Metapost: New comment of the week, at long last!
Post Content
Shoutout to –2+2=7’s long reign at the top, but after my vacation respite, it’s finally time to crown a new COTW:
“I just realized that I have no idea what Lt. Fuzz’s job is at Camp Swampy. I presumed that maybe he was Halftrack’s personal assistant, but then I thought his job is literally blocking Halftrack’s view of Buxley at all times (per the restraining order).” –The Rambling Otter
The runners up, as always, are very funny!
“‘Your fiance the veterinarian.’ Cousin Pam is not buying this ONE BIT. Ed is going to have to text some pictures of the disemboweled Mitzi on the table, so that Estelle can save face.” –MKay
“I don’t care for the ‘ha ha’ in Beetle Bailey. It changes the throwaway gag from ‘Zero does not know what infantry means’ to ‘Zero is injecting a bit of levity into the proceedings, ha ha, just a little wordplay from Camp Swampy’s resident wit.’” –Dan
“The Phantom shows Ed how to do emotional unavailability right. ‘Me and my animals are riding off to fake our deaths. If anyone cares about me, tell them tough shit.’” –matt w
“New Mark Trail knows that it is not enough to pander to male readers interested in manly nature adventures! You also need to cater to female interests, such as true crime and how to dispose of a body!” –Ettorre
“Difficult births are primarily caused (except for complications) with humans’ unusually large head sizes. So it’s understandable why Rufus was an easy slide out. Like pouring dog food out of a can.” –Buck Ripsnort
“Rufus could still be a fae or another mythical creature that simply implanted its young into a human host, with embryonic Rufus eating the original fetus for nutrition. Never underestimate the potential horror hiding underneath this strip that has lived longer than nature or culture should allow.” –Philip
“Hi and Lois get sued after Fitch loses an eye trying to get to their garbage. Yes, today I went to Wikipedia to look up the names of the Flagston’s garbage men, a new low for me.” –nescio
“Going outside without shoes or slippers, is this a blatant attempt to get Hi an entry on Wikifeet?” –Tabby Lavalamp
“Yeah, we’ve got chess in the break room. Why do you ask? Wait, aren’t you the kid who innocently repeats his parents’ insults? Does your dad think we’re dumb because we work at a lumber yard, or a Home Depot, or wherever this is? Let’s talk to him about that, shall we?” –Anonymous
“My wife had trigger finger. I bet she’ll be really excited when I tell her that Rex Morgan M.D. is featuring HER problem, only in the comic strip it’s being suffered by a secondary character, who’s this old guy who plays country music and usually spends a lot of time sitting in a diner I think harassing the waitress but he’s spent the last few weeks instead just sitting on a bench talking to random strangers and … you know what? I’ll keep it to myself.” –Briane Pagel
“I can’t fatally overdose on C-Span, you idiot!” –TheDiva
“I like the dense grey fog that seems to be surrounding home plate, as if they’re playing on the highland moors.” –pugfuggly
“I didn’t recognize the beautifully drawn umpire’s uniform, and just assumed Dennis was just haranguing the local mailman with demented conspiracy theories. Mr. Wilson used to be a USPS employee, and I’m sure he’s filled Dennis’s head with all kinds of dark murmurings about how he never got promoted because the Post Office is full of Commies and Freemasons.” –Schroduck
“So there’s this guy, see, who always wears the same clothes with one big button in the middle. No one ever sees him without it. Even his wife! He tells her, he tells people, you can never unfasten this button. And she wonders. She lies awake next to him at night, looking at the button, touching the button, obsessing about the button. One dark night, as he’s asleep in a sandwich coma — what? oh, he likes sandwiches, really big ones, and they put him to sleep, like a snake, look, that’s really not critical to the story and … well, I thought it added color … fine, she undoes the button and his clothes and skin slough off into a heap revealing a welter of undigested food around a black hungry maw that never stops chewing, happy? You ruined it. Fuck off.” –Voshkod
“Crap, crap, crap. I overslept this morning and don’t have time to make a proper joke. Fortunately, so did the writing team at Shoe, it seems.” –I’m Not Cthulhu, But I Play Him On TV
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48 replies to “Metapost: New comment of the week, at long last!”
Congratulations on the Comment of the Week, Rambling Otter!
Three cheers for Rambling! Cheer! Cheer! Cheer!
“Beatle Bailey”, made for an Otter, but I like it, too.
Hope Hi & Lois keep Razor Raccoon in the cast! We need more fourth dimensional beings in the comics today! (Vixen Park ref).
Congrats, Otter!!!! :-)
Awwwww <3 thanks Josh, and the rest of you awesome people :3
Cograts Otter. I’ve been rooting for an underdog for long time now.
@5 The Rambling Otter:
I normally save my CONGRATS until after
ItchScratcherScratchy and Baja post but I’ll break that tradition, since they’re slow on the trigger today, and say WELL DONE Mr. Otter.Your prize is an evening with Miss Buxley.
@Sequitur: Thank you so much! :3
@Sequitur: I hope you’ve arranged an evening with 1971 Miss Buxley, and not her current lumpy incarnation.
(I have a copy of the 96-page 1982 Miss Buxley: Sexism in Beetle Bailey I got years ago at the original $4.99 price. I see used copies are now going on Amazon for seventy bucks)
@10 Ukulele Ike:
One can borrow it for free from Internet Archive if you have a free account.
@Sequitur: Except that, at the moment, someone has it checked out! Somewhere at the Internet Archive someone takes note of the sudden uptick of interest in this book and eh, if anyone cares they can see the referring URL, life is no fun anymore.
(Oh congrats Otter and the rest of the floaters, and thanks for the float ride Josh!)
