship thetis
October 29th, 2009 at 6:52 pm [Reply]

Why is it that a man who can draw amazing owls, raccoons, great blue herons, snowy egrets, gators and beavers can’t draw a damn dog?
minor flood
October 29th, 2009 at 6:57 pm [Reply]

Pluggers: what exactly are they plugging up?
Patrick
October 29th, 2009 at 6:57 pm [Reply]

Silly people! Adrian is obviously emerging full-bodied from the middle of Scott’s chest, the way Lara Flynn Boyle smashed out of Zelda Rubenstein’s face in Poltergeist III. It’s a very special Mary Worth Halloween!
Johnny Knuckles
October 29th, 2009 at 7:02 pm [Reply]

MW: The second panel positioning can only be achieved by Adrian straddling Scott’s body. I’m sure we’re all adult enough not to snark her awkward attempt at frottage.

Pluggers: Way to skewer that stimulus package, pal. We get it, brother. Boy howdy, that was some stimulus package. Good thing we pluggers will all be dead long before that bill becomes due.
gnome de blog
October 29th, 2009 at 7:02 pm [Reply]

Sassy definitely got a bad rap. Poor thing! Not only does she look like a useless whelp (see: Adrian Cory), but a name like “Sassy” only works for an underage pole dancer.

Anyway, being the second-smartest creature in Lost Forest ain’t nothing to write home about.
Hell Toupée
October 29th, 2009 at 7:03 pm [Reply]

Adrian is merely taking the opporunity to conceive a baby with someone in a coma à la Garp.
BigTed
October 29th, 2009 at 7:04 pm [Reply]

It’s interesting how Dolly thinks a “baby” is just a smaller version of an object with a dumb, half-crazed expression plastered onto its face. Then again, she’s seen her brothers.
Dr. Weird
October 29th, 2009 at 7:05 pm [Reply]

Y160 bats :[ –

The Phantom has a code against killing… he only shoots the guns out of people’s hands, for instance.
PeteMoss
October 29th, 2009 at 7:05 pm [Reply]

MT- If Sassy is really made of raw cookie dough, she’s running the risk some ‘gator catches salmonella poisoning…

You know, with Sassy gone, Trail’s whole expedition drops half its IQ points.
Dr. Krude&Rude
October 29th, 2009 at 7:09 pm [Reply]

I remember one Halloween when I was sitting in my office, all patients gone and my receptionist and nurse gone for the day too. Suddenly, a gal dressed as a hooker came into my office. She yells out, “Trick or Treat!”
I naturally reply, “Trick!”
You can imagine what happened next.
It took me hours to get all that toilet paper out of my reception room.
Filthy Assistant
October 29th, 2009 at 7:10 pm [Reply]

Dolly is now Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. More on this as it develops.
BigTed
October 29th, 2009 at 7:11 pm [Reply]

Wouldn’t a dog plugger view the phrase “hot dog!” as an offputting expression, especially when discussing food? It’s kind of like a human explorer saying “man alive!” while watching the rest of his expedition get devoured by lions.
gnome de blog
October 29th, 2009 at 7:12 pm [Reply]

Okay, I know Ces will let me down again like Lucy pulling away the football, but the Schwallers’ Halloween party would be the perfect time for Ted to go public in a dress.
ratnerstar
October 29th, 2009 at 7:13 pm [Reply]

Wow, check out the look on Sassy’s face in panel one! That’s the most realistic human facial expression ever featured in Mark Trail!
Joe Blevins
October 29th, 2009 at 7:15 pm [Reply]

MW: My interpretation of panel 2 — Adrian is “dancing” with Scott’s lifeless body (a la “Last Dance With Mary Jane”), and we’re catching them mid-dip.

FC: That poor pumpkin is now like all the adults in Family Circus: forced to keep up a brave smile even when blighted with clearly-imbecilic offspring.

MT: Are we to believe that Mark allows Sassy to run around with no collar or identifying tags? I’m surprised the poor thing isn’t forced to wear a matching beige sirt and pants.
Charlie
October 29th, 2009 at 7:17 pm [Reply]

An orange baby for a pumpkin? Now you see the tragedy that gay marriage has inflicted upon this country – interspecial procreation.

At least Dolly is keeping honest and resisting miscegenation. Wouldn’t want no apple babies around the house.
bats :[
October 29th, 2009 at 7:24 pm [Reply]

Whoa, I’m a little closer than usual to Josh with the mash-ups today (no doubt about it, I gotta get out more).

And yet, I can’t resist another easy shot… Sigh.
maryworthy
October 29th, 2009 at 7:29 pm [Reply]

Whattup w/this 3rd panel in RMMD? Are we looking for his tonsils or what??

(hey, I did pretty good w/my html! Now if I could learn to do it where it opens in another page/tab)
commodorejohn
October 29th, 2009 at 7:44 pm [Reply]

Sure, you laugh now. But when Dolly finally grasps the dark arts necessary for the animation of a fruit golem, well, it’s only a matter of time before she moves on to the spells needed to break out of the comics page altogether. And when that day comes…well, we’ll be doing a lot of things, but laughing won’t be one of them.
rachel
October 29th, 2009 at 7:51 pm [Reply]

Sassy would LOVE a linty hot dog from under the couch cushion. If the Plugger won’t eat it, he should be ashamed to call himself a dog.
commodorejohn
October 29th, 2009 at 7:51 pm [Reply]

#73 maryworthy – Links can be made to open in a new window like so:

<a href=”http://john.seikdel.net” target=”_blank”>This is an example</a>

However, a lot of people will hate you for this, so use discretion. As for tabs, they’re not directly supported in current HTML, so there’s no good way to make a link open in a new tab (although many of us have our browsers set to open “new window” links in new tabs.)
DamienBixlan
October 29th, 2009 at 7:55 pm [Reply]

Pluggers: * CONGRATULATIONS * You’ve made the 1 000 000th unfunny “stimulus package” joke. You win money! And a trip to the ninth circle of Hell!
Jumper
October 29th, 2009 at 8:10 pm [Reply]

Oh dear god, please let Sassy grow up into a hyena. The truly bizarre sexuality of the female hyena would supply enough plot for a thousand Mark Trail adventures, including providing some pretty embarrassing comeupances for poachers, especially if caught with their pants down.

