The Comics Curmudgeon

Main content:

What a drag it is getting old

B.C., 1/24/06

Shoe, 1/24/06

The Lockhorns, 1/24/06

I love it when people write angry letters to the paper. I’m a connoisseur of ridiculously overblown outrage. My favorites, as you might imagine, are the people who complain about the comics, how they are full of sleaze like single mothers and gays and uppity Negroes and people who use the word “butt” and/or “Jesus Christ” (the latter irreverently) and won’t someone please think of the CHILDREN? It’s always the CHILDREN who must be protected, because, as we all know, the CHILDREN are the ones who read the comics pages.

Well, if I were a child, I would be less disturbed by gratuitous use of the word “butt” and more by authors who think that its funny to admit that you have no concept of how high tech devices work. If I were around 8, I’d just be puzzled that there was anyone out there who was so dense; if I were around 12, I would just feel disgust and contempt for such fogeys. I don’t mean to hate on those who are baffled by all our modern conveniences — I’m sure that fifty years from now all the kids with their skull-installed data ports will be mocking me — but today’s Shoe and B.C. just seem to exude a certain stubborn pride in not getting it. (Does Johnny Hart really think that the word “iPod” should appear in a different font from the rest of the sentence? Does he even know what one is, outside the context of those ads with the shadow people?) The Lockhorns, meanwhile, doesn’t even bother to engage with technology, and merely seems to believe that mother-in-law-joke + “e-” prefix designating technology of some kind = comedy gold.

Some comics actually do a good job of dealing with technology jokes. Dilbert and Fox Trot are obvious examples; and For Better or for Worse does a pretty good job of showing how Internet communication is a casual part of people’s lives (particularly young people’s lives). Even Cathy’s endless Irving-becomes-obsessed-with-some-gadget storylines ring true in terms of how some people go a little tech-crazy. Those plots still aren’t funny, mind you, but they don’t come off like they’re being pounded out by some gin-crazed 90-year-old on a aging Selectric typewriter, or shouted into one of those old-timey phones with a crank on the side.

Oh, and I couldn’t let this one by:

Words to live by, my friend. Words to live by.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at 08:59 pm and is filed under B.C., Lockhorns, Mark Trail, Shoe.

155 responses to “What a drag it is getting old”

gango4
January 24th, 2006 at 9:06 pm [Reply]

Dude, If that Mark Trail quote doesn’t end up on a CC T-Shirt, it will be the End of the World as We Know It. (See R.E.M. song)
gango4
January 24th, 2006 at 9:30 pm [Reply]

Re. #1: Speaking of the End of the World…Disney bought Pixar today. Good-bye Quality. Good-Bye Creative Control. Hello to the phrase, “Coming ONLY to DVD…”
AwfulArt
January 24th, 2006 at 9:39 pm [Reply]

Regarding uppity negroes, the N.Y. Daily News claims Boondocks is on vacation. Thry have not run strip for for about a month. According to them Boondocks will return Jan 30th. Last week it Jan 23rd.. Worthless rag. Maybe there comics editor is on vacation.. Boondocks is not. What up with this???
blue indian
January 24th, 2006 at 9:48 pm [Reply]

regarding 3. same with the KC star, ‘cept it just started running repeats last week… maybe there’s some comic editors convention in phoenix or something..
kippetje2000
January 24th, 2006 at 9:58 pm [Reply]

Why hasn’t Mark Trail taught that dog to attack? For once I’d like to see a comics dog (any dog) going for the crotch. We had a long discussion here about cats a few weeks ago, but nothing about dogs. In real life, the damn things can’t keep themselves from going for the groin, whether out of aggression or affection. I mean, couldn’t that st. benard start helping out the rescue effort a little instead of relying on MT to do all the work?
TDB
January 24th, 2006 at 10:06 pm [Reply]

When the creator of shoe died, they should have just let the strip come to an end.

As for B.C., it seems like only yesterday that the punchline to that gag would have been about ‘programing the VCR’.
Natural Medicine (of Humor) Man
January 24th, 2006 at 10:12 pm [Reply]

My favorite technology-disconnect is Hi and Lois’ PC. It always looks like a cross between a giant television from the 1950’s and something ripped out of Apollo 11.

Come on, take a minute to draw a realistic looking monitor and keyboard.

Of course there is also the absolutely laughable Techie character from Beetle Bailey. The guy has a short haircut, square glasses, a cell phone clipped to his belt, and cargo pants – these make him a techno, computer geek!
Mary Brandt
January 24th, 2006 at 10:18 pm [Reply]

My favorite part of the BC comic shown is how “iPod” is written in a different font. Almost as though it’s an advertisement.

“iPod…because stoning dinosaurs to death just isn’t the same without blasting tribal music.”

Moreover, why is there even talk of the iPod in the Stone Age era? Why is there talk of the hassles of having kids? Hell, they’re cavemen…why are they talking at all? Oh, what’s the point…we all know that the artists behind BC have long since dispensed with the fact that their characters are only a step above primordial soup.

-MB
RichM
January 24th, 2006 at 10:45 pm [Reply]

Here’s what you cannot see on the computer monitor:

Loretta has to lower her hemlines a foot or two for everyone’s comfort. Nobody wants to see that much missing anatomy, thank you.

Hate, as always,
Mom
Kaliflower
January 24th, 2006 at 10:46 pm [Reply]

I don’t really understand where Mark is in this fray. His captors seem to have let him wander off unattended well in the distance while trying to calm Luke down. Mark seems about twenty feet away calmly handling his dog. One wonders why he doesn’t just wander away. I doubt anyone would notice.
Bandwagon
January 24th, 2006 at 10:46 pm [Reply]

#3 & #4 As was suggested by Josh, I believe last week check out http://www.chron.com
Boondocks and many others are available.
John
January 24th, 2006 at 10:54 pm [Reply]

I’m a bit disturbed by the big Jack Elrod shield on the Mark Trail panel… Is it protecting the guy in the background from being attacked in the knadgers, or is it blocking those of us with sensitive minds from seeing something we’d rather not, especially if you look at his left arm…. Maybe he likes seeing guys thrown into a hog pen……
Doug Puthoff
January 24th, 2006 at 11:59 pm [Reply]

The “old man getting a kid to operate a complex piece of machinery” schtick was used in “Dennis the Menace” back in the ’80s or ’90s (It was reprinted when the strip celebrated its 50th anniversary.

And I bet, back in ancient China, there was a joke about a 70-year-old man asking an eight-year-old boy for help using an abacus.
2fs
January 25th, 2006 at 12:08 am [Reply]

Thank god for “Jack Elrod.” Otherwise we’d know in way too much detail exactly why Mark was so eager to get that dog back.
Jim Bim
January 25th, 2006 at 12:09 am [Reply]

Apparently that guy in the Trail comic had time to get cleaned up and wash his clothes before coming back to get ‘um.
weiser
January 25th, 2006 at 12:11 am [Reply]

#7
For the “best” keyboards ol’ Mary Worth is tops. Both Wilbur and Dr. Jeff use customized keyboards and screens
Lydia
January 25th, 2006 at 12:32 am [Reply]

I sat there and looked at the Lockhorns strip for a couple of minutes before I realized that is just plain unfunny. Completely lacking in any sort of joke. Saying e-complaint instead of just complaint or ‘complaining letter’ doesn’t help at all. It’s just kind of… some kind of weird statement that doesn’t make any sense.
Shem
January 25th, 2006 at 12:35 am [Reply]

8-I’ve heard it theorized more than once that BC is actually post-apocalyptic, which would explain all the Jesus propaganda and the anachronisms.

…Well, I guess the fact that Hart is a senile old man explains it too, but the above maintains the integrity of the narrative.
adfella
January 25th, 2006 at 12:47 am [Reply]

I WOULD LIKE TO REBUKE ANDY for his untimely failure to utilize the advanced intellect (for a dog) he seems to possess.

