Search-engine pessimization
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Six Chix, 9/17/24
An image search for “batman cat images” yielded mostly AI, fanart, and creepy photos of pets in Halloween costumes. So I’m guessing the doll here is really Catboy from the Disney Jr. series PJ Masks. That would put Tuesday Chick’s childhood no earlier than 2015, which seems a little too recent for nostalgia. Maybe closer to “recollection” but who knows? Kids these days!
Beetle Bailey, 9/17/24
There’s no joke here unless the captain gets sanctioned for colorful language.
Crankshaft, 9/17/24
Oh my goodness who could possibly have seen this coming? But what I really want to know is how many levels of irony it is when Les’s students read Fahrenheit 451 by the light of a burning bookstore. Or if that pumper is actually headed to Ed’s house to put out a grill fire.
Andy Capp, 9/17/24
The full text of Proverbs 19:4 (RSV2) is, “Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend.” So Andy selflessly keeps his money to maintain a treasured friendship, and look at the thanks he gets!
—Uncle Lumpy
160 replies to “Search-engine pessimization”
FC-Tonight Sam will be feasting on Jeffy.
MW-Suddenly Mary’s ears perk up at the thought of an incoming meddling.
Archie-I know Veronica has been doing more than checking out the new boys.
Crankshaft: The Emergency Pulitzer Crew is on the way!
Crankshaft: Isn’t it ironic… when a silent fire truck rushes by a yard that happens to be lined with backward “R” signs?
Beetle Bailey: Today’s postmodern Army doesn’t need any gosh-darn computers! Plus, not having them on anyone’s desk leaves more room for eating hamburgers and doing your printed-out Wordle.
Crankshaft vs Dustin : Nah, that firetruck is headed to the grocery store. Because firefighters use their official vehicles when they go out to do their personnal shopping.
RMMD:
“Let me be succinct, Truck: exactly what got into you, you ill-bred freeloader?”
Crankshaft: It’s The Burnings, as foretold in
prophecyFunky Winkerbean! The tragedy of this situation is that despite everyone’s best efforts, Lilian’s book shop will survive.MW:
“No veiled threats in today’s installment, Stell? — what a relief!”
MW: Because there’s no such thing as a pointless conversation in “Mary Worth, ” what drama are we setting up, here? Will Ed be MIA when Estelle comes to pick him up? Will Estelle’s gussy not be as UP as she needs it to be? Bated breath, y’all!
RMMD: Wanda is a good woman. She works hard and shows a happy face to the world. She deserves better than a geriatric toddler with a finger boo-boo.
BB: Scabbard is obviously Sarge’s mentor. His desk drawers are bulging with junk food and he is moments from beating Fuzz to a smear.
BB — As a Lieutenant, doesn’t Fuzz outrank Sgt. Snorkel? Can’t he just order Sarge to stop?
AC — In Memoriam Reg Smythe
Is my strip still running,
That I was used to draw
And does Andy still a-prosper
Midst troubles with the law?
Aye, the capped one lives on
With Flo in council house
A punter and a shirker
A braggart and a souse.
Captain Scabbard hasn’t liked tattletales ever since Sarge discovered her on field maneuvers with Captain Saber.
DtM – TV aerials are Old Tech, and completely – ahem – alien to to Kids Today.
@But What Do I Know?: It’s “soo-SAY,” accent grave over the “e.”
@But What Do I Know?: man, that’s well done! Bravo!
Andy Capp: Robbin’ vicars, beatin’ wives, and drinkin’ his way through another century.
BB: And Sarge wonders why no one comes to his birthday party.
MW: You just know Mary’s been waiting with bated breath for Estelle to come back to Charterstone for her weekly indoctrination sessions and to once again tell her to go back to Wilbur. “Unclean hussy,” she hisses, readying her oven with the smell of brimstone lingering in the air. “She’s going to get such a meddling when she returns.”
Meanwhile Dr. Ed hopes that Mrs. Willoughby’s helper monkey gets Ebola so he can get an out from this upcoming dinner…
@Egbert Souse: sorry, that’s the wrong accent. You mean the accent aigu, or acute accent. That’s what makes e sound like long a in French.
When you’re posturing as fancy, it’s important to know the details.
@Chance:
I’ve always been partial to the accent circonflexe, if only because it makes the e in “tête” wear a cute little hat, which I feel fits well for the word “head”.
@Chance: When quoting, it’s important to be accurate.
6C: When your pallor is completely grey and fluids are leaking out of your orifices, you should probably seek the help of a doctor, not childhood nostalgia.
