Delicious Wednesday
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Dennis of the Menace, 10/10/24
Not to brag, but I’ve eaten some tamales in my day, ranging from pretty good to great. For those not “in the know,” a tamale is made up corn meal, often stuffed with cheese or meat or the like, steamed inside a corn husk, and while it’s almost always served inside the husk, you have to unpeel it to get to the actual delicious tamale. I usually eat one with a fork, but you can partially unpeel the husk and eat it by hand, sort of like a banana, or you can just bite right into the husk like Gerald Ford did, which would be gross and unpleasant and will make you look stupid. If you completely take it out of the husk and try to hold it in your hand like Joey and Dennis are doing here, it will just crumble apart, so I … assume they’re doing the “bite through the husk” thing? Because it doesn’t look like they’re peeling back the husk? And Joey doesn’t have the vocabulary to describe the bad mouth sensation that’s resulting, so he’s just calling it “hot,” in the way that some languages only have three color words and call anything that’s not black or white “red”? I dunno, I’m just spitballing here. What the heck are they actually holding, do you think? Are they churros? Do the Dennis the Menace artists not know the difference between tamales and churros?
Shoe, 10/10/24
Yes, we all like to make fun of old people for eating early. By “we all” I mean, like, society, mind you: I myself embraced the “lunch at 11, dinner at 5:15” lifestyle for workdays in my mid 40s and am never going back. But still, yes, “Haha, old people and their early dinnertimes, amiright?” is a joke that reliably elicits a chuckle. Unfortunately, by its nature it invites ridicule of those older than the chuckler, and the median age of a newspaper comics reader is distressingly high, which means you get punchlines like this. “Haha, centenarians and their early dinnertimes, amiright?” is no doubt something literally hundreds of healthy, active 70-year-olds are saying to themselves before chuckling and turning to the sports page.
73 replies to “Delicious Wednesday”
Slylock Fox: I wonder which police force issues ten gallon hats with reservoir tips?
MW:
“What happened then, Stell?”
“He decided to become an entomologist as a second career, and billed himself as ‘Jimmy Cricket.’ But then he got sued by Jiminy Cricket for trademark infringement, and that was pretty much the end of him!”
MW: “What happened then, Stell?”
“He fucking died, Mary. You know that.”
RMMD: I’ve never been that angry about anything in my life. And I’ve been set on fire before.
JP: You’d think Neddy’s focus here would be on the fact that her fiance has been lying this whole time. Or maybe she’d demand proof of the brother’s claims. But that would require her to act like a human being, and we can’t have that.
Treetops Church implies the existence of Bird Jesus. How was he crucified? Is walking on water still impressive when you can fly? Is the Holy Spirit still a dove or another kind of animals? Too many questions that people throughout history would wage war about!
MW: “What happened then, Stell?”
” I got so stressed out making imaginary future travel plans by myself that I shot him. (SOB!)”
RMMD: Boy, you lock yourself in one lousy bathroom! If Mud had known he was forever sullying his good name, he could’ve at least wrecked his motel room.
9CL: No surprise that Edda’s bathtub is in the middle of an arena.
It’s Thursday, right? I’m retired, so I’m easy to confuse.
As a comic strip, Dennis the Menace is absolutely white enough that cinnamon would be considered a fiery spice that ethnics use on their food.
DtM: Joey is saying “hot tamale” as an expression of hyperbole. It’s not literally a tamale. It looks more like…a plug of chewing tobacco? Dennis of course doesn’t mince words. “That’s one hot shit!”
DtM: True artistry on display here with this fantastic composition, which utilizes a shifting claustrophobic close-up behind Dennis to achieve a nifty prank-cam perspective to capture Joey’s shame in all its glory. Either that or it’s a really lazy way to avoid having to draw a lot of setting detail, which still didn’t spare the reader from the tried-and-trite fallback of “I don’t know, just draw a cloud behind them or something.”
MW: “Far off places, like Fiji, when I prove that I am worthy,
And Bali, the Maldives, when I retire or get work leave.