I seem to recall, in past episodes, Andy demonstrating an astonishing presence of mind and ability to speedily process complex situations, thereby making quickly-arrived-at decisions that save the day in the proud tradition of Lassie and Rin Tin Tin.

Oh, it was not beyond Andy’s abilities to rescue lost children trapped in a collapsed mine, or to travel great distances on his stumpy legs in order to summon Mark when Cherry or Ed or Rusty or this week’s blue-haired damsel was in distress and in need of good old fashioned rescuin’ somewhere in the tangled midst of the Lost Forest.

But now, with Mark’s life in as dire a situation as it has ever been, (other than, of course, when he was stranded in the middle of the ocean surrounded by attacking sharks with no refuge in sight other than a fortuitously-located two-foot in diameter coral reef; or stranded in the desert with no defense against an attacking helicopter other than a fortuitously-located piece of petrified cactus) Andy seems content to stare in slack-jawed torpor as his beloved master, friend and (who knows?) confidant faces a hellacious drubbing from the most motley collection of hillbilly cretins this side of Deliverance.

For shame, Andy—-for shame.
randomdude
January 25th, 2006 at 12:57 am [Reply]

Look near the second bird from the left in the last panel.
There’s something in the sky there that’s not a bird.
Flying saucer?
Dub Not Dubya
January 25th, 2006 at 12:57 am [Reply]

3 and 4–Boondocks is in reruns on ucomics.com, too, so I think McGruder really is on vacation.
Ubiq
January 25th, 2006 at 1:12 am [Reply]

I’ll take “’80s quotes” for 400, Alex.

This person said: “No one throws me in a hog pen and gets away with it.”

Who is Boss Hogg?

Sorry, that’s incorrect. Anyone? Anyone?

The correct answer is “Margaret Thatcher.” Jim, the next selection is still yours.
Mister Abby
January 25th, 2006 at 2:08 am [Reply]

We don’t get Shoe in my paper anymore (hoorah!), so when I saw this installment of it, my jaw actually dropped open for a couple of seconds. They should be ashamed of themselves for sticking the word “phone” into a joke that’s been around for over fifty years (heck, I bet even the phone version has been around for a good twenty) and trying to pass it off as their own. Or, as Shoe would probably say it: “Be careful with that joke, it’s an antique!”

….now this is how it’s done.
Len
January 25th, 2006 at 2:49 am [Reply]

Think the B.C. cavemen and Shoe’s bird-brains have trouble with modern technology? Here’s The Elderberries senior cowboy threatening cell-phone mayhem…

http://www.ucomics.com/theelderberries/2006/01/23/

And then Speed Bump shows a real gun-slinger with an itchy dialing finger…

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2006/1/25&name=Speed_Bump
Sharkbait
January 25th, 2006 at 3:03 am [Reply]

I think that in this Mark Trail storyline, Andy represents what Jack Elrod thinks his average reader should think or identify with:

1) Ignorant, hopeless, and clueless.
2) Position yourself close to one of Mark’s thighs and hope for the best.
3) try to ignore the fact the Mark can be viciously groin-kicked with no effect
4) don’t worry that expert-naturalist Mark Trail can’t climb a tree without scaring crows and alerting every gun-toting hillbilly within 20 miles.
5) multiple concussions causing unconciousness do not matter when your IQ is under 40 to begin with.
6) you can’t lick the white powder on villians’ shoes when the bad guys are all barefoot.
7) pet-nappers are just making a living, but the disturbing element is that the dumbest hick wants to have sex with his step-sister.
8) thank goodness Elrod doesn’t have to draw a housecat in this storyline. He can draw every other genus/species in the world in exquisite detail, but can’t draw a cat to save his life.
9) Great! You captured Mark Trail himself. Who’s gonna pay his ransom? Andy is probably the only one who’d pay to get him back, and you’ve got him too. Brilliant planning–hey, didn’t you crooks once work for FEMA?
Len
January 25th, 2006 at 3:17 am [Reply]

Juliette wants the sight of her cleavageless poitrine to give her beloved a “dicky heart”?

Is this English? Is this DIRTY? Isn’t Dicky Heart a famous rock ‘n roll drummer?

Well, salt my carrot!

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2006/1/25&name=9_Chickweed_Lane
one sock
January 25th, 2006 at 3:49 am [Reply]

“no one throws me in a hog pen and gets away with it”

that’s a coffee mug i would buy–for myself and all my friends.
mooselet
January 25th, 2006 at 5:47 am [Reply]

I nominate adfella for COTW. Andy has suddenly morphed into a wuss – very un-St. Bernard or whatever breed of giant dog he’s supposed to be.

Now I admit my kids have taught me a thing or two about technology, but for heaven’s sake even my grandmother could figure out an iPod.

And why in Shoe do we have grammatically incorrect birthday wishes to Mom? Is this the comic equivalent of scoring a touchdown and waving hi to mom?
Dan P.
January 25th, 2006 at 7:51 am [Reply]

Gotta put that quote on a coffee mug…
Zorba's Little Brother
January 25th, 2006 at 8:38 am [Reply]

My favorite part of the BC comic shown is how â€œiPodâ€ is written in a different font. Almost as though itâ€™s an advertisement.

â€œiPodâ€¦because stoning dinosaurs to death just isnâ€™t the same without blasting tribal music.â€

Moreover, why is there even talk of the iPod in the Stone Age era? Why is there talk of the hassles of having kids? Hell, theyâ€™re cavemenâ€¦why are they talking at all? Oh, whatâ€™s the pointâ€¦we all know that the artists behind BC have long since dispensed with the fact that their characters are only a step above primordial soup.

B.C. is not set in the “Old Stone Age,” but rather in a post-apocalyptic neo-Stone Age (”B.C.” is the name of a character, not a reference to when it occurs.).

How do we know? Even Johnny hart seems to acknowledge this.

–
Nick Theodorakis
Zorba the Geek
January 25th, 2006 at 9:16 am [Reply]

If B.C. is set in a post-apocalyptic world, and if dinosaurs (or animals that closely resemble dinosaurs) have reappeared, then Hart must be acknowledging the existence of some type of evolution that would have led to their reappearance. Tsk, tsk. Does Hart’s pastor know this? Johnny is straight on the path to Hell.
micedwhale
January 25th, 2006 at 9:17 am [Reply]

I just noticed that the hillbilly from Mark Trail looks like Ernest from all of those “Ernest does something and hilarity ensues” movies. “Know what I mean Verne?”
Doug Puthoff
January 25th, 2006 at 10:17 am [Reply]

#’s 30 & 31, I’ve always thought “The Flintstones took place in a post-apocalyptic world. The more I think about it, the more I think “B.C.” does, too. My theory for the dinosaurs and humans living together concept is that the nuclear holocaust somehow affected the time-space continium, bring in dinosaurs from the Stone Age. Would explain all the pop culture references in the strip.
Adouble
January 25th, 2006 at 10:20 am [Reply]

#30: Yes, B.C. long ago switched from being set in the past to the post-apocalyptic future. However, since the joke is that old I-don’t-know-how-to-work-this-new-technology-I-need-my-kids-to-do-it-for-me comic nugget, and iPods have already been out for a couple of years, I think it is fair to assume that B.C. is now once again set in the past, in those salad days of 2002 A.D. If only Johnny Hart could take us back to the time when he was still funny.
csr
January 25th, 2006 at 10:40 am [Reply]

The fatal flaw in B.C.’s “joke” is that anyone who reads B.C. for it’s entertainment value (sorry, I can’t say that with a straight face) and can relate to it is most likely well past their reproductive prime.
BigJoe
January 25th, 2006 at 11:22 am [Reply]

SM – This strip can be picked on every day.