BB: Did Captain Scabbard say two sentences or did they use exclamation points as grawlixes?
WuMo: Just when I thought Estelle came up with the stupidest possible wedding theme, WuMo has her beat.
Six Chix: I’m glad Uncle Lumpy was able to determine what was going on in today’s episode. To me it is an undecipherable hieroglyph.
Family Circus: If Jeffy doesn’t put the dog food down in 10 seconds or less, the dog’s mouth’s gonna have a “Biting off the face” celebration with Jeffy’s the guest of honor.
6Chix: Just astounding levels of DGAF. At some point she will refuse to produce a drawing every week, just sending in some text.
@Baja Gaijin:
Interpreting Tuesday nostalgic cloverteared catlove—so you don’t have to!
@Baja Gaijin: Hey, I would rather be skydiving than look like I’m preparing for another Pagan orgy.
@Anonymous:
Crankshaft vs Dustin : Nah, that firetruck is headed to the grocery store. Because firefighters use their official vehicles when they go out to do their personal shopping.
Firemen in my old small town take the engine to do shopping for the house all the time.
BB: I read that as “Sarge is eating his desk again,” which brings up images that are horrifying, but not really surprising, giving Sarge’s history of gluttony.
@Baja Gaijin:
Six Chix: I’m glad Uncle Lumpy was able to determine what was going on in today’s episode. To me it is an undecipherable hieroglyph.
After that, Linear A should be a snap.
Crankshaft: Quality arsonists always dump the accelerant at the base of the target building’s staircase and hope the flames spread before the fire department arrives. (Also, actual knowledge: Bookstores are NOT prime targets for arson because the books are packed too closely together for a fire to spread easily. You need a better combination of flammables and oxygen for a nice cheery dystopian fire.)
DT: I cannot track the logic of any of this. Ro-Zan has murdered people and explicitly expressed his sincere intent to murder billions more, and he was captured with promises that the Lunarians had “no tolerance” for his actions. It makes no sense that he’s here. It makes no sense that no one has tried to contact the Lunarians to find out how he’s out of custody and here with one of their warships. It makes no sense that no sense that everyone is just letting him hang around, watched but otherwise unrestricted, despite knowing that he has already committed serious crimes and that he came under completely false pretenses. It makes no sense that Dick Tracy isn’t marching over to question Ro-Zan right now, let alone capture him. It makes no sense why everyone is obsequiously deferring to Diet Smith as though he has any authority in this or any knowledge or wisdom to contribute, even though – sorry, I can’t stress this enough – he’s harboring a fugitive murderer with genocidal ambitions. Dick Tracy and pals just spent months investigating a suicide to find someone they could pin a crime on for it, but Moon Mussolini shows up with more malign intentions and everyone treats him like a houseguest slightly overstaying his welcome, hoping he’ll just go away in a few days so they don’t have to think about him anymore. Absolutely bonkers.
Luann: YES THANK YOU EVANSES LES IS BAD AND WRONG WE GOT IT
MW: “Damn it, Ed, we need to have an excuse for me to not be there when you get called in for yet another contrived work emergency! That way you can forget to call me for no reason and I can become extremely humiliated and upset about it! Geez, do you even read this comic?”
Six Chix: I can’t shake the creepy feeling that this is Kurt Cobain gushing over bat shit, much like he did with his marriage.
…
Too soon?
Andy Capp: RSV2? Best not to mention your sources the next time you go to see the folks in the Holyland, unless you’re one of the 10 Protestants from around there.
FG: That’s so thoughtful. Flash and Dale brought the Empress a giant dildo, because her new husband is Barin.
MW – We’re finally going to meet Estranged Pam! This should be good.
(I know, I know. I’m an eternal optimist.)
@jroggs:
“Moon Mussolini” FTW.
BB: Where are Captain Scabbard’s rank insignia? He could be just anyone behind that desk.
@Schroduck, CS/FW: I thought it survived the Great Burnings, only for the sake of the last remaining text of the Sacred Book of Blessed St. Lisa.
Curtis: “Norman”?
MW: Okay, now we see where this is going. At 4:45 on Sunday, Ed will call Estelle to tell her that he can’t make it. There’s an emergency at Generic Animal Hospital over in L.A., and he — and only he — has the skill and nerve to save the patient. In fact, responsibility for assuring the survival of the entire animal kingdom rests on his shoulders, and if you can’t handle that truth, sister, then get yourself some pencil pusher!
