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Metapost: Random funnies from readers

I’ll bet you’ve never really thought of “Mark Trail” and “fan art” being used in the same sentence. Well, that’s all about to change. Faithful reader Em Stone sent me some Mark Trail fan art, featuring everybody’s favorite UNPREDICTABLE nature photographer, Kelly Welly:

Click here for a closer look. I love the way that Em created a sexed-up version of those pink polo shirts that get Mark hot. Also, the gratuitous beaver shot is quite charming.

For more of Em’s awesome art, check out her deviantART site or her portfolio site.

Speaking of awesome, faithful reader Jeff Roberts offers his take on what happens in For Better Or For Worse after the laughter fades on his site, The Last Panel.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 at 08:15 pm and is filed under For Better or for Worse, Mark Trail. |

104 responses to “Metapost: Random funnies from readers”

  1. Gatormom
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:18 pm [Reply]

    The Last Panel — awesome. I can say no more. That’s the way the FOOB universe SHOULD be.

  2. Summerhouse
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:20 pm [Reply]

    Fantastic! It’s nice that the beaver and the cabin are the same size. I know that Em has the perspective correct and Jack Elrod never would, but still – nice!

  3. mattt
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:22 pm [Reply]

    Ha! The Last Panel is a thing of beauty, truly.

  4. cheech wizard
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:25 pm [Reply]

    Wow – another unpredictable turn from Kelly Welly!

  5. Poteet
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:26 pm [Reply]

    Masterpieces, both sites. Em and Jeff, thank you!

  6. SixFootJen
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:26 pm [Reply]

    The Last Panel is FANTASTIC!! I wish Jeff Roberts could do “The Second Circle” for the Family Circus.

  7. Maughta
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:28 pm [Reply]

    Wow. CILF. Of course, Mark will always be number one in my heart. Especially that roundhouse punch of his!

  8. B
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:29 pm [Reply]

    Now this is the kind of stuff I was hoping for at the naughtynaturelovers.com site

  9. Jim Walsh
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:33 pm [Reply]

    Wow! If Kelly looked that hot in the regular strip, I’d really look forward to those bad guys tying her up…

    …because…ahem…it would be really…dramatic…and stuff…

  10. Karl
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:37 pm [Reply]

    Holy shit. Who do we have to bribe/kill/promise sexual favors to in order for Em to take over doing the artwork for Mark Trail??? Of course Jack should still do the dialog. He’s unimprovable in that dept.

  11. kingkong
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:42 pm [Reply]

    If offered, I would buy that as a poster.

  12. ovenface
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:47 pm [Reply]

    hahaha! I love the ‘I want more trains’ last panel!

  13. Monkey's Paw
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:49 pm [Reply]

    When Kelly Welly looks like that I can totally understand why Trail is willing to save her over and over again. And the “Last Panel” brought a tear to my eye.

  14. Some Guy Here
    November 21st, 2006 at 8:59 pm [Reply]

    Holy Crap she’s way hotter than any of the dumpy chicks that usually grace the comic pages (9 Chickweed Lane’s women and a few others being very rare exceptions). If Mark Trail had someone like her I might actually bother to read!

  15. Harry Paratestes
    November 21st, 2006 at 9:01 pm [Reply]

    I wonder if her name is actually Winona, as in ‘Winona’s Big Brown Beaver’. If only Cherry looked that hot.

  16. Harry Paratestes
    November 21st, 2006 at 9:06 pm [Reply]

    I liked Beth the astronaut as well, nice work on all the artwork.

  17. Harry Paratestes
    November 21st, 2006 at 9:09 pm [Reply]

    The Last Panel was good, the Foobiverse needs endings like those

  18. Mikel
    November 21st, 2006 at 9:25 pm [Reply]

    Jack Elrod would probably bust something if he saw that, and then he’d end up dead.

  19. nona
    November 21st, 2006 at 9:32 pm [Reply]

    The Last Panel is truly, incredibly awesome. I want more!

  20. treedweller
    November 21st, 2006 at 9:33 pm [Reply]

    That’s a fine panel and all, but where can I look if I want to get more information about Kelly Welly’s beaver?

