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It’s so old, it’s new

Luann, 9/21/06

How much of a loser is Brad DeGroot? Well, I think it’s safe to say that he doesn’t exactly have a strong internal sense of interior design, so his enthusiasm for the house must be based entirely on its present decor. And since this has been Mrs. Horner’s house for about ever, we can assume that it’s done up more or less like a home in a TDIET panel. (And let’s say nothing of the old lady smell.) This, then, is Brad’s dream crib. “Oh, the textured olive-green rug in the living room really goes nicely with the matching green glass chandelier, and … ooh, look! Hummels!”

Rex Morgan, M.D., 9/21/06

Boy, I’m beginning to see why Rex might want to find comfort in the arms of another. Hmmm, you were held hostage at gunpoint for the better part of an afternoon? BORRR-ing! But wait! I have to make a few phone calls to my credit card companies? DAMN YOU, MYSTERIOUS PURSE-SNATCHER! DAMN YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL! June’s so angry she appears to be transforming into a Bratz™ doll in panel three.

So, where do you all think the Rex Morganians are going with this? My guess: Identity theft! Proving once and for all that June Morgan is no plugger.

Marmaduke, 9/21/06

I couldn’t tell you why, exactly, but this image is for me by far the most unsettling one in the comics today. I suppose that’s supposed to be a trap door (that Marmadue opened from the inside?) but to me it looks like an arbitrary chunk of ceiling that’s been mysteriously removed so that the sinister Great Dane can just stare down at his owners with his huge, soulless eyes.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 03:46 pm and is filed under Luann, Marmaduke, Rex Morgan, M.D.. |

191 responses to “It’s so old, it’s new”

Geezil
September 21st, 2006 at 3:50 pm [Reply]

Er… is Marmaduke now influenced by internet memes?

Cause that looks like an homage to Ceiling Cat to me.
Blueline
September 21st, 2006 at 3:52 pm [Reply]

I’m pretty sure the DeGroot’s house isn’t that big – they must have a nice chunk o’ change in the bank. Why weren’t THEY held up at gunpoint?
MrP
September 21st, 2006 at 3:58 pm [Reply]

Oh yes, that is indeed Marmaduke… Or rather, that’s the ghost of Marmaduke 3, returning every night to torment his owners, who left him in the attic and promptly forgot about him! By the time he died, they’d already gotten Marmaduke 4, who was lost in a tragic lawnmower accident about a year later. The current Marmaduke is still sleeping in the livingroom, happily unaware of why his name on the ownership papers has a “5″ behind it.
cat disliker
September 21st, 2006 at 3:59 pm [Reply]

Much discussion about ceiling cat already ensued on the last post, and it it creepy. Of course, I think that anytime I see a cat looking at me.

You know, they can kill babies. It’s true. I read it on Sen. Ted Stevens’ “bunch o’ tubes” internet.

Anything that cool ought to be true.
yellojkt
September 21st, 2006 at 4:00 pm [Reply]

Marmaduke is staring down from the secret panel where Mr 70s Mustache keeps his stash. Next week he yells at ‘Duke for knocking over the Gro-Lites in the basement.
Steve
September 21st, 2006 at 4:02 pm [Reply]

I can’t tell you how bummed I am that I was beaten to the Ceiling Cat comparison. I maintain the small cat watching is creepier than the humongous dog.
Adam
September 21st, 2006 at 4:07 pm [Reply]

“We got the television too. We run movies. What can I offer you? “
Corinne
September 21st, 2006 at 4:10 pm [Reply]

I’m a little confused about how Mrs. Horner’s house fits together – what with all the various roof lines and that strange little addition on the front right side. Has the artist ever actually seen a real house?
Caped Boy
September 21st, 2006 at 4:13 pm [Reply]

Regarding recent MW — I understand they drag storylines out, but wouldnt you think that they should MINIMIZE the amount of time they show Aldo drinking and driving, rather than spanning it out? Because right now, we and the impressionable young Mary Worth readers are only being treated to the perspective of how pleasureable and relaxing it is to drink Johnny while driving.
Zikar
September 21st, 2006 at 4:15 pm [Reply]

#9: Somehow, I’m really hoping people aren’t using MW as lessons for life. If they are, it would go a long way in explaining the world’s current state of affairs…
AhClem
September 21st, 2006 at 4:17 pm [Reply]

Does June have some kind of artificial larynx implant? How else could she talk with her mouth closed?

If Dr. Morgan installed it, that could be a real advantage — especially if he can turn it off via remote control. “Dammit, Rex! I’ve told you a thousand times not to p… [click]“
Caped Boy
September 21st, 2006 at 4:18 pm [Reply]

It would also explain the recent boomlet of amoeba-style dress shirts and blouses in Paris and Milan.
Uncle Lumpy
September 21st, 2006 at 4:19 pm [Reply]

I assume the sign in front of the Horner place reads, “Forsaken.”
Captain Slack
September 21st, 2006 at 4:20 pm [Reply]

Bonus for anyone who can identify the movie the title of this post is from!

“It’s so new it’s true… Simone Lo has created a new, new look for every man, woman and child, and they can all afford it. It’s called the Bare Look! So hooray for Simone Lo! (pause) What the hell am I talking about?”
Darth Paradox
September 21st, 2006 at 4:27 pm [Reply]

#10: Well, if Mary Worth isn’t actually being used as a source for life lessons and role models, wouldn’t all the sanctimonious arrogance of Mary and her friends be going to waste?

Oh, if only we could tap it for a renewable energy source.
Senator Wizzrobe
September 21st, 2006 at 4:30 pm [Reply]

A3G: Margo is simply oozing self-confidence, but from the looks of her right cheek in panel one, she’s working on a severe case of the mumps. Let’s hope Eric Mills likes women that resemble diseased chipmunks.

Cathy: Let’s pause for a moment, Cathy. Which is worse – leaving an untightened top or holding the carton upside down and spilling its contents all over the floor?

TDIET: The gentleman on the left’s ranting in the bottom half of the panel is at least merited. The boat above is just passing behind, while the other car is obviously milliseconds away from plowing into the driver’s side of his car. Now, if only it would decapitate the characters and release us from the perpetual horror that is TDIET.
Mouschi
September 21st, 2006 at 4:31 pm [Reply]

So, in the vein of Pearls Before Swine taking a swipe at Cathy Guisewite a while back, today’s Lio harshly depicts Cathy’s new husband hiding in a bar attempting to avoid the shrieking horror of his new life.
bootsybooks
September 21st, 2006 at 4:33 pm [Reply]

# 9, and your point is…?
Zikar
September 21st, 2006 at 4:38 pm [Reply]

#18: I don’t think he realizes the awesomeness of watching every single action painstakingly rendered with such dramatic flair, each word and gesture lovingly handcrafted, every platitude freshly served, and free refills on arrogance.

Either that, or MW is in normal time, and we are all in a fast time pocket, and simply cannot comprehend their speed of existence.
Camster
September 21st, 2006 at 4:42 pm [Reply]

Thanks, Mouschi, for the tip to today’s Lio — gotta remember to check that strip daily. When it’s on, it’s great.
Dread Scott
September 21st, 2006 at 4:56 pm [Reply]

#14 – Pret a Porter, right? I think I have that spelling correct….
SmartPeopleOnIce
September 21st, 2006 at 4:56 pm [Reply]

#14 Bonus for anyone who can identify the movie the title of this post is from!