Andy Capp: Yeah, I remember a (fictional) story about a guy who gets a massive inheritance and suddenly a bunch of random strangers say “let’s be friends” and hanging out with his new friends, they go to restaurants and bars (where they insist he buy the most expensive food and drinks) and go to stores (and insist he buy the most luxurious furniture) and so on…
These “friends” who kept wanting more and more time with him were bleeding him dry, until he ran out of money. Then when he (completely broke) goes to his friends for help, they completely backstab him (who are you again?)
Thankfully, an old homeless beggar whom he had given money to while he was rich, used that money to build up his own fortune (I don’t remember what he did exactly to get rich so quick) and said in thanks for his generosity, he can live with him for as long as he needs.
H&L: I guess the joke is that Trixie is assumed to be looking at physical photos in the first panel. “What!? The photos are on a phone!? I didn’t see that coming;” said Rip Van Winkle.
Hey Tom, no one cares about your latest stupid prestige arc. Just give us the illiterate ex-baseball player who runs over mailboxes in his school bus.
MW: Uh, Eshtelle, the term ‘gussy up’ is usually meant as an insult. As in, ‘look at her all gussied up for what was supposed to be a nice, informal dinner! She looks like a circus clown!’
FW: Unfortunately, it turns out Crankshaft is also a volunteer firefighter and drives right past the fire. Hey, old habits die hard!
JP: And if that’s all you’d done Ronnie, you’d be a much happier woman right now, wouldn’t you?
@Little Guy: It means he keeps the mummified corpse of his mother down in root cellar. Saw THAT coming.
Hey, the greatest of all the Cul de Sacs is rerunning today! YOU CAN’T TIE DOWN A BANJO MAN
@Cleveland Mocks: Clearly Ed must learn how to manage his time better like the smug tenured professor who we rarely see torturing his students, the retired police officer who intimidates people into leaving the country for the fear that they are discovered as not a real vegan, the doctor who constantly leaves town to go on “missionary work,” and the columnist who is so useless that he can rot in his apartment and no value whatsoever would be lost.
6C: Yuck. Can we go back to having relations with sandwiches, please?
BB: Lt. Fuzz should test that theory by taking one of Snorkel’s Chipzes.
FW: The ‘R’ stands for a derogatory term one could use to describe this insipid story.
Granted I don’t know the intricacies of military life and the chain of command, but couldn’t Fuzz give an order to Snorkel? Though has someone who has eaten countless lunches at her desk, I don’t know what the lieutenant’s problem… Oh. Camp Swampy must have an infestation of some sort and the captain prefers sitting with vermin rather than dealing with the enlisted troops.
MW: From Dr. Ed’s lecherous look, he was hoping for some afternoon delights at his place before they got “dressed.” Ed, you really don’t want to see Estelle get “gussied up” – save something for marriage.
Rex Morgan – I wish every character in RMMD would give us the silent treatment. They could disappear, too. Especially Buck.
Arlo & Janis – Did the gentlemen here notice that sunbathing Janis has her bra unhooked?
Frazz – Plan A: Humblebrag about how much you exercise.
Plan B: Get together with a student to mock a teacher behind her back.
Plan C: Smugly criticize television.
Synchronicity: Family Circus and Speed Bump.
Mary Worth – Even Henrietta Beak wouldn’t use the expression “gussy up.”
@Egbert Souse: Got the reference!
MW: I was actually on vacation and didn’t read a single strip whilst I was gone and I come back and…didn’t really miss much. Although Stelle is getting gussied up, which is fun, because I just heard that used a couple of weeks ago. Of course I was at my mom’s house, she was watching Little House on The Prairie and it was Mrs. Oleson that said it, and then we laughed about it…BUT STILL…
Frazz: Don’t listen to Frazz, girl Caulfield. Use all the letters you need. Then you can shift into the Greek alphabet.
Luann: We give Moy a lot of crap for foisting Wilbur on us, but he’s got nothing on Gunther, especially when the Evans present him as some paragon of virtue that everyone in the strip should aspire to. He’s not. He’s a whiny, manipulative man-baby. Arrrrggghhhh!
Back in Funky Winkerbean, I assumed that the entire planet fried, like solar flares or something? Or that meteorite heading to earth fakeout in a previous arc.
Regardless, Hackiuk doesn’t need to make sense, unless he wants that Pulitzer.
@Tabby Lavalamp: In the Military they would normally just file a complaint. Not go into Dolly Keane mode, acting like a 4 year old (although that is completely in character for Lt. Fuzz)
MW: Estelle should instead work to gassy up. It would be more entertaining at Pam’s dinner.
Zits: I happen to agree with Jeremy.