Ooh, I wanna take you down to Santa Royale…
We’ll make plans fast and travel slow, Estelle,
Despite my stress from putting perps in jail
Way down in Santa Royale…”
JP: Neddy has known Declan intimately for two or so years and she’s known Hayreddin and Declanmom for about five minutes. Naturally, she unquestioningly believes the claims of the latter over the former, and she’s already writing figurative checks that she expects to be literally paid from her fiance’s bank account. Not that Declan has a choice here. Remember, Neddy just cried. She cried. That is the worst possible thing that can happen to any woman. Remember who else cried? Marie, and look how that turned out for Roy. Declan better make this right lickety-split, or he’ll be finding himself in prison indefinitely without any trial or legal representation, and we’ll see who’s crying then.
RMMD:
“Mud Murphy!?! That rotten, stinkin’ son of a gun. That trifle of a rifle. That schlock of a Glock. That dolt of a Colt. That mindless stressin’ of a Smith and Wesson. That pennyweight of a .38. That ornery cuss of a blunderbuss. That shuck and jive of a .45. That muss and fuss of an arquebus. Well, you take my meaning.”
RMMD: I went over this in greater detail yesterday, but Lou has almost no basis for mild professional distrust of Mud and absolutely no grounds for this seething hatred, least of all considering Truck has done worse to Lou. Hell, even if we accept that Lou is justified in despising Mud to this extent, shouldn’t Truck teaming up with him amount to an unacceptable betrayal in Lou’s eyes? Of course not. Truck is a designated Good Guy character, immaculately conceived and incapable of sin. Anyway, Lou will probably relent because where else would this story be going, but who the hell really cares?
CS: “I didn’t do much. I just sent Mindy’s video to my contact list and the list of your contacts that Mindy sent me. Then I fielded dozens of phone calls and texts asking me to explain what the blurry compressed cell phone video was showing exactly and why I was bothering them in the middle of the night, after I called Mindy and asked her the same questions. Also, a lot of very upset people asked why I sent them this video when they don’t live anywhere near here. I probably should have been more selective than sending it to literally everyone you and I know. Once I had everyone up to speed, I worked on coordinating for a bunch of people to make signs and arranging rides and setting up a meeting location half a mile away. And when everyone finally showed up, we marched together so we could arrive here as a group. Honestly, Lillian, I’m surprised you kept those anti-book guys busy for the several hours this all took, and I’m not sure how our arrival helped in anyway considering they had you outnumbered that whole time but never did anything, and absolutely nothing is stopping them from coming back, but hey, no reason not to celebrate like it’s V-J Day. Also, ignore my idiot fiancée, I’m pretty sure this doesn’t fit any definition of a flash mob.”
Luann: Remember how Les has spent the past several years at least being very much into Tiffany? Well, as of right now he’s not into Tiffany at all and the very idea is absurd to him. OHmyG this comic sucks.
DtM:
“Joey, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for years. Have you ever considered using Rogaine?”
Am I missing something? Shouldn’t the headline for the comics from the 10th be “Delicious Thursday” and not Wednesday? *blink*
DtM Wait, was “That’s a hot tamale” Joey’s catchphrase the whole time? Is this a callback to something? Is there something more than a somewhat funny phrase being used literally? /listens to earpiece/ I’m being told ‘no’…
Shoe Is the Perfessser writing copy for the anouncements page now? Glad that he’s putting that journalism degree to good use…
DTM: Joey’s doing the bug-eyed, tongue-out, steam-from-the-ears thing that cartoon characters used to when they saw a beautiful woman, so I’m assuming this is a classic Dennis malapropism, and he thinks “tamale” is pronounced like “female”.
Shoe:
“Reverend, can’t we do something about all these birds hanging around the rafters?”
“Sorry, Jeb. Can’t fire a shotgun within city limits.”
MW: Estelle’s late husband is just Wilbur with contacts and shoulder pads. This explains a great deal about everything.
MW: “What happened then, Stell.”
1. “He was supposed to meet me at the travel agent’s, but he phoned them and said an emergency came up and he couldn’t make it. The next day I threw my wedding ring at him and started divorce proceedings.”
2. “One of our goldfish died and he spiraled into a deep depression and did himself in.”
@jroggs:
On Luann, and how Les suddenly doesn’t like Tiffany : it’s the part of the story where Tiffany is humiliated for having fallen victim to a misunderstanding, so, of course, the plot now treats her as a delusional idiot for believing a guy could be interested to her.
**************
Curtis : TMI.
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Dennis the Menace : and Joey are actually eating CHIKUWA.
DtM: Tomorrow, when Dennis hands one to Gina, she will exclaim, “That’s a spicy meat-a-ball!”