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20060125&name=Spiderman

Mary Jane is filming her first movie, and yet random cab drivers on the street recognize her and know her name? Her movie isn’t even filmed yet!

And Curtis: http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20060125&name=Curtis

What is the joke here? How horrible it is that manufacturers don’t invent new technology with the elderly in mind? But if the elderly don’t take to new technology, how can you tailor new technology to them?

So Curtis is saying how horrible Christmas is for the elderly because of the new products that come out???? It’s supposed to be so profound sounding, but just sounds stupid to me.
Phinneaus J. Whoopigoldberg
January 25th, 2006 at 11:23 am [Reply]

Not to mention that a typical BC reader is 70+, and is desirous of neither new technology nor loud crazy kid music blaring in their ears.
rich
January 25th, 2006 at 11:24 am [Reply]

26: “Dicky heart” totally grossed me out. What were they thinking? Some research later, I learn that it’s a British colloquialism. I barely understand what’s going on in Chickweed Lane anyway, and now they’re tossing British colloquialisms at us? Did they not anticipate the double meaning, or the yuck factor?
ianx
January 25th, 2006 at 11:39 am [Reply]

33:

In fact, the Flintstones and the Jetsons both take place in the distant future, where the economic elite have long-since moved into floating sky-cities. The working class had been abandoned and forgotten to scratch out a “stone-age” existence on the environmentally ruined wastelands, as all service and production sector jobs have been taken by robots. Of course, in a brilliant commentary on the tendency of oppressed classes to take up the values and cultures of the classes that oppress them, the residents of “Bedrock” maintain a sham of the empty consumerist culture that led to the destruction of the Earth’s ecosystem.
Malcolm
January 25th, 2006 at 12:02 pm [Reply]

I’d go one step further and say that the Mark Trail scripts are delivered by someone barking into a 1920s- era phone by a guy chomping on a cigar and wearing a fedora set jauntily back on head.

“Close-up on bad guy, stop. Open brackets, looks mean at camera, close brackets, stop.
Open parentheses, no-one throws me in a hog pen and gets away with it, close parentheses, stop.”

“Got that, toots”?
Ferd Berfel
January 25th, 2006 at 12:08 pm [Reply]

#26 – Is it ‘dirty’? Sadly, no. It’s a piece of British slang. Instead a ‘gimpy’ leg or ‘bum’ heart, they say ‘dicky’ leg or heart.

Considering how much 9CL gets away with, especially in the visual department, I can understand your suspicians.

RMMD – Boy, this strip is most certianly being monitored by the NSA. This story arc has slammed the war much more than Rex’s usual tirades about UNIVERSAL HEALTH INSURANCE.

FBOW – Couldn’t Saint Elly just turn water into coffee? Boy, I REALLY can’t wait for Lynn to retire. Think she’ll use a meteorite to kill them all? Maybe? Please?

Luann – So Toni and Brad are finally going to the awards banquet. That only took 9 months or so. Any clue as to why a p[orn star looking Toni is semi-attracted to a guy who resembles a pug-nosed pineapple with the mange? It certainly ain’t for the sex. The only thing she’s let him touch his the bill evey time they dine together.
Donut
January 25th, 2006 at 12:13 pm [Reply]

SM – This strip can be picked on every day.

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20060125&name=Spiderman

What’s most disturbing is that Mary Jane and the cab driver are sharing an exclamation point. What’s next? An interrobang?!?
David Bruggeman
January 25th, 2006 at 12:21 pm [Reply]

YMMV on how funny it is, but today’s (1/25) Frazz has a better angle on technology jokes.

http://comics.com/comics/frazz/index.html
BigJoe
January 25th, 2006 at 12:27 pm [Reply]

#42 – Donut, that’s hilarious, I didn’t notice the shared exclamation when I first read it. How bizzare. And they’re both pronouncing it too.

#41 – Ferd, to be fair Brad only got the invitation in Monday’s strip, so it hasn’t been long at all. If anything, not enough time has passed.
Library Cat
January 25th, 2006 at 12:33 pm [Reply]

re # 2

A very sad day indeed, just when we thought Pixar was getting away, Disney swallowed them up whole. I could use a drink with an umbrella.

#40 Awesome!

And Josh if you want the quintessential “pride in technology ignorance” comic strip you must check out Pluggers.
Sassy_Rocks
January 25th, 2006 at 12:35 pm [Reply]

Scott Gaines has worn out his knees doing what to whose trouser troth?

Girls mature faster than boys. Poor Kit, he’ll need to mature a little before his package looks right in the skin tight lycra spandex bikini brief.
Ubiq
January 25th, 2006 at 12:40 pm [Reply]

41-
Well, they’re going together provided that Toni doesn’t invite Dirk or whatever his name is to go along. Seeing as how he was a major donor to the whole thing and how it’ll create all sort of awkward shenanigans.
King Folderol
January 25th, 2006 at 12:45 pm [Reply]

I know Josh gives Cathy a pass, but Cathy’s annual January storyline about technology drives me crazy. Every year, it’s two weeks about how nobody can see the digital photos, nobody knows how to download the digital photos, everybody has a problem with one of the steps in the 99 part process and nobody gets to see their Xmas pictures. I guess what pisses me off about this convention is that I feel like Cathy’s been pissing and moaning about this for years and years. I get it, Cathy. Digital photos aren’t as easy as it would seem. So use a non-digital camera. They still sell them. They’re not illegal. You can still go down to the mall and get one. If you’re that aggravated, there are solutions.

And then Cathy has a whole, “I’m a big fat pig after the holidays” series of strips. Again, it’s not the worst storyline in the world, but Cathy’s been doing the same storylines since 1978. Enough already!!!
Concerned Citizen
January 25th, 2006 at 1:03 pm [Reply]

#2 – Don’t forget the oxymoronic phrase “Instant Classic”
Maughta
January 25th, 2006 at 1:03 pm [Reply]

“Margo has no nose!”

“No nose?!? How’s she smell?”

“Terrible!”
rich
January 25th, 2006 at 1:06 pm [Reply]

Kudos to Gil Thorp for using the phrase “too scuzzy” in Tuesday’s strip. (Makes me wonder, though, what kind of scuzzy non-profits they have in M*lford. A woman’s shelter maybe?)
BigJoe
January 25th, 2006 at 1:20 pm [Reply]

WOI – Quite possibly the most hilarious, rip-roaring funny comic of all time. If you’re at work, make sure nobody’s watching or listening while you read this one. You might lose control:

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2006/1/25&name=Wizard_of_Id
MLH
January 25th, 2006 at 1:38 pm [Reply]

Kipptje2000 (#5) is correct in general, but I think we can agree that no one wants to see the the dogs in “Cathy” or “For Better or for Worse” going for the crotch. For one thing, its far from clear that people in “Cathy” actually have crotches. The FBOFW dogs are actually pretty well drawn, and behave as much like real dogs, so we have to assume that they do some crotch-sniffing off camera, and might possibly, with appropriate training, do some crotch-biting in defense of the FBOFW household or its members.

The real problem, however, is the fact that this causes one to think about FBOFW crotches, which is just appalling.
MotoMike
January 25th, 2006 at 1:56 pm [Reply]

#41 and #47

“Luann … The only thing sheâ€™s let him touch his the bill evey time they dine together.”
lol, good point. that’s what she keeps the Dirkster around for; I think he’s still got “privileges” if you know what I mean.

“41-
…Well, theyâ€™re going together provided that Toni doesnâ€™t invite Dirk or whatever his name is to go along….”
Hey, but guess who’s gonna show up in RubberChickenLand. Drunk. None other than Doctor Dirkenheimer, with his cap on and another wagon full of (no doubt stolen) stuffed an-i-mules. Brad clocks him again and Dirk wakes up in an unpleasant furry realm with Eeyore eyeing his Camaro ass.