Here is Miss Buxley’s first appearance in Beetle Bailey.
@11 matt w:
That would be me.
Way to GO, T R O!
And congratulations to the Floaters (glad to have you all back) and the Scroters:
Scratchy’s Scrotums of the Week
jroggs
September 20th, 2024 at 4:48 am Reply
MW: What does Estelle stand to gain from lying about Ed’s absence? Everything. No one’s social standing could survive the blow of the discovery that their significant other is a busy veterinarian.
mstgator
September 20th, 2024 at 5:26 am Reply
MW: Fuck off, Estelle.
Cleveland Mocks
September 20th, 2024 at 5:36 am Reply
MW: At 5:30, a snockered Pam slurs loudly, “Hey, Eshtelle, so where’s your *air quotes* fiance? Let me guessh, his *air quotes* emergency is trying to coax a cat out of a tree! No, wait, he’s putting flea powder on a dog! No, wait, he’s trying to avoid you. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha . . .”
taig
September 21st, 2024 at 5:55 am Reply
FW: I’m going to hit my head against a wall a few times. Maybe a concussion will help me make sense of this strip. I don’t like to pull out the term “clodhoppingly stupid” very often, but this is clodhoppingly stupid.
jroggs
September 21st, 2024 at 2:40 am Reply
CS: There aren’t enough synonyms for “stupid” in the English language to fully describe this. Just go buy yourself a little plaque and fix your goddamned building so your neighbors don’t have to live next to an eyesore and your customers don’t die walking up the stairs, you vile self-aggrandizing crone.
MW: Finally we get to meet Pam, whom Estelle (canonically at least sixty) hasn’t spoken to in thirty years, and… heh. Heh heh. Heh heh hahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, man… Estelle, you dumbass, did you get into a decades-long feud in your thirties with a literal child?
Needless Exposition
September 21st, 2024 at 4:25 am Reply
MW: Pam looks like she’s both half Estelle’s age and ready to stab her with a butter knife. I think I’m in love.
Cleveland Mocks
September 21st, 2024 at 6:26 am Reply
MW: Formerly estranged cousin Pam can’t wait to give Ed an extremely inappropriate welcome-to-the-family lip lock, boob smoosh, and pelvic grind.
Scratchy’s Scrotums of the Week
Uncle Lumpy on Luann:
What is it with this strip and basic repairs? We’ve seen Toni use a torque wrench to remove bolts (when the torque is zero you’ll know it’s off!) and a pipe wrench backwards until the fitting broke and flooded the laundry room. And now instead of splurging twelve bucks on a good flap valve, Bets here commits to a lifetime of jiggling the handle. Which is somehow a metaphor for her relationship with Gunther but I don’t wish to explore that any further thanks.
Baja Gaijin
September 21st, 2024 at 5:34 am Reply
Luann: Unlike Gunther, Les got the pussy tonight.
ectojazzmage
September 21st, 2024 at 6:39 am Reply
Archie: Really like how out-of-place Foreground Babe looks. I’m 100% sure that the artist forgot to draw her in and had to cut and paste her into the strip hastily before the deadline.
Luann: I genuinely can’t believe I’m saying even the slightest positive thing about Luann, but this – devoid of all context – is pretty cute and wholesome. ACTUALLY wholesome, not the weird fakey neo-puritan facsimile of wholesomeness that Luann usually does.
Peanut Gallery
September 21st, 2024 at 5:30 am Reply
GT – “Why did you leave Milford, Bob?”
“Well, I moved to the town where Bubba Joe Tilwells lives. Thus raising the average IQ in both places.”
Tabby Lavalamp
September 21st, 2024 at 6:21 am Reply
The art in Gil Thorp can be questionable at times, but if Gil is actually about to ram that wine glass into Kaz’s face, well then, kudos.
jroggs
September 22nd, 2024 at 4:47 am Reply
CS: The only thing Tom Batiuk has to fear is fracturing a vertebra from all this patting himself on the back.
Ukulele Ike
September 22nd, 2024 at 8:18 am Reply
Crank: In real life, Kent State alumni rarely mention they went to Kent State during “When I was at college” anecdotes. The profundity and substance of that memorable poly sci course offers a clue why that is.
Scratchy’s Scrotums of the Week
The Quiet Man
September 22nd, 2024 at 4:36 am Reply
JP: Well, it took a week of blabbering and dithering, but everyone, I am happy to report that the pancake question has been answered!!
MW: BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Schroduck
September 22nd, 2024 at 4:39 am Reply
Mary Worth could have come up with any veterinary emergency for Dr Ed. Making it involve the death of several puppies is so hilariously bleak that I can only salute it.
Truckosaurus
September 22nd, 2024 at 4:36 am Reply
“I knew that stupid bitch would ruin things! Damn you, Mitzi!”
– Estelle, animal lover
Needless Exposition
September 22nd, 2024 at 4:52 am Reply
Originally I went into this Mary Worth storyline feeling like Moy was going to try and manipulate the situation so that Ed would suddenly turn from Estelle’s perfect partner into making her wish she was back with Wilbur. But this is even worse than I thought it was going to go because after this, it’s clear that Estelle has completed her transformation into being a narcissistic sociopath like the other Charterstone residents.
After all, no one else seems to be as bothered about Ed not being able to show up except for Estelle because she spent ages bragging about him to her cousin. She wants Ed to be there to show off to Pam that she’s not a dried up prune of a widow. Because she’s perfectly okay with him making gobs of money for her fancy wedding but when she can’t show him off like a fancy toy, she gets upset.
pugfuggly
September 22nd, 2024 at 5:08 am Reply
MW: Yep, life is what happens when you’re making other plans. Or death. The death of puppies, even. Sorry, don’t mean to be a downer, but that seems to be what happened.