Shoe: Pluggers have Second Breakfast and Second Dinner.
@Ettorre:
Robert Frost’s poem Design comes to mind.
Pluggers don’t do metaphors.
Rex Morgan, M.D.: That poster behind Truck and Lou features old-timey country legends the Reverend Horton Heat and Dale Watson (who looks a lot like Truck). “Jason Willi***”, partially blocked by Lou’s head, may be Jason Aldean, whose birth name is Williams. Getting a little close to Gilchrist territory, guys.
Frazz: It’s like the little idiot didn’t even listen to Frazz’s explanation.
Luann: I have to give the Evans a little credit here. They didn’t have Tiffany give Les one of those “Do you like Tiffany? check yes/no” notes.
CS: Nothing for it but to do the Ewok Celebration Song. Yub Numb!
9CL: Love is…creepily staring at someone.
DTM: Wasn’t this some sort of catch phrase from the 1950s? In other words, not funny, but on brand.
Shoe: The only birds that might live that long would be parrots, I think.
MW: “He took a Bali to his Fiji, and Maldied.”
Zits: Don’t malign ChatGPT like that! It plagiarizes from multiple sources.
FC: Dayyum! I hope Thel is sober enough to drive Jeffy to the Burn Ward.
DtM: I guess it’s funny because…”hot tamale” is normally slang for a sexy woman, and Joey is too young to know that? Maybe if a woman was walking past him and looked offended at the comment, it might work…
Shoe: That Thaddeus, always robbing the cradle.
RxMD: The only question remaining is how hackneyed will the conjoining be for Truck to persuade Lou to forgive Mud. Unless Truck uses threats to never work with Lou again and exercises his (somehow) vast influence in the local music business to have other musicians never play at Lou’s unless he forgives Truck.
S4th: Ces remembers Laura talks to Sally rather than autosnarks! It’s a (late) Rosh Hashanah Miracle!
@jroggs: Luann: Excuse me, I think you mean “OhmyGAW!”
By the way, notice how much the characters have grown. In middle school, they would have used intermediaries to inquire, “does Les like-like Tiffany?” and to respond “Eww, gross.” Now they do this directly.
Frazz: Wait, you’re telling us the pompous little shit doesn’t already know this? What, is he a unimath?
GT: FWEET, I’m throwing my own flag.
If it was holding on the offense, this is a 10-yard penalty, not five.
If it was holding on the defense, this WOULD be a five-yard penalty, but it comes with an automatic first down.
So this scenario, like so, so many in GT, does not exist in real life.
But you gotta hand it to Henry and the new artist. They are getting paid to create a comic strip centered around a subject they know nothing about. And apparently the people who pay them don’t know anything about it either. That, or they just don’t give a crap. Not a good look.
@Hibbleton: Ah, my favorite Frost poem. Well played!
“Do the Dennis the Menace artists not know the difference between tamales and churros?”
I don’t.
@Hibbleton: A Plugger’s idea of a “metaphor” is going on a blind date with another Plugger.
@31 Ukranazi Stepan: A tamale is a savory dense tubular foodstuff while a churro is a sweet cake-like tubular foodstuff.
Shoe: I have nothing in the way of jokes this morning, but amazingly enough, I have a 97-year-old patient with a 102-year-old boyfriend. Even more amazing, he still lives on his own and as recently as last year, drove himself to her facility (which he should not do) to bring her custard from Culver’s. If they should decide to tie the knot, I will let you know their dinner schedule.
Pluggers aren’t fans of double dildos.
Unfortunately, Dennis, Joey feels more menaced by a mildly ethnic food and his own stupidity than by you
@Ukranazi Stepan: @Baja Gaijin: Labor-intensive meat, or sweet with cinnamon and crumbs everywhere, and also available at Costco.
S: Ahahah, it’s funny because the Perfesser is depressed that even people at death’s threshold can find true love but he can’t!
Here “Shoe” should make the obvious joke about an “early bird discount”, but they have become unable to remember that those characters are birds, as if by a curse
Do we see far shots like that often in Shoe? Maybe I just haven’t noticed before, but looking at how precarious everything is situated where even the slightest breeze could mean disaster explains why the Perfesser is such a miserable POS.
A 102-year-old man is marrying a woman three years younger than him? The age gap discourse is going to be crazy, I expect X and Bluesky to soon call him a pedophile!
