I guess Toby is pretty much always in a particularly vulnerable state
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Mary Worth, 10/2/26
To me, “Toby gets some parrots and Ian melts down about it” was basically a perfect Mary Worth storyline. But for those who would demand that it be justified as serving some larger purpose, may I present today’s strip, in which one of the accursed birds introduced into this setting by that storyline mimics Ian’s adulterous sex moans while Toby is in a particularly vulnerable state.
Rex Morgan, M.D., 10/2/26
I had sort of forgotten that Mud Mountain Murphy wasn’t already living in Glenwood, what with him seemingly being there all the time. But, big news, he’s going to be living in Glenwood now! Exciting stuff and a real addition to the local roots country scene. You’re on the email list, right? If you’re not, don’t worry, you’re just going to run into him everywhere. It’s not really that big a town.
The Phantom, 10/2/26
Holy crap, it turns out that mysterious masked figure “Ignis Vindicta” is in fact “Ian Mollusk,” the Phantomverse’s transparent Elon Musk standin! Who could have possibly predicted this shocking development? Oh, what’s that you say, it was predicted on this very blog by me back in July and by everyone in my comments section for weeks before that? Interesting, interesting.
13 replies to “I guess Toby is pretty much always in a particularly vulnerable state”
Mary Worth Mashup: You can pretty much guess what the Missing Final Panel contains.
Rex Morgan Mashup: You can pretty much guess what the Missing Final Panel contains.
I’m sorry, but did they give one of Toby’s parrots cartoon-girl eyelashes? Did they really think we, the audience, needed to know which of the birds is the female? The freakin’ birds don’t care which one’s the female unless they’re actively copulating!
MW I don’t know which would be funnier: the parrots repeat increasingly explicit bits of overheard sexytimes, complete with “Tab A into Slot B” dialogue, or they repeat Ian’s side of a conversation with a travel agent directly thanking Mary for the recommendation so that he can get this awesome trip planned for his wife. Either way, she just keeps walking about, utterly oblivious to the implications.
Phantom (Yup, we’re all at) Finally! – Uh, *ahem*, I mean Wow! who could possibly have predicted this utterly amazing insane twist?!
Mary Worth:
“Oh, wait a minute! — there’s a new photo of Ian with a single work of art, divided into three panels, around his neck. Triptych on his collar!”
JP Charlotte clearly is too young for passenger seat riding (if you don’t understand why, well, you can take my word for it, or go search for info about “internal decapitation” – but I tried to spare you learning about that). I can buy Neddy not knowing that, but not Charlotte, who ought to be using it as a competency test for her caregivers (all of whom are failing, at this rate she should run off and join the circus to get a more stable home situation…)
RMMD:
“If Mae Mae has given up her performance career, so that you’ll have no interaction whatsoever with any of her artistry, Hank, why would you be ‘happy’ that she’s moving to Glenwood?”
“Listen, Mud — they don’t pay me to think here. They just draw a conversation bubble next to me, and that’s that!”
“The Phantom stole my rocket” sounds like the password phrase you’d say to get into an after-hours rave.
RMMD-Plus Mud also plays in park.
MW-Nah. The parrot is just repeating Toby.
The Phantom:
“”The Phantom stole my rocket!! That’s that — I’m going to take my Bad Guy Ball and go home!”
RMMD:
Sitting on a park bench
Eyeing brittle churls with band intent…
— Jethro Tull, “Aqualung” (adapted)
FC: Having all been kids ourselves, we know Billy just shoved everything under his bed or in the closet.
I love that Mud’s like “Yeah I think the local venue’s got an email list or something” and not “I know we’ll be spending lots of time together, so you’ll definitely hear about all my gigs.” The man’s going to be politely turning down dinner invitations for a few months before he just stops responding.
MW: Kudos to Brigman for having the evil parrot, El papagayo siniestra, depart from Toby’s left shoulder. It’s this level of attention to detail that pushes the suspension of disbelief.