FC: Sam knows you’re going to dump the food all over the floor. He prefers it that way rather than having to eat it out of the bowl.
Six Chix-Next Week: “OMG, Childhood Nostalgia! You can talk!”
Six Chix – Tuesday Chick’s comic avatar has a safety pin tattooed on her arm, so this is literally reinforcing an infantilization narrative about young adults’ inability to mature or face adversity.
Beetle Bailey – Given the incompetence generally shown at Camp Swampy, I’ve come to the conclusion that the base is one large psychological experiment to test the impact of putting the laziest, angriest, and most pedantic soldiers in one contained place to see the impact on morale, readiness and the risk of armed uprisings. Captain Scabbard is one of the psychologists running it, and is today testing the limits of Lt. Fuzz.
Crankshaft – What if it turns out that in intentionally provoking a fire, Les has managed to divert the town resources to fighting it, leaving Ed Crankshaft unable to get an ambulance to treat what would have been a survivable stroke or heart attack, and thus Les finally becomes the main character of a Batiuk strip, having killed off all other competition and leading like smug tyrant.
Andy Capp – The vicar knows that Andy Capp is in huge arrears for the tithes he owes a very forgiving God that’s kept him alive.
@The Quiet Man:
MW- or mutton dressed as lamb
@The Rambling Otter: @Tabby Lavalamp: Also the importance of filing a complaint as opposed to just telling someone, is because it is then on record rather than solely word of mouth.
Word of mouth has no bearing on Court-Marshals.
@The Rambling Otter: Batiuk strongly implied “The Burnings” were a widespread phenomenon, and Lillian’s store was the last bastion of “literature” in a devastated wasteland. I should have realized that for Batiuk, “the world” == “Westview/Centerville”.
Marvin-“Your dad is always talking about taking a golden shower.”
Blondie-Dithers is going to make sure Dagwood is going to get a good long nap break.
CS – Not sure why the fire truck is impersonating a growling dog, but if it helps clear the way then I’m all for it.
Hey, Andy Capp appears in Joshreads for the first time since 2017! And who knew it was still being published? Although fashions in Andy’s north English town don’t appear to have changed since the strip’s first appearance in the 1960s.
C’shaft: Unfortunately long habit has the firefighters instinctively starting suppression efforts on Crankshaft’s house before realizing it’s the one next door that’s burning, wasting precious time and sending both Lilian’s home and livelihood literally up in smoke. Les says something pithy. Everyone smirks. Next week: Lena’s brownies are, like, REALLY hard!
Today’s Six Chix is a cautionary tale about overindulging in childhood nostalgia. If you eat too many bowls of Lucky Charms, you’ll end up with marshmallow clovers for eyes!
Beetle – “Sarge is spelling ‘chips’ with a Z! That’s unpronounceable!”
@taig: Of course “The Burnings” refers not to a significant time of social upheaval and/or natural disaster, but a couple of bookstores suffering one-alarm fires over a book that literally nobody considers controversial anymore. Because Les Moore was involved, and the whole of literary history revolves around him.
Six Chix: Is it me, or is Six Chix starting to lean into the more depressing kind of weird lately?
Beetle Bailey: This might be the one and only realistic depiction of military life that Beetle Bailey has produced in it’s entire seventy plus year run.
Crankshaft: If tomorrow’s strip is that firetruck crashing into the book store and exploding for no reason, I’ll take back everything bad I’ve ever said about Batiuk.
FW – The fire truck is actually driving away from the bookstore, the crew having just started that fire. There are some serious Fahrenheit 451 fans in this town!
Don Abundio, translated:
“Hello, Highflyer, Inc.! I’ve been hearing great things about your company… I’m very interested in buying in before you go public!”
“How about it? I want to get in on the ground floor…”
“Sure, I can fix you up…”
[Sign: MEN AT WORK]
“The sirens are scaring people.”
“What if we made the fire engine purr loudly?”
“Won’t that annoy the fire Dalmatian?”
“Nah, he’s deaf!”
Fin
MARY WORTH: Is Estelle planning several costume changes for this dinner as if she were some kind of Grammy host or something? (Ghost of Joan Rivers: “Oh Estelle, hon, who are you wearing? Obviously not Dr. Ed, since he called out! {braying laugh} Can we talk?”)
GT: Fweet! painted on the wall suggests that the indoor facility at juvie is a gift of the wealthy Fweet! family.
MW: Ed’s not making it to the party, is he?
@Thelonious_Nick: I believe your assessment is correct–they still hang the monkey in Hartlepool. . .