Yeah, this whole thing is junior-high mentality – Brad REALLY LIKES Toni, but she REALLY LIKES Dirk – can we just sign the yearbooks and get on with the life?
(In Bucky-talk):”Brad, hey, yo, man, find you a beyotch that’ll get busy with your bad self there, and – hey, Tone? you put the scare on that cap-wearin’ creep with the muscle car by showing up in the latex with a whip, baby! He be runnin’ for his life …”

Although I have this funny feeling that Brad sneaks over to Bernice’s late at night and they get down. That’s a theory I DON’T want to test out.
Bitter Scribe
January 25th, 2006 at 2:04 pm [Reply]

#39–Don’t forget that this distant future also features the evolution of humans with inhumanly powerful legs that can propel cars with solid stone rollers, with no other means of propulsion necessary.

I’ve never understood why, if Fred’s and Barney’s legs are that strong, they don’t just run everywhere.
BigJoe
January 25th, 2006 at 2:05 pm [Reply]

Dilbert – Whoa, a bit risquÃ© here, I do believe:

http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/images/dilbert20024423460125.gif

A bit unnerving to see a lecherous baby.
leathermessiah
January 25th, 2006 at 2:30 pm [Reply]

Oh, Josh, please put the Trail quote from today on a coffee mug… maybe with one of the lovingly-rendered hogs. I really miss the plaster-of-Paris mug. More MT mugs!
kippetje2000
January 25th, 2006 at 2:34 pm [Reply]

“How can geese honk? They don’t have any horns.”
Well, Jeffy, how come Family Circus punchlines smell
when they don’t have any nostrils?
C Ro
January 25th, 2006 at 2:51 pm [Reply]

That M.Trail “hillbilly” line reminded me of this gem: “Nobody puts Baby in the corner.”

I’m going to have to start reading Mark Trail if Patrick Swayze is going to be in it.
Sabrina
January 25th, 2006 at 3:10 pm [Reply]

I cannot tell you how it unnerves me that there are people who refuse to upgrade their brains to the new technology there is, I personally believe that the refusal to learn about new technology is a sure sign of laziness. If my 80 year old grandma can master the internet, a cell phone and a DVR, what gives with the rest of the world ???

I know the answer to that —
They want the younger generation to do it for them, just like social security!
philip
January 25th, 2006 at 3:22 pm [Reply]

The genius in that there BC strip is the fact that “chesty cavegirl with head on a swivel” calls it “the iPod.” Not “an iPod,” but “THE iPod”. The gratuitous use of the article is pure belligerent-fogey-speak.

“I need help with the email.”
“We have to save the Social Security.”
“I wanna watch the Matlock.”
Sassy_Rocks
January 25th, 2006 at 3:31 pm [Reply]

Philip:

Don’t forget the article’s use as snobbish pretense as in:
“The North Face”
dimestore lipstick
January 25th, 2006 at 3:47 pm [Reply]

Ferd Berfel

“RMMD – Boy, this strip is most certianly being monitored by the NSA. This story arc has slammed the war much more than Rexâ€™s usual tirades about UNIVERSAL HEALTH INSURANCE.”

Anti-war? Pro-univeral healthcare?You raise an interesting point. I’d kind of missed that–must be due to RMMD’s breakneck pacing or something. This is a very liberal comic. Whooda figgered?
Schteve
January 25th, 2006 at 3:48 pm [Reply]

#36

The cab driver referred to Mary Jane euphemistically as an ‘actress’ because he’s seen her in the pics on the website she hasn’t told Pete about yet.

Cab driver: “Hey, you’re Mary Jane Parker, the Internet porn model!”

MJ & Pete: “!”
Ianscot
January 25th, 2006 at 3:49 pm [Reply]

56: Does anyone else think Dilbert’s punchline panel originally referred to something other than “burping”? Perhaps something to do with nourishment?

This seems like a pretty clear case of the editors hemming, hawing, and finally toning the joke (such as it was, and I’m not giving Scott Adams much credit on this one) down to the point where it only became less intelligible and somewhat more disturbing…
Dread Scott
January 25th, 2006 at 3:53 pm [Reply]

Big Joe: #56

Yup I agree… as we say here in Tejas ” I ’bout fell out!” When I saw todays Dilbert.. I can’t believe some of the things that have been gotten away with lately (blessedly) in a number of strips, and have passed wihtout much comment in letters-to-editors.

The only thing that would have made it better is if there were dotted sight lines.

BTW if you want sexy, look at soem old “Archie” comics from the ’40’s. Holy frijoles.
Dread Scott
January 25th, 2006 at 3:54 pm [Reply]

soem = some.

But you knew that.
rich
January 25th, 2006 at 4:15 pm [Reply]

41: RMMD anti-war? I think they’re just trying to have it both ways. War stinks, we’re fighting bad guys, and our soldiers are noble. All pretty non-controversial stands. I thought when this story started in October it was leaning heavily against the war, owing to all those furrowed brow shots of Rex and the questions he was asking the soldier. But then the author would toss in oddly jingoistic panels like 10/23’s “We’re going to whip those maniacs!”, as well as the recent remark that the worst thing about war is “being hated – that’s what gets to you” – apparently playing into that image of soldiers returning from Nam being spat upon by clueless protesters. So I don’t think at this point they’re taking a particular stand one way or another, except that “war is hell.”
AllTheseWorlds
January 25th, 2006 at 4:17 pm [Reply]

31 – Clearly, one of the issues that brought about the collapse of civilization in B.C. was rampant, irresponsible genetic experimentation, which brought back dinosaurs, gave clams legs and created Grog.
Clearly, this is exactly what Jeff Goldblum tried to warn against in Jurassic Park.

61 – Perhaps in this distant future, technical progression has led to one great successor of today’s iPods — THE iPod, a single device of such complexity it is fantastically difficult to use, and of such amazingness it can only be spoken of in a different font.
Ferd Berfel
January 25th, 2006 at 4:23 pm [Reply]

#68: Maybe my RMMD comments were actually a joke?

Think it over and get back to us.
Sourbelly
January 25th, 2006 at 4:25 pm [Reply]

If B.C. takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, doesn’t that mean that all of the characters in the strip were LEFT BEHIND?

So really, the brutal unfunniness of this comic is Hart’s way of showing us of the hellish, humorless fate that awaits us if we don’t get right with Jeebus!
blue indian
January 25th, 2006 at 4:32 pm [Reply]

#50. i first heard that joke on an old Grateful Dead acoustic show.. thanks for bringing it back…
BigJoe
January 25th, 2006 at 4:54 pm [Reply]

#65- Ianscot said, Does anyone else think Dilbertâ€™s punchline panel originally referred to something other than â€œburpingâ€? Perhaps something to do with nourishment?

Huh? What is referring to burping in that strip?
micedwhale
January 25th, 2006 at 4:57 pm [Reply]

I too heard #50’s joke on an old Grateful Dead show. I laughed hard, but that may have been for “other” reasons.
mooselet
January 25th, 2006 at 4:58 pm [Reply]

#53: No doubt the crotch sniffing/biting antics of the FBOFW dogs are talked about in the monthly Foob newsletters.
micedwhale
January 25th, 2006 at 4:59 pm [Reply]

R.I.P. Nice Guy Eddie, no one else will ever make a nylon Nike wind suit more menacing.
Fred P.
January 25th, 2006 at 5:26 pm [Reply]

I don’t think the do-goodniks who worry about protecting the innocent eyes and ears of children aren’t so much concerned that the kids will be offended by the word “butt” (after all, anyone who ever attended grade school knows that whenever Teacher mentions- say, the planet Uranus- the under-12 set does not react with reproachful stares and a stunned, shocked silence; rather they snort and snigger gleefully, with barely suppressed mirthful explosions and a genial sense that all is right in the world.)