CS: So the Fahrenheit 451 protestors were scared away because a video camera materialized in the middle of the night, in a place no one could possibly reach, while a flash mob showed up and took credit for dispersing them. There’s no joke; that’s simply a description of today’s strip.
MW: Oh God, they’re doing the “retirony” bit.
Pluggers: This isn’t “trouble making ends meet”, this is “being 40 inches in debt.”
BETTY:. Having recently bought a new mattress, sight unseen and untried, from Walmart on line, I’m loving this arc. My mattress came rolled up in a box (!?!) and a note said, “Be careful, this mattress knows judo…”. It continued with a charming message to stay clear of it because it had been under a lot of stress and was ready to fight. So cute, I’ve saved those instructions. Mattress is pretty good now, firm as I like. And no longer “fragrant”.
BF:. Calling foul here. Those traveling side effects would be pluses only to a younger woman.
Rw/O:. Some people make a profit reselling bargains at yard sales. Not “Big Gross Wonders” like this though. Ask Jackie of SF.
LUANN:. Gotta give it up for Tiff for confronting Les directly rather than gossiping as Bets did.
@Baja Gaijin: I have a 97-year-old patient with a 102-year-old boyfriend. If they should decide to tie the knot, I will let you know their dinner schedule.
Can we place bets? Put me down for 2:15 pm.
C’shaft: “Actually the contact lists were exactly the same, since there’s only about twenty named characters in this universe and we all interact with one another regularly.”
DT: Here I was, holding off on saying “if it’s a selfie, why is his phone in the shot?” because duh, people take selfies in the mirror all the time, and you’re telling me that was actually a PLOT POINT because there’s no mirror in the room, something that I had no way of knowing until Dick pointed it out and by the way, how do we know that he took this shot moments before he died because I sure as hell didn’t see a time stamp? Jeez, at least Slylock bases his conclusions on observable evidence.
JP: If someone remembered Ronnie existed in this scene, maybe they could ask what she knows of Declan and his behavior since he was invited to her wedding and all. Unless he crashed the wedding? Which she could also tell them? Whatever, she’s basically one of those Doctor Who aliens that you forget about the moment you stop seeing them.
MW: “He ratted out a fellow officer and was ‘accidentally’ shot fifteen times during a training exercise.”
FC: Jeffy’s larval stage was particularly cute. His pupal stage not so much.
Pluggers are fat. Wow, that’s a new one.
@Cleveland Mocks: Holding penalties also don’t stop play. The referee tosses the flag and then it’s sorted out after the play concludes, since the defense might get a sack or turnover despite the foul and thus want to decline the penalty. I’m also not sure how this is a “late flag” when the play is still going. It’s almost magical how Henry Barajas gets every single thing wrong when it comes to sports.
9CL (Yesterday) – I can see your twat hanging out of your bathrobe, and it’s giving me a stiffie!!!
9CL (Today) – You are taking a bath naked, I must stand her and silently gawk at you!!!
Amos is one of the most repulsive characters in comics. That’s what happens when you’re an author avatar for a repulsive author.
Dennis the Menace-“I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”
MW – I think Jimmy died of a heart attack after pulling over Dr. Sheila See, who worked her way out of the ticket with a back-seat session. At least, that’s what I’d like to think happened.
MW: Estelle has always been presented as a well-to-do widow. She lost $10,000 in a romance scam, and it didn’t seem to be a big deal financially to her. She and Jimmy had been planning a lot of expensive foreign travel on his policeman’s pension.
Obviously, Jimmy was on the take, and that’s what led to his death. It’s hard to imagine that dumb Estelle was able to hide the money somehow, but that must be what happened.
@Truckosaurus: I was coming in to say that my main association with the phrase “hot tamale” is the Mike & Ike-style candies that were all cinnamon.
“Do the Dennis the Menace artists not know the difference between tamales and churros?”
Judging by the actual art, the DtM artists don’t know the difference between tamales and banana-flavored fruit roll-ups, or possibly strips of balsa wood.
@I’m Not Cthulhu, But I Play Him On TV: You may not have a joke this morning, but The Menace has made punch-lines entirely optional, secure in the knowledge that this strip will never get dropped, no matter how tired and jokeless it may become.
Dennis – What they’re eating isn’t important. The important thing is, Joey is in pain. That’s the joke!
@Hibbleton: “That’s a hot tamale!!”
