The Norwegian Tourist Board breathes a big sigh of relief
Post Content
Judge Parker, 6/21/26
Look, we know what you want and what you don’t want out of your soap opera comic strips, and what you don’t want is character growth. That sort of thing is how you get the man once known as “Tommy the Tweaker” yammering about his skivvies in a supermarket, where he’s gainfully employed, to Dawn Weston of all people. So, don’t worry, kids, Sophie moved to Norway a year ago but she hasn’t “found herself” or grown as a person at all! Instead she broke up with her boyfriend for reasons she can barely articulate. She’s going to drift back to the United States as dumb as she was when she left, and I think that’s great.
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 6/21/26
Sorry, I’m sure Snuffy loves his son Li’l Tater and his nephew Jughaid who has, through some sequence of events we don’t talk about, come to be his full-time ward, but I refuse to believe that he would ever have a structure on his property, no matter how ramshackle, that has “work” in its name. The very concept is anathema to him!
Heathcliff, 6/21/26
[normally, conversationally, as if the sentence I’m saying is the most natural thing in the world] Butterflies are the emojis of stoke.
45 replies to “The Norwegian Tourist Board breathes a big sigh of relief”
Wrecks Moregone:
Who are these two?
Rae Rae and Fae Fae.
JP-“Man these people are so rude expecting me to speak Norwegian.”
MW-Brandy broke Tommy’s heart because she went to Florida without him. He’s always wanted to go to Cypress Gardens and see the Florida shaped pool.
FC-And on that fishing trip Jeffy was the only one who caught a fish.
MW: They love, they share, they love and love and share! Love, love, love! Share, share, share! It’s the Dawny and Tommy show!!
DT: Good grief, Costello has gone full Batiuk! This makes the Six Chix look like the epitome of tight, coherent storytelling!
CS: Speaking of which, I think *someone* is trying to Section Eight themselves out of publishing this circle-jerk of a comic.
JP: Yep, you sure did a lot of growing Sophie! We’ll just take your word for it, what with all the prison-‘sploding, knife-murderin’ and wrench-threatenin’ we saw instead!
RMMD: Who are these comely young lasses? Why, they are about to be the latest Roots Country Sensation! There’s no fair to middlin’ when they get fiddlin’ and put some Rhythm in the Bow!!
Luann: She said to the girl who electrocuted her privates and told the world about it…
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith:
Sorry Jughaid, but cereal is no better: it’s made from wheat, which grows out of the dirt, and dirt is worm shit!
There was a discussion about Keanu Reeves yesterday that I came in on too late to respond to.
I can’t say for his acting skills (presuming people judge him by that alone…)
But he is a very VERY kind person.
Among other acts, during filming one of his movies, he found out that the set crew were paid abysmally low salaries.
So he split his ridiculously high paycheck among them.
JP: I’m thinking this development began with Ces saying, “Where did I put that outline for what to do with Sophie in Norway? It’s not in C:\My Computer\Documents… Well, I guess I’ll just reset her.”
@Vulpes: He may be talking about the cereals that are just chemicals, artificial coloring and sugars.
But sugar comes from sugar cane, which grows from the ground.
No escape Jughaid… NO ESAPE!
JP: Yeah, I suppose when you run away from your problems to live in a place where you have no responsibilities you stop asking yourself ‘what should I do?’ because the question is essentially moot. Whatever you want, or nothing at all! These Norwegians aren’t going to ask anything of you, especially not after learning about your considerable wealth and extensive connections to deadly mercenaries.
BGSS: Thank god Jughaid didn’t realize that the worms will eat them someday or he might have become a cannibal right then and there.
Heathcliff: Huh, I thought it said ‘stroke’ at first, which probably makes more sense…
A Norwegian town so dull that Ces can’t even bother to give it a name.
@The Quiet Man: CS: Speaking of which, I think *someone* is trying to Section Eight themselves out of publishing this circle-jerk of a comic.
I don’t normally give CS the clicks, but this intrigued me. We’ve got CMY, but either gocomics or Dan Davis dropped the black layer. Or just possibly, this is Batiuk’s idea of cutting-edge visual storytelling.