Well, not a movie per se, but it seems to sum up TDIET pretty well.
gnome de blog
September 21st, 2006 at 4:57 pm [Reply]

Damn! I knew there was a design flaw in my house. Our attic access is hidden away in the corner of the closet, not the middle of the bedroom ceiling.

Unless that’s the access to their “play room.” I would have thought it would be easier to soundproof in the basement.
Son of Slam
September 21st, 2006 at 5:07 pm [Reply]

Ceiling cat? or Terrorist Cat?
edgeways
September 21st, 2006 at 5:36 pm [Reply]

so… how does that dog get up there in the first place?
Chromium
September 21st, 2006 at 5:46 pm [Reply]

#8- I think that addition is an outhouse.
girl_sinister
September 21st, 2006 at 5:50 pm [Reply]

hey, my new house has green shag carpet, wood paneling in EVERY ROOM, and avocado green everything. including the toilets.
am i moving into Brad’s dream crib??
*scared*
Gnarl E.
September 21st, 2006 at 5:55 pm [Reply]

Old ladies live in 30’s bungalows or 50’s ranches, not spindly shacks that look like something from the Romanian countryside circa 1890.
Nehdeen
September 21st, 2006 at 5:57 pm [Reply]

Forget decor… why, aside from narrative convenience, would Brad want to live in a house by himself, anyway? At least in my experience, single 20-somethings aren’t usually homeowners.
philip
September 21st, 2006 at 5:59 pm [Reply]

Nice to know that June — even at her angriest — is still using her “Vocabulary Builders.” Thank you, Dr. Thesaurus.
Brahmb
September 21st, 2006 at 6:10 pm [Reply]

You think Marmaduke was disturbing for YOU? I had my glasses off and it looked – roughly- like a marred up penis coming down out of the ceiling…
Captain Slack
September 21st, 2006 at 6:17 pm [Reply]

Dread Scott @#21: Yes you do.

SPOI@#22: Actually, it is, but yes it does.
lascauxcaveman
September 21st, 2006 at 6:23 pm [Reply]

Mrs Horners house? Be about $850,000 in my old nabe in Seattle. Probably a little under a half million where I live now.
Christopher
September 21st, 2006 at 6:26 pm [Reply]

My theory is that Ms. Horner was a midget, and her house is actually made up of two extremely short stories.

Because otherwise there’s a regular sized window leading into the crawlspace.

Brad & Co. are looking at the guest outhouse, a standing room only unattached addition for regular sized people. With chandelier.

Jesus, why’d you mention how badly the house is drawn? First reading the strip, I just glossed over it, but now I can’t stop focusing on it.
treedweller
September 21st, 2006 at 6:27 pm [Reply]

A3G: Lu Ann, being merely a gentle painter of botanical subjects, can’t understand all the hostility toward her.

Luann: Not only is that a bizarre security-guard shack attached to the front of the house, but it appears there is a log cabin attached to the back. Maybe the Horners built one room at a time as they could afford it, going with whatever style was in vogue at the time. Presumably the guard shack was purchased from a university’s surplus auction.
TB Tabby
September 21st, 2006 at 7:16 pm [Reply]

3. Which Marmaduke was it that got infected by that alien virus from “The Thing?”
juggernaut
September 21st, 2006 at 7:18 pm [Reply]

MAN, those are some fine, pouty lips on June. It’s a shame they’re purely ornamental, tho, and don’t actually open and close when he talks.
juggernaut
September 21st, 2006 at 7:19 pm [Reply]

MAN, those are some fine, pouty lips on June. It’s a shame they’re purely ornamental, tho, and don’t actually open and close when she talks.
Mik Holmes
September 21st, 2006 at 7:19 pm [Reply]

The mother in Luann (unless the mother is luann, in which case I apologize; I don’t read the comic) has a very odd expression in panel 3. The dad at least has an okay confused look, I guess, but the mom is just… I can’t even THINK of a word for that expression.
juggernaut
September 21st, 2006 at 7:19 pm [Reply]

yeah – that’s it.
Harry Paratestes
September 21st, 2006 at 7:20 pm [Reply]

Good old Marmaduke is about to be a participant in a 3-way beastiality film! A smut film director has been rolling the cameras while the Mr does the Mrs, and now Marmaduke’s going to share them and be shared. What a vile family comic strip.
Luann: Brad’s all excited now, but wait till he smells the reek of decades of ‘grandma sweat’ that have been absorbed into the walls. Yummy!
banannie
September 21st, 2006 at 7:29 pm [Reply]

You described my gramma’s house in such detail – right down to the Hummels.
jonnya
September 21st, 2006 at 7:51 pm [Reply]

This whole Ceiling Cat craze is new to me. So new that it’s old, right Brad?

http://images.quizilla.com/J/JO/JON/jonnyace/1158885982_ceilingcat.jpg
Tycho Anomaly
September 21st, 2006 at 7:55 pm [Reply]

Today’s Garfield merits an “Escalating Sexual Horror” post all its own: “It’s hard to be friends with someone who’s seen you naked” can only mean that Jon’s relationship with Liz has moved to the next level, and they let the cat watch!
Proteus
September 21st, 2006 at 8:22 pm [Reply]

Wow. An angry June Morgan has pouty lips that the Patterson girls can only dream about. But Margo, rattled by the presence of a more attractive rival, has forgotten the most important thing she needs when meeting with Eric Mills, a known hat man. Meanwhile Molly, well, poor Molly. Never having been chased by dogs and gunfire into a river, she cannot understand all the moisture.
jonnya
September 21st, 2006 at 8:25 pm [Reply]

Geez Tycho, after reading your post it suddenly became clear to me what image is neccessary to tie up some of today’s threads :

http://images.quizilla.com/J/JO/JON/jonnyace/1158888075_ceilinggcat.jpg
Mac
September 21st, 2006 at 8:25 pm [Reply]

Thank you so much, Tycho, now I have the image of Ceiling Garfield burned into my brain.
Mik Holmes
September 21st, 2006 at 8:40 pm [Reply]

“Ceiling Margo wildly overacts at you sitting.”
Len
September 21st, 2006 at 9:04 pm [Reply]

I guess we’ll have to wait for Dingo to come back, to find out if Brewster’s outfit is Gay or Eurotrash?