  21. Virginia
    November 21st, 2006 at 9:47 pm [Reply]

    I’ve just read The Last Panel three times in a row. Oh god, I haven’t laughed this hard since…The lat time I was here? I love people who are more clever than I am; they give me so much to enjoy.

  22. Virginia
    November 21st, 2006 at 9:51 pm [Reply]

    Em’s stuff is amazing too, not just the Kelly Welly, but her deviantArt is incredible.

  23. The Rhino
    November 21st, 2006 at 9:54 pm [Reply]

    Thanks to you all for the kind words (this is Em Stone)… and thanks so much to Josh for posting my pic (joy!).

    The Last Panel totally cracked me up — great stuff, Jeff!

  24. Len
    November 21st, 2006 at 9:54 pm [Reply]

    Lovely coloring, Em! Now you’ve got to portray Mary Worth with her Silver Beaver. (Beavers of the Comics Strips! Collect the entire set!)

  25. Heckler123
    November 21st, 2006 at 10:10 pm [Reply]

    So why are all the talentless plebians still in charge of the syndicated comics? It’s obvious that the readers at this site have far more creativity – great stuff at deviantART and The Last Panel. I tip my keyboard to both of you.

  26. The Rhino
    November 21st, 2006 at 10:39 pm [Reply]

    treedweller– More information about beavers can be found on the internet.

  27. Bigfoot
    November 21st, 2006 at 10:52 pm [Reply]

    Beware googling beaver. More images of “beaver” can be found on the internet.

  28. Genevieve
    November 21st, 2006 at 11:08 pm [Reply]

    The Last Panel made me nearly weep from laughter. Thank you. Thank you so very much.
    “But I feel like such a loser”
    “You are…You really are.”
    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand scene.

  29. Rusty
    November 21st, 2006 at 11:24 pm [Reply]

    kudos to both, fantastic stuff. Nice use of the c-word, but I suppose Canadians would have some other euphemism. Beaver, perhaps?

  30. Poteet
    November 21st, 2006 at 11:39 pm [Reply]

    And actually, Kelly Welly’s outfit is more practical for a nature photog than one might think, in that she’ll have an easy time locating and removing any ticks that try climbing up those long, long legs. Around here I’d be concerned about brambles, but from what I’ve seen, LoFo is remarkably free of them. And LoFo wildlife seem to be quite photographically cooperative. That beaver, for example, is a lot more willing to come out in the open than most beavers around here.

    Umm…maybe I should have put that differently.

  31. ltrftp(not so first time)
    November 22nd, 2006 at 12:08 am [Reply]

    Len, do you think Aunt Ritzi and Olive Oyl share the same beaver? For some reason, and it just might be because I am weird, I think they do.

    Nancy’s beaver is probably a baby hedgehog.

  32. Tj
    November 22nd, 2006 at 12:29 am [Reply]

    Cool! Her style is reminiscent of Campbell’s Gen-13 from the 90’s….

  33. Len
    November 22nd, 2006 at 12:31 am [Reply]

    #31 — Goodness, can more than one woman share a beaver? I have heard of split beavers, but I thought both halves were on the same person…

    Nancy is too young for a beaver. So is Dolly, whose “crotch creature” is merely a bald pussy. (She has this in common with Monty, whose hairless puss, Fleshy, now has opposable thumbs.)

    Kelly’s beaver appears to speak for itself. If it can sing, it should appear on the TV show, A Merkin Idol…

  34. Poteet
    November 22nd, 2006 at 12:34 am [Reply]

    11/22 — Such a feast of snarking material is being laid before us that I look forward to tomorrow. MW, MT, A3G, JP, RMMD — let the joy be unconfined.

  35. Cornwhacker
    November 22nd, 2006 at 12:45 am [Reply]

    What? No floating Emstone ball?

  36. Doug Puthoff
    November 22nd, 2006 at 12:46 am [Reply]

    Why isn’t Em drawing “Mark Trail?” This is great stuff. I’d ever read “Real Life Adventures” if she drew it.