I think your letter-to-the-editor types (in addition to a Puritan desire to close this harmless avenue of juvenile merriment) are more concerned that if the kiddies get the impression that the word “butt” is ok and socially acceptable, well, then one day when they grow up we’ll live in a world where a lot of people use the word “butt” freely.

And that would be, like, pretty bad. I guess.
AwfulArt
January 25th, 2006 at 6:02 pm [Reply]

Gotta love today’s Dilbert… *it’s wonderful…
Sassy_Rocks
January 25th, 2006 at 6:15 pm [Reply]

Prelude to meddling:

1. Make nosy comment to elicit personal problems such as: “You look troubled”

2. Offer recently baked food

3. Invite meddle-ee over to discuss personal problem over recently baked food.

4. Sit back, spew splatititudes and listen carefully to meddle-ee’s gut spill.
Zorba the Geek
January 25th, 2006 at 6:20 pm [Reply]

Ummm, Ianscott, I don’t think today’s Dilbert refers to “burping.” Think about how babies get their nourishment, and then notice how the baby/businessman is staring at the large (ahem) upper frontal development of the woman. ‘Nuff said. If anyone wants to check out another strip that made it past the censors today, go look at Mother Goose and Grimm. A romantic dinner between a woman and a dog. It hints (all right, reeks) of bestiality.
Malcolm
January 25th, 2006 at 7:31 pm [Reply]

I wondered just how many people in this cynical day and age see the world through Mark Trail’s boy scout eyes?

I keep a small record of who does what strip and how they got started (hey, it keeps me off the streets, ok?) and here’s what I have in my files for Jack Elrod.

“Mark Trail : Created by Ed Dodd. Now drawn by Jack Elrod.
Elrod has been with Mark Trail almost from the beginning. The strip had enjoyed only four years of syndication when Elrod, fresh from school, joined Dodd and another artist-naturalist, Tom Hill, in a studio on Atlanta’s Penn Avenue in 1950.
Dodd was a scout leader, and young Elrod was one of his scouts.”
Chet McCord, Wildlife Defender
January 25th, 2006 at 8:11 pm [Reply]

79. And now, force the reader to hear all about it, yet again.

We have seen:

1) a first-hand account of Mrs Hand’s difficulties, even seeing her sending an e-mail
2) the editor’s summary of the situation in that week-long phone call
3) Willl-burr’s 2-week long summary of the phone call

and now

4) we’re going to get a recap as Willl-burr brief’s Mary on this development.

This is what happens when you’re a little short on story ideas.
Len
January 25th, 2006 at 8:23 pm [Reply]

#81 — Elrod signs his name, but I’ve noticed at least three different art styles in Mark Trail, sometimes all in the same panel! He has “ghost” artists filling in, and some of them are still VERY inexperienced. Throwing in an occasional photo-realistic image of local fauna doesn’t make up for some of the hideous human anatomy you find in this strip!
Len
January 25th, 2006 at 8:30 pm [Reply]

#72 — Did Dicky Heart make that joke?
Jeff R.
January 25th, 2006 at 9:11 pm [Reply]

My own immediate suspicion about the alternate Font for “iPod” was that the entire strip was recycled, with the original having “VCR” in that place…
Ubiq
January 25th, 2006 at 9:14 pm [Reply]

86-
Unless I’m mistaken, the “being hated” is a reference to the Iraqis, not to the Americans.

Anyway, he’s the hitting the hot joints and taking the pills. I don’t suppose Jack’s last name is Brown is it?

If so, his wife had better watch out.
jeanne
January 25th, 2006 at 10:08 pm [Reply]

#20:
Bird crap?
Howard Roark
January 25th, 2006 at 10:28 pm [Reply]

The 3rd panel of today’s Luann is the absolute worst comic art I’ve ever seen. Look at the drawing of the guy. His mouth is just a line. His eyes are 2 dots. His nose is a semi-circle. His eyebrows are 2 blotches located far too high on this supposed face. The head is shaped like an egg.
RBF-at-home
January 25th, 2006 at 10:54 pm [Reply]

Josh you are SO Funny – “Selectric typewriter”? – way before your time, not to mention the hand-crank phones (way before ALL of our time).

Hate to admit I’m one of the older types trying out a new-fangled gadget for VOIP last night, got so caught up hooking up my 2 telephones through the router to my cable modem, then couldn’t get online – duh! Cable carrier (after an hour on hold) gave wrong advice since different company than VOIP carrier, naturally. Finally figured it out tonight though – fingers crossed and holding my breath!

So I can kinda identify with these ‘pre-skull-data-implanted’ comics.
Too funny!!
Maughta
January 25th, 2006 at 11:01 pm [Reply]

I don’t know, but it seems to me that there were a lot more e-mails in this thread earlier (including one very bad joke from yours truly).

Must be homeland security again.
theGrowler
January 25th, 2006 at 11:05 pm [Reply]

On the much earlier-mentioned Aaron McGruder vacation–letting someone else draw your comic strip must be more exhausting than I thought.
Lor
January 26th, 2006 at 12:50 am [Reply]

Sourbelly, I’m curious: where did the word Jeebus come from? I’ve heard it once or twice and I’m wondering if it’s regional slang….

Thursday Comics Alerts:

A3G – Ouch!! How did Tommie break her finger? Wait, I don’t think I want to know.

MW – Oh, this is going to be good. Ol’ Mary is just getting warmed up to deliver the Mother of All Platitudes. It’s so important and profound it wouldn’t fit in the same strip with “Let me tell you something, Will-burrr.” Now I can’t wait for Friday.
Therm
January 26th, 2006 at 12:52 am [Reply]

Amazing that the Lockhorns is still somewhere between levels one and two of what Brunching Shuttlecocks pointed out around 5 1/2 years ago.

http://brunching.com/internethumor.html
Ubiq
January 26th, 2006 at 1:40 am [Reply]

92
It’s a Simpson reference.

See, Homer volunteered for missionary work to avoid PBS thugs that he owed money to. When Reverend Lovejoy actually made him hold up to his end of the bargain, he said: “But I don’t even believe in Jebus.” However, when the plane takes off, Homer cries “Save me, Jeeeebussss!”
TMC
January 26th, 2006 at 2:13 am [Reply]

Regarding comics that don’t seem to have a clue about technology but discuss it anyway:

I’m consistently infuriated by “Helen, Sweetheart of the Internet,” a comic about a woman who is supposedly the most gorgeous and most brilliant woman in the world. Of course, it’s tough to evoke any kind of empathy when your protagonist is the best woman in the world, but that’s beside the point. The problem I have is, the comic is clearly just jumping on the Internet as a hook, as if it’s some kind of gold-plated rocketship to the moon, but whoever writes it doesn’t even convey a basic understanding of technology. All they do is add prefixes like “nano” and “e-” to things, and they basically come off as 75 year old men/women wh don’t know a thing about the subject matter of their own protagonist’s life.

End of rant.
Len
January 26th, 2006 at 5:42 am [Reply]

Is this a flatulence joke?

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/getfuzzy;_ylt=AjKZ4sAvJfWh2HcjeDpo0PfvcLQF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Boy, the things that Darby get get away with on the funny pages!
Len
January 26th, 2006 at 5:43 am [Reply]

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/getfuzzy;_ylt=AjKZ4sAvJfWh2HcjeDpo0PfvcLQF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Is this a flatulence joke?

Boy, the things that Darby get get away with on the funny pages!
Frank Drackman
January 26th, 2006 at 6:39 am [Reply]

FC used to do strips aboutGrandpa helping Jeffy from Heaven, how about a strip with Grandpa sending a creepy e-mail or communicating with Jeffy over the radio like in the movie “Frequency”?
Sheila
January 26th, 2006 at 8:06 am [Reply]

Someone help — in today’s Non Sequitur, WHAT is in the Grim Reaper’s other hand? A hypodermic needle? A ballpoint pen? A thermometer? WHAT?