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/uclickcomics/20060921/cx_tmrkt_uc/tmrkt20060921
J.P. Patches
September 21st, 2006 at 9:10 pm [Reply]

When I saw the title of today’s blog entry, I thought it was referring to the joke in today’s Luann, not Mrs. Horner’s house.
Islamorada Girl
September 21st, 2006 at 9:20 pm [Reply]

There was a joke in today’s Luanne?
mndean
September 21st, 2006 at 9:22 pm [Reply]

#7 – A Touch of Evil reference, here in comics curmudgeonland? Get me annoyed, get me annoyed.
mndean
September 21st, 2006 at 9:32 pm [Reply]

Luann – I was wondering what the hell that roof is made of, and then it came to me…gingerbread. I’d have a inspector come look at the house. Just not a hungry one.
Summerhouse
September 21st, 2006 at 9:35 pm [Reply]

It is with a tragic sense of certainty that I predict many upcoming Luann strips about Brad’s irresponsibility as a renter, culminating in his setting the rental property on fire. I’m not saying it will be funny, ’cause it won’t; I’m just saying it will BE.
Lisa
September 21st, 2006 at 10:00 pm [Reply]

Well, maybe Brad can saturate the house with Febreze to get rid of the old lady smell. Then he will finally get some sweet, sweet lovin’. I’m just worried it’s going to be with TJ.
Poteet
September 21st, 2006 at 10:32 pm [Reply]

#54 — I’m no financial advisor, but I’ve heard some horror stories about the consequences of novices investing money in rental properties, and I would think a good mutual fund might…oh hell, go right ahead, DeGroots. And thank you for risking your financial future for our collective entertainment!
Morgan
September 21st, 2006 at 10:34 pm [Reply]

Having recently helped my husband deal with the repercussions of identity theft, I can appreciate why June might wish death and worse upon her robbers.
Monkey's Paw
September 21st, 2006 at 10:41 pm [Reply]

#56 I can just see their thought process. “Hmm, a rundown 1930’s gingerbread shanty with outhouse. I bet it’ll have great resale value!”

I also like the four foot weeds in the backyard that make it look like some sort of b-movie setting.
Doug Puthoff
September 21st, 2006 at 11:18 pm [Reply]

9-22 MW: Finally! What we’ve been wating for has happened! Now I’m wondering if he’ll hit anybody.
jailbird
September 21st, 2006 at 11:34 pm [Reply]

You beat me to it, Doug! Is this the end for Aldo? I love how he’s just muttering “oh no….”.
Cornwhacker
September 21st, 2006 at 11:39 pm [Reply]

Doug: Aldo will land on Molly the bear. I mean, duh.
FE
September 21st, 2006 at 11:53 pm [Reply]

So Aldo has realized that MW is out of his league. When life has gotten that bad, drinking and driving your way to destruction seems almost reasonable.
Sharkbait
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:31 am [Reply]

Aldo is probably thinking: “Oh No! I shouldn’t have swerved to avoid that poorly-designed, imported camera tripod somebody left on the edge of the cliff!”

But if Aldo is seriously injured, who in the world will be willing to spend the weeks or months it takes to nurse him back to health? I’m really worried about him now.
Bombcar
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:55 am [Reply]

I wonder if Aldo knows that flying without a license is not allowed. I’m sure Mary will let him know.
Rex Morgan, FOOB
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:58 am [Reply]

Aldo has learned that drinking and driving is as dangerous as being kissed by a bear and driving.
2fs
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:11 am [Reply]

I never thought of MW as being political before, but clearly, this is a setup for a Democratic campaign ad: “Republican Governor Barfo’s budget cuts will cause roadways to stop dead at cliffsides, with no railings or warning signs. Do you want to your children, blissfully picnicking in Somnambulant Valley Park, to have their summer idyll rudely shattered by the flying and bloody body parts of yet another drunken stalker who’s driven off the road? Vote Gezelter: Democrat for Governor.”
mark
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:17 am [Reply]

Sept 22.

TDIET features a B&W television.

MT: Having aided a chicken kicking psychopath shoot a bear and dog off a cliff, the angry mob grows restless — they haven’t got all day to hunt down a current swept bear. MT was last seen looking concerned.

MW: Aldo is the lastest in a long line of characters in serials that have been launched off a cliff in the last couple weeks. Aldo, The Butler, Andy and Molly are bound to meet up sooner or later.

Pluggers, despite routinely pawning their possessions, driving impossibly shitty cars, and being completely uninsured, are against welfare — what are they in favor of? I doubt they are libertarians, so I’m going to have to assume they want the government to spend their taxes on bibles and nerve gassing muslims, hippies, and working moms.

The continually incompetent Mother Goose & Grimm confuses dog show gags with year book gags.

Drabble: a teenage male doesn’t wish to be in an art class due to a nude model.

Ziggy: still sucking it.
angry black woman
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:52 am [Reply]

Is it falling off a cliff month in the comics-verse? jeez! But I love how Aldo doesn’t let go of the bottle as he hurdles to his death. I also love that there’s no Molly the Bear or a deer in the road or any outside thing causing him to go off the road. Just random wobbling and Suddenly! he’s flying through the air. I knew this would be awesome! I KNEW it.
angry black woman
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:58 am [Reply]

jonnya…. I heart you so much.

#62, 63, and 66 – rofl. (yeah, I got nothing else. You all just made me laugh so hard I have hiccups)
Wirrrn
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:01 am [Reply]

Not only has Marmaduke been using his attic spyhole to watch the mechanics of sexual congress in his human companions, he appears to have caught the lady of the house cheating on her husband with The Joker…
AppleGirl
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:47 am [Reply]

MW – Aldo, you rock! This is sooo excellent. A moment to savor. Best comic EVER. But I am a bit surprised Aldo couldn’t keep the binge going for longer than an hour. Still, an awesome plunge.
jenga
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:57 am [Reply]

Aldo is far too relaxed to understand what is about to happen to him. I’d say that its far more likely he is playing everybodies favorite game, “let’s drive wasted with our eyes covered” and said “Oh no. . .” as he choked on the vomit he was spewing all over his arm resulting in some splash back to the face. All this while his car goes a’ hurtling off that cliff.
Dub Not Dubya
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:00 am [Reply]

In the RMMD that Josh posted above, angry June reminds me of Mary Cheney but with different color hair.
Dub Not Dubya
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:02 am [Reply]

Also, I know next to nothing about fashion, but again in RMMD, that has to be the worst lipstick color ever.
jenga
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:04 am [Reply]

Let this be a lesson to you, kids, drunken road peek-a-boo is not for the faint of heart.
Dorianne
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:38 am [Reply]

Oh nooooooooooo! Mary Worth will have to nurse the crippled Aldo back to health!

Which could lead to some interesting, “Misery”-type scenarios, in which MW enacts her revenge…

…or a long line of boring strips in which the ever-perfect MW, with Aldo trapped in the hospital for months, rehabilitates him from his stalker ways.
bisbane
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:47 am [Reply]

MW–OK, now I’m confussed. Is Hyot from MT now shooting at the bear, or is he now somehow going to be firing at Aldo???
smacky
September 22nd, 2006 at 6:13 am [Reply]

# 68: Yep, PRIORITIES. Aldo keeps a tight grip on the bottle and lets go of the wheel. Still, you have to admire how he complete a full hour of drinking and driving before hurling his POS car off a cliff.

And Hoyt finds his disciples lack of faith disturbing. The Church of Chicken Kickin’, Bear Shooting Adventists is getting off to a less than stellar start.
Christopher
September 22nd, 2006 at 6:27 am [Reply]

So.. wait.

Pluggers are so poor they drive 30 year old cars and fairly routinely end up pawning televisions that are ten years old because they’re at such a crisis point that even that meagre amount of money will be like manna from heaven.

Pluggers also went to College for at least four years, earned a degree, and apparently work in jobs with excellent benefits packages including lots of paid sick leave and comprehensive, affordable health insurance that covers back injuries.

So… who operates in both those realms?