One thing I know for sure: a whole strip featuring cute li’l Sassy must be soon balanced by a whole BUNCH of bad men with facial hair, and soon.
Karmyn
October 29th, 2009 at 8:12 pm [Reply]

I often have this urge to spank all the FC children. I can’t be the only one, right?
I would never abuse an actual child or animal.
Alan's Addiction
October 29th, 2009 at 8:20 pm [Reply]

I think that Adrian’s trying to do some sort of pep talk that always brings people out of comas in bad soap operas. What she fails to realize that her presence is enough to drive Detective Scott further into a coma and possibly kill him, if only to escape the terrifying thought of years of wedded bliss to her, complete with (horror of horrors) a weird groupie father-in-law and his vampire consort.
I have owned dogs my entire life, and I feel safe in saying that no dog investigates a “strange noise” unless that “noise” indicates nearby human food. In fact, I don’t think “inquisitive” is a term I could apply to any dog I’ve met – most just aren’t overly curious. It could be that the writers of “Mark Trail” have discovered too late that Rusty and Mark have all the personality and character of dryer lint and have decided to give Sassy all the charming personality quirks and intelligence to make up for it. Or it could be that the writers are developing Sassy into a new wonder-dog character, like Lassie, who would obviously be much, much, much smarter than her owners (for instance, she would run away from gun fire rather than to it). Either way, it is weird to see character development going on in “Mark Trail.”
I see the Keanes have wisely decided to forbid their children near any sharp implements, forcing Dolly to use a pen to deface the orange. The intelligence of this decision is seen especially around Halloween. I’m sure the children have noticed the similarities between their heads and certain gourd-family vegetables, and it wouldn’t do to have them trying to carve new Jack-o-Lantern faces onto themselves.
The facts that Pluggers regularly eat meals that can be purchased with pocket change and their lack of quality health insurance conspire to give the average Plugger a life expectancy of 43.
Sensitive Poet
October 29th, 2009 at 8:33 pm [Reply]

What the hell is up with Sassy?

We know that Elrod can draw animals, yet Sassy ends up looking like some sort of queasy Scooby Doo reject.

In the world of Mark Trail, there are two kinds of beings and two kinds of art styles. The wild animals are lovingly and realistically rendered. But the domestic ones–human beings (especially Rusty) and Sassy–have weird proportions that come off not as a cartoonish style choice, but as a deformity.

The world of Lost Forest is real. The humans who find their way inside–Mark Trail included–are but freakish parodies of the living.
Poteet
October 29th, 2009 at 8:34 pm [Reply]

# 56 thetis — As far as I can make out, he’s actually drawn three different dogs.
Poteet
October 29th, 2009 at 8:40 pm [Reply]

Wow. This thread alone has enough funny to fill the COTW list, seems to me. Good luck to He Who Must Choose The Winner.
Ukulele Ike
October 29th, 2009 at 8:55 pm [Reply]

Karmyn @ #79: Nah, for me, it’s the Judge Parker women.

But I would never abuse an actual legal secretary, millionairess horsebreeder, famous movie star, or psychotic killer.
Poteet
October 29th, 2009 at 9:00 pm [Reply]

MT — Perhaps Sassy is supposed to represent that folk saying, “cute as a speckled pup.”
PepperjackCandy
October 29th, 2009 at 9:06 pm [Reply]

Think what you will about this installment of Pluggers, but it can’t be worse than my initial misinterpretation

You mean that’s *not* what the Pluggers strip is about?
Poteet
October 29th, 2009 at 9:07 pm [Reply]

# 79 Karmyn — I often have the urge to drop Max from STONE SOUP on his head from the top of a six-story building. But in real life, I am a gentle soul (except for occasional rants) who carries spiders outside and releases them. STONE SOUP would be greatly improved if Max were replaced by a calm, quiet pet tarantula.
zerowolf
October 29th, 2009 at 9:19 pm [Reply]

FC: And tommorow we get to watch Dolly get her ass beaten for making a graven image.
Chromium
October 29th, 2009 at 9:27 pm [Reply]

I would like to congratulate Greg Evans for giving Tom Batiuk a serious challenge in the World’s Most Annoying Comic Strips heavyweight division. Between the “volunteering” storyline and the stirring “changing the world starts with Halloween treats” message, Evans has shown he has what it takes. Batiuk will have to significantly increase the bodily and mental decay of his protagonists he intends to stay ahead. IT. IS. ON.
Steve S
October 29th, 2009 at 9:31 pm [Reply]

Judging by Sassy’s slack-jawed befuddlement in panel 2, she has even less brain power than that orange-baby Dolly created.
cindyinmaine
October 29th, 2009 at 9:36 pm [Reply]

I am distracted by Scott’s swelling chest, as anyone would be, but I am even more impressed by Adrian’s ring… didn’t that kid in SHAZAM have a piece of jewelry like that, which he fingered when he said ‘O Elders, fleet and strong and wise, appear before my seeking eyes!’, or am I conflating him with Prince Planet…
Ukulele Ike
October 29th, 2009 at 10:05 pm [Reply]