@Chance: Thanks for your kind words and attempts to correct the other commenter. Unfortunately, feeding the trolls doesn’t make them any better. . .
DT: Oh sure, when some petty criminal with distinct branding robs a bank it’s shoot-first-ask-questions-later, but Ro-Zan is trying to jump-start a global war/conquest and suddenly it’s “impound his vehicle and keep an eye on him, and maybe if he kills a few more people we’ll do something about it”?
GT: Very inspiring, Gil! “The high incarceration rates necessitated by a for-profit prison system make it very likely some of you will be sent here, permanently damaging your ability to find a good job and housing and sending you into a death spiral of poverty and crime, so why don’t we take a little tour so you can become familiar with the facilities?”
JP: “Honestly I would have cut you off years ago, but my “crazywhitegirlstories” TIkTok just hit a hundred thousand followers, so…”
Luann: Okay, so not being ambitious is bad, but also being ambitious is bad when it’s Jonah pursuing an acting career or Tiffany wanting to be a model or Bets building a strong social media brand as a professional cosplayer, and also not being ambitious is okay when it’s Luann because she’s Luann. Do I have that right?
Pluggers can’t do anything on their own.
FC: Cute Sam *is* celebrating!! What’s that coming out from under his frantically wagging tail – ha ha! Is that confetti? Uh…EEEWWWW!!!!
Looks more like a Batman Daffy Duck from the early 90s.
@taig: See that’s the thing. Even when Mary tries to foister Wilbur onto Estelle (or us), she doesn’t really “sell” him. He’s presented as a loser and we’re invited to feel “sorry” for him. Mary Worth doesn’t extol Wilbur’s “good points” as much as she begs people to overlook his bad ones.
Meanwhile, in “Inner Beautystan” the Evans’ (utilizing some extensive Glengarry Glen Ross sales mojo) treat a character’s bad qualities as if they were a “strength.” Well the designated “good” characters anyway. It’s why Les (so lazy that he has an actual job and pays rent) is just a layabout slug, while fellow slacker, Luann is “blank slate” golden-girl whose lack of direction (because girls, at least “regular” girls shouldn’t have anything as unfeminine as ambition, silly.) Just like Gunther’s sanctimonious nagging…I mean “ambition” and “drive” are praised to the heavens, while similar attributes in Tiffany, a girl who knows what she wants and works to achieve it (who, remember, also has a job with long hours…while simultaneously going to college) is a “sign” that she’s a greedy bitch.
Six Chix: I would guess that it’s a plush toy of minor DC Comics character Bat-Mite, but I can’t imagine anyone getting particularly nostalgic for him, as his popularity is only a few notches above that of Scrappy Doo (i.e., not very popular at all).
@Anonymous:
Maybe it’s a Wesley Crusher action figure.
@SDR: “I’d hate ta have ta muss you up.” — Batman Daffy Duck from the early 90s
@Anonymous: Bat-Mite! Yecccch! You’ll notice he was carefully omitted from ALL the Batman animated series, yet Mr. Mxyzptlk was often featured in the Superman ones.
MT: For anyone who still follows this – you’re probably thinking those retired Circus Lions are messin’ up by looking at and mugging to the audience! Well, there’s a different standard for Animal Actors, especially Wildlife. To come across as authentic, they should show a healthy curiosity about the camera, and the audience, as if they don’t know what it’s all about! This is ACTING at its finest!
Bizarro: Thus ends the much ballyhooed “Summer of the Cicada” with a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what goes on in the Biz part of Show Biz. Yeah, the whole thing has been a disappointment – a lotta comics wanted to do Cicada gags, but surprisingly we had trouble finding talent to fill the roles. Nobody would give us a buzz, and those who did said they needed to use their short time above ground for making whoopie. We happened to find this guy who didn’t get lucky. Unfortunately this is only a one-shot gig… he’s still not very lucky.
Andy Capp is still around??
FC: To be sure it’s good food, Sam, Jeffy even taste-tested it for you.
FC: I’m surprised Jeffy won’t eat half of Sam’s food before it even makes it to the floor.
FG: Don’t get too excited, Barin. Your prezzie is just that loaf of bread fondled by Jeffy Keane a few days ago.
CS: And the firetruck zooms right past Lillian’s house to take care of Crankshaft’s latest powertool disaster.
CS: Props, though, for an appropriately-drawn Moon phase (for once).
SELFISH “SUPER”HEROES:.