The answer is: People who are currently working on their Master’s, necessitating scrimping and saving, but also giving them access to excellent jobs, and quite possibly rich reletives to help with emergency back surgery.

Pluggers = Devoted College Students

Huh, I never woulda guessed.
Len
September 22nd, 2006 at 6:43 am [Reply]

I forwarded Thursday’s “Get Fuzzy” to my friend Will Morgan, proprietor of “30th Century Comics,” a comix shop in Putney, London. He volunteered the following simultaneosu translation:

Ooh, okay, this is fun. Let’s see…

“Butcher’s” = Look or look at (from Cockney Rhyming Slang, “Butcher’s Hook”)

“Cocked (Summat) Up” = Made a mistake about, or a mess of, something. Also a verb, to “cock up”. “To bollix” would, I think be the Colonial equivalent. “Summat”, interestingly, as a variant of “something”, is a northern
use, so appropriate for an alleged Mancunian. (London/Thames Estuary would be “Somefink”.)

“Well knackered.” – Very tired. “Knackered” is an old term (18th Century or so) contracted from “So tired, I’m ready for the knacker’s yard.” – i.e the slaughterhouse for elderly horses. The use of “Well” as a variant on “Very”
is a comparatively recent innovation (15 years), inputted from Aussie soaps which are popular here in the UK.

“Bevvy” – drink, almost always alcoholic, but sometimes referrring to tea or coffee. “Cuppa” would be more used for non-alcoholic, however.

“Kip” – nap.

“Diddled me brolly” – the only blatant error I found. Literally translated, this means “Tricked or deceived my umberella” . The writer’s obviously heard “Diddled” in a context of dishonesty and misapplied it. “Nicked” means
stolen; “Diddled” means “Conned”.

“Khazi” – the toilet, imported from UK troops who served in, er, Africa or India. One of them hot places.

“Blighty” – the Old Country.

(blinks) How’d I do?

I’ll follow this and see if I can catch him out again. It’s nice to see a US strip acknowledging any kind of Englishman other than toffs or loveable Cockernees, I must say…

- Will M.
BigBlueGopher
September 22nd, 2006 at 6:54 am [Reply]

In the MaryWorthian Universe’s bastardisation of the concept of time, Aldo Kelrast’s fall to his stalker doom will take a week at least.

In that time he will have sobered up, slept off the hangover and plotted his next act of pensioner-molestation.

I’m guessing there’s a circle of hell that Dante overlooked, reserved especially for ginger ’stached alcoholics who sexually bother the old folk..
Sheila
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:10 am [Reply]

#66, 2sf: Wait, though — some years back I made a rare trip to California, and I distinctly remember driving with an old college buddy, along some famous highway high up on a cliff that parallels the Pacific, and SO HELP ME there was no guard rail, which was kinda freaking me out because I was kinda stoned… Mary Worth lives in California, right? So could this be that road? (C’mon, Californians, what’s the route number? 100? Something like that?)

#76, Dorianne: Who saw an obscure movie called Bitter Moon that had this plot? Or at least the part of it where someone winds up being “nursed” by a former love interest who’s using the situation for physical torture…

Also, I love the understatement of Aldo’s “Oh, no….” Nothing so energetic as “Eeeeek!” or “Auggghhhh!” or “Help!!!” or “Jesus Fucking CHRIST!!!” No, just a modest, maiden-auntish “Oh, no…” Talk about going gentle into that good night…
rsf
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:13 am [Reply]

Dick Tracy crossed over to investigate a vehicle plunging over a cliff in Gasoline Alley. Maybe he will show up to grill MW for four weeks.
Len
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:31 am [Reply]

As we can plainly see, Extra-Terrestrials are seldom Pluggers (or they’d have TWO keys on their keychain!).

I’ll bet some of you are relieved that the E.T. wasn’t performing an abortion…

http://www.gocomics.com/lio/2006/09/22/
EZ_e
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:45 am [Reply]

Aldo’s going to show up at Mary’s with the standard cartoon black eye and the steering wheel dangling around his neck, begging for help and forgiveness.
Craigers
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:55 am [Reply]

9/22 MW… I love how Aldo is apparently surprised that he went off the road when he is “driving” with no hands on the wheel and his forearm covering his eyes.
Craigers
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:01 am [Reply]

MF : Finally, a MF theme we can all get behind… “Americans are stupid”. Except, I guess, for Americans.
Concerned Citizen
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:02 am [Reply]

Marmaduke…
The Haunting (1959 or 60, not that newer one)…
Coincidence? I think not.
yudantaiteki
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:06 am [Reply]

79 – I think the Pluggers universe is one of 20-30 years or more ago when someone with a high-school education could still get a high paying job in a factory that would support a family and life in a rural town.
Ran
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:20 am [Reply]

Wait till Brad starts poking around in the basement and find out what happened to Mr. Horner!

And those nosey neighbors.

And the bratty kid from down the block.

And that vacuum cleaner saleman who was soooo pushy.

And those Mormon boys.

Lucky for Luann Mrs Horner decided that living alone was too stressful before she got invited to the basement ‘to see some old photographs’.
Jimmy
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:33 am [Reply]

I wonder if Aldo will pass Sarge on the way down ?
Ned Ryerson
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:45 am [Reply]

I learned a new phrase from today’s TDIET, which I shall be employing at every opportunity.

Aw, Ned, is that the last jelly doughnut? Do you want to share it?
Tough crumpets, lady, I saw it first!

Aldo and “Johnny” are kind of like a new twist on Thelma and Louise. Who knows what kind of fantastic adventures they had on that hourlong joy ride? (Lots of sidesiping and vomiting, probably)
Ned Ryerson
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:46 am [Reply]

Um, that should be sideswiping.
David C
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:55 am [Reply]

86 – 9/22 MWâ€¦ I love how Aldo is apparently surprised that he went off the road when he is â€œdrivingâ€ with no hands on the wheel and his forearm covering his eyes.

It’s funny on several different levels. Aldo is rapidly draining a bottle of whiskey while driving… but he wears his seat belt! And he takes one hand off the wheel to cover his eyes, but keeps the other tightly clutching his beloved bottle.

In all the “drunks driving off cliffs” accidents of real-life history, I imagine not a single one went over in Aldo’s pose.
anne
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:55 am [Reply]

In MW I like how the car seems to jump from the road before it even gets to the cliff. I think Aldo is saying “Oh no…” becuase here we go again: his car is launching itself off of the ground.

or “Oh no, my car has lines around it.” or “Oh no, my car is sort of morphing into a different car in between panels — it was kind of sportsy looking in the first, but in the second it looks like a crappy sedan. I can’t watch.”
Dingo
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:01 am [Reply]

Okay, okay. I shouldn’t be on here. My job interview is in two hours and I have yet to shave, shower, or kick a chicken. No time to read through the 90-something posts on here before this but…

In today’s Mark Trail, why doesn’t anyone seem surprised in panel one that there’s a talking asshole? Sure, I realize that you can say the thought balloon goes off to man #4 but the way man #2’s legs are drawn, doesn’t it look like a thought balloon is coming straight out of the man’s anus and saying, “We’ve had enough, Hoyt!” Is this the Mark Trail version of Brokebear Mountain?