Adrian is a Green Lantern.
Emily K [Riff Chick]
October 29th, 2009 at 10:12 pm [Reply]

I have to say, before I get shot, that today’s Mary Worth is kinda touching in a way. I remember him saying “I’ll wait for you” and now she’s doing the same. If the story wasn’t as awkwardly lumbering and drawn out, it might have made for somewhat good drama.
Poteet
October 29th, 2009 at 10:18 pm [Reply]

MW — Since it appeared on Tuesday, I’ve been vaguely trying to remember where I’ve seen that particular Adrian piercing blue-eyed look before. Tonight I remembered. It was in CALVIN AND HOBBES, in a Sunday mock-soap strip in which Susie Derkins and Calvin were playing the roles of patient and doctor. Specifically, I’m recalling a panel in which Susie is complaining about Calvin’s substandard medical technique. Argh, it seems like sacrilege to compare Adrian with Susie, but that’s what I remember.
Emily K [Riff Chick]
October 29th, 2009 at 10:22 pm [Reply]

94 Poteet: OMG. I REMEMBER THAT. Her face is in exactly the same pose and position. Wow. Way to go, Bill…
Niall
October 29th, 2009 at 10:26 pm [Reply]

43. Aloha_breeze: thank you for that link to Brookins’ actual art! Seems it’s all.. themes around the farm, mostly. And rustic things. And old things still working. In other words.. still Plugger things. However, some of them are things Mr. True Fable might be able to admire at last.

Family Circus: we see the girl (havenbs alive, I forgot her name even after reading the thread!) use only a black pen to draw the eyes. Where did the white come from? My answer: she saw the two white fuzzy spots of fungal erosion appear and she decided to play with them. Now everywhere that pen will write, it will leave a little bit of rot along.
True Fable
October 29th, 2009 at 10:30 pm [Reply]

#96 Niall – GOAT! Goat in acrylic!

Mouse me, baby.
Eau de Plugger
October 29th, 2009 at 10:35 pm [Reply]

MW: I’m surprised that no one’s pointed out that Scott and Adrian are having sex. That grimace is just Scott climaxing. The dialogue in that panel is much more sordid if you read it that way….
Carly
October 29th, 2009 at 10:49 pm [Reply]

Panel one would be funnier if she was grabbing his crotch, which is what I thought was happening at first.
Gyro Captain
October 29th, 2009 at 10:49 pm [Reply]

The Downs/thalidomide-and-meth orange baby must take after its mother. Or, perhaps it’s adopted. Wait, possibly ‘adopted’, disabled/unable to seek help, creepy male guardian, no mother present… DAMN YOU ALL FOR MAKING ME THINK IT

Is El-Rod just insane and thinking that there must be Chocolate-Chip-Cookie Labs to complement Chocolate Labs? Regardless, it’s likely Sassy came FROM a lab, and it’s very irresponsible of Mark to risk release of a genetically engineered lifeform in an area that could harm natural predators. And by ‘harm natural predators’ I mean make the crocodiles sick.
Aviatrix
October 29th, 2009 at 11:03 pm [Reply]

Eau de Plugger @ 98: They have, several times, starting with RCW3000 @ Y145, and once you see it, there really is no other interpretation of the panel.
Dr. Weird
October 29th, 2009 at 11:04 pm [Reply]

91 cindyinmaine –

It was a flashing globe in the RV that summoned them to talk to the Elders, as I recall (though I also recall them as being “Meek, Strong and Wise.”
Jamus the Bartender
October 29th, 2009 at 11:04 pm [Reply]

91. Yeah, on the tee vee, Billy Batson had some kind of disco ball communication device with which he could get really vague advice from cartoon cutouts of the six gods who gave him his powers. And with this advice, he’d stop kids from stealing cars. As Captain Marvel. Who can move planets. When I saw today’s Mary Worth, I thought she was going to use a pillow to take Scott’s pain away, a desire shared by most of us, it would seem.
Steve the Pocket
October 29th, 2009 at 11:50 pm [Reply]

@ Sensitive Poet #81: The first thing I thought of when you said that was the Other world from Coraline. But I’m straining to make the analogy actually fit.

@ Poteet #94: Wow. Aside from the expression being one of shocked horror rather than … um … worry? (Even aping a style he was unfamiliar with and working at half the size real soap-opera strips are typically drawn, Watterson managed to convey emotion better than this Geilla dude) … the resemblance is freaking uncanny. (Sorry for the crappy photo; the panel was right on the crease and I couldn’t scan it without breaking the binding. Also my camera sucks.)
Esther Blodgett
October 30th, 2009 at 12:12 am [Reply]

#74 commodorejohn: “Fruit golem” is genius. Evil genius is still genius.
spazmodeas
October 30th, 2009 at 12:26 am [Reply]

Mark Trail:

Panel one: Sassy is startled awake as Rusty lets loose with a particularly noxious bean fart.

Panel two: Sassy lurches out of the tent, gasping desparately for air.

Panel three: Sassy decides running off into the woods and risking being eaten by a ravenous wolverine is more preferable than getting back in that gas chamber of a tent.
Victory Garden
October 30th, 2009 at 12:27 am [Reply]

Luann:
Jeezus, if they thought the kids would hate them for puzzle pieces and random junk-drawer crap and bran muffins, their house is going to get downright torched for giving out BOOKS. Puh-lease. This storyline needs an infusion of Tiffany. “Show some leg … give us neck! Strut, little 8-year-old Sexy Snow White! There you go. Here’s a dollar.”
Poteet
October 30th, 2009 at 12:34 am [Reply]

# 95 Emily & # 104 Steve — Thank you! I really appreciate seeing the original. And Susie Derkins, you are much better-looking.
bats :[
October 30th, 2009 at 12:44 am [Reply]

TGIFunnies! A few observations:

MW: wow, faboo hospital room decor! Hey! It’s a hospital — and don’t you forget it!