  37. Some Guy Here
    November 22nd, 2006 at 12:52 am [Reply]

    It seems as if the general consensus is clear…

    …as they say at a little place of infamy known as 4chan.org, “MOAR!” (also, SAUCE!, but we already know that one :p)

  38. brendan
    November 22nd, 2006 at 1:00 am [Reply]

    last panel = gods.
    that was some funny shit!!

  39. ohyes
    November 22nd, 2006 at 1:14 am [Reply]

    Both Last Panel and deviantArt are so good!

    Em Stone – perhaps we could have A3G in the traditional manner, just 3 young women getting dressed or undressed in the course of their busy days – but keep that fat professor out of the picture, please.

  40. Mr. O’Malley
    November 22nd, 2006 at 3:26 am [Reply]

    MT: Calling the grammarians!

    YOU STOLE A FRIEND OF MINE’S PET BEAR.

    In another cave, they dig coal, but they also have a pet bear, who is friends with another bear, which was stolen by S&J?

  41. Mr. O’Malley
    November 22nd, 2006 at 3:34 am [Reply]

    MT: Calling continuity!

    The dog jumps up on him, and in the next frame he’s holding his head. Did the dog headbutt him?

    And why is Snake now holding the back of his head when yesterday Mark punched him from the front?

    What happened to the rifles they were carrying?

  42. ben
    November 22nd, 2006 at 4:10 am [Reply]

    #40: MT: Calling the grammarians! YOU STOLE A FRIEND OF MINE’S PET BEAR.

    This sort of thing gives me hives because all I can do, as a grammar pedant, is wimp out and say “reword it”. But that doesn’t work, and I don’t know the “right” way to do it this way. All the rewording options fail: “You stole the pet bear of a friend of mine”. Lame. Loses the energy. “You stole my friend’s pet bear”. Overfamiliar. Puts the emphasis in the wrong place. He’s not really my friend, he’s this weird drunk I know and, anyway, that’s not important. What’s important is the bear, and, dammit, she belongs to this weird drunk guy, and YOU STOLE MOLLY, GODDAMMIT! YOU STOLE MOLLY!

    Sorry. I’m going to look at that picture of Kelly some more.

  43. Mr. O’Malley
    November 22nd, 2006 at 5:16 am [Reply]

    I just happened upon these links, and I thought “Who would be interested in something like this?”

    "Quotation Mark" Abuse

    Grocer’s Apostrophe

  44. ChefMike
    November 22nd, 2006 at 7:04 am [Reply]

    MW:Ella just gets crazier sounding all the time, she actually named her cane? the only way she could get weirder is if she also owned 50 cats, which would be quite a feat since she stays in a condo barely large enough for herself.
    MT: My theory on the grammar is, that Jack Elrod is letting one of his grandchildren script the Molly the bear epic (tune in tomorrow when Jake calls Mark a big doo-doo head!)
    GA: The silly, sneaky centenarian surreptetiously silently skedaddled. Slithering southward, seeking several similar senile sidekicks. Oh snap!

  45. johncomic
    November 22nd, 2006 at 8:01 am [Reply]

    MW: Mary’s final thought balloon is the most arrogant humility I’ve heard this week.

    Gaaa I just wanna smack her upside the head….

  46. DoubleJeopardy
    November 22nd, 2006 at 8:24 am [Reply]

    Em’s depiction of KellyWelly is reminiscent of Chinese revolutionary artwork. It just lacks a farm implement and a power line running beneath the setting sun.

    Or maybe a red star on the beaver.

  47. ohyes
    November 22nd, 2006 at 8:52 am [Reply]

    Wednesday’s MW – Ella responds, “Not necessary. They do make deliveries, you know, and they’re happy to do it because I tip them. Do not condescend to me, Ms. Worth. I don’t need your token charities that cost you nothing!”

    MT – Today we see that Jake is toying with poor Kelly’s nipples while she’s helpless to resist. Tomorrow’s special Thanksgiving feast edition may finally show, unobstructed by Snake’s torso, that Kelly is indeed standing like Rick with her hands tied behind her back. Em Stone, we need you!

