The Comics Curmudgeon

Just say no to “stuff”

Mary Worth, 9/3/04

You people don’t understand how hard it’s been this week to maintain my strict adherence to the mission of this blog and not turn it into “I read this current bizarre, drug-themed storyline of Mary Worth so you don’t have to,” because Lord knows, it’s tempting. I thought the strip had reached an absolute pinnacle when evil androgynous meth fiend Tommy fantasized about his very own meth lab, but that was just a warm-up for a temper tantrum in which the young junkie rages at his dead father’s inability to love his mind-altering substances, which he refers to, inexplicably, as “stuff.”

Earlier this week, faithful reader Rebecca O. noted: “Since this Mary Worth meth lab seems to have some staying power, I must opine that the she-man can’t be the object of Wilbur’s attraction’s son. To me, their interaction points to the she-man being a friend of the lady’s son or a son of the lady’s friend. No son would ever think of his mom as ‘you always were soft.’ Children don’t make nostalgic judgments of their parents, just judgments. Plus, the interaction just reeks that pseudo-familial kinkiness, even without the leotard and pectoral breasts.” Rebecca, your logic holds water as far as it goes, but you’re working on a flawed assumption here: that Mary Worth characters interact in a way that resembles the way actual humans interact. Today’s strip ought to make it clear that Mary Worth can no more convey the actual dynamics of a family torn apart by drug addiction than it can present well-drawn facial expressions. Even with that in mind, though, I can’t argue with this comment by the author of Subdivided We Stand: “Please, please, oh Mary Worth creators, let dear sweet Mare get her first taste of crystal meth. That’s exactly what this strip needs.”