MC: Bwaha! I’m eagerly waiting for the anthropomorphization (is that a word? or should it be the opposite?) of Masky McDeath.

Phantom: since Kit can’t kill bad guys (thanks, Dr. Weird, for the explanation), maybe he can just punch Chatu. A lot. No, I mean A LOT.

FOOBlite: one assumes the name of the magazine is “Macho,” but fondly remember the Patterson code of years past (“Eat it before it eats you.”), it actually might be “Nacho.”
Poteet
October 30th, 2009 at 12:54 am [Reply]

# 106 spazmodeus — On one hand, your theory makes a lot of sense. On the other hand, please never bring up the subject of tent-farting again. The memories are too awful.
Deena in OR
October 30th, 2009 at 12:56 am [Reply]

:: peeks in after many days way, waves::

Hi, everybody!
Deena in OR
October 30th, 2009 at 12:57 am [Reply]

*away*, even…
Poteet
October 30th, 2009 at 12:59 am [Reply]

10/30 MY CAGE — Bwahaha! And Sam the Sacrificial Lamb reminds me of the sheep that Doonebury’s Uncle Duke used to hallucinate, back when he was seriously drugging. (Maybe he still is.)
Poteet
October 30th, 2009 at 1:00 am [Reply]

Hi, Deena! Welcome back!
True Fable
October 30th, 2009 at 1:10 am [Reply]

Fist O Justice Theater Sassy is not like any other hyena-spotted puppy I ever knew. No young dog is apt to go wandering off in the dead of night in a swamp where it could be eaten at any moment. It would more likely be cowering deep inside someone’s sleeping bag. And tinting it yellow.

Sam Driver’s Pretty People Posse! Sam talks to a Transformer, who is rapidly mechanizing Rocky Ledge.

Rex Morgan, MIA Baldy McManyPiercings is in danger of Doing The Right Thing, which will just shoot the hell out of his street cred.

Apartment of Doom I would gladly give up my goat lapel pin if they would just devote one whole day’s strip to shitting out the whole backstory for this witch, and be done with it.

The Amazing Spider-Asshole! So, here’s a super-villain trying to go legit, and what does Spidey do? He plans to manufacture a story that could get Sandman’s parole revoked, all because Peter Fucking Asshole Parker, Esquire, won’t get a different, better paying job. Fuck you, Spider-sap. Fuck you running.
Poteet
October 30th, 2009 at 1:16 am [Reply]

# 115 Sir Fable MTK — I am intrigued by this insight into the nature of dogs. My dog experience has been limited, but I’ve been on outings with dog-owning friends wherein the dog has taken off running through the woods and fields for some distance and had to be called back. Is that because the owners were awake and ambulatory and therefore the dog felt emboldened to explore? Or was I observing a couple of foolhardy dogs?
Poteet
October 30th, 2009 at 1:17 am [Reply]

# 115 Sir Fable MTK — And thanks for saying what needed to be said regarding Spidey. What an asshat.
Darkefang
October 30th, 2009 at 1:19 am [Reply]

#95 Emily, #104 Steve, #108 Poteet:

The entire strip is located here:

http://progressiveboink.com/archive/calvinhobbes.htm
Lisa
October 30th, 2009 at 1:25 am [Reply]

WTH about Six Chix? Are they being discontinued? How else explain the weird strip for Friday?
Marion Delgado
October 30th, 2009 at 1:26 am [Reply]

#44 Poteet:

IT’S NOT MINE!

.. sorry, reflex.
Poteet
October 30th, 2009 at 1:30 am [Reply]

10/30 MW — Panel One — Scott has quiet majesty, gravitas and blessed peace. Panel Two — Scott looks like Bugs Bunny minus the intelligence and dignity.

Stay in that coma, Scott.
Poteet
October 30th, 2009 at 1:34 am [Reply]

# 118 Darkefang — Thanks! Those were the days *sniff*

# 120 Marion — HAR!
Left of the Pyle
October 30th, 2009 at 1:45 am [Reply]

10/30 Foobiverse: It appears John gets his rocks off reading Nacho Man magaine (sponsored by Lion Tamer cologne). I don’t know exactly what to say about that, except that I’d prefer not to think about where the cheese fits into this whole scenario.
Uncle Lumpy
October 30th, 2009 at 2:08 am [Reply]

Sinners in the hands of an angry Jumble– V:

(Warning: Clue mouseovers = Jumble spoilers)

UPDYM protests waste our breath
And GALELisms fail to shield –
The STEACK beckons; thirsty Death
Shall ZULZEG souls, and ours will yield.

***** ****** mars an earthly vessel’s hulls;
Soul damage all eternity annuls.
True Fable
October 30th, 2009 at 2:11 am [Reply]

Hat Boy So why is Curtis laughing in the last panel? Does he really find amusement in his father’s financial despair? Or is he just too simple-minded to realize his organs can be sold on the black market and put the rest of the family on Easy Street for a while, if he pisses Dad off too much?

Assoline Galley To say nothing of the ones who don’t know when to quit!

Sweet and Sugarless What the hell, I mean really what the hell, is with the DeGroot family? Did the Mars Corporation decide not to back a Luann musical or something, and now Evans is going to retaliate against candy companies in general by dissing the giving out of candy at Halloween? To what end?