    A3G – So rich and influential gallery owner Eric mopes around wistfully hinting, in the Alan or Ted manner, instead of taking LuAnn in his arms and kissing her. Maybe he feels awkward, so soon after scoring with Margo, about making the blatant move towards winning the trifecta. (Once he meets Gina, he’ll think it will be an easy Pick Four – but he hasn’t reckoned with Tommie. And besides, girls talk. Fool.)

  48. Captain Insano
    November 22nd, 2006 at 8:55 am [Reply]

    Regarding today’s MW:

    Honestly, how are we supposed to take this strip? I think we have two ways to look at it:

    1) The strip is ironic, which would, I suppose, assume that the writers of the strip know what “irony” is and how to use it. I don’t want to say I doubt the writers’ intelligence, but I’ve got more faith in Granthony’s penis than I do in the creative powers behind Mary Worth.

    2) Mary is, at heart, a sanctimonious, self-righteous, arrogant whore of a bitch.

    Whichever way I choose to read MW, I still spray Cheerios out of my nose . . . and other orifices.

  49. AhClem
    November 22nd, 2006 at 8:59 am [Reply]

    RMMD – I don’t own a cell phone. Does that mean June will soon be coming after me with a broom handle?

  50. Leslee
    November 22nd, 2006 at 9:04 am [Reply]

    RMMD: snarky retort to MsJune: “oh yeah? And how ARE those roaming charges FROM HELL, BITCH?”

    (shortly before the young sprite gets a broomstick inserted up his backside)

  51. Leslee
    November 22nd, 2006 at 9:08 am [Reply]

    MW: anyone else thinking what I’m thinking? You know, that today’s “ironic” reference to “Citizen Cane” was actually to Ella’s special battery-powered pleasure friend and not, you know, a reference to her actual cane?

    And if not, does this mean that Biddy II shouts out “another Cane Mutiny!!” whenever she stumbles down the stairs?

  52. mattt
    November 22nd, 2006 at 9:09 am [Reply]

    BC – Stupid. Just…stupid.
    Wizard of Id – Disturbing.
    FC – Look! I can too be modern!

    MT – I like Snake’s Jack Elrod T-shirt. I wonder where I could one like that?

    #6 – Ha! The Second Circle would be awesome!

  53. Old Fogeyette
    November 22nd, 2006 at 9:28 am [Reply]

    Em’s art is awesome. The Last Panel is hilarious. Thanks, all.

    Now I have to go read today’s comics.

  54. ohyes
    November 22nd, 2006 at 9:40 am [Reply]

    Jake: I told you, when you oil a rifle, you oil the mechanisms, not the grips! Jeez!

  55. some guy
    November 22nd, 2006 at 9:45 am [Reply]

    MT: I don’t know how or why the dog is saying “WHAT IN BLAZES!“–and isn’t that usually a question, with a possible additional exclamation? I can only guess that Elrod realizes the Molly the Luffable Bear needs a talking companion in the new spinoff strip.

  56. Howard Erk
    November 22nd, 2006 at 9:50 am [Reply]

    Funny sites.

    Good artwork.

    Now keep up that standard seven days a week 52 weeks a year.

    And no unoriginal characters.

    And bitting wit.

    Don’t let us down.

  57. Rarebit Fiend
    November 22nd, 2006 at 10:04 am [Reply]

    Anyone have a link to the original Mark Trail strip where Kelly is described as UNPREDICTABLE?

  58. Smitty Smedlap
    November 22nd, 2006 at 10:14 am [Reply]

    There may be better euphemisms for sodomy than “Liz Ritter all but forces Stormy Hicks to go to The Bucket,” but it’s hard to imagine any.

  59. MGArchitect
    November 22nd, 2006 at 10:34 am [Reply]

    I know a few here are accusing Mary Worth of being an arrogant bitch for saying “I can’t let my petty jealousy keep me from being the kind person I know I am”, but I truly believe that statement shows her true genius. In the same way that a country’s president might say “I can’t let my petty ignorance keep me from being the great president I know I am” or a CEO of a Fortune 500 company who might say “I cant let a petty 20 year plus prison sentence keep me from being the best businessman I know I am”.