Plus, I love the way that Hoyt’s mustache is drawn in panel 3. This, folks, is a man with a Farrah Fawcett poster still hung up in his garage right next to his “oil rags” â€” the ones that have a slightly briny scent of freshly mowed grass, n’est ce pais.

And, lastly, just how bad is the transportation budget in Santa Royale that they build roads along cliffsides without installing guardrails?
Chromium
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:09 am [Reply]

OT, is anyone capable of explaining today’s Arlo n’ Janis to me?
JSM
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:11 am [Reply]

so that the sinister Great Dane can just stare down at his owners with his huge, soulless eyes

That’s nothing. Try being in the middle of a passionate interlude with your loved one, only to glance over at the side of the bed to find a Great Dane’s head resting on the mattress, staring at you as if to say “Whatcha’ doin’?”

Can really throw you off your stride, let me tell you.
David C
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:23 am [Reply]

97 – Hmm, that Arlo & Janis is a puzzler. My first thought is that it was some riff on the “Never wear white after Labor Day” thing, but that would have to go in the opposite direction (i.e., changing the color from white to something else.)

The only other idea doesn’t make a lot of sense – winter camouflage?
afdumin
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:26 am [Reply]

The simple answer to your Marmaduke quandry is that the missing panel above the bed is where the Mr. and Mrs. have installed their kinky ceiling mirror. Who says wild sex has to stop when you have children?
Dennis Jimenez
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:39 am [Reply]

I’m hearing Freebird as Aldo careens off the cliff.
Chromium
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:39 am [Reply]

99 – That’s what I thought too (winter camouflage), but… but why? I’m wondering if this is some sort of A&J running gag that I missed.
DunkelBlau
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:46 am [Reply]

I absolutely adore that Aldo continues to cling to his beloved brown bottle as he falls to his drunken doom. There simply isn’t enough of that in the world.

Also:
Q: What did Mary call Aldo when he began to complain too much?
A: A “wino”!
Mumbles
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:47 am [Reply]

All you’d need to make MW even awesomer is a droll voiceover like the Dukes of Hazzard: “Well, it sure looks like our boy Aldo is gonna hit the cliff like a bag of ping-pong balls on Mr.Moose…” (Banjo twang). Rest in peace, Waylon Jennings.
stevedogg
September 22nd, 2006 at 9:53 am [Reply]

i think that aldo, having gone completely mental, decided it was the right time for the ed grimley dance.

right for us, i must say.
Sheila
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:06 am [Reply]

One thing is definite — Aldo isn’t going to DIE. Because if he did, Mary would have to be Gnawed By Remorse forever and ever, which could lead her to give up meddling, which would destroy the whole premise of the strip. No, Aldo’s going to survive his fateful plunge, so that Mary can effect some kind of treacly platitudinous reconciliation with him…

I AM dying to know whether he offed his wife, though! If so, all bets are off — how could Mary reconcile with a MURDERER? I guess they’d just pack him off to prison with ol’ Tommy, huh, thus resolving the plot and justifying that dumb-ass “intervention”.

You Better Not!!!
Dennis Jimenez
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:19 am [Reply]

103 – Wouldn’t that be “whino?”
java-jon
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:26 am [Reply]

The last panel of MW worth would have been better if Aldo had said, “look ma, no hands!”
Biblio
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:33 am [Reply]

Margo is so TICKED OFF in today’s strip that she caused second-hand head bobble in that poor receptionist.
pelagius
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:42 am [Reply]

MW: Gee, didn’t see this coming. At least we can take comfort in the fact that Aldo’s fall will be cushioned by the bodies of Narna’s stupid butler, Molly the bear, and Andy the dog.
cheech wizard
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:44 am [Reply]

Aldo’s car will land on the chickenkicker, thereby saving Molly and Andy, before toppling into the river. Later, his bloated drowned corpse provides them with sustenance, thereby saving them again.

Doesn’t your dog (and midget bear) deserve Aldo?
Lava
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:46 am [Reply]

97, 99, & 101:
I think it’s because it gets dark earlier and he wants to be able to find the grill after dark. If he paints it white, it will be easier to see.
jonnya
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:47 am [Reply]

97-99-101- I’m going to guess that he wants to be able to see it after sundown. The days are shorter, the darkness comes earlier and Arlo figgers if he paints the grill white he can still effectively BBQ in those dark autumn evenings. Or least see it better from his house. Dude’s holding on to the last vestiges of summer fun. That’s my theory at this time.

We, the Curmudgeon Army, choose to post on, obsess over, satirize and skewer the funnies multiple times a day, but we are by far the minority- we enjoy scratching our heads and “ironicallyâ€ interpreting the medium. I think your average hooplehead shouldn’t have to work so hard to understand a three-panel gag. Having said that let me add that I like A&J a lot and consider the characterization and writing to be way above average. If it were Herb or Jamaal or one of those fucking Indians from “Redeye” (my latest favorite bad strip) or even Crankshaft that were painting his grill white I’d go off
The rails- but the â€œAâ€ man gets a pass.
Anonymous
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:59 am [Reply]

#106: “103 – Wouldnâ€™t that be ‘whino?’ â€

No, that’s a wefewence to one of the Pwuggers . . .
rodent
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:06 am [Reply]

Did anyone check out the Phantom’s ass today!? What’s it like to run around in skin-tight striped panties?

Also, do you ever wonder what a Phantom vs Margo fight would be like?
smacky
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:15 am [Reply]

So when Baldo (the strip) reaches its climax of the week (heh heh), which family member will be standing outside the curtain ready to mortify Baldo (the horny boy)?

Will it be smattass sister, sick dad, or legally blind aunt? Pehaps on Saturday Baldo will hear a high-pitched voice, glance behind him, and find his tubby friend standing in the stall with him, naked and holding a talking loofa.
Dennis Jimenez
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:18 am [Reply]

By the time Margo got done with the Phantom there’d be nothing left but white bleached bones.
NightRaven
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:24 am [Reply]

Tomorrow, on Mary Worth:
Aldo and “Johnny” will be flung out of the car, breaking “Johnny”. Aldo, in a drunken stupor, will think “Johnny” is real and ramble off to get help. But Aldo, being a drunken stalker, will not understand the hostility towards him from Mary and the Charterstone crew.
Eventually he will fall into a river and Aldo, not being a bear, will drown.

I did not understand tha Luann strip, why does Brad suddenly stop saying “Bachelor pad” and change it to “Domestic residence” ? IsnÂ¨t Brad a bachelor, and if so, isn’t “bachelor pad” the correct term for his residence ?

- NightRaven
Sheila
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:26 am [Reply]

Isn’t “domestic residence” redundant?
GodWithFire
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:28 am [Reply]

MW: The local DOT has really dropped the ball; I can’t believe they wouldn’t even bother to put up a guardrail on that cliffside road, er, roadside cliff.

Gasoline Alley: Ok, wtf is going on with this Dick Tracy bit? Now they’ve imported that bizzare stinky fellow from the recent Al Kinda story. What’s next, Lindsay Lattie the Transgender marksman, er, markswoman showing up to drill Slim between the eyes?