MKay
September 22nd, 2024 at 5:25 am Reply
MW: “Your Fiance the Veterinarian.” Cousin Pam is not buying this ONE BIT. Ed is going to have to text some pictures of the disemboweled Mitzi on the table, so that Estelle can save face.
mstgator
September 22nd, 2024 at 5:14 am Reply
MW: Cue up the Casey Kasem dead-dog-dedication tirade…
Hibbleton
September 22nd, 2024 at 6:01 am Reply
MW: Under BBC murder mystery rules, after witnessing Estelle’s jealous rage first hand, Detective Pam realizes that it was Estelle who murdered Jimmy all along.
BigTed
September 22nd, 2024 at 7:42 am Reply
Mary Worth: The Ogden Edsl Wahalia Blues Ensemble Mondo Bizzario Band was right — dead puppies aren’t much fun.
Where’s Rocky?
September 22nd, 2024 at 7:48 am Reply
MW. Of the many narrative and creative sins committed by today’s Mary Worth the most egregious may be that the quote box wasn’t the Dr. Demento Show’s “Dead puppies aren’t much fun.”
Weaselboy
September 22nd, 2024 at 5:55 am Reply
MW – There’s no period after “last,” so Estelle can’t be that mad.
matt w
September 22nd, 2024 at 6:14 am Reply
Oh boy we got a good one. Yes John Lennon used that line in a song. But he got it from… Mary Worth.
I speak Jive
September 22nd, 2024 at 8:05 am Reply
@matt w: Mind blown.
Scratchy’s Scrotums of the Week
taig
September 22nd, 2024 at 5:08 am Reply
BB: Segways were invented in the late 1990s and marketed in the early 2000s, so this strip is surprisingly current.
Charles Solution
September 22nd, 2024 at 5:00 am Reply
So, uh, Zero is smart enough to make a dad joke now? Like, he’s aware of wordplay, not simple-minded and criminally literal?
As much as I hate the dumb hick trope, this is not better.
nescio
September 22nd, 2024 at 6:07 am Reply
BB: For fuck’s sake, just steal a Jeep.
MKay
September 22nd, 2024 at 5:25 am Reply
RMMD: True to form, Truck is going to be a pain in the ass every little step of the way.
I speak Jive
September 22nd, 2024 at 8:02 am Reply
Rex Morgan – I’m thankful that RMMD didn’t spend a week talking about Wanda completing the online check-in. After weeks of talking about making an appointment, that would be too much drama.
Ken
September 22nd, 2024 at 4:57 am Reply
MT: The most disturbing factoid is that turkey vultures have adapted to live indoors, soaring over heat vents. Keep your furnace under sixty degrees in winter, if you don’t want acidic carrion vomit everywhere.
Scratchy’s Scrotums of the Week
Baja Gaijin
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:24 am Reply
Family Circus: AAAAHHH!!! DOLLY POPPING OUT OF A CAKE!!! And I’m all out of the main ingredient for a brain bleach colada!!! Thank goodness she’s fully clothed.
Luann: Wait a minute. Why are the sleazy ho with the sex doll mouth and the sleazy man-ho not in the bizarre fuck tent in the living room? What’s the point of having a bizarre fuck tent in the living room if no one’s going to use it?
Little Guy
September 23rd, 2024 at 5:08 am Reply
Luann: Are we sure that Stef isn’t a refugee from the Brookeverse?
Her Father, John Darling
September 23rd, 2024 at 9:48 am Reply
@Little Guy: Luann: Are we sure that Stef isn’t a refugee from the Brookeverse?
I don’t read Luann but now I feel compelled to check it out as I can only your comment means Stef is humping someone on a piano bench in public.
pugfuggly
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:48 am Reply
Pluggers: It’s funny, I feel like it wasn’t thst long ago that texting was something that them younguns’ did, while pluggers still used a rotary phone or whatever. Anyhow, looking forward to this strip in 2030, when we hear complaints about breaking a hip while doing that new tiktok dance.
taig
September 23rd, 2024 at 5:21 am Reply
Pluggers: This is more harrowing that Rhinoman hocking his TV.
lynn
September 23rd, 2024 at 7:02 am Reply
Pluggers: Sadly, he is texting 911 about his heart attack.
Jym Dyer
September 23rd, 2024 at 10:21 am Reply
Pluggers: I seem to recall Pluggers sitting at McDonald’s as their “third space,” drinking coffee from styrofoam cups and jeering at the eeleetists at fancypants coffee shops with those big city ceramic cups and saucers.
Scratchy’s Scrotums of the Week
Cleveland Mocks
September 23rd, 2024 at 5:22 am Reply
GT: Sexual congress in Gil Thorp? Shocking! But Whigham’s always wanted to draw it, and with just a week to go in his tenure, Why the hell not?
Hibbleton
September 23rd, 2024 at 5:42 am Reply
JP: Three hours in traffic after eating a full stack of pancakes? I hope Mrs Declan has a plunger handy.
“Hi, I’m Neddy. Where’s the toilet?”
RMMD: Sarah Morgan is able to pass herself off as a Nurse Practitioner right up until Truck says he might as well get a prostate exam while he’s there. “(GULP!)”
Scratchy’s Scrotums of the Week
Bob Tice
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:33 am Reply
MW:
“I’ll bet Mrs. Fitz tempted him with that poodle skirt of hers!”