Thank you.
Fred P.
January 26th, 2006 at 8:12 am [Reply]

The latest “Mark Trail” leaps from heights to dizzying heights. I can’t WAIT to find out exactly what it is that slack-jawed over-alled hill-fucks “do for entertainment here in the swamp!”, especially considering what they done gone got themselves one pretty-boy like mister Trail in their power..

Remember this, Mark: in the swamp, no one can hear you scream.

Although I’m unclear on why that one goober is threatening to shoot the dog with a garden hose.
MotoMike
January 26th, 2006 at 9:39 am [Reply]

Len – (96)
Not only is this, in my interpretation and study, indeed, a flatulence joke, but it’s the third “joke” this week about, um, elimination. FBOFW had, I think, one about whether Dixie had made a “mess” in the house, as well as one where the husband was making lots of disturbance in the bathroom culminating in an offscreen emanation of sound and (evidently) odeur. Now Darby joins in. So, wave-like, I expect a veritable explosion, nay, a common outpouring, of comics exploiting the humorous possibilities inherent in what we refer to our house as Number Two: First up, Andy (that big, loveable pal in Mark Trail) will distract DeliveranceManWithGun by soiling his shoes at just the right time. Then Peanuts will have a hitherto unpublished episode in which we find out why Snoopy is almost never inside the doghouse (which we find out is another type of “house”). Finally, Dennis finds out that Joey can be more of a Menace than he is in times of stress.
Speaking of Mark Trail, I agree with you, Fred; the implications of “what they do for fun” are far more disturbing that what we’ll actually see. The reality will probably be a soccer match set in a relatively level section of the swamp land, with Redneck One and Two on one team and Mark and Andy on another team – and Mark’s hands still tied. GOOOOOAL! Now that’s something I’d pay to watch.
Sourbelly
January 26th, 2006 at 9:56 am [Reply]

Lor (92):

From Wikipedia:

According to Matt Groening, The Simpsons writers have an ongoing competition to write a line that: “most represents Homer at his singularly most stupid.” Most likely the current champion is Homer’s faux term for Jesus, first mentioned in the episode “Missionary: Impossible”. When asked to be a missionary, Homer replies that he “[doesn't] even believe in Jebus!”

There are several theories of earlier uses of this misspelling. One attributes it to Frank Zappa. The earliest says it was used by jazz performer Duke Ellington, in a throwback to his Catholic school days. He used it instead of Jesus so that the nuns couldn’t beat him. He used it instead of Jesus for the rest of his life, which is how Zappa probably found it.

In another animated show, Family Guy, Jebus appears as a typo on page 375 in The Bible.

Historically, the Old Testament of the Bible mentions a people called the Jebusites, residing in Jebus, which was renamed Jerusalem after being conquered by the Israelites.
BigJoe
January 26th, 2006 at 10:43 am [Reply]

BC: umm…..what?

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2006/1/26&name=BC
BigJoe
January 26th, 2006 at 10:58 am [Reply]

This totally DOES NOT MAKE SENSE! Unless the kid threw a porcelain football.

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2006/1/26&name=Lola
dimestore lipstick
January 26th, 2006 at 11:40 am [Reply]

Fred P.
The latest â€œMark Trailâ€ leaps from heights to dizzying heights. I canâ€™t WAIT to find out exactly what it is that slack-jawed over-alled hill-fucks â€œdo for entertainment here in the swamp!â€

If you look at the first panel, it doesn’t take much imagination to figure out what’s going on behind that “Jack Elrod” button.
And what they â€œdo for entertainment here in the swamp”.

Eww. I can hear the faint strains of banjo music wafting on the breeze…
MotoMike
January 26th, 2006 at 11:45 am [Reply]

BigJoe (103) re: today’s B.C.
me neither. Anyone? Please?
Donut
January 26th, 2006 at 11:55 am [Reply]

This totally DOES NOT MAKE SENSE! Unless the kid threw a porcelain football.

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2006/1/26&name=Lola

Unless the kid through a porcelain footbal and the football had zero mass. Notice that her head doesn’t even bobble when struck by the football.

We’re teaching children bad physics! This madness must stop! No wonder the Russians sent the first satellite into orbit! We’re becoming a nation of nincompoops!

Whew. Sorry–acid flashback.
yellojkt
January 26th, 2006 at 12:02 pm [Reply]

The key to understanding today’s BC ,if we must, and if it can be done, is that ‘dog dish’ is in quotes. Since “dish” is archaic slang for a hottie, I think the dog used the spoon to get a bitch in heat.

That doesn’t make any sense, but it might explain Wiley’s lecherous grin at sneaking hot doggie-style action into his pome.
Islamorada Girl
January 26th, 2006 at 12:02 pm [Reply]

Are the Cletus Fambly threatening Mark Trail with a garden hose? I’m betting Ellie Mae Cletus, sporting yet another new hair color, will turn on her kinfolk with a shotgun, and who could blame her? They destroyed her big chance to work down to the WalMart.
Donut
January 26th, 2006 at 12:03 pm [Reply]

Re: BC’s “dog dish”

Beats me. I checked rec.arts.comics.strips, where a similar question has turned into a rather serious discussion of the symptoms of strokes and whether or not Hart has had one.

Or maybe “dog dish” is geriatric slang for “roadside”?
dimestore lipstick
January 26th, 2006 at 12:43 pm [Reply]

BigJoe:

“BC: ummâ€¦..what?

It’s like the “aphasia” episode of “House”!
http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/story.cgi?show=151&story=8723&limit=&sort=
BigJoe
January 26th, 2006 at 12:44 pm [Reply]

MW – So in the first panel, we’re treated to Mary and “Wendy” rehashing the problem he’s facing, the problem that has been mentioned 13 days in a row. Then, in the dramatic second panel, Mary announces that she is going to tell him something!

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20060126&name=Mary_Worth

Wow, I thought they had big cliffhangers on 24. The suspense is killing me, what will she say? Of course the worst part is that we’ll probably have a couple more days of her talking about the fact that she’s about to tell him something before she actually tells him something.
Adouble
January 26th, 2006 at 12:52 pm [Reply]

RE: Googling “dog dish” and “slang” gives “The white hat worn by junior enlisted (naval) personnel”. So maybe Hart is using synecdoche to mean a young navy man. Then the lecherous grin yellojkt alludes to has far more surprising (read “brokeback”) implications.
rich
January 26th, 2006 at 1:14 pm [Reply]

104: It looks like her hair spray has dry ice properties that turned the football into a brittle shell. I saw something like that on “Watch Mr. Wizard.”
tommy
January 26th, 2006 at 2:11 pm [Reply]

ha! dilbert is pretty low-brow today. kinda funny.
Alana
January 26th, 2006 at 3:10 pm [Reply]

Maybe someone who reads Nancy on a daily basis can explain to my why Nancy’s mother/big sister/foster parent is expecting a romantic evening from a blizzard?
http://www.comiczone.com/comics/nancy//index.html
BigJoe
January 26th, 2006 at 3:20 pm [Reply]

#116: I just read the last few days of Nancy. (Haven’t read that strip in ages). Looks like the strip is not as crappy and aimed at a 4 year old like it was years ago. Not saying it’s hilarious or anything, but it seems to have at least risen above Marmaduke status.

My impression – in the 1/24 and 1/25 strips, if you replaced Nancy and Sluggo with Luann and Brad, it would match up exactly with a Luann strip, word for word. Although mom/sister/foster parent is nothing like Luann’s mom. More like Brandy from Liberty Meadows!