Don Abundio, translated:
“Pierre! Why aren’t you making my breakfast?”
“My feet are killing me”
“The only thing that helps is soaking them in hot water”
“Don Abundio’s soup is going to taste a little funny tonight!”
Dinner will be served at promptly 4 PM, and will consist of stew, because two birds that old have got to be mostly gristle.
@TheDiva: re: DT: Of course, a pair of snappy dressers like the Scarborough Twins would keep a full-length mirror in their law office.
(The guest artist needs a remedial course in Drawing Sam Catchem. Sam was always weird looking, but the past three days are ridiculous)
Dear Josh,
I have only one item of note in regards to your tamale commentary – depending on how the tamale is cooked (and some are wrapped in banana leaves re: El Salvador), some will not crumble when handled unless you are waving it maniacally like Ron Burgundy at a biker.
However, the fact remains that in the rainbow bread and mayo world of DtM, this food item is so exotic to them, they may come to realize how out of date their Zenith TV world is.
H&L: In the usual: “You make the joke so we don’t have to” dept.
In the third panel, it’s revealed that Ditto’s dyslexic friend’s family owns a pet store called The Barkery and he’s been eating dog biscuits.
DENNIS THE MENACE: Gina got the Italian Anti-Defamation League on speed-dial, so Joey had to change his “That’s a spicy meatball” line for an “ethnic” interjection that he hopes is a lot less litigious.
6Cx: Now you folks may have some… questions about our involvement with Six Chix today. First of all, my Intern’s scheduling app thought it was Wednesday, not Thursday, so we weren’t as cautious when they asked us to send a “pack of Dogs.” We delivered the Variety Canine Octet, for what they said would be a non-action group shot. We thought maybe it would be poker-playing Dogs or somethin’ like that.
Well, as you see, it’s Thursday, so the production values are, uh, less than optimal. So much so that two of the Dogs only show up as floating heads! And another just a head and neck! And on top of that – the caption makes no sense at all… well, that’s not so unusual. But still!
I’ll just say – the Dogs were treated kindly, got snacks, and were paid on time. Even those who weren’t completely shown. And maybe their friends and colleagues won’t recognize them.
@46 Hibbleton: Jeffy’s in a pupal stage; Marvin’s in his poopal stage.
@47 Rube: I disagree. This is a “Pluggers are too poverty-stricken to afford clothing accessories that fit.” I can see this stretching into a “Pluggers eyes are so diseased they can’t see that they need new belts.” Maybe stretching further to get “Pluggers are too stupid to realize their 36 inch belts will barely fit around one thigh, not their massive waistlines.”
Watching these kids hold a food designed to be eaten on a plate with their bare hands and watching Joey burn his tongue implying that the food just came from the steamer basket makes me think that Margaret isn’t really smart as that she’s just a girl of normal intelligence surrounded by idiots.
@Ukulele Ike: Sam went from “Ventriloquist Dummy” to “Serial Killer” so fast…
DtM: Here’s a way to (possibly) make this strip more enjoyable, just imagine that Joey sounds like Ralph Wiggum and is instead saying “It tastes like burning!”
MW-“Tell me more. Tell me more. Did he put up a fight?”
Dennis the Menace – “That’s a hot tamale” is just empty filler to hide the fact that there is no actual joke here.
Shoe – A weekend wedding, held locally, I assume about noon, with dinner shortly after with plenty of time to get home, or else go out and do others things? This should be the standard for most weddings, not over the top expensive events to impress strangers on Instagram
RMMD – The storyline is a little tired, but I do like the extreme precision and attention given to the music posters in the background.
GT – Somebody got the note about getting the refs hand signals correct. I’m not a huge football devotee, but I know holding when I see it.
Luann – So, he’s gay then, right? I mean, we know he has mommy issues out the wazoo, but I can’t see him being into Mother DeGroot. And my money is on TJ. I think Ox would let him down easy, but I can’t see them together.
FC-It works for the both of them.
@Ettorre:
“Treetops Church implies the existence of Bird Jesus. How was he crucified? Is walking on water still impressive when you can fly? Is the Holy Spirit still a dove or another kind of animals? Too many questions that people throughout history would wage war about!”
As addressed before, the Bird Christians celebrate the late Jeff McNally as their creator/Savior. The theology of Bid Jews is not addressed in any depth, but assumed to be standard human Judaism.