  60. cheech wizard
    November 22nd, 2006 at 10:54 am [Reply]

    Did Jef Mallett have a brain fart or is that an ironic joke or nostalgia trip in today’s Frazz? He lives in Lansing, so he ought to know that Hudson’s hasn’t been around since 2001 – it became Marshall Field’s, which just turned into Macy’s.

    Of course, lots of folks in Michigan still call it Hudson’s, just to be difficult…

  61. AppleGirl
    November 22nd, 2006 at 11:05 am [Reply]

    Em – Gorgeous artwork! Please make your own comic strip and get syndicated, you have so much talent.

    The Last Panel – Perfect.

    After looking at MW and MT for so long, it’s great to see talented people for a change!

  62. AppleGirl
    November 22nd, 2006 at 11:11 am [Reply]

    MW – I know she’s just a comic strip character, merely ink on paper, but Mary Worth’s condescending attitude toward Ella Byrd makes me want to slap her.

  63. AppleGirl
    November 22nd, 2006 at 11:15 am [Reply]

    MW – Um, by the way, Mary…

    Did Dr. Jeff Cory ever call you back?

  64. kylegirl
    November 22nd, 2006 at 11:20 am [Reply]

    OK, Mark’s bizarre utterance, though incredibly awkward, is still grammatical.

    But there’s the very very simple way to say it that would have been both grammatical and euphonious:

    “You stole my friend’s pet bear!”

    Why the hell couldn’t you come up with that, Jack Elrod??? It took me 30 seconds! And it’s patently obvious that he didn’t spend that 30 seconds working on the “art”.

    Seriously, how long do these people spend on these strips?

  65. Dingo
    November 22nd, 2006 at 11:34 am [Reply]

    Actually, I would like Em to take over the drawing for TDIET.

  66. ChefMike
    November 22nd, 2006 at 11:39 am [Reply]

    60 cheech: the joke in Frazz has nothing to do with Michigan, or Hudson’s the joke is to do with linguistics. The girl says her father has an aluminum card from Mich. state (cause it fits with the first two talking about their parents’ gold and platinum cards) Frazz suspects what she meant to say was an Alumni card (signifying that he was at one time a student there) singular form of alumni is of course alumnus, but aluminum kinda sounds like it COULD be the singular form of alumni, so that’s the joke. I normally enjoy Frazz but sometimes the humor does get a little academic.

  67. C. Havoc
    November 22nd, 2006 at 11:41 am [Reply]

    Today’s Mark Trail; Last Panel

    “Who are You?”
    “You stole a friend of mine’s pet bear.”

    Bizzare…Awkward Syntax…AND he doesn’t answer the question.

    Beautiful….

    Put it on a t-shirt, and I’ll buy it.

  68. cheech wizard
    November 22nd, 2006 at 11:47 am [Reply]

    ChefMike – look again at panel one – the first kid is talking about his Mom having a Hudson’s card – which is an anachronism. It’s either a brain fart by Mallett or a subtle joke, one of the two. The alumni/aluminum joke is a separate issue.

    Hudson’s was a Detroit-based retailer and still conjures up a lot of nostalgia for some Michiganders. It used to sponsor the Detroit Thanksgiving Parade, which may be why Mallett dropped in the reference today.

  69. Concerned Citizen
    November 22nd, 2006 at 11:50 am [Reply]

    Wow, there goes my theory that Kelly is really Mark Trail in drag.

  70. pelagius
    November 22nd, 2006 at 12:05 pm [Reply]

    Great. Now I’m having impure thoughts about Kelly Welly!

    Thank you, CC

  71. Nyssa23
    November 22nd, 2006 at 12:19 pm [Reply]

    Kelly Welly looks so beautiful. I think I’m in love. *sniffle*

    And I have to say, my favorite “Last Panel” was the one with Grandpa’s stroke. Although, did anyone else think it was weird that Grandpa’s imagining of his younger self (before his chinballs got so saggy) looked nothing like the “Young Soldier Jim” which Lynn frightened us all with on Remembrance Day?