MKay
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:47 am Reply
MW: Blinded by her petulant tears, Estelle careens off a cliff. She might have made it, but the surgeon who was putting her back together suddenly realized that he was due at a VERY important dinner party. RIP
Charterstoned
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:43 am Reply
MW: Looks like Estelle is blinded by her tears and is very likely headed for a very serious car crash. I wonder if the docs at Santa Royale’s HUMAN HOSPITAL subscribe to the same medical practices as Dr. Ed.
“This patient needs to be put down, STAT!”
Government Cheese
September 23rd, 2024 at 7:12 am Reply
MW: Meanwhile, Wilbur is biding his time, waiting to bust out his speedo and dance the cha-cha with a plastic rose between his teeth.
BigTed
September 23rd, 2024 at 8:01 am Reply
Mary Worth: Stell is so upset by Ed’s no-show, she’s participating in a high-speed night-time drag race with another commuter sedan. She’s doing well so far, but is about to pull an exciting yet dangerous Tokyo Drift into a freeway entrance. Don’t do it, Stell! No, wait, do it! (It would be horrible, but think of the irony if she hit a stray dog.)
Lurching BandannasSequiturSeptember 23rd, 2024 at 9:18 am Reply
The Family Circus Spanish to English,
“Okay, he’s finally asleep. Bring me that warm pan of water.”
MKay
September 24th, 2024 at 4:42 am Reply
MW: See Stell harp. Harp, Stell, harp. Run, Ed, run. Run fast, run far.
I speak Jive
September 24th, 2024 at 6:07 am Reply
Mary Worth – The obvious solution after Mary’s meddling would be for Estelle and Dr. Ed to adopt a puppy together so they have a pet in common. However, “Dogs are good!” has already been done, and the premature puppies Dr. Ed delivered died.
Seriously, can MW go any lower than a litter of dead puppies?
Scratchy’s Scrotums of the Week
Hibbleton
September 24th, 2024 at 4:37 am Reply
H&L: Would’ve been better with the Raccoon replaced by Thirsty with the same hangdog expression. It would make no sense but at this point the strip can use all the whimsy it can get.
nescio
September 24th, 2024 at 5:26 am Reply
Hi and Lois get sued after Fitch loses an eye trying to get to their garbage. Yes, today I went to Wikipedia to look up the names of The Flagston’s garbage men, a new low for me.
Ettorre
September 24th, 2024 at 4:55 am Reply
From what we know about Hi, a depressed racoon might be his spirit animal
Little Guy
September 24th, 2024 at 4:26 am Reply
H&L. Meta: I think Lois is somewhat disappointed that her first thought that they were a bedroom accessory was incorrect.
Luann: With Stef, on the other hand…
Unca Bob
September 26th, 2024 at 8:29 am Reply
Dustin—What’s up with Dustin Dad this week? He looks like his head got stuck in a pencil sharpener. New artist? The guy who did Spy Vs. Spy? Dustin and his bozo friend look “normal”.
Scratchy’s Scrotums of the Week
Hibbleton
September 26th, 2024 at 4:46 am Reply
DtM: Uniform? They couldn’t even bother to draw a batters box, batting cage, stands, spectators, catcher…. It looks more like a predator who visits the local park in an umpire’s uniform and draws in curious little boys as he pretends to clean his portable home plate.
Weaselboy
September 26th, 2024 at 4:49 am Reply
DtM – Better question: why is the ump dusting off home plate when it’s surrounded by grass?
Frippin on the Krotz
September 26th, 2024 at 4:57 am Reply
Speaking of DtM’s #brand, I found this on Wikipedia:
“Dennis the Menace appeared in Dairy Queen marketing from 1971 until December 2002, when he was dropped because Dairy Queen felt children could no longer relate to him.”
BURN!
Schroduck
September 26th, 2024 at 4:58 am Reply
I didn’t recognize the beautifully drawn umpire’s uniform, and just assumed Dennis was just haranguing the local mailman with demented conspiracy theories. Mr Wilson used to be a USPS employee, and I’m sure he’s filled Dennis’s head with all kinds of dark murmurings about how he never got promoted because the Post Office is full of Commies and Freemasons.
nescio
September 26th, 2024 at 4:46 am Reply
DtM: Forget Dennis, I want to know more about why this umpire is choosing to brush off home plate in a way that shows off his ass to the pitcher.
Baja Gaijin
September 26th, 2024 at 6:11 am Reply
@13 nescio: Dennis blundered into filming the intro to the long awaited “Hot Ump Asses Volume 5,” sequel to “Hot Ump Asses Volume 4” that Grindr gave four erect penises up.
Tabby Lavalamp
September 26th, 2024 at 5:55 am Reply
You can’t tell because of the lazy background work, but Dennis is clearly at a stadium where games are so sparsely attended that a child can just wander onto the field. This is some major league menacing.
Rube
September 26th, 2024 at 5:57 am Reply
@Tabby Lavalamp: So it’s a White Sox game?
Daisy
September 26th, 2024 at 8:17 am Reply
@Rube: #33
Ohhh…BURN!!!! (written by a Cubs fan…)
MW: Just then, Stell’s phone buzzes…it’s Arthur/Arther asking for more money…
Professor Well Actually
September 26th, 2024 at 6:37 am Reply
MW: the only solution is friends with benefits.
Liam
September 26th, 2024 at 7:13 am Reply
MW-“It’s supposed to be all about me.”
Little Blue Bicycle
September 26th, 2024 at 6:25 am Reply
MW: The inevitable conclusion now is Mary advising Estelle to sublimate his wishes to her husband, as man is to lead the marriage. That is canon in the Moyverse.
Special Scrotal Awards to the Best No. 69 and Beyond of the Week
69. Liam
September 20th, 2024 at 9:58 am Reply
MW-“I’ll just tell everyone that Ed is a drunk. A great big luscious drunk.”