I am going to be spending the early part of Halloween evening at the top of my stairs and reward any small soul hardy enough to come up the steps with Tootsie Roll Midgies and small packets of Skittles. Then I am going out and getting blissfully rowdy at my favorite local bar, resplendent in my tuxedo as Fred A-Fucking-Staire. None of this self-righteous “I will only give out healthy things to trick-or-treaters” because that’s just bullshit. It’s ONE night a year; it’d be different if it was every weekend but it’s not. Thus it is my conclusion that the DeGroots are all a bunch of dumb-trendy gorms who have an unnatural distaste for candy, fun and sexual relationships between consenting adults. Or all three at once.
/rant

#116 Poteet, my queen! – I was speaking more of young dogs like Sassy, who when you consider all the weird puppy-peril she has endured as a secondary character in Mark Trail, probably pees in terror every time a leaf flies by. (#117 – Mouse over my posts, I have more to say about stuff!) And remember, she’s in a SWAMP at NIGHT, and she can smell the large reptiles with sharp teeth laying in wait for her, not to mention possums or badgers or bobcats who will make a nice snack of a little dog.
Rutskarn
October 30th, 2009 at 2:22 am [Reply]

Someone in my dorm carved a Pedobear pumpkin. A few hours later, some wag had taken an orange, doodled a crude stunned-looking face on it, and placed it in front of the pumpkin.

Needless to say, today’s Family Circus fills me with dark delight.
KarMann
October 30th, 2009 at 2:22 am [Reply]

10/30 PBS: So, yesterday, the Raterpillar was smoking something from a hookah; today, he’s got the munchies. I think we can all do the math here!
True Fable
October 30th, 2009 at 2:25 am [Reply]

I, Platypus Ed and Melissa, let me buy you drinks! I love ‘Groovy Blinkerlegume’!

IFHZ Yes, Jeremy would never have to worry about his zombie parents eating his brains. He has none.
KarMann
October 30th, 2009 at 2:29 am [Reply]

And let me second the call for drinks for Ed & Melissa! I hear hemlock is a popular drink amongst the cast of Groovy Blinkerlegume….
Mibbitmaker
October 30th, 2009 at 3:05 am [Reply]

Halloween Eve:

9CL: “I SAID, ‘close your mou–’ Aw, hell! Hey, McEldummy, her jaw is stuck again! Sheesh, can’t we get a new actress here already?!…”

Between FOOBs: More merlot in the comics — none of it Oaky Merlot from Woody Wilson. Too bad.

Blondie: OCD — Obsessive Compulsive Dagwood.

DT: “Stop, Mr. Pops”? My rhyme-joking is overheated! …Maybe later…

ReFOOB: We GET it! He’s ROD! Don’t keep punishing US because ROD’s a snake!

FW: You’re wasting your time, Cody. You should be doing that over at the DeGroots’. They’re being… “clever” again.

JP: “I have no time for your Lockhorns crap, man! — I’m trying to circumvent legal ethics here, Rockhead!”

R=R: And poor Jimbo gets stuck with the Pibgorn costume.

6C: Happy Halloween, Funky Winkerbean!

MC: There isn’t enough thankful hyperbole, Ed Power.
Lucky
October 30th, 2009 at 4:24 am [Reply]

My Cage – …just keeps getting better and better. And speaking of Groovy Blinkerlegume…

Six Chix – It seems that there’s been some kind of misprint and today’s SC has been replaced by FW.

Rose is Rose – This seems to be a set-up for some convoluted sexual fantasy. Since the fantasy in question involves characters from Rose is Rose, I want to know nothing more about it.
Mr. O'Malley
October 30th, 2009 at 4:49 am [Reply]

15. Baka Gaijin. Not only that, but Henry Ford set up a factory in Cork in 1917 (http://www.finfacts.ie/finfactsblog/2006/08/henry-ford-and-cork-ireland.html).

GA: Please, stop the wide-angle lens stuff right now!

I almost felt like a Plugger today. I went to buy goi cuon for lunch and realized that I hadn’t put that $5 bill in my pocket after all. I had to pay the man with a bunch of dimes I fished up from the bottom of my pocket. But then I thought … Pluggers would never have goi cuon for lunch!

And another narrow escape on Friday. We have a historical marker here on the site where the disk drive was invented in 1957. No doubt there are some people around here who remember that, but I don’t.

What’s more likely is that Pluggers claim to remember the incidents described on historical markers.

RMMD: Hanging up on his customers? No wonder this failure of a drug pusher has to live in an abandoned caddy shack, unlike Beatnik Jones in A-3G, whose superior customer service earned him a nice apartment in Manhattan.
dyslexic dog
October 30th, 2009 at 6:15 am [Reply]

#123 — Left of the Pyle:
And here’s an article from Nacho Man helping John to get his jollies.
MechTeach
October 30th, 2009 at 6:52 am [Reply]

Apt 3g: Back when Bobbie first appeared, I thought, “Wow! That drawing really looks like Edie Falco.” I’ve continued to think that throughout the storyline, and, frankly, it’s made the whole thing much more interesting. Bobbie appears to be kind of a combination of Nurse Jackie and Carmela Soprano, and today’s (10/30) strip just hammers that home once again!

And yes, I’ve thought about this waaayyy too much.
Jimbo
October 30th, 2009 at 7:13 am [Reply]

Rusty should have chained Sassy to a log!
smacky
October 30th, 2009 at 7:17 am [Reply]

FOOB: Seems like the signs were there decades ago that there was trouble in the marriage. What’s that? These aren’t straight reprints? She’s indulging in revisionist history?

Gotcha.
Little Guy
October 30th, 2009 at 7:24 am [Reply]

y9CL: Nurse Jackie, paging Nurse Jackie…..