(Well, a boy can dream)
smidge
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:31 am [Reply]

On Saturday, Aldo will really hit bottom.
frippy
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:32 am [Reply]

116: He made the change because his prospective landlords would be his parents and he doesn’t want to give them the impression that he’ll use the house for keggers or for having all manners of non-marital sex with a stream of young women. Not that the latter is ever likely to happen. I mean, it is Brad.
lizpet
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:38 am [Reply]

If Aldo dies, well, at least the bottle of “Johnny” made him feel no pain.
If he lives, he can put the guilt and shame on Mary in a big way, while he recovers in the hospital.
I hope he lives.
gh
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:43 am [Reply]

#s 111, 112

I grill in the winter and late at night in the summer. But then, I have a porchlight. Perhaps Arlo could get one?
SmartPeopleOnIce
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:46 am [Reply]

It just occurred to me that this MT story has been one big rip-off of Butch Cassidy:

Molly: growl-growl-growl (subtitle: Andy, I can’t swim!)
Andy: BARK BARK BARK (subtitle: Are ya crazy? The fall’s gonna kill us!)

If this ends with Molly riding Kelly Welly around on the handlebars of her little trained bear bicycle while perspective-challenged raindrops the size of greyhound busses fall on their heads, I’m leaving.
SmartPeopleOnIce
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:02 pm [Reply]

Sure, MT and MW are swell, but let us not forget there’s other games a-foot:

Hey kids! Here’s something I’m pretty sure is different between panel 1 and panel 2: Your ability to not wake up screaming.

Mr. Rabbit makes a wrong turn on his way back from the carrot patch. Clearly, for this transgression, Mr. Rabbit must die.

Crikey momma, I haven’t seen anything this disturbing since that scene in Winged Migration where the little gimpy bird makes an emergency landing at the beach…..and about 12 gazillion crabs appear out of nowhere and rip him apart.

William Blake is smiling down from Heaven.
Anonymous
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:04 pm [Reply]

The shotgun-totin’ chicken kicker will fall in the rapids and be saved by Molly or the Wolf-dog. As Molly consumes him, the chicken-kicker will wonder at her hostility toward him.
Zikar
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:09 pm [Reply]

I’m starting to get tired of the new theme in Judge Parker whereby the last panel always has Raju’s progressively uglier mug. Of course, now he’s shooting lightning bolts out of his pores, presumably dissapating sexual tension.

MT: You go, Hoyt, I’ve always rooted for ya!

And, finally, my favorite sound from Phantom: BONGG!

I guess that puts them in conflict.
Zikar
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:12 pm [Reply]

Oh, and for a little fun, try reading the TDIET “commercial” out loud. It’s like two boxcars of adjectives ran into each other, and this is what came out.

“Fellowship repast?” WTF?
SmartPeopleOnIce
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:13 pm [Reply]

#114 (rodent) Did anyone check out the Phantomâ€™s ass today!? Whatâ€™s it like to run around in skin-tight striped panties?

Those aren’t panties, they’re ass-less chaps.

(someone had to say it).
NightRaven
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:15 pm [Reply]

# 120, I haven’t really payed much attention to Luann, are his parents usually very strict or mormons since they would react negatively to such a suggestion ? (Not that a “bachelor pad” insinuates this either, it’s just a word for a place a bachelor lives.)

- NightRaven
rich
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:18 pm [Reply]

Will Dr. Jeff return from Cambodia just in time to take charge of Aldo’s reconstructive face surgery? (And in the end will he be all moustacheless and handsome, like, uh… post-makeover Raju?) Now there’s a happy ending!
JB2
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:19 pm [Reply]

We recently had the sad task of moving an elderly relative into assisted living. Eventually we’ll have to sell the house where she lived for over 50 years. And it won’t be easy. In addition to old lady smell (a combo of sickly sweet perfume, antiseptic ointment, and urine), you’ve got the old lady furniture, old lady clutter, old lady wall-to-wall carpeting in every room, old lady color scheme, old lady decor, and old lady walpaper; and most of the windows are sealed in with glass bricks.

What a huge loser Brad must be; but we knew that.
Proteus
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:20 pm [Reply]

You think MARY will feel bad when Aldo becomes Alpo? No chance lance. This whole twisted set-up is about shaming her friends – the naysaying trio. She now gets to plat them up one side and down the other for not being compassionate enough. Remember the scene at the hospital, the one that seemed so peripheral to the story line? It culminated in her announcing that the world needed more compassion. This is known as signposting, and more information about it can be found on the internet.
SmartPeopleOnIce
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:30 pm [Reply]

#108 (Biblio) Margo is so TICKED OFF in todayâ€™s strip that she caused second-hand head bobble in that poor receptionist.

Maybe she’s so ticked off because in the second panel the receptionist is staring at her chest.

I get that alot (the projectile bobbling I mean, not the staring).
Tommieâ€™s Dream â€Dateâ€
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:34 pm [Reply]

#82 – Sheila, you’re talking about the Coast Highway, State Route 1:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_1

The artwork in the first panel in today’s Rex Morgan (swallowed-a-soap-bar dentition of foreground figure; accentuated perspective; elongated figures) is like something out of a Carmine Infantino Flash comic circa 1964

Yesterday’s Non Sequitur:
http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2006/09/21/

Wiley has a great future working for Hugo Chavez.

It would be great if Aldo’s final words were: “Gasp! This is the end! If only Superman were here! Choke!”
Mike
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:46 pm [Reply]

The plummet over the cliff is actually part of Aldo’s plan. He’s not going to die, but he will be injured enough so that he will have to go to the hospital. The same hospital, no less, where Mary volunteers.

Since Aldo’s arms will be inevitably be broken by the fall, someone will have to bathe him. This is where Mary comes in, and Aldo gets exactly what he wanted in the first place.

And Aldo shielding his face and saying, “Oh, no…”? He got scotch in his eye.
420
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:50 pm [Reply]

# 80,

I will take a moment and thank you for the translations of the GF character. Everyone else here is either pretending to know the meanings or too busy trying to be more clever than the next poster. I’m leaning toward the latter.
SmartPeopleOnIce
September 22nd, 2006 at 12:58 pm [Reply]

From DTM:

Alice Mitchell

She brooks no nonsense, orders Dennis into his corner chair when necessary, and spends considerable time on her knees at the bathtub cleaning the grime from her adventurous offspring…

Yeah, but that wasn’t packing ‘em in anymore, so we’re going to start showing her undies.
gh
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:02 pm [Reply]

#136 [420]

I believe you mean “more clever than the last poster” . . . but by pointing that out, I’ve simply proven your point, haven’t I?
Stuartmm
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:02 pm [Reply]

What is also interesting in Get Fuzzy is that the English cat appears to be a Manchester City fan and not the trendier , owned by Americans, Manchester United. Nice touch
Lee
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:06 pm [Reply]

FOOB: If this had been any other strip, I would have seen the latest Becky “storyline” as a chance to develop her into a more sympathetic character and an opportunity for her to redeem herself. If this had been any other strip, I would have read today’s episode and been sorely disappointed that it had failed to live up to its own possibilities. Luckily, I know better than to expect that from Lynn.
Marion Delgado
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:15 pm [Reply]

How many spinach-related deaths will it take befofe Popeye is removed from our funny pages, where impressionable kids might read it and think spinach is a food?
stevedogg
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:21 pm [Reply]