  72. Poteet
    November 22nd, 2006 at 12:22 pm [Reply]

    #49 — AhClem, thank you. I was going to say the same, but you said it better.

    #55 — Some Guy, even if we very charitably assume that Jack intended Jake to be the one uttering “What the blazes!”, what kind of lowlife poacher in 2006 actually talks like that? Has Jake suddenly turned into Roy Rogers?

    Foob — Granthony, we ALL “understand,” and we wish like hell that we didn’t. More and more, reading FBOFW is like having morning sickness.

  73. poppinjay
    November 22nd, 2006 at 12:26 pm [Reply]

    #69 (woo!) I also had that theory. Then I realized that Elrod is another of those cartoonists who can’t draw a woman to save his life.

    If Kelly Welly really looked like Em’s depiction, maybe Mark Trail would stop spending all his time with woodland creatures. He’d probably have to fight Ranger Rick for her, sending him the right cross of horniness.

    Both the Kelly, and the Last Panel, yay! More! Back to the funny mines!

  74. Poteet
    November 22nd, 2006 at 12:29 pm [Reply]

    #71 — Nyssa, YES! I thought it was weird too! The Last Panel young Gwampa looked far more human than the creepy Remembrance Day young Gwampa, whom I’ve been trying to forget.

    And I think I’m a little in love with Em’s Kelly also. She looks so happy as well as lovely (ditto sniff). I do hope whatever bra she’s wearing is more supportive than it looks, though, or she’s gonna hurt at the end of a long day’s hike.

    There are moments when I think that if the world had a universal set of comics that we could ALL snark at together, war would end.

  75. MonkeyHawk
    November 22nd, 2006 at 12:58 pm [Reply]

    I could go back throught the whole Molly saga if I could stomach it but it seems to me that Mark has never before seen Snake or Bake and hasn’t yet found Molly. Wasn’t that the discovery of Ranger Rick and the (un-Em) Kelly?

    As I recall, Mark found the cave with the gutted deer and later found (but didn’t free) Molly. The ‘akes found Rick and (the sexually bland compared to Em’s) Kelly when they came across Molly. Mark and Andy found human footprints into the cave which doesn’t connect Shake and Bake to Molly and (even Slylock Fox would have to admit) doesn’t rule out that there might be two additional poachers returning to the aforementioned liposuctioned deer.

    Seems like Jackel Rod (who, apparently, sponsors Snake’s softball team, given the spiffy t-shirt), takes as many liberties with plot as Mark doesn’t take with (the frumpy-compared-to-Em’s) Kelly.

    Em, I’ll write the story if you’ll do the art, and we’ll approach the syndicate and send Jackel Rod to early retirement at Charterstone where he’ll not understand Mary’s animosity toward Ella… until Mary’s flying fist of vengence dispatches the Byrd Lady into the next comic strip, perhaps as Spiderman’s newest nemisis.

  76. dimestore lipstick
    November 22nd, 2006 at 1:03 pm [Reply]

    So Eric Mills is close enough to his sibling’s family that he throws an extravagant birthday party for his niece–but not close enough to get invited to Thanksgiving dinner?

    Although–he got all wistful about turkey–maybe his relatives are vegan and making Tofurkey…

  77. Scoopernicus
    November 22nd, 2006 at 1:05 pm [Reply]

    the real challenge is to make Cherry look like somone other than Kelly with a curly wig on.

  78. cheech wizard
    November 22nd, 2006 at 1:19 pm [Reply]

    GA- So, it looks like Walt’s visit to the comic character retirement home was not the fevered dream of the dying, but an actual event. The question now is, will he come home or decide to move into the retirement home himself, thereby easing his awkwardly overaged ass out of the strip without actually killing him off?

    Of course, it could be that it’s his creepily realistic caretaker who’s having the coronary and these are her fatal delusions. Which would make the perky Social Security woman the Angel of Death — and bearing with her a $750 check to cover burial expenses.

  79. Merdz
    November 22nd, 2006 at 1:27 pm [Reply]

    I have to hand it to Dick Tracy. They’re constantly finding ways over there to defy science and medicine. I can’t wait to see how they conceptualize “I will send brain synapses into reverse… and open his brain junctions!” I will be sorely disappointed if Dick’s head doesn’t explode from that attempt.