– PHANTOM:. You chose to put your wolf’s, horses’s, neighbors’ lives at risk in order to advance your legend when instead you could’ve used a drone with a bomb
– PRINCE VALIANT:. You risk the lives of your son, troops, horses rather than just negotiate for your Singing Sword. Cat, thankfully, stayed out of it.
– LES MOORE:. Ok, maybe he’s not a hero either, but he lets friendly bookstores risk their businesses instead of just distributing book out of trunk of his own car in park.
LUANN:. Poor Les. Lonely childless cat man. Ha!
@Rusty: I think you’re confusing her with Marciuliano on Judge Parker. She’ll just send a scan of some tear-soaked Bristol and call it a day.
@MKay:
#8. MW:. No way can Ed avoid that last minute emergency that prevents him from meeting Pam. Estelle is enraged, and Ed learns he and his business have to get a partner or substitute if he wants a married life. So he calls Dr. See to hook up. (Imagine bells ringing)
@Tabby Lavalamp: two things can be true at the same time. Yes, a 2nd Lt can give an order to a senior NCO based on his commission. However, no butter-bar would actually do so if he values his life and livelihood.
Phantom: Stripeybutt is gonna pull a Captain Kirk and talk a sentient machine into destroying itself, isn’t he?
@Al of the Christian Singles Jungle Patrol: Yup. I saw a few examples of malicious compliance well before it became a term with senior NCOs pissed off at an uppity fresh-out-of-school 2Lt.
@BigTed: Crankshaft: Isn’t it ironic… when a silent fire truck rushes by a yard that happens to be lined with backward “R” signs?
? in Russian is “I”, so the sign basically says “me me me me me me me me me me me me me.” Which seems more like it’d be in front of Les Moore’s house.
Six Chix, 9/17/24; GROSSING US OUT AGAIN WITH DERANGED SCRIBBLES!!!!
@Banana Jr. 6000: That ? was supposed to be a backwards R.
@2+2=7: Best description of Luann I’ve ever read.
@Ukulele Ike: Bat-Mite, voiced by the late Paul Reubens, frequently appeared on Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which as a tongue-in-cheek 21st-century superhero show could let him fully indulge in fourth-wall breaking meta plots.
The Family Circus Spanish to English.
Andy Capp: It took me 4 hours (since I first read today’s riffings) to realize that “Bookies” is not a bookstore.
@Activist: Unfortunately Dr. See is both currently entangled and is turned off by Ed’s dedication to his job instead of telling everyone to fuck off after 4:59 pm on weekdays, weekends, and holidays.
@Dr. Larry Erhardt: Yeah, the sillier tone (although the show could get serious depending on the writer, such as the much darker episode “Chill of the Night”) justified Batmite being there, and even lampshaded it in the series finale, when the show was cancelled in-universe to make way for the next (dark and gritty) Batman show “Beware the Batman”
Batmite then poofed out of existence because he had no place in a serious Batman show.
Candid photo of Luann.
@Ukulele Ike: Elaborating on what Larry Erhardt said, when Batmite first appeared in “Batman: The Brave in the Bold” Batman outright compared him to Mr. Mxyzptlk “Superman warned me about beings like you” which Batmite took great offense to.
I didn’t. But, in fairness, I’m not a gentleman.
@Cartoon Moon Pedant: I suggest you avoid reading Mutts today.
CS/BGSS It’s a red-letter day for onomatopoeiaphiles! The roaring “RRRRRRR” of a fire engine, and the swishy “CAST!!” of a fishing pole.
@I speak Jive: It looks like Arlo in Panel 2 certainly noticed.
Six Chix is clearly referencing Darkwing Duck, a character from the early 90s that just had a nostalgic reboot on Disney+.
@Scratchy Scrotum LXIX: I noticed, but I try to keep my salacious comments about Janis within reasonable bounds.
@Scratchy Scrotum LXIX: I didn’t. But, in fairness, I’m not a gentleman.
Neither am I. I enjoyed it.
@Hedgehog: Six Chix is clearly referencing Darkwing Duck, a character from the early 90s
Which my toddler daughter at the time called Duckling Duck, and I found it difficult to dispute her.
@Hibbleton: Got a fire truck at Costco every Sunday
DT: “Potential enemies”. The guy who wants to conquer the world, who they know for a fact came here under false pretences, and who is amost certainly responsible for the recent outbreak of Lunarian violence that is inexplicably being blamed on Mysta and Honeymoon, is a potential enemy. What is wrong with these people?
GT: Today in “Wow, Gil really is just a colossal dick, isn’t he?” he outright tells his students that he’s divided them into the ones who’ve already been in juvie and the ones who haven’t yet.