69. Buck Ripsnort
September 23rd, 2024 at 7:56 am Reply
Difficult births are primarily caused (except for complications) with humans’ unusually large head sizes. So it’s understandable why Rufus was an easy slide out. Like pouring dog food out of a can.
69. Anonymous
September 24th, 2024 at 6:33 am Reply
DtM: “Yeah, we’ve got chess in the break room. Why do you ask? Wait, aren’t you the kid who innocently repeats his parents’ insults? Does your dad think we’re dumb because we work at a lumber yard, or a Home Depot, or wherever this is? Let’s talk to him about that, shall we?”
Special Scrotal Awards to the Best No. 69 and Beyond of the Week
69. I speak Jive
September 27th, 2024 at 8:11 am Reply
Crankshaft – An interminable, ham fisted take on banning books, and now he’s dragging out his greatest hits. Forget the Pulitzer – Batiuk’s aiming for the Nobel Prize in literature.
Pluggers – Pudding? Really? It would more likely be an ice cream bar with syrups and other toppings. And an ice cream machine with questionable sanitation.
Thanks for the mentions, Scratchy!
congrats to all the funny folks this week! There were a TON of laughs in the comments this week!
Congrats to Rambling Otter for the coveted COTW award; congrats to the runners-up; congrats to all of us for makine one another laugh; and thanks for the props, Scratchy.
Congrats to The Rambling Otter and the floaters and thanks, Scratchy!
Springboard Shadow CsOTW
Scratchy Scrotum LXIX
September 22nd, 2024 at 6:17 am Reply
@MKay: Rex Morgan: True to form, Truck is going to be a pain in the ass every little step of the way.
——————————————————
I realize a hand ailment isn’t likely to be fatal, but I hope Truck dies.
GarrisonSkunk
September 22nd, 2024 at 9:36 am Reply
@Needless Exposition: Mary Worth: …the ephebophilic professor, his drunken child bride, the perpetual college student, the meddling she-devil, and Wilbur.
——————————————————
…..are here on Mary Worth’s Isle……
.
.
.
Special Long-form Shadow CsOTW
Philip
September 22nd, 2024 at 11:19 pm Reply
Mary Worth: Wilbur awakens from his slumber, covering in crumbs and gravy from his Hungry Guy dinner. Somewhere, deep inside the recess of his DNA, a call goes out. Despite his lineage standing in defiance of Darwin’s Law of Survival of the Fittest, an ancient survival gene stirs. Sure, Estelle is past child bearing age, but she in such a weak state that bearing with Wilbur as a rebound is possible. That has been the mystery of the Weston line’s continuation, and that primordial, inscrutable means of survival is active once again.
Voshkod
September 25th, 2024 at 6:39 am Reply
Dick Tracy: “OK, files PE-PR, let’s see, Plans for Coffee . . . Plans for Cogwheels . . . Plans for Corgis . . . Plans for Croquettes . . . wait a minute, where’re Plans for Conquest? Oh, of course, let’s see, files CE-CR, we’ve got Cheese, Moon Made of . . . Chompers . . . Craters, Creative Uses of . . . god damn, no Conquests, Plans for! OK, think, think, don’t panic, maybe it’s under Earth Conquest? Damn this byzantine filing system, but I’m impressed by their dedication to security through obscurity.”
.
.
.
Special Extra Long-form Shadow CsOTW
jroggs
September 22nd, 2024 at 4:49 am Reply
Mary Worth: Holy moly. I’ve got a lot of disconnected feelings about this, so I’m just going to do it bullet-point style:
– This is an annihilation of Estelle’s established character. Estelle is supposed to love animals; it makes no sense for her to react to mass puppy death and a dying mommy dog with this petty fury.
– I don’t know if Karen Moy realizes that this is permanent. Estelle’s character will never recover from this. She will forever be mocked and abhorred for this absurdly selfish and nasty response.
– At least we’ve conclusively settled the Team Ed vs Team Estelle issue.
– Still laughed pretty hard.
– Why was Estelle lying about the excuse for Ed’s absence from the beginning? I’m not even asking for a good reason, just a reason.
– Why can’t the greatest and most dedicated vet in southern California keep any animals alive ever? You’d almost think Ed was deliberately cutting down his workload for the next 10-15 years.
– Misguided or not, Karen Moy still has 100 times the writing cojones of Tom Batiuk.
Needless Exposition
September 23rd, 2024 at 7:36 am Reply
Mary Worth: I would love to see what happened when Estelle told Pam that Ed wasn’t coming to the dinner.
Estelle: *trying to hold in her anger* Ed’s not coming.
Pam: What’s wrong? Is everything okay?
Estelle: Ms. Fitz’s poodle went into premature labor and the puppies didn’t make it.
Pam: Oh no…
Estelle: Ed has to perform emergency surgery to save the mother’s life so he can’t make it.
Pam: I’m so sorry. We can always get lunch another time.
Estelle: I can’t believe he would do this to me! He promised he would come here after taking care of this!
Pam: Estelle…
Estelle: This is the last straw! I can’t believe he would do this to me!
Pam: It was an emergency; I don’t think he meant to hurt you.
Estelle: How can he be so selfish? Doesn’t he care about me? Why did that stupid dog have to go into labor tonight and ruin everything for me?
Pam: …You self centered bitch.
Philip
September 25th, 2024 at 5:39 am Reply
Beetle Bailey: General Halftrack was having a good day. He was thinking about the sun smiling down on all of humanity, and the beauty of it all. He even thought of Beetle’s niece who is friends with the sunbeam. For a man whose profession is war, it’s a nice moment to realize what he’s supposed to be defending.