FW: If only they had a lawyer friend who could get him out of this minor scrap….

S-M: Save you the trouble. Spidey fails. Spidey has deep regret. There. Saved you four weeks of your life.

ReFOOB: You know this is a Lynn fantasy because if ~~she~~ Elly had that sort of booty, ~~Rod~~ John wouldn’t need to look.

Big Nate: His spittle could rehydronate the Sahara.
smacky
October 30th, 2009 at 7:24 am [Reply]

GT: Let me guess: Jamarr, despite having set a new school record, will be yelled at for being “unsportmanlike” and running up the score against the other team.

It’s bizarre how we can be ultra-competitive (high school sports being just one example), but we also dislike “showing off” when the team has already won. It’s like the “No Child Left Behind” mentality has seeped into every aspect of school life.

Pretty soon the prom queen will be expected to go on a date with everyone who asks.
MolyBendum
October 30th, 2009 at 7:24 am [Reply]

Baldo – Sigh. I hate kid jokes. As a comics related aside, the military intelligentsia are having a debate in the Stars and Stripes (get it here!!) Letters to the Editor section about last week’s Baldo/Yenni crossover and assorted scantily clad women and the internet usage thereof. Here is a small sample. POINT: “I usually am not compelled to comment on what is printed, as I do know times are changing and more and more we see the values of society slipping.” COUNTERPOINT: “…We love “Baldo”! We have a wall of “Baldo”!” As you can see, there are intense, idiotic feelings on both sides of this important issue.

Cathy – I wish Meta-Cathy would come back one day and suddenly she is broke from all the shopping, bed-ridden at 500 pounds with gout, type-II diabetes, and congestive heart failure, and Irving is sitting there scripting out his suicide note. That would make me happy.

Curtis – Anyone who struggles to eat beans while providing their kid with a “Playstation, Wii, iPod, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Netflix” and satellite TV deserves to be tied to a chair to watch the Wealth Channel in hopes he might learn something.

Garfield – I’m guessing Mel Brooks stars in “Dracula Meets the Chicago Bears”.

Herb & Jamaal – Yesyes. “Homeless” is far too explicit and accusatory. Much better (and funny to boot!) to say “domicile transition”. Oh, to live to see the day when the world is one: the people are off-yellow and Afri-Mexi-CaucAsian, the universal language is non-specific English, and Herb & Jamaal is the voice of the people. Indeed.

Pearls – OK, those are mushrooms. But just to keep my juvenile “everything is sexual” mentality going, I’ll say that Rat looks like a giant clitoris. Ratoris.

Red & Rover– A 6 year old at your doorstep grinningly shrieking that he is the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse might be enough to get you to throw the candy bowl at him and lock the door. Good costume.

Wizard of Id– I get it. But I don’t get how it’s supposed to be funny.

Ziggy – HEY KIDS! Did you ever think YOU could draw a comic strip? Well you CAN! Just follow Tom Wilson’s EASY example and YOU TOO could do 3 hours of work and spend the REST of the week GOLFING!! It takes absolutely NO EFFORT! ANYONE can do it! Just ask Tom Wilson II.
Elliegal
October 30th, 2009 at 7:25 am [Reply]

Friday’s MW – Adrian is recalling a special day in the park when she gave Scott a BJ on the bench…
Little Guy
October 30th, 2009 at 7:26 am [Reply]

MC: {Gulf War Video of Missile Hitting Target}
Cliff Arroyo
October 30th, 2009 at 7:35 am [Reply]

I just have to say that if Apartment 3-G is just going to turn into Bobbie wandering aimlessly through the land of blue women in a prescription drug fueled stupor while thinking evil, evil thoughts, then I’m okay with that.
Mela
October 30th, 2009 at 7:51 am [Reply]

MW above: Adrian, you’re in the funeral home. Scott can’t hear you anymore. Get off the corpse and shut up already.

Thursday’s stuff:

Baldo & ‘Shaft: … What?

ReFOOB: The belated “Take That”ing of the former marriage continues.

FW: We’re not gonna get Officer Funky Clone giving the parents an earfull, unfortunately, even though all creative logic says that is what should follow. After all, in the Batiukverse, Boomers are blameless holy creatures.

Garfield: I’ll take that vampire over a thousand “Twilights” any day.

GA: Leaving the medium with dignity instead of a prolonged decline in quality?

Luann: Just give out Molotov cocktail kits – it’ll save the kids some time when they inevitably torch your house for being so Goddamn sanctimonious. Can we go back to the creepy romances, pleeeeze?

My Cage: “Groovy Blinkerlegume”? Oh, brilliant! This is gonna be fun! You guys are geniuses.

OBH: Ruthie already has “dangerously stewing in impotent rage” down to an art.

PBS: Somehow, Pastis has out-acid-tripped Carroll.

Pluggers: So Pluggers are at least two centuries old? No wonder they’re so dim-witted and cranky.