JP: Neddy “Goldfish” Driver-Spencer is shocked, shocked, that Ronnie has suddenly announced she’s not keen on this plan! Why didn’t she say anything sooner?
@Schroduck:But at least Lillian gets replaced by a robot, so that’s something to look forward to.
“You want this female robot to run Lillian Mackenzie’s bookstore? But she’s so cold and inhuman!”
“I know, but we can program the robot to simulate that!”
Batiuk, of course, missed Talk Like a Pirate Day by two days.
@Rube: Why NOT? That’s half the fun of showing up here!
The
End
@The Rambling Otter: You can tell it’s not a bookstore because it’s not on fire.
Butts
@Horace Broon: (on DT) The entire American media landscape stifles a cough.
BTW, Your robot Lillian joke made me laugh out loud.
@2+2=7: I’m gonna find a way to edit this so it can be put up on GoComics. The Trufans need to be reminded at the hideous double standards presented in the strip.
@Bob Tice: Do you like Rush?
@Al of the Christian Singles Jungle Patrol: Yeah, but commenting on Janis being topless seems too easy. I prefer to go for things like “Janis is sexually voracious on a Messalina-like level, and deeply into butt stuff.”
@Liam: FC-Tonight Sam will be feasting on Jeffy
_____________________________________
Just knock him into the microwave and push the on button with your nose, Sam, and before you know it, you’ll have a nostalgic bowl of fresh Jeffy-Pop™! straight from your puppyhood!
Luechh: Please tell me Les isn’t going to be punished just for being a dude, like he’s the grasshopper to Gunther’s ant. And I have a soft spot for cat daddies. Never thought I’d like Les, but lookiit, his only comparison is Gunther. The bar is low with all of these characters.
GT: Did the artist sprain his finger during the second panel? Everyone is barely sketched in. Not that it would be better if it was beautifully drawn, because this is…a weird storyline.
BB: Eating at your desk is what low level corporate drones, bureaucrats, and NGO time servers do. It’s not some great and profound pleasure worth beating up a commissioned officer. And if Sarge hasn’t beaten up an officer how do you account for Captain Scabbard’s face?
C-Shaft: If Batiuk wants me to beg him to go back to only having catastrophic fires at Crankshaft’s cookouts, mission accomplished.
6C: Is having fleur-de-lis irises a sign of childhood nostalgia or part of the adult malaise you want childhood nostalgia to save you from.
@2+2=7, Luann: “Inner Beautystan” has replaced Evansiiverse for me.
GT: The last time we visited the Milford juvie hall they had an indoor arena that would do justice to the NFL. Now they have what looks like an old circus tent.
MW: I hope that Estelle’s “crazy cousin Pam” is in actuality the utterly violent and insane Pam from Archer.
@Butts: But… but…
I’m a little impressed that 3 of 4 strips selected today by the so-called “Uncle Lumpy” don’t have jokes in them, and each for a subtly different reason: Beetle Bailey is tired and dull, Crankshaft is pretentious and thinks it’s above the need for mere “jokes”, and Six Chix just flat-out sucks. It doesn’t even have halfway-decent art.
@made of wince: @Jeffmcm:
#128. Jeff, to each his own. I found BB a wonderful send up on those who try to get ahead by snitching on co-workers, CS was poignant and arresting as we wonder if Lillian will be able to get down burning stairs, and 6Cx demonstrate how comforting a forgotten toy or memory can be in our down times.
Others (perhaps you) like GG, and I respect your lack of taste.
9CL: What can I say? Better with the hat where it is that without it.
Blondie: Nice try, guys, but it’s well established that Dagwood dozes off when he wants where he wants and in the long run there’s nothing Dithers of the Itchy Foot can do about it.
DT: Keep friends close, enemies closer, and people with important-sounding titles closest of all. It’s the Diet Smith way.
Dustin: No you dinks, a fire truck with no apparent fire means either drill or false alarm. Are you trying for a Dumb and Dumber reboot?
GT: Kaz, who went from Gil’s right hand to the face of Milford’s Scared Straight program, may be the best placed to rule on whether it’s better to rule in hell than to serve in…wherever Milford High is.
MT: The lioness in the last panel looks as bored and annoyed as any of us would be on hearing a pun so weak that someone has to point out that a pun was just made.
MW: Duly noted that Dr. Ed wears a carnation pink suit rather than a purple one when he’s hoping for a little afternoon delight.
Phantom: Sure, just go back and binge some old school Star Trek. Jim Kirk did something like that a dozen times.