But his heart freezes as he walks into the office. Miss Buxley’s look of horror and Lt. Fuzz’s excessive chipper demeanor can only mean that Fuzz used his connections at the Pentagon to approve one of his deranged plans to bring carnage on the civilian population of one of the US’s adversaries. In fact, it was code named “solar flare” and would… Halftrack couldn’t even think about it. There is nothing in this Universe of mysteries, wonders and transcendent moments that mankind couldn’t weaponize against the enemies it created for politically and economically expedient reasons.
He wanted to say “God help us all”, but Lt. Fuzz has accounted for that. May God save himself as well.
Dick
Shadow COTW Contenders, Part 1
Cleveland Mocks
September 21st, 2024 at 6:26 am Reply
Mary Worth: Formerly estranged cousin Pam can’t wait to give Ed an extremely inappropriate welcome-to-the-family lip lock, boob smoosh, and pelvic grind.
TheDiva
September 21st, 2024 at 7:51 am Reply
Dick Tracy: “I mean it, no more terrorist activities or I will seriously consider taking away your Space Coupe privileges!”
Artist formerly known as Ben
September 21st, 2024 at 11:23 am Reply
Gil Thorp: A dinner party at the Thorp residence means telling had-to-be-there anecdotes over unfrosted Pop Tarts and tall glasses of Two Buck Chuck.
Schroduck
September 22nd, 2024 at 4:39 am Reply
Mary Worth could have come up with any veterinary emergency for Dr. Ed. Making it involve the death of several puppies is so hilariously bleak that I can only salute it.
TheDiva
September 22nd, 2024 at 6:25 am Reply
Mary Worth: If you had asked me which Mary Worth character would exhibit incandescent fury over a dying dog that had just miscarried her litter being prioritized over them, I would have guessed Wilbur. I think we all would have guessed Wilbur.
seismic-2
September 22nd, 2024 at 7:05 am Reply
Judge Parker: “You’re doing something remarkably stupid,” says the woman who can’t figure out how to hold a fork.
Hibbleton
September 22nd, 2024 at 9:02 am Reply
Beetle Bailey: Halftrack’s latest brainstorm, infantry men on Segways carrying acid-vomiting vultures on their helmets, insures his continued assignment at Camp Swampy.
Gerry Quinn
September 22nd, 2024 at 9:21 am Reply
Mary Worth: Murder? The last panel makes it clear that Estelle is accessing witchy powers sufficient to destroy the universe.
Ettorre
September 22nd, 2024 at 9:30 am Reply
Phantom: Faking your death to inspire greater loyalty from those around you? I guess he’s the-ghost-who-imitates-Wilbur’s-modus-operandi!
ectojazzmage
September 22nd, 2024 at 9:37 am Reply
Mary Worth: HOW FUCKING DARE MY FIANCEE DO HIS JOB THAT I KNEW HE HAD BEFORE I BEGAN DATING HIM!
nescio
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:33 am Reply
Pluggers: News Flash: Community life in The Plains, Ohio is disrupted when thousands of Pluggers move there because it sounds so bland.
MKay
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:47 am Reply
Mary Worth: Blinded by her petulant tears, Estelle careens off a cliff. She might have made it, but the surgeon who was putting her back together suddenly realized that he was due at a VERY important dinner party. RIP
Hibbleton
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:47 am Reply
Hi and Lois: Hi makes a grocery list. Will the yuks never stop.
Ukulele Ike
September 23rd, 2024 at 6:22 am Reply
Pluggers: Josh, you know this plugger’s old pal at the other end of the text has been dead on the kitchen floor for three days. The cat has already eaten the eyeballs and is eyeing the other soft parts.
I hope he was wearing pants when the coronary hit.
Scratchy Scrotum LXIX
September 23rd, 2024 at 6:27 am Reply
Family Circlejerk – If she’s five, why is Dolly wearing a button that says 75? Did she take it off Holier Than Thou Grandma’s corpse?
lynn
September 23rd, 2024 at 7:02 am Reply
Pluggers: Sadly, he is texting 911 about his heart attack.
Government Cheese
September 23rd, 2024 at 7:12 am Reply
Mary Worth: Meanwhile, Wilbur is biding his time, waiting to bust out his speedo and dance the cha-cha with a plastic rose between his teeth.
Dr. Larry Erhardt
September 23rd, 2024 at 9:30 am Reply
Pluggers waste their precious TV time, not texting, but writing snarky comments on a blog about some dying art form, like, I don’t know, stamp collecting or crocheting.
McManx
September 24th, 2024 at 4:36 am Reply
Six Chix: Isn’t this the Chix that only recently was fucking a sandwich until it ran off with avocado toast? Given that, I’m not sure Chix lamenting affording groceries means she’s hungry or looking for food prostitutes.
Hibbleton
September 24th, 2024 at 4:41 am Reply
Dennis the Menace: “Look, Mister. A hundred dollars is a hundred dollars but when you said ‘work him over’ we expected someone much older.”
MKay
September 24th, 2024 at 4:42 am Reply
Rex Morgan: Truck is SO relieved to have a manly malady. Good thing he wasn’t diagnosed with Knitter’s Knuckle.
Ettorre
September 24th, 2024 at 4:54 am Reply
“Dennis the Menace” works for the unity of Americans! You might be a WASP middle class man like Dennis’s dad or you might be an ethnic working-class man like those two, but what unites you all across ethnic and class divides is the common belief that Dennis is a turd.
Flipper
September 24th, 2024 at 7:33 am Reply
Dennis the Menace: Dennis managed to find employees in the lumber department? That’s impressive.
Liam
September 24th, 2024 at 9:38 am Reply
Dennis the Menace: “Did my mom give you all this wood?”