Zits: Hahaha, zombies! HahahaOHMYGODMAKEITSTOPITSNOTFUNNYITSJUSTSTUPIDMAKEITSTOPMAKEITSTOP!
Bryan
October 30th, 2009 at 7:54 am [Reply]

Edge City: Wow, Abbey’s such a bitch. And she’s a therapist?
FBOFW: Nice ass shot of Ellie.
Funky Winkerbean: Nothing says “douchebag” like a puka shell necklace. He’s probably wearing Axe body spray too.
Luann: Speaking of douchebags, it’s scary that none of these people realize how stupid they are.
Mark Trail: Honestly, who doesn’t a) zip up their tent flap at night or b) secure the puppy so that it doesn’t wander off? I’m sure poor Sassy is suicidal over having such a stupid name.
Phantom: This is where I get confused. The Phantom is a “no killing” kind of superhero like Batman? Then what’s with the twin M1911′s he always carting around? Are they novelty cigarette lighters?
MolyBendum
October 30th, 2009 at 8:04 am [Reply]

– Gil Thorp –
I figure the look of shock on Coach Hairstyle’s face is because fielding a punt on the 2 isn’t the best idea if the other team is all around you. So either the coach is a moron who can’t see what’s going on on the field and has no confidence in his players or we are just being set up for another “Jamaar hits on Valerie after the game” or “Jamaar is so fast (how fast is he?!) that they’ve started naming gazelles at the local zoo after him”. It’s probably some combination of those two. I also find it hard to believe that nowhere in the storied Milford High School football annuls has anyone made a 98 yard punt return.

– Dick Tracy –
Well, McClownenstein finally snapped. And finally the time for him to be eaten has come. Maybe Tracy will still get to shoot Barb at least.

– Rex Morgan –
Weeeeed man, I need some weeeeeeed. I can hear the 70 year old grandmas around the country clicking their tongues in disapproval, “You just can’t trust people who live in trailers!”.
This story line is almost tantric: it’s anticlimax after anticlimax.
Vince M
October 30th, 2009 at 8:11 am [Reply]

The Knight Life: Poor kid found the DeGroot house.
Whippersnapper
October 30th, 2009 at 8:19 am [Reply]

FW: They soaped the windows? Why, next thing you know, those scalawags will be calling folks and asking if their refrigerator is running, and looking at girls’ patent leather shoes to try to see up their skirts. Do something quickly Funky, before he turns into a Fonz-caliber delinquent!

Seriously, soaping the windows?!

MC: Jeff and Sam don’t like it, but I LOVE where this is going!
The Spirit-Worshipping Hmong!
October 30th, 2009 at 9:00 am [Reply]

#124 – I don’t really care one way or another about spoilers but I really adore the way your verse looks with the scrambled terms in. Besides being sort of charmingly surreal, it’s like a whole different version of the puzzle!
One-eyed Wolfdog
October 30th, 2009 at 9:01 am [Reply]

Hm, I think I can probably stop spirit-worshipping now.
buckyswife
October 30th, 2009 at 9:06 am [Reply]

MW: Hunh. So, apparently, Adrian gets through the “difficult times” in her life with a little public oral copulation. Okay. (Scott, of course, is clearly glad to help out.)

JP: Oh good. What’s even more boring than two guys discussing a criminal case? Two guys discussing celebrity marital strife.

A3G: How many days now has Bobbie been musing and frowning and self-narrating? 50? 60? Anyway, I still cannot figure out what the hell is going on in her marriage. Bad Husband can fool around, but he can’t seriously have a young woman on his arm? Some straying isn’t embarrassing, but other straying is? And she’s allowed his escapades but has made him pay but now will make him pay more? …..I think I might need some of those pills Aristotle has been handing out—that’s the only way this will make sense.

SF: Given Ted’s body language in panel one, I thought he was going as Carson Kressley.
One-eyed Wolfdog
October 30th, 2009 at 9:08 am [Reply]

DtM – prankishly runs a comic about changing to daylight saving time at the absolute farthest point in the year from the time when we change to daylight saving time. You can just feel the menace. It sort of itches, like cheap wool.
buckyswife
October 30th, 2009 at 9:12 am [Reply]

115 True Fable and 116 Poteet: Here’s my problem with the whole “Sassy explores!” thing: My dog would certainly go galumphing into the brush or woods or whatever if she heard a critter—but when she’s frightened, she sticks close by me. Dogs don’t have complicated emotions; if they’re frightened, they act accordingly, and a scared dog would stay in the tent with the scared Rusty and, yes, probably join him in piddling in the sleeping bag.
Aviatrix
October 30th, 2009 at 9:12 am [Reply]

Elliegal @ 140: Gah! Another “once you see it, what else could it be?” of Adrian and Scott. Why else is she sliding down like that. Look at their gaze. Gah!!

Uncle Lumpy: I also like the technological solution to the jumble rhymes. I don’t get the Jumble in my paper, so presenting it that way gives me a chance to try and solve it. If Jeff wanted to take a vacation, the Jumble could even be presented that way for a few days.
buckyswife
October 30th, 2009 at 9:14 am [Reply]

154 One-eyed Wolfdog: I hate to take the wind out your rant, but DtM is about changing from daylight savings time. If it’s any consolation, there’s probably still something to complain about.
Mordock999
October 30th, 2009 at 9:19 am [Reply]

Today’s Luann – 10/30/09

At the DeGroots House later that Halloween night…,

Nancy – “HURRY, Frank! Get MORE furniture to BARRICADE the door! The kids are BREAKING thru! No, NO, NOT My Chippendale Chair!!!”

Frank – “DAMN-IT, Nancy! You and Your ‘BRIGHT’ New-Age Bullshit ideas! Giving out Suger-Free Bran Muffins INSTEAD of Candy! We must have PISSED-OFF and CONSTIPATED every kid in the Neighborhood!”

Nancy – “My ‘BRIGHT’ ideas??? WHO was the ASSHAT that gave out Rubberbands, Paperclips and Puzzles Pieces, Frank?!?”

Frank – “Me!? Hell, it was Luann’s ‘Book-Handout’ that REALLY pushed those kids over the EDGE. WHERE the HELL is she, anyway??”

Nancy – “Don’t You remember? She just QUIT this Strip in DISGUST! She said something about moving to someplace called ’9 Chickweed Lane’ where people make SENSE and Young Folks can APPARENTLY have Occaisonal, Simulated SEX!!”