@The Rambling Otter: No, he did give it a name, Drøbak. He just couldn’t be bothered to actually tell a story there because we had to get to CIApril’s Really and For True We Mean It This Time Last Mission to Somewhere in Somewhere to rescue Randy from the SuperDuper Secret Evil Mafia Prison, then go back to Cavelton for more Mopin’ with Judgey Wudgey.
Wizard of Id: It’s a fine line to navigate between being current and not making references which leave their octogenarian audience scracthing their heads is tricky. Jolt Cola? Too far in the past. Monster Energy drink? Too new.
Crankshaft: This is no less ingratiating or humorous than any other Crankshaft.
Beetle Bailey should learn to ixnay the enetics-jay in today’s military. You never know when the genics-eujay program is going to decide to come for you with the calipers.
Remembering an otherwise-meaningless baseball game between teams Walt never mentioned before? Zits celebrates by giving all you readership dads an homage to what a Father’s Day comic strip in 1950 would have looked like.
MW: Doesn’t the Good Samaritan Law apply to the hot dog vendor not warning them to avoid swimming for half an hour after eating?
Yes, I am treating them like children. They’ve got the self-preservation instincts of lemmings. This has “pulled out by rip current, while vomiting, into a shark attack” written all over it, and I couldn’t be more excited.
RMMD: “Who are these two?” is not the question. Given this town doesn’t know the meaning of “gentrification”, the one on the right is obvious. The real question is, “Thanks to the one on the left, is this now the best live music spot in Glenwood?”
Hagar: “It’s only a model!”
Judge Parker, of course, spends a year on a character in the only Norwegian town without a Black Metal scene.
JP:
“But this would certainly be on my short list of places to return to! — as the old saying goes, ‘Think fjord first!’ “
Sophie is moving from this cozy looking idyllic Norwegian town, back to the current warzone that is the United States because she’s… bored?
Really?
JP: Sophie can’t help but feel she got the brush off from Reena. Especially since during a heated conversation between Reena and her boyfriend in Norwegian, she thought she heard the word “Quisling” mentioned several times.
Heathcliff: If you call 911 and say “Butterflies are emojis of stoke”, they will immediately dispatch an ambulance with a stroke rapid response team to your location.
Snuffy Smith: (sees a man float his child and baby into the middle of a lake on some random planks of scrap wood) “Wow, what a great dad. I’m sure glad he’s the father of my children.”
@The Quiet Man: That’s too bad, looks like a nice cozy little town.
I wouldn’t mind just days of her walking around town and taking in the sights, maybe doing some shopping… etc…
I’m kind of a romantic for this sort of thing.
JP:
“As I reflect on the beauty of my surroundings here, first I ask myself a rhetorical question, and then I offer an opinion on whether someone who lives close to here would return to this burg as a safe haven or as a getaway. So I say to myself, ‘Isn’t it good?’ ‘Norwegian would!’ “
BG&SS:
How old is that young ‘un supposed to be in today’s strip — 150?
@Bob Tice: I was wondering why Jughaid is the same height as Snuffy, then I remembered that Snuffy is some sort of gnome-man.
Then I think to myself, sitting on that tiny lily pad, floating in the water. “Gnome-man is an island”
Heathcliff – I’ve never felt so out of touch with the world. Am I officially old today and there are thousands of Gen Z kids out there about to make the ‘Emojis of stoke” thing the new “Sluggo is lit”?
Heathcliff:
But enough of Robert Sarluca of Ithaca, New York. Mr. Richard Feder from Fort Lee, New Jersey says that his “CAT” is heavy-duty earth-moving equipment manufactured by Caterpillar, Inc.
SlylickFox and Comix For Kinx: Today’s terrific artist, Hunter Age 10 is being sued by PAWS INC.must be a Monday.
Butterflies are emojis of stoke, but it’s crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide.
MW:
“I see your order included relish.”
“I always use a condiment, Dawn.”
“How thoughtful of you, Tommy!”
@The Rambling Otter:
Your comment, juxtaposed, as it is, with today’s tableau, is absolutely ribbiting!