Liam
September 24th, 2024 at 11:16 am Reply
Six Chix: Maybe if you told jokes they would pay you more.
Ukulele Ike
September 24th, 2024 at 12:26 pm Reply
Phantom: If you’re going to park your horse behind a warehouse in the bad part of town like a secondhand VW van, you deserve to have it stolen by a robot moon dog.
Shadow COTW Contenders, Part 2
Artist formerly known as Ben
September 24th, 2024 at 3:40 pm Reply
Gil Thorp: Gil’s an old-fashioned, romantic guy so when he wanted to show Beth he was interested in her he gave her…a pair of eyes. Okay, that’s a new one on me. Whose were they, I wonder? Can’t be Marty Moon’s. He’s not even blind drunk anymore, ha-ha.
Fathom Haunt
September 25th, 2024 at 12:12 am Reply
Mary Worth: Fingers crossed that the storyline takes a dark turn when a freak accident brings the unfortunate puppies to life, and they’re not friendly, can Estelle and Ed reconcile as they find themselves under siege by rampaging preemie pup zombies?
taig
September 25th, 2024 at 5:59 am Reply
Zits: I’ve got to say, Discovery Channel’s Radish Week is less thrilling than its Shark Week.
Ukulele Ike
September 25th, 2024 at 8:04 am Reply
Dick Tracy: “Here it is….Diet Smith’s top secret recipe for Everlasting Gobstoppers. My Terran pal, Mister Slugworth, will be very pleased!”
Poteet
September 25th, 2024 at 8:55 am Reply
Rex Morgan: June, if you consult a mirror, you will see that your hair looks worse than Truck’s hair. Worse. Than. Truck’s. Hair. That’s not a wake-up call, it’s a fire alarm.
Guillermo el chiclero
September 25th, 2024 at 9:26 am Reply
Family Circus: Holier Than Thou Grandma is reading letters from people now dead.
“She should’ve quit smoking when I warned her, stupid bitch.”
“Ooh, what do we have here? m R. High School Football Star, who stood me up for the captain of the varsity cheerleader squad. I go to the cemetery every week and dance on both your graves.”
GarrisonSkunk
September 25th, 2024 at 12:38 pm Reply
The Familliar Mucus: “Know why Grandma puts Krazy Glue™ on your lips? So she doesn’t have to listen to your warmed over ‘Lucy Van Pelt explains carp to her brother’ lines.”
Al of the Christian Singles Jungle Patrol
September 25th, 2024 at 1:30 pm Reply
Dick Tracy: 131 comments, and nobody has asked josh if, since they don’t have file cabinets, whether they’ll have swingsets on the moon.
Play Muddy Boots!
Bob Tice
September 26th, 2024 at 4:31 am Reply
Phantom: “Devil! — go get a recording of Peter and Gordon’s ‘I Go to Pieces’ so we can have a little mood music here!”
MKay
September 26th, 2024 at 4:42 am Reply
Mary Worth: We’re begging you, Mary, MEDDLE NOW. Bring store-bought muffins if you have to, but please, just make the whining stop!
taig
September 26th, 2024 at 5:45 am Reply
Mary Worth: “You’re lucky you don’t have to deal with human problems.” “The fuck we don’t. You get like this, and you forget to feed me!” “My litter box hasn’t been cleaned in three days, lady!”
BigTed
September 26th, 2024 at 7:33 am Reply
Pluggers: Pluggers are gross. How gross are they? They’re so gross that they’ll do something gross, and then write a national comic to tell the world about it! (Gross.)
Daisy
September 26th, 2024 at 8:12 am Reply
Mary Worth: Just then, Stell’s phone buzzes…it’s Arthur/Arther asking for more money…
I speak Jive
September 26th, 2024 at 8:40 am Reply
Mary Worth: There’s only one way to handle this. Ask a friend to deliver this note to Dr. Ed:
Do you like me? Check one:
___ Yes
___ No
On second thought, considering Estelle’s behavior, that might be too mature for her.
I’m Not Cthulhu, But I Play Him On TV
September 27th, 2024 at 5:43 am Reply
Crap, crap, crap. I overslept this morning and don’t have time to make a proper joke. Fortunately, so did the writing team at Shoe, it seems.
2+2=7
September 27th, 2024 at 7:27 am Reply
Blondie: Dagwood: “Ugh! It takes so long to get ready when you have more than two outfits!”
TheDiva
September 27th, 2024 at 7:42 am Reply
Dick Tracy: So the technologically advanced genocidal alien is a mere patsy in all of this? Man, and he wasted all that “obviously evil” cred for nothing!
Daily Shadow CsOTW
Saturday
————
Tabby Lavalamp
September 21st, 2024 at 6:21 am Reply
The art in “Gil Thorp” can be questionable at times, but if Gil is actually about to ram that wine glass into Kaz’s face, well then, kudos.
Uncle Lumpy
September 21st, 2024 at 4:58 am Reply
“There is no worse punishment than worthless, hopeless labor.”
“Well, maybe having to read Luann every day.”
— Albert Camus
Sunday
———-
Truckosaurus
September 22nd, 2024 at 4:36 am Reply
Mary Worth: “I knew that stupid bitch would ruin things! Damn you, Mitzi!”
– Estelle, animal lover
Ken
September 22nd, 2024 at 4:57 am Reply
Mark Trail: The most disturbing factoid is that turkey vultures have adapted to live indoors, soaring over heat vents. Keep your furnace under sixty degrees in winter, if you don’t want acidic carrion vomit everywhere.
