Gertie’s husband should divorce her. There, I said it. He’s obviously very unhappy
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Gearhead Gertie, 4/23/26
At first glance, Gearhead Gertie seems like a comic about NASCAR, but it isn’t, not really. It’s actually about one woman’s wildly over-the-top relationship to NASCAR, which is a different thing entirely. For instance, imagine an all-too-possible future where oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz are blocked or significantly curtailed indefinitely. Surely the resulting energy shock would have a big impact on NASCAR, a sport entirely dependent on gasoline. But the strip doesn’t even grapple with those implications. Instead, the only thing that matters is how high gas prices would immediately affect Gertie and her tireless quest to consume and enjoy NASCAR content. Why, what if she couldn’t afford to drive to a race? That would be comical indeed. The idea that anything could possibly change the sport itself is as foreign to Gertie as it is irrelevant to the strip that bears her name.
Andy Capp, 4/23/26
You hear a lot of online chatter about how England is a crime-ridden hellhole these days or whatever, but I dunno. Obviously Andy is responsible for a certain amount of antisocial behavior, but most of it boils down to borrowing money from acquaintances and spending it on beer instead of repaying them or his landlord, and any country where that guy is “suspect no. 1” is probably doing pretty well, actually.
31 replies to “Gertie’s husband should divorce her. There, I said it. He’s obviously very unhappy”
Maybe Andy is historically “Suspect No. 1”, whose 1957 introduction marked the beginning of Great Britain’s long slide into the abyss. Just spitballin’ here.
Andy Capp-Andy isn’t getting any success from Andy Capp Fries?
MW-“I fell for a ‘woman’ who said she loved me and gave her over $200,000.”
RMMD-“I’ve been banned from Nick’s. Last time I was there they had a plumbing malfunction.”
FC-“But I’m not going to drown them in a sack,” the cat replies.
Andy Capp : What about public
urinationinebriation, which is a crime, and Andy Capp is almost certainly guilty of it?*************
Gearhead Gertie : Would probably get better mileage if her car had, you know TIRES and wasn’t rolling on the spokes.
*************
Moose & Molly : ….Isn’t this a Nasreddin Hodja bit?
AC: Things are so bad over there they’re still using CRT TVs.
@Hibbleton:
Bought ’em cheap when the Keanes upgraded.
FC: Cut Kittykat a break, Thel. At least he taught Jeffy how to shit in a box and not leave it on the floor like Barfy.
GT I’d ask why there needs to be a megaphone to call out to the crowd depicted two days ago with maybe a dozen kids but I’m pretty sure that whatever’s been drawn here is at *best* as effective as putting your hands by your mouth to try to project your voice anyhow
MW “I mean, there was ‘dating’, right, before she ghosted you? You wouldn’t just send piles of money to somebody you never even met!”
I assume Andy Capp’s crimes include football hooliganism.
Gearhead Gertie:
What model of vehicle is Gertie driving, anyway? — a Tonka?
CS: I want the original of this. That is all. This is the greatest Tom Batiuk comic strip of his entire career. I am not joking.
ANDY CAPP: Andy’s life of crime went the same way as his cocky Cockney accent.
DtM: I don’t often side with The Menace, but watching Margaret dance isn’t something I’d want to do NOW, let alone as a kid.
MW: The point of this arc is that an old, vulnerable man has been catfished, right? Scammed. Major money was lost. Can we just say it? Enough with the pussyfooting. It could happen again. “Trixie” could return; I’m sure Scruff Boy’s victim list was handed on to someone else after he escaped.
Andy Capp:
“Keepin’ your eyes covered like that with that hat of yours — who do you think you are, Andy? Beetle Bailey?”
If I was placing bets on which strip would make a topical reference today, I’m not sure “Gearhead Gertie” would have even been in my top ten.
GG: Gertie, you know there are actually several NASCAR tracks accessible by public transit? Why, you could be riding in comfort on a Metro St Louis shuttle bus to the World Wide Technology Speedway, or using the special raceday Amtrak station at Rockingham Speedway, or visiting any of the street tracks in America’s great cities. Just think of a bus as a really big NASCAR. Some of them even have the number 3 on the front!
MW: The way everyone’s being so blase about 200 grand makes me wonder, did the letterers simply make a mistake and the amount was supposed to only be 20 or even merely 2 thousand?
@DAS: Used to, back in the 70s or 80s.
You know, Gertie, you could always buy an electric caaaaahahhahahahah! I’m sorry! I thought I’d be able to get the words out. I know, I know, I will write letters of apology to Sir Andrew Mackenzie, the chairman, and Wael Sahan, the CEO of Shell plc.
***
I don’t know who Andy is talking about. Am I old, or just not British?
I was curious about how the Strait of Hormuz was affecting NASCAR, so I duckduckwent “NASCAR gasoline prices,” and the top hit was “NASCAR fans face hundreds in fuel costs to reach track.” Point to Gearhead Gertie!
AC: Not surprising that Andy doesn’t have any celebrity status to speak of in the Isles. From what I’ve gathered watching too much Britbox is the murder rate in Britain is so high that Andy’s rather low-level crimes of public drunkenness and various batteries wouldn’t garner much in the way of TV ratings.
@Banana Jr. 6000:
Damn it, you made me curious so I read it and now I’m wondering if Tom Batiuk cloned himself and ate the clone, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cartoonist more full of himself.
Not NASCAR, nor Gertie’s relationship with it, nor esoteric joy that comes from singleminded, zealous sports fandom, not even current events. No, in all these things, Gearhead Gertie is about the lengths folks will go to not to contradict people living with dementia, giving them a safe, familiar and emotionally enriching environment and thereby avoiding disorientation, agitation or acting out. Haldol’s cheaper and better for your back, Gertie’s husband!
@Pozzo: It made me realize that the conflict with Iran has lasted longer than the typical comic-strip lead time.
FC: Real horror show today. You can catch a good glimpse of the emaciated victims strung up by their wrists through the living room windows while Thel makes Jeffy and Billy “walk the fence.” The unfortunate cat is in the ‘wrong place, wrong time.’
Andy Capp’s TV-watching setup is infinitely better than Dagwood’s! Not only does he have a couch, so he and Flo can watch television together, he even has another TV embedded in the wall, so the screens can watch each other when no one else is around! Luxury!
I had a dream last night that all the tankers stuck in the Persian Gulf began holding races and regattas for want of anything better to do.
Are there any couples in the funny pages that wouldn’t earn a spot in that freaky Couples Therapy show?
Full disclosure – Mr. Cat and I did a brief stint in couples therapy, and our mutual hatred of the counselor, combined with the fact that the man kept his office 85 degrees year-round… we decided it was time to get our collective shit together without paying $120 a sesh. Now that’s an effective therapy!
AC: So in Britain there’s a show on the telly where police track down public urinators?
In a profound moment of ratiocination that rivals Newton and the apple, a Plugger discovers the mechanism of potential energy storage in complex glucose molecules while contemplating a chocolate cookie.
@Anonymous: Andy Capp : What about public urinationinebriation, which is a crime, and Andy Capp is almost certainly guilty of it?
Not in Hartlepool
GG — Every once in a while, a comic captures the zeitgeist–and today’s GG with its portrayal of a narcissistic, self-indulgent, uncaring and blind to the sufferings they cause while they blissfully ignore events person is spot on.
“In a world where gas is impossible to buy, one woman will face any odds to get to the track. Coming this Summer, Gearhead, by George Miller, starring Meryl Streep as Gertie.”