#124 – i’m thinking someone made a wrong turn at albuquerque
Dennis Jimenez
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:22 pm [Reply]

Freeload

But, if I stayed here with you, girl,
Things just couldn’t be the same.
cause Im as free as a load now,
And this load you can not change.
Lord knows, I can’t cha-ean-ena-enage.
DairyStateDad
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:23 pm [Reply]

Every time I look at the Marmaduke one, just briefly, I keep think it’s Spiderman’s head looking down from the trap door. (The shiny spots on his nose look like Spidey’s eyes, and the snout looks like his head and neck, and the rest of Marmy’s face look like Spidey’s shoulders.) I keep trying to figure out how he ended up in the comic, then I realize I’m mis-seeing it and it’s just the dog.
Hogenmogen
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:25 pm [Reply]

Gil Thorp: I don’t get it. Why is Gil looking so depressed about this Stormy guy who blocked a TD and then forced a fumble? Am I not reading this right and he doesn’t play for Milford? My impression of this week’s GT is that Milford is kicking Oakwood’s ass from one end of the field to the other.

So obviously, this Stormy guy is being built up to be a story character. What’s his dark secret? Gay? Steroids? Has attended BOTH Garfield movies?
ChristianPinko
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:25 pm [Reply]

9/22

TDIET: I had no idea that businesses made exaggerated claims about the services they provide! Thanks for opening my eyes, Mr. Scaduto!

More information about television commercials can be found on the Internet.

Phantom: “Who’s that?” “No one we know! Get him!” Would it have made a difference if they did know the Phantom?

JP: I didn’t know Raju had spider-sense.

RMMD: I don’t have time to look after some kids! I’ve got credit card companies to call!
Hogenmogen
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:29 pm [Reply]

Luann: What I get out of this strip is that Brad stopped saying “Bachelor pad” because it has the negative connotation of a place where a young man would set up camp to party and have wild sexual escapades.

Yeah, Brad Degroot: Incorrigable 20-something Playboy (who rents from his parents who live down the block). Toni is gonna love him now.
smacky
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:30 pm [Reply]

# 138: More disturbing are Alice’s nipple knees.
rich
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:32 pm [Reply]

133, Proteus: Sounds plausible, but in what way does Alpo deserve any compassion? When has he been anything but an obnoxious punk? I’m with the Naysaying Trio — throw that loser off a cliff!
Hogenmogen
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:36 pm [Reply]

On MW: Where have I seen a terrified “Oh no!” while some clown drives off a cliff? That idiot on MT? No, not quite like that… Check this out. I originally found it a few weeks ago through a link from some other poster here. Halfway down the page you see what I’m talking about. I recommend checking out the other Stupid Comics, too. Most of them kept me in stitches for days.
lesles
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:45 pm [Reply]

#146: in the little metropolis where i live, stormy is a high profile brothel owner. she’s run for state parliament and for mayor, and has a building in the middle(ish) of the city with her name emblazoned all over it.

could this be this stormy guy’s dark secret? they do look a bit alike, but then it is GT. you’d be hard pressed to recognise yourself if you’d been given the GT kryten treatment.
jenga
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:56 pm [Reply]

Aldo = Thelma

Johnny = Louise
Rebochan
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:59 pm [Reply]

MW: You guys realize that if Aldo winds up in Mary’s hospital, this is a perfect opportunity for her to smother him with a pillow and be rid of him? Look at that woman. You know she’s killed and she’s just itching to kill again. Her bloodlust cannot be sated!
johnw
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:02 pm [Reply]

Aldo should have followed the Marty Moon Guide to Drinking In Your Car: this summer, the “Gil Thorp” broadcaster went on a bender after going seriously in debt while betting on golf. He bought a bottle, parked his car behind the radio station, and drank himself into oblivion. (Also wearing his seat belt the whole time.) If Aldo had only taken his bottle of Johnny to the housing development’s dumpster, he wouldn’t be flying through the air right now.

146: Gil’s team won the game. He looks like that because (a) he EXPECTS to kick Oakwood’s ass, so it no longer makes him happy, and (b) he only smiles once a semester, and he already did it last week. Stormy Hicks is his star player who, erm, apparently goes both ways. By which I mean he plays offense and defense, of course.
Scoopernicus
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:33 pm [Reply]

Um, which one is ‘Lio’? I’m still getting the hang of the jargon.
Sheila
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:36 pm [Reply]

You know what sucks is “F-Minus.”
Krazy Kat
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:37 pm [Reply]

Aldo’s last words:
“I told you I was hardcore!”
Krazy Kat
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:38 pm [Reply]

I love it! Aldo’s not even letting go of the bottle. I can’t wait for the next strip when we see him riding down, astride the car, waving his hat and whooping!
NightRaven
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:39 pm [Reply]

Hogenmogen:”Luann: What I get out of this strip is that Brad stopped saying â€œBachelor padâ€ because it has the negative connotation of a place where a young man would set up camp to party and have wild sexual escapades.”

Maybe this is a cultural thing, I fail to see the negative in these connotations… And it’s not like he was saying “This would be a perfect place for mad sex parties and group orgies!”.
Hmm…. maybe the joke could also be that since the place (as already discussed) is *not* a “perfect bachelor pad”, his parents are angry that they raised a son with so low standards to what makes a perfect bachelor pad. (At least, if I look at it that way, it’s kindo’ funny to me)
SmartPeopleOnIce
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:48 pm [Reply]

The irony is that this is how Bob Keeshan died.

(just kidding).
Tracibub
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:51 pm [Reply]

Lio is just Lio.

as seen here: http://www.gocomics.com/lio/

and I frickin LOVE F-Minus (most of the time). There was one about a woman blaming a mess on the carpet on the cat, dog, and husband. It cracked me up because my husband has pissed on the wall before. (He was wasted, but still…no excuses!)
Chromium
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:54 pm [Reply]

Nominating #104 for COTW by far.

Thanks, people, for explaining Arlo n’ Janis. I agree Jonnya, I’m a fan of the strip myself, but sometimes it gets wildly confusing (especially when he’s talking to that damn cat). I’m surprised it doesn’t get mentioned on this site more.
Marion Delgado
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:55 pm [Reply]

154: “Look at that woman. You know sheâ€™s killed and sheâ€™s just itching to kill again. Her bloodlust cannot be sated!”

Well, yes, and she’s 128 YEARS OLD this year. Hmmm… insatiable bloodlust, hasn’t aged in 60+ years (even youthened a bit for a while). Drinks dark red wine …..
Sheila
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:58 pm [Reply]

So, hm, to like F-Minus, you need a drunken wall-pissing husband? I think I’ll pass.
Scoopernicus
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:58 pm [Reply]

Lio is just Lio.

So I see. That was a funny comic from yesterday.
Marion Delgado
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:59 pm [Reply]

Krazy Kat, I think only you and I laughed at your little remark. and we’re both bad people thereby :)
EZ_e
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:17 pm [Reply]

167 – I laughed too. I’m bad, too. Aldo Kelrast bad.