RMMD If only the artist would spend as much time thinking about how entertainment news works as they spent tracing that background brick wall (just look at it – and with perspective in one panel, that must have taken a few minutes to find the reference images!), we wouldn’t end up with “maybe now they’ll go away!” as the dumb story arc conclusion.
Blondie “Save room”? Since when does Dagwood need to “save room” fro the next meal? He not only would understand Hobbit habits, he’d probably insist they add a snack or two between second breakfast and elevensies
Heathcliff – And pendulums are the sultans of swing.
Mark Trail Mix: Mark’s using the spatula as a mosquito swatter again, hasnt he?
@The Rambling Otter: Indeed it does. I lived in England for a period. Yes, I know England has got its own bushel of problems almost on par with America, but it was as close to ‘idyllic’ as I’ve ever been and would go back in a heartbeat.
@The Rambling Otter: No, she’s going back because her job with the Glucas Family Charity is ‘over’ (i.e. she got fired the minute she wasn’t dating the boss’ kid) and for all their Nordic hospitality they don’t need any lazy Americans with no discernable useful skills cluttering up their fine country.
Expect there to be a band (or at least an album) called Emojis of Stoke in the next six months or so.
Slylock – Slylock knows this hideout was used by criminals, because of the accordion. But he knows they’re not hardened criminals, because there’s no banjo.
Don Abundio, translated:
“I never served ice cream from an armored car before!”
“Does it have gold flakes in it or something?”
“No…”
“This is Employee Appreciation Day for that skinflint Don Abundio”
Heathcliff “emojis of…” anybody else trying to guess whether there’s an auto-correct-to-“stoke” word that would make more sense? Bloke, smoke, stake…
@35 CanuckDownSouth: “Stroke.” The cat’s having a stroke.
RMMD:
They laugh alike, they walk alike
At times they even talk alike
You can lose your mind…
When buskers are two of a kind!
MW: this is gonna end with a Picadee Falls replay, isn’t it. Dawn saves Tommy from drowning, love ensues. Bleccccch.
Crank: from the looks of it, today was supposed to be a big reveal. I’ll bet Tom is PISSED. He seems like he loses his temper a lot.
@Baja Gaijin: well, maybe not the cat but rather its authour?
Heath: I kind of agree with the mood, although I’m not to sure I agree with the sentiment. Or even what exactly the sentiment is.
JP: Must be frustrating to be a character whose author can’t think of anything interesting for you to do or be or to have happen to you.
Heath – Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed, black swallowtails prefer parsley and dill, and their caterpillars feed on these plants. So I’m just wondering if there are any butterflies that lay their eggs on cats?
C’shaft: Damn, how bad was the pun/malaprop/whatever that the line artist refused to be a part of it?
Dustin: “Or he’s afraid I’ll divorce him and leave him functionally helpless, since he’s entirely depending on me for domestic and mental labor.
Luann: Yes, the two of you make a great case for the female sex being universally intelligent and competent.
MW: We can always expect Mary Worth to tell us the hard, unflinching truths like “friends are nice,” “pets are nice,” and “Wilbur Weston is a loser.”
Phantom: Look, Bandarmayo, this guy would rather hitch a ride with the guys kidnapping your people en masse and shipping them overseas than stay and be your white savior; I don’t think he’s the prophesied hero you think he is.
RMMD: Why, it looks for all the world like a pair of deserving poor urchins for our protagonists to save!
HEATHCLIFF: Puggers have to look up the use of “stoke” as a noun, and I did.
RMMD: More to the point, why are they dressed like Catholic school girls?
MW: I was really hoping for Brandy to show up with a baby, shove it into Tommy’s arms, say “Happy Father’s Day!” and vanish.
Zits: I can relate to Walt today. My twins know the story of the day they were born. Husband ran out of gas on the way to the hospital, some guy in a pickup gave me a ride, I wasn’t admitted to the hospital until several hours after they were born, the doctor and husband arrived minutes before my son was born, and we didn’t know we were having twins until daughter was born.
But the Denver Broncos beat the Rams Dallas Cowboys 24 to 20!
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads!
SlyF – The clue to it being a criminal hideout is the accordion in the foreground. Accordions and Banjos were the first things outlawed after the Glorious Revolution.