  80. Rarebit Fiend
    November 22nd, 2006 at 1:41 pm [Reply]

    71 – “Young Soldier Jim?” I don’t recall that from Remembrance/Veterans Day, just old Jim in a wheelchair.

  81. ohyes
    November 22nd, 2006 at 1:52 pm [Reply]

    79 – With Dick Tracy’s brain in reverse synapse mode, we may soon be scooting across the skies in trash can-shaped personal pods – through the power of magnetism!

  82. B
    November 22nd, 2006 at 1:55 pm [Reply]

    Judging from today’s strip, there’s a good chance the cast of Crankshaft will be wiped out by salmonella poisoning tomorrow. This is going to be the best Thanksgiving ever!

  83. Poteet
    November 22nd, 2006 at 2:00 pm [Reply]

    #80 — Rarebit Fiend, Young Soldier Jim was in the same panel as Wheelchair Jim, and he really did look creepy. In fact he looked so weird that I didn’t realize he was supposed to be Young Jim until another Curmudgeon told us. Mercifully, he is gone, but he’s been replaced by John looking like a slim-wristed-turkey-fixated zombie, only not so intelligent. Actually, John looks like he might be on meth. And April’s nose looks pretty strange. Check it out.

  84. cheech wizard
    November 22nd, 2006 at 2:03 pm [Reply]

    81- ohyes: The nation that controls magnetism will control the Universe.

  85. Cloister
    November 22nd, 2006 at 2:10 pm [Reply]

    Those who share my sad grammatical fixation over the possessive in “A friend of mine’s pet bear” should head over to the Language Log: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003800.html#more

  86. mattt
    November 22nd, 2006 at 2:35 pm [Reply]

    76 – Nice catch. Maybe Eric’s family only celebrates birthdays, and maybe Christmas, because they’re interested only in acquiring new stuff. “Thanksgiving? No presents? Forget it.”

  87. Scoopernicus
    November 22nd, 2006 at 2:47 pm [Reply]

    81- ohyes: The nation that controls magnetism will control the Universe

    ‘Life in Hell’ reference! (it was magnesium in the cartoon)!

    Do I get any points for recognizing that?

  88. SmartPeopleOnIce
    November 22nd, 2006 at 2:48 pm [Reply]

    Inspired by The Last Panel I propose that today’s FOOB would be much better if Anthony’s thought bubble in the last panel read: Uh oh… Boner.

    And Em, if you ever draw a Godfather-esque portrait of MW, complete with ginormous Silver Beaver poised at her right hand, ever ready to do her evil biddying, I would marry you. Or leave you alone. Marry you or leave you alone. Whatever works for you.

  89. Lu
    November 22nd, 2006 at 2:51 pm [Reply]

    OK, this is the 3ed time I’ve been here today, and each time I start cracking up at that damn beaver. Snork. Charming indeed.

  90. Old Fogeyette
    November 22nd, 2006 at 2:52 pm [Reply]

    #78–Cheech Wizard,

    I beg to differ with you, but I still think Walt has bought it. I predict we will find his body somewhere on the way to the Old Comics Home. Maybe this is just a whole surrealistic thing, and the invitation was in lieu of The Grim Reaper.

    Either way I still think it’s a cool way to say goodbye to a character.

  91. SmartPeopleOnIce
    November 22nd, 2006 at 3:10 pm [Reply]

    It occurs to me this is what Penthouse Forum would look like if it were illustrated by Roy Lichtenstein.

  92. Dennis Jimenez
    November 22nd, 2006 at 3:23 pm [Reply]

    If Penthouse Forum were illustrated, it would have to be by Boris Vallejo.

  93. markered
    November 22nd, 2006 at 3:28 pm [Reply]

    Hey, can anybody explain today’s (Wednesday’s) BC to me?

    For those who haven’t seen it, it features “The Book for Phrases,” which defines the phrase “IN DISGUISE” as “How black holes kept from being discovered by coal miners.”