161 – nice how the Capt Kangaroo meme has come full circle. It’s going to spread all over the net that he died in a drunken crash.
monkeyhawk
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:25 pm [Reply]

165 – Sheila…

I’m not sure how we’ll work out the geography, but if it’s important, I’ll be your wall-pissing friend-with-benefits. (As long as I don’t have to like F-Minus, too.)
cheech wizard
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:27 pm [Reply]

A3G – Hasn’t anyone noticed that the receptionist is clearly Gina’s long-lost mother, who gave her up for adoption years before? Her joy at their pending reunion will be tinged with dismay that no one has taught Gina about sexual necessities, namely that the man must always wear a bag on his member and she one on her head.

Luann – Brad will be pleased his new bachelor pad, thinking that having a place of his own will finally enable him to impress Toni. Dirk will be pleased to have a place to pound his ass in private, without all those bothersome police around. Mrs. Horner will be pleased that a young person is living there, telling a dumbfounded LuAnn “You know, that old house hasn’t seen any fornication in nearly 40 years.”

Clearly, though, Brad’s new bachelor pad is going to end up getting trashed by his worthless buddy P.J., who’ll end up setting fire to it or setting some other destructive process in motion. What’s really weird is that the two of them will manage to do it without beer, which so far seems to be mysteriously absent from their young lives.
cheech wizard
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:31 pm [Reply]

Oops, Brad’s worthless buddy is T.J. Though he’ll still say “not me!” when Brad’s folks asked who trashed the place.
MossMoses
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:33 pm [Reply]

Why is Aldo’s car going off the guardrail-less left side of the road in panel two when it was headed for the right side of the road in panel one? The right side of the road is flat and grassy. Are there really mountain roads like that with steep dropoffs on the side and no guardrail? Attempting to skew the perspective view in panel two so the car is going off the right side just doesn’t work.

All the baddies in Mark Trail are wearing the same standard issue Dickies work shirts that the good guys wear. How is a reader supposed to determine if a person is good or evil, especially since there have been a few evildoers lately without prominent facial hair.
J.P. Patches
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:35 pm [Reply]

82: “Who saw an obscure movie called Bitter Moon that had this plot? Or at least the part of it where someone winds up being â€œnursedâ€ by a former love interest whoâ€™s using the situation for physical tortureâ€¦”

Bitter Moon is a great movie, directed by Roman Polanski. Very twisted….everyone go rent it and imagine a remake starring Aldo and Mary.
Sheila
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:40 pm [Reply]

J.P. Patches, you HAD to do that, didn’t you? You made me think of the “piggie” scene… oh, ICK.
King Folderol
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:45 pm [Reply]

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Brad was far more interesting when he was pissing and moaning about Toni. He seems like such a puss now.
Hogenmogen
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:04 pm [Reply]

#175 – King Fol, Brad is deliberately in “good behavior” mode (aka: acting like a puss) in order to score his “domicile residence” or whatever, decked out in the most attractive drab olive green that was in fashion when “I like Ike” buttons were all the rage. It’s all part of his plan to leave the DeGroot household so he and his friend TJ who never changes facial expressions can have some quality time together.
JonboyDC
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:14 pm [Reply]

#146 — I struggled with that one for a while, too. (I feared that perhaps I had suddenly become a football moron). My current theory is that the guy who is talking about Stormy “hurting” them is the coach of the opposing team, congratulating GT.
Poteet
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:50 pm [Reply]

#82 — Sheila, I read a P.D. James mystery in which, at the end of the book, the really creepy murderer whispered “Oh no…” just before leaping to his death off a high cliff in England. Perhaps “oh no…” is actually THE thing for miscreants to say in cliff situations.

#101& 159 — Thank you, I needed those laughs.

#141 — Lee, I wonder if something gruesome is in store for “perfect” Becky, like a serious maiming, to put her in a wheelchair or scar her face to teach her humility. Beware, Becky — you’re riding high and cute for now, but unless you’re a Patterson, Lynn is a fickle friend.
Poteet
September 22nd, 2006 at 4:53 pm [Reply]

Whoops, sorry, I mean Lee as in #142. It’s been a long week.
Binky Betsy
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:37 pm [Reply]

#131: Granted it was years ago, but I remember a Luann sequence in which the mom was raising six shades of holy hell because then-teenage Brad wanted to look at Playboy. I mean, Playboy, okay? Not Penthouse, not Hustler, not Gigantic Asses. Playboy. But this was presented, in all seriousness, as something that was either going to warp him, or that he was too young for, or both.
Lee
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:29 pm [Reply]

#179: I’m sure something like that is in the cards. But once it happens, the story will be dropped altogether for months, with nobody making the slightest mention of it until The Beck Without A Face turns up (having endured the cruel treatment of her friends and Dr. House) begging forgiveness.
AppleGirl
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:52 am [Reply]

96 – Leave it to Dingo to clue us in on the talking asshole in Mark Trail. And while getting ready for a job interview, no less! That’s REAL dedication. Dingo, we miss you! Good luck!
Tomcat
September 23rd, 2006 at 2:54 am [Reply]

Luann- Chances are, Brad will give the place a good touch up, and make it more like a bachelor pad than some old lady’s home. Let Dirk try to break in and beat him up. Brad’ll just get his buckshot and let ‘im have it. I gotta see more rivalry between those two, and not just Luann and Tiffany.
Craig Shergold
September 23rd, 2006 at 3:52 am [Reply]

181: I read an except from “Crash” by J.G.Ballard in a 60’s Playboy in the family stash. Young teens don’t know enough to be warped by the articles and stories. Ya wanna warp someone, ya hittem as a kid with the real Grimm’s fairy tales.

In the sixties women had obsessively crossed legs, I believe it was a yoga position. More information on Playboy can be found in the men’s bathroom at your nearest Borders Books or Barnes & Noble.
Craig Shergold
September 23rd, 2006 at 4:10 am [Reply]

116: Bill O’Reilly?
Craig Shergold
September 23rd, 2006 at 4:27 am [Reply]

139: Those aren’t her frillies, they’re an echo of the upholstery pattern. Look at the 3d trailing away on the eaves through the doorway. HK draws like Paganini.
Hairhead
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:33 pm [Reply]

Wow! What a site! Made for me! I love obssessing about obscure comics lore.

My only comment today: Luann.

Doesn’t anybody understand Brad! He’s 21 and he’s HORNY! He can rent a house, throw parties, but have no roommates to throw out when he brings home a girl (or Toni Daytona) for sex! Sex! Sex! Sex!

I too was a horny 21-year old. I gradated university, left home and at that point I and my (slightly younger) girlfriend didn’t care if we lived in a CAVE as long as we had a private place.

Heh. As one commenter did note, Brad is finally goin’ to “get some lovin’”. BTW, that means that his place is available for Luann and Gunther to sneak over and have pettting parties in.

I am seriously considering an Aldomania t-shirt.

Thank you for creating this utterly usefull but totally absorbing site.
skulking on the outskirts
September 24th, 2006 at 12:59 am [Reply]

#117-Dennis Jimenez-Yes, and with plenty of tooth marks, too.
Mayara
September 14th, 2007 at 1:36 am [Reply]

I didn’t see this Marmaduke until I was already familiar with this ceiling cat. *shudder*
nemoErensenuT
February 9th, 2008 at 5:30 pm [Reply]

I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting! Look for some my links:

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