Frank – “CRAP! Well we GOTTA do SOMETHING! WHERE’S my Shotgun??”

Nancy – Sigh. Frank, We’ve NEVER owned a a Firearm! We’re LIBERALS, Remember?”

Frank – “ARRRRRRRRH!!!”

Meanwhile outside the DeGroot home…,

Stan – “Damn those DeGroots! The door WON’T BUDGE! What are we Gonna do, Unca Elwood??”

Elwood – “Doan’t Worry, Stanny-Boy! Ah’ll get tha’ Doah down! YO CLYDE! Bring up th’ DOZER!!!”

Neighborhood kids – “HOORAY, Uncle Elwood!!!”

____________________________
DEATH to TJ and those Meddling, Sanctimonious, Ex-Hippie DeGroots!!!
One-eyed Wolfdog
October 30th, 2009 at 9:20 am [Reply]

Argyle: It’s worth noting that Larry LaPrise, who wrote The Hokey Pokey, actually passed away quite peacefully. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in… and that’s when the trouble started.

</oldjoke>

buckyswife: I thought that “hour later” and “change to daylight savings time” were pretty clear. Why not make it about the time change that’s just about to happen rather than the one that’s six months away? But I don’t think I’m going to worry about this too much. It’s certainly a nice drawing of a rooster, and I successfully avoided the urge to get a cheap laugh out of it from the word ‘cock’.
One-eyed Wolfdog
October 30th, 2009 at 9:26 am [Reply]

GA: The last panel leaves me thinking, “A little sugar, salt, saltpetre… this could end well after all.”
Sequitur
October 30th, 2009 at 9:36 am [Reply]

TRUE FABLE
Do you keep your candy in this?
Paul1963
October 30th, 2009 at 9:40 am [Reply]

MolyBendum@139 re Curtis: I’m glad I’m not the only person who sees a disconnect between Greg’s constant bleating about how tight money is and the large quantity of expensive techno-toys Curtis has access to.

My Cage: Maybe I should add this to the comics I read online. Wait–does the blue duck have a bald spot? That’s a little weird.

Family Circle of Hell, 10/29: Later, Billy will decide to eat that orange and Dolly will parade in front of his room, carrying a sign with a picture of a sliced orange on it and shouting “Baby killer!!”

ReFOOB: Y’know, the “John’s a prick” strips have been pretty heavily interspersed with “Michael’s an irritating little shit” strips of late. Do you suppose Lynn had a falling-out with her son?

Remember When This Strip Was About The Wallet Family?: Okay, so Walt wasn’t in or near his seat by the time Gertie got through with her zany misadventure and hasn’t wandered off to the other-dimensional Old Comics’ Home (for which Gertie apparently has the phone number). So did the ushers just set the 111-year-old man out on the sidewalk to wander off aimlessly into the night?

And in the world of webcomics, apparently both Joel Watson of Hijinks Ensue http://hijinksensue.com/ and Dave Willis of Shortpacked! http://shortpacked.com/ hate Jeff Dunham. As much as I enjoy Peanut and Walter, I have to admit they kinda have a point about the pimp dummy and the jalapeno-on-a-stick.
Paul1963
October 30th, 2009 at 9:46 am [Reply]

Luann: While the DeGroots are handing out bland health food and grubby old childrens’ books, down the street TJ will be handing out condoms, random pills pilfered from friends’ medicine cabinets, liquor miniatures and pictures of Toni Daytona in various states of undress, which he took through the peephole in the locker room at her fire station.
Dan
October 30th, 2009 at 10:29 am [Reply]

“A charming muff”? Oh my.
Mary Worth Discussion Group
October 30th, 2009 at 10:34 am [Reply]

No one has noted that Adrian’s blouse/shirt has changed from red to black in the same day… bigger question… has it been proven that Adrian is genetically a woman? Perhaps Terry Bryson could do the “testing…”
StoutHearted
October 30th, 2009 at 11:43 am [Reply]

That last panel of Mary Worth could be interpreted in many ways. It can look like our Happy Couple is posing for the latest Harlequin novel, “The Doctor Who Loved a Coma Patient.” Or, it looks like Adrian is helping Scott do sit-up at the swankiest gym in town.
queek
October 30th, 2009 at 12:30 pm [Reply]

130 re R=R comment: *snurk!*

well played, sir!
dale
October 30th, 2009 at 2:21 pm [Reply]

Uncle Lumpy

Very nicely done, in both the technical and literary senses.
Écureuil Écumant
October 31st, 2009 at 10:00 pm [Reply]

@43 aloha_breeze says: “Didn’t know Brookins is also a painter and draws other things besides those freakish Plugger animals…”

If you title a painting “Chickens 1″, implying that there will be other chicken paintings to follow in the forthcoming series …

… you might be a Plugger.

@70 Joe Blevins says: “MT: Are we to believe that Mark allows Sassy to run around with no collar or identifying tags?”

Sure, Rusty implanted a chip in him. After all, he had an extra one after he got his camera back.

Also, re the debate on inquisitive dogs, either way you cut it Sassy’s awful late to the party, just hearing swamp noises now after they’ve been out there a month.
cchan8
November 1st, 2009 at 10:34 pm [Reply]

What I don’t get about Sassy is why he wasn’t disturbed by swamp noises the whole rest of the time they’ve been on this camping trip. Or why he hasn’t gotten used to them by now.
Ali_Again
November 3rd, 2009 at 6:49 am [Reply]

Why would Sassy get crap? I’ve never seen her do ANYTHING before, the result of which being that she is one of the most admirable characters in the strip.

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Sassy’s gotta do what Sassy’s gotta do

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