Actually, if my memory is correct and it’s the same person, I think it’s Nancy’s aunt?
kippetje2000
January 26th, 2006 at 3:54 pm [Reply]

Could anyone take the time to educate me on the real use of a hot water bottle? I’ve heard so many different myths, that I’m not quite clear on the concept. Me wonders why Blondie has one (mayhaps this is the reason she still appears so “fresh” after all these years) and why on earth would she loan such a personal thing to the mailman?
BigJoe
January 26th, 2006 at 4:25 pm [Reply]

#118: The water bottle was the mailman’s, he asked her to fill it with hot water for him. The 3rd panel is not realistic at all. Dagwood should be running screaming into the bathroom to disinfect his hands. That would have been funnier.

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20060126&name=Blondie

As far as what it’s used for, in comicsland they’re typically seen on someone’s head when they have a hangover or when they’re sick. Cause nothing cures a hangover better than heating up your head. In real life…..uh…..hmm…..we used to have one at home when I was a kid, but I don’t think I ever saw anyone actually use it.
Britbike
January 26th, 2006 at 4:33 pm [Reply]

for 118.
When I was a kid, lo these many years ago, the hot water bottle was used to warm up the bed on a cold night, or in a heating pad function. “Everyone” knew that if you fell asleep with a heating pad plugged in, you would start a fire and die. The worst that would happen with the hot water bottle was the stopper coming loose.
Also, when my Grandmother was a kid, you could hide your bootleg booze in it. I can’t imagine it helped the taste any.
Sassy_Rocks
January 26th, 2006 at 4:47 pm [Reply]

The hose in Luke’s hand in panel 2 is the smallest diameter garden hose I’ve ever seen. It could not carry more than a dribble of watter with that size and would just aggravate Andy even more if he dripped it on him. As for Luke’s hose in panel 1, he appears to have his hand on it and it is probably tiny too but it is hidden behind the Jack Elrod banner. I hope Mark Trail knows how to squeal like a pig in the down on all fours piggy position for the kinky swamp romp.
BigJoe
January 26th, 2006 at 5:43 pm [Reply]

121: I think some people were kidding about it, but just to be clear, the dognapper is not holding a thin garden hose, it’s a rope.
Fred P.
January 26th, 2006 at 6:02 pm [Reply]

#112 You are correct in that we will learn what words of wisdom Mary has to say in time (in lots and lots of time), but until we learn what manner of tripe it is (say, maybe in March sometime) I offer my prediction:

“Wilbur, dear, I know this will be painful, but I’m telling you because I’m your friend, because I care about you. But people have been talking, Wilbur. You’re not fooling anyone with that pathetic comb-over anymore, Wilbur, everybody knows you’ve gone bald.”

#121- you’re right about the hose diameter. Hey, maybe its one of those compressed air hoses like they got at gas stations! Maybe Snuffy Smith here is going to strategically insert the end in Andy and inflate him like a beach ball! Hah Hah! That would be funny! Sucks to be you, Andy!
Sassy_Rocks
January 26th, 2006 at 6:31 pm [Reply]

Wilbur Weston is an itching, painful mass of dilated veins in swollen anal tissue. The combover is just icing on the cake. I really think he should hook up with troll Berna from RMMD.

If Mary Worth has a modicum of common sense, she’ll advise Wilbur that the lawsuit is incredibly frivolous, will be thrown out like a redneck into a pigpen and the lawyer who filed it faces possible disbarment. As for Wilbur’s hypocratic oath towards his readers, she’ll advise him that he’s no doctor and there is no such thing as one size fits all advice, something she’s learned well from years of meddling.

btw: BigJoe, good call on the rope. After further review, you are absolutely right. What kind of rope games do you suppose he has in mind?
tim
January 26th, 2006 at 6:31 pm [Reply]

What is a pre-historic woman doing with an ipod anyway?
Len
January 26th, 2006 at 7:16 pm [Reply]

#119, #120 — The hot-water bottle should be used by Mr. Beasley to warm his hands, as he delivers the mail in frigid weather. But he’s obviously keeping it somewhere up close and personal — over his butt? in his fly? Blondie is a caterer — is she filling it with her famous home-brewed coffee?

So far as hangovers are concerned, I’ve only seen barflies wearing an ICE-PACK on their heads the morning after, not a hot water bottle!
Len
January 26th, 2006 at 7:41 pm [Reply]

#117 — Yes. Aunt Fritzie Ritz, as I recall. Does Sluggo have parents in this 21st Century version of Nancy? I mean, he’s snowed in with the Ritz’s, aren’t his folks worried about where he is? And what kind of public school age kid wears an Irish walking cap, anyway? It’s as silly as Jughead’s felt fedora “crown.”
Zorba's Little Brother
January 26th, 2006 at 8:11 pm [Reply]

Guy Gilchrist has been writing Nancy for a few years now, and I do think he has done a pretty good job given the material he has to work with.

–
Nick Theodorakis
BigJoe
January 26th, 2006 at 9:54 pm [Reply]

#126 – Plus, you’ll notice that Blondie is pouring water (or could be tea for some reason I guess) from a tea kettle. So the postman, after ringing twice, asked her to fill the hot water bottle. She proceeded to heat up a kettle of water while he stood there for 10 minutes waiting. Now that he’s developed frostbite on his toes he can finally warm up his ass. (I assume that’s where it’s going.)
Chet McCord, Wildlife Defender
January 26th, 2006 at 10:16 pm [Reply]

It seems that when you inherit a long-standing strip, you should keep the characters looking the same. I haven’t seen Nancy in years, and I must say Aunt Fritzi has been … er… transformed. Though she’s always been thudworthy, she’s now been surgically enhanced, shall we say. She’s also gotten her hair straightened. Wasn’t it frizzy before?
Ferd Berfel
January 26th, 2006 at 10:37 pm [Reply]

Thanks to the Houston Chronicle I’ve been reading comics I haven’t seen in years. One is ‘Gasoline Alley’. My gran used to mind me a couple days each week. She’d have me read her the comics because she always ‘left’ her glasses in the kitchen. Just a way of getting me to read I suspect. She loved all the old soap strips and we’d have tea and cake.

Anyway, I’ve catching up with ‘Gasoline Alley’. I have a sneaking suspician that Gertie – the lady taking care of ol’ Mr. Walt – must be based on someone the artist knows. She’s doesn’t look like one of the other characters, she’s almost real somehow. It’s quite jarring.
Ubiq
January 26th, 2006 at 10:39 pm [Reply]

110

A synonym for roadside, plausible.

Let’s test it.

She’s gone dogdish, yo.

She’s a hands-on, dogdish gig.

Both of those sound somewhat disturbing.
Lor
January 26th, 2006 at 10:53 pm [Reply]

When we were kids, a hot water bottle was the only thing that would soothe my sister’s earaches in the middle of the night.

More clues to the B.C. conundrum: check out the many meanings of “spoon” in the Urban Dictionary. You’ll notice that it means cuddling, having sex, and licking someone’s anus – all doggy kinds of things to do. That sly Johnny Hart! If “dog dish” translates to “sexy bitch,” then that’s one happy little dog.

Or … could be ol’ Johnny just had a stroke.
Lor
January 26th, 2006 at 11:00 pm [Reply]

Thanks, Ubiq and Sourbelly – I had no idea “Jebus” had such a distinguished history!

I have to admit, I first remember hearing it when my family and I were visiting NYC a few years ago and stopped to eat lunch in a cafe where most of the staff was African American. My brother made some joke about “Save me, Jebus” and we all shushed him, ’cause it sounded like Black English. We are not Black and did not wish to offend anyone of color within the ten-mile radius. I thought my brother made it up.