    That doesn’t make any sense to me at all, and it makes me feel like there are words missing from the strip. Then again, Johnny Hart is a fucking moron.

  94. cheech wizard
    November 22nd, 2006 at 3:30 pm [Reply]

    Fogeyette – unless we’re both wrong, and Caretaker Lady drags Walt back home to continue aging ad infinitum – who knows what the crazy buzzard will do when he’s 110?

    87 – Scoopernicus : Yes and no. You do get 15 points for picking up on the Life in Hell reference (which I was unaware of), but are penalized 25 for not recognizing that LiH was parodying Chester Gould’s tired bromide, repeated roughly every two weeks from 1935-1972, usually when depicting the Magnetic Space Coupe or the flying trash cans mentioned by Ohyes.

    As punishment, you are sentenced to study and pass a rigorous examination of the Crimestopper’s Textbook. I hope your grandparents clipped and saved them all.

  95. cheech wizard
    November 22nd, 2006 at 3:35 pm [Reply]

    93- It’s one of Hart’s mindless puns – i.e., “as astronomical objects, black holes are found in de skies.” Also, coal miners work in a black hole. Funny, eh? I’m not sure why he didn’t work in a reference to Detroit hookers as well.

  96. mattt
    November 22nd, 2006 at 3:36 pm [Reply]

    93 – “In disguise” = “in the skies” I think. So the black holes, which I guess had been hanging out underground, caught wind of coal miners arrival and, seeking to avoid detection, fled to the outer reaches of the cosmos.

    Yep: stupid.

  97. ohgrl
    November 22nd, 2006 at 5:26 pm [Reply]

    The Last Panel is brilliant. Not British brilliant; pure North American genius.

  98. ltrftp(not so first time)
    November 22nd, 2006 at 9:27 pm [Reply]

    33 – A Merkin Idol indeed.

    I guess they don’t share beaver…..at least not in that way…..

  99. The Rhino
    November 23rd, 2006 at 1:19 am [Reply]

    Hey y’all (Em Stone here again)–
    Many thanks, again! But some of you are thinking just a wee bit much about Mary Worth’s silver beaver…

    Cornwhacker – I really *wish* I had signed it with an Em Stone button…
    Rarebit Fiend – I don’t remember the date, but here’s the “unpredictable” strip
    TJ – Hee hee, J. Scott Campbell…
    Poteet – I’m glad you thought she looks happy :)
    Monkeyhawk – Are you a good writer? :)
    Howard – That’s why I don’t yet have a job in the comics industry ;)

    And back to Mary Worth: Leslee — “Cane mutiny” made me snort!

  100. MonkeyHawk
    November 23rd, 2006 at 4:09 am [Reply]

    Hey, Em….

    Yeah, I’m an okay writer. But remember this is Mark Trail we’re talkin’ about.

    The bar is set pretty low.

    If I could cut “Molly doesn’t understand the animosity” down from three or four days a week to once or twice, it’d be pure gold.

  101. Craig Shergold
    November 23rd, 2006 at 8:14 pm [Reply]

    Yoda The Bear: “Stole my friend’s pet bear, you did”.

  102. Dan Van Riper
    November 24th, 2006 at 2:10 pm [Reply]

    OH MY GOODNESS. At first glance I thought that drawing was done by Milo Manara.

    Now I want to read the rest of the graphic novel. You know, the story of Kelly and Ranger Rick and that amazing pet bear, together in a forest clearing…

    -dwvr

  103. ohyes
    November 24th, 2006 at 2:14 pm [Reply]

    84 – cheech wizard – Actually seeing it in print again – The nation that controls magnetism will control the Universe – has haunted me since your posting.

    Perhaps the young ‘uns could imagine what it would be like for Mallard Fillmore to shout that repeatedly, meaning it, while drawn at the head of a flying squadron brandishing their guns. Week after week.

    But the nation did not heed this clarion call, ranted from the funny pages. And today, we still don’t control the Universe.

  104. cheech wizard
    November 25th, 2006 at 10:43 am [Reply]

    Actually, Mallard Fillmore in a flying trash can would be kind of cool – especially if it were flying into the back end of a dump truck.

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