Monday
———–
jroggs
September 23rd, 2024 at 4:58 am Reply
Luann: Judging by the size of Bets’ overlap-censored speech balloon, it seems that boy really knows how to map. Nothing wrong about that, I think most people experiment with cartography in college, though I learned it wasn’t for me after an unexpected finger too far north up my compass rose.
Ettorre
September 23rd, 2024 at 6:45 am Reply
Gasoline Alley: “Easy is my middle name! Because I’m a whore! Well, I’d be if anyone wanted me!”
Tuesday
———–
Needless Exposition
September 24th, 2024 at 4:30 am Reply
Mary Worth: “Why couldn’t Ed just turn off his emotions like a normal person and come to the dinner party after he was done throwing those dogs in the incinerator? Doesn’t he know how embarrassing it was for me to not shove him in Pam’s face so she could die of jealousy?”
Chry
September 24th, 2024 at 10:36 am Reply
Mary Worth: Where first-world problems go to die, but never manage to do it.
Wednesday
—————
MKay
September 25th, 2024 at 4:35 am Reply
Mary Worth: Estelle’s vulnerability has tripped Wilbur’s Desperate Woman Alert. The fly is in the web. The pudgy spider waits, crouched in the shrubbery.
TheDiva
September 25th, 2024 at 6:31 am Reply
Shoe: “I can’t fatally overdose on C-Span, you idiot!”
Thursday
————
Charterstoned
September 26th, 2024 at 4:31 am Reply
Mary Worth: Rolling their three eyes at the extended pity party, Libby and Pierre regret their lack of opposable thumbs, a deficit that prevents them from playing the world’s smallest violin, just for Estelle.
Dennis Jimenez
September 26th, 2024 at 8:23 am Reply
Phantom: Don’t follow the strip, but it looks like some kind of giant mechanical cricket. Try getting to sleep with that thing chirping for a mate…
Friday
——–
pugfuggly
September 27th, 2024 at 4:52 am Reply
Shoe: I like how the Perfesser bows his head as if he’s really traumatized by it. “It was terrible: gastric explosions everywhere, innocent meat and vegetables fleeing to the colon, kernels of corn separated from their cob…”
Artist formerly known as Ben
September 27th, 2024 at 9:04 am Reply
Dick Tracy: Ro-Zan inadvertently infiltrated Smith Industries’ gag gifts division. “This gun just makes a flatulent sound? I don’t see the point.”
.
.
.
Shadow COTW
——————
Daisy
September 22nd, 2024 at 12:55 pm Reply
Mark Trail: Boy oh boy – if I could have just one superpower, it would be to be able to vomit my extremely acidic gastric contents on predators!!!
Congratulations to The Rambling Otter and the rest of the float gang. Also to the shadow-ies (thanks Baja) and scratchies. Tips of the beret to matt w, Briane Pagel, and Schroduck.
Thankee, Baja!
Thank you, Scratchy & Baja!
My mama (born July 1925) attended Kent State for one year before dropping out to marry my enlisted-in-the-army papa (in April 1944), followed him as an Army Wife around to bases in Texas and Alaska, then popped out my eldest sister (February 1945) while he was shipped off to fight the Nazis. He came home full of shrapnel, and mama was always pissed off at FDR for not letting Hitler take over the world so she could have had an education followed by a glamorous life and career in New York City instead of marrying dad and producing four rugrats.
Thanks, Scratchy and Baja.
Congrats to Rambling Otter, and everyone on the various floats! Broon Croons to Anonymous, jroggs, and TheDiva!
Congrats on the SCotW, Daisy!
Thanks for the mentions, Baja!
:) again, thanks for all of the congrats guys
Also, I realized… today…
-My Sister and my Mom went out to get new tires for the car, and renew the car insurance, it took forever. My Sister while waiting for hours for my Mom to deal with the insurance, went into Wendy’s to get a soda. The drink machine was out of the drink she wanted.
-While they were out, our dog had been barking ALL DAY, so I took him outside. While I waited outside on the lawn with my dog while waiting for my Mom and my Sister to come home, my Dog was too stubborn to want to come back inside until my Sister comes back home (He LOVES my sister), I ended up sitting on the lawn for over a hour bored out of my skull. He just wouldn’t budge.
-My Mom made meatballs when she came home, but we were out of brown sugar, so my sister went to the store around the corner to buy more and the store was completely out.
-All of our oven mitts fell off of the shelf, falling behind the pantry in a space near impossible to get them out unless we move the entire pantry. (I managed to retrieve one)
-My Mom cooked the meatballs on too low a temperature, so they came out cold. (as well as forgetting to add the pineapple)
So I believe that I’ve come to a possible conclusion, that me getting the CotW was such an awesome thing to happen to me, that for the universe to karmically balance that, sucked up all of my good luck (and family’s good luck) for the day xD
I don’t mean any disrespect, I found this whole karmic balance theory funny :-3
Thanks Josh, Scratchy and Baja. Back to business!
@Precise indecision: Cograts Otter. I’ve been rooting for an underdog for long time now.
____________________________
Careful! Don’t blow Shoeshine Otter’s secret identity!
“There’s no need to fear, Underotter is here!”, he needs to defend the honor of Pure Wendy Webbfoot from the clutches of evil Simon Bar Sinister.
Thanks for the mentions!
Thanks to
RovingOrbsScratchy for the mention.@The Rambling Otter: All of our oven mitts fell off of the shelf,
______________________
This ordered set of sounds reminds me of a song or poem, but I can’t think what one.
Thanks, Josh, Scratchy and Baja!
Thanks, Scratchy and Baja! Congratulations to The Rambling Otter.
A big Otter Boy to our ramblin’ man, and thanks for the mentions Scratchy and Baja!
Thanks, Baja!