NOW I get it.
AwfulArt
January 26th, 2006 at 11:54 pm [Reply]

Todays USA Today (Thursday), first page ” Life ” section D, has Boondocks strip run Sun 1/22. It is not a repeate.
I stand by my blog # 3,, Regarding # 21 they are reruns this week only so far..
So the N.Y.Daily News still sucks big time…
Dub Not Dubya
January 27th, 2006 at 12:25 am [Reply]

AwfulArt re 135: I just checked, and ucomics.com has a new strip for this past Sunday (the one you saw). It’s at http://www.ucomics.com/boondocks/2006/01/22/ . But the weekday strips this week on ucomics.com have been reruns again. That doesn’t preclude the NY Daily News from sucking, but the reruns are apparently nationwide.
Len
January 27th, 2006 at 2:20 am [Reply]

Andy the Saint Bernard quits slaving for Mark Trail and takes up new employment:

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20060127&name=Rhymes_with_Orange
jmarkow
January 27th, 2006 at 8:00 am [Reply]

#131 Ferd Berfel, are you by any chance married to Sparkle Farkle?
Monkeys Uncle
January 27th, 2006 at 8:19 am [Reply]

Hey it looks like ML guy and his on again off again girl are having dinner at Barkeater Lake. Barkeater Lake is a funny strip, check it out.

http://www.comics.com/comics/barkeaterlake/index.html
Zorba's Little Brother
January 27th, 2006 at 9:06 am [Reply]

It seems that when you inherit a long-standing strip, you should keep the characters looking the same….

Actually, when the Gilchrists took over the strip from Jerry Scott (of Baby Blues), they returned it to a style that was much more in line with that of Ernie Bushmiller, the originator of Nancy.

–
Nick Theodorakis
MotoMike
January 27th, 2006 at 9:42 am [Reply]

#130 Chet McCord, Wildlife Defender said (or, rather, typed):…I must say Aunt Fritzi has been â€¦ erâ€¦ transformed. Though sheâ€™s always been thudworthy, sheâ€™s now been surgically enhanced, shall we say. Sheâ€™s also gotten her hair straightened. Wasnâ€™t it frizzy before?

Chet, the actress who originally played Aunt Fritzi quit the strip under mysterious circumstances, but the rumor that she was taken out by a “cartoon-actress stalker” was not true – actually she found out that her boyfriend Dirk (from Luann) was continuing to see Toni, so she had a nervous breakdown and had to retire early to a spa in Utah. The current one (Valerie van der Windstar) won the audition from a field of more than 800 cartoon actresses, including the one (Sandra OhNo) who later plays the mostly mute woman in CandorVille.
Good eye noting the difference, though; most of the time these casting changes are slipped in without anyone noticing.
Dave the Attorney
January 27th, 2006 at 9:46 am [Reply]

Speaking of Luann, is there any way the current story arc DOESN’T end with a restraining order against Brad?
Ianscot
January 27th, 2006 at 9:52 am [Reply]

Re Burping: That Dilbert strip’s punchline, as it appeared in my paper, was: “Less talk, more burping.”

Maybe it did get censored, for me?
BassoGap
January 27th, 2006 at 10:12 am [Reply]

#142…I think Brad’s response to Toni, in the car, should have been, “Then what *is*?”

That way, she could have had the perfect answer:

“Roadside. Pull over.”
MotoMike
January 27th, 2006 at 10:31 am [Reply]

Ianscot (#143) – mine too, (Dallas Morning News), which accounts for my puzzlement at seeing the other (possibly original, and more excellent) punchline.
Re: 142: Unfortunately, I see no end to this story line. Ever. I expect my children to be reading to me in the old folks’ home “… and so, Brad was just about to help Toni into the car when who shows up but Dirk”. Witness the fact that Aaron had to be shipped out to Hawaii because his story line petered out. As it were. But … he’ll be baaaaack – ye-ahhhhhhh. Since it’s SAT time:

Attaining Toni : Brad :: Sucessfully kicking football : Charlie Brown
rich
January 27th, 2006 at 10:40 am [Reply]

143: I noticed that too. There were 2 versions (the one at Dilbert.com – the official version, I guess – has baby looking at the ample bosom and saying “Hey, I just got a crazy idea”). The lettering on both seems to be Scott Adams’ style…does he make two versions of his more controversial strips, one raunchy and one watered down?

Actually, this may be a common practice these days. In the official version, those teenagers in Judge Parker certainly wouldn’t have caused a scandal by simply “necking.”
BigJoe
January 27th, 2006 at 10:40 am [Reply]

MT: So that’s what they do for fun in the swamp? Feed dogs to alligators? What a letdown.

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20060127&name=Mark_Trail

Although I must admit, I do like how Mark is unfazed by the threat to feed Andy to the gators, but his penis yells out, “you can’t do this!” Hmm, why is it so concerned? I don’t like the implication there.
BigJoe
January 27th, 2006 at 11:17 am [Reply]

FW: Sheesh, there’s a clever strip. Has he been reading “Johnny Hart’s Guide to Recycling Jokes”?

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20060127&name=Funky_Winkerbean
Ferd Berfel
January 27th, 2006 at 11:28 am [Reply]

#138: Nope, Ma Farkle keeps me busy enough.
Len
January 27th, 2006 at 11:32 am [Reply]

Mootch’s “cute eyes” get him out of trouble:

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20060127&name=Mutts

But Catbert’s “belly-rub” cuteness doesn’t beat the Hungry Baby’s “cute eyes”…

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2006/1/27&name=Dilbert

Less belly-rubs! More burping!
kippetje2000
January 27th, 2006 at 11:34 am [Reply]

Andy on a leash in panel one, then off the leash in panel two?! Can’t he run somewhere for help? “Andy! What are you doing here? What are you trying to say? Is Mark in trouble boy? Is that it? Is Mark being held hostage by some red-neck hoodown brothers in some backwoods swamp infested shack? Well, c’mon guys, lets get our guns and go help ole Mark Trail out of a jam. We’ll get Andy to lead us back to that place, he’ll be able to take us there. Just as soon as he get’s his great honker of a nose from out my crotch…”
rich
January 27th, 2006 at 12:05 pm [Reply]

148: What’s worse is they aren’t even jokes. The guy with the moustache – is he trying to be Prince? – is simply the most boring conversationalist ever. Far worse than Mary Worth’s manfriend, Jeff. “Hey, you said room twice – that’s redundant! On Mercury you’d be 132… I am a fountain of useless facts!” “Okay… excuse me while I stick my head in this bucket of fresh cement. Or better yet, your head.” Oh, and those cloying smirks…!

And what about yesterday, when the bandleader had an apparent “senior moment” and began delusionally shrieking “Performing arts centers are for band concerts!”, leading to those seriously concerned looks from his friends? What happened next — was he given his meds, carted off, what? No clue; instead we’re back to smirky smalltalk in today’s episode.

This strip is so bad but I just can’t turn away.
Library Cat
January 27th, 2006 at 12:44 pm [Reply]

#152

The bandleader (I’ve been reading this strip for over twenty years and I still can’t remember his name, Winkle, Dinkle…something like that) should have been carted off earlier this week. He was testing the acoustics of a Performing Arts Center that hasn’t been built yet by directing a band that wasn’t there! Perhaps the baton is magic. I am not a huge fan of this strip and had nominated for it to get the Curmudgeon but this week the damn thing has gone off the deep end. Did Batiuk and Johnny Hart find a two-for-one stroke deal?
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20060125&name=Funky_Winkerbean
Eli
April 29th, 2007 at 8:21 am [Reply]

I think the different font in B.C. is because he just left it blank and let an editor fill it in.

“It’s the only way to learn how to use the _whatever kids are using these days_”
Deaf Dog Training
March 15th, 2008 at 2:34 pm [Reply]

Thanks for writing that article. It was very informative and has helped me.

Please read the posting and discussion policies before posting. You are not required to supply an e-mail address to comment; however, doing so decreases the likelihood of your comment being flagged as spam. E-mail addresses will never be made public or seen by anyone but the site writers, who may use them to communicate with commentors.

Archives:

Comment of the week:

Main navigation:

Main content:

What a drag it is getting old

155 responses to “What a drag it is getting old”

Leave a Reply

All the cool kids…

Randomly Selected Post O’ Mystery