@I speak Jive:” Arlo & Janis – Did the gentlemen here notice that sunbathing Janis has her bra unhooked?”
Yes.
If Frazz and Les Moore competed in a smug-off , who would win and why? Please discuss and show your work…..
@Artist formerly known as Ben: Dr. Ed’s suit turns pink around Estelle because she’s quite acidic.
@GarrisonSkunk: I’d have some Burnings.
@Flipper:
Guess we can’t call her a basic bitch then.
@made of wince: GT: Did the artist sprain his finger during the second panel?
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No, it locked up. SPOILER ALERT: Tomorrow we pull back and reveal that it’s Truck Tyler sitting* at the drawing board driving Gil %%$&-ing Twerp daffy.
*sitting is what Tylers do best!**
** Vixen Park reference
@Artist formerly known as Ben: Dr. Ed’s suit turns pink around Estelle because she’s quite acidic.
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Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting the Mood Suit™, straight from the Fall 1976-77 Robert Hall® catalogue!
@Artist formerly known as Ben: MW: Duly noted that Dr. Ed wears a carnation pink suit rather than a purple one
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Miss Duly, being the Charterstone Players answer to Edith Head, who disapproves of Dr Ed wearing his “VICE!: THE MIAMI VICE MUSICAL” wardrobe out of the theatre.
“Hey, are we headed for Crankshaft’s place again? Fuck it, let’s just go home.”
“Not Crankshaft, next door. The old lady’s place, apparently.”
“Oh, yeah? That’s a switch. But if Ed has anything to do with it, I’ll clock ‘im one.”
The fire engine — the town can only afford one — does make it to the location quickly. Unfortunately, in their zeal, so much water is dumped on the blaze all the books Les bought are ruined. So his class never got find out what the deal was with Fahrenheit 451 anyhow.
@The Rambling Otter: Estelle’s “crazy cousin Pam”
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“Pam…Pam….Crazy Cousin Pam….One half goat, the other half ma’am”- line from a cartoon they showed in 6th grade when teaching about the Greek Gods, that’s been swimming around in my brain ever since.
@Artist formerly known as Ben: It’s the Diet Smith way.
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Just for the taste of it……..Diet Smith®!
@taig: @GarrisonSkunk: I’d have some Burnings.
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Use Preparation H™
@Artist formerly known as Ben: Phantom: Sure, just go back and binge some old school Star Trek. Jim Kirk did something like that a dozen times.
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…..Or the episode of “The Prisoner” titled “The General”, in which #6 out-Kirks a computer with three letters and a question mark.
@GarrisonSkunk: These Burnings would require antacids. Who are you, Rex Morgan?
@Tabby Lavalamp: but, couldn’t Fuzz give an order to Snorkel?
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Countless times in the past Fuzz has ordered Snorkel to stop squeaking his chair and it never takes hold.
MW: Stell needs to “gussy up” with the following contemporary items based on her vernacular:
-Hoopskirt
-Bloomers
-Parasol
-cholera medication
-smelling salts
-old time “coca” cola
I found the Mud Mountain Murphy of omelets.
@Baja Gaijin: It can take the headliner spot.
@The Rambling Otter: Yeah, and it looks like he bet on Bottle o’ Smoke!
@Horace Broon: Can we be sure that that wasn’t Lillian’s soul in a cyborg body?
@Government Cheese:
Neddy in Judge Parker might be able to fill her in on that one.
@GarrisonSkunk:
Been a while since I saw those old Prisoner episodes. Should reinvestigate.
@147 Baja Gaijin:
When Marvin sits on a plate…
@Dr. Larry Erhardt: Thanks, I stand corrected. (I only watched the Brave and the Bolds where Bats was partnered with Plastic Man, because I’ll watch anything with Plastic Man in it.)
@Artist formerly known as Ben: Oh, you definitely should…best teevee ever made. “The General” episode kinda sucks, though, it’s badly dated. Colin Gordon also played Number Two in “A, B, and C,” which is one of my favorites among the early entries. Watch as the classy parties descend into utter debauchery as Number Six gradually assumes control over the mind experiment.
This parody of the famous intro sequence is fifteen years old now, but it is still an Absolute Hoot.
@152 Sequitur: Looks more like he squatted over the plate.
@Baja Gaijin: Something squatted over that plate.
@Baja Gaijin: You are making me HATE JAPAN.
Crankshaft: That’s just the aurora borealis. Localized entirely within Westview at this time of year, this time of day.
@157 Ukulele Ike: It tastes better than it looks.
Ah, thank you The Rambling Otter and Al of the Christian Singles Jungle Patrol.