Comment of the Week

At least the panel reveals enough so that can be reassured that at least Thirsty is wearing pants.

Pozzo

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Mary Worth, 12/24/25

As is my tradition, I will be knocking off for the holiday week and will return to blogging at some point in the new year, like around January … 2nd? 4th? Enh, somewhere in there. I hope you enjoy spending the next few days with your friends, family, or loved ones, or maybe with a bird you found on the side of the road somewhere. I won’t judge, unlike Mary Worth! You do you! Reject your overbearing, much older husband for a bird who poops everywhere! Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law, and if thou wilt do it with a parrot, then let it be done!

Meanwhile, I will send you off to your long winter’s nap with the top comment of a brief week:

“At least the panel reveals enough so that can be reassured that at least Thirsty is wearing pants.” –Pozzo

And the runners up are funny as well!

“A senior holding a smartphone up to their ear rather than speakerphone at maximum volume? I call bullshit.” –Rex Thrillho, on BlueSky

“Sunny eavesdropping, to see if there’s a plot afoot. When he hears Mary blathering her usual generic drivel, he knows that his triumph will be swift and effortless.” –MKay

“The Legion, being far removed from traditional civilization and engaged in harsh colonial violence, would eventually turn to mockery of Christ’s origin story for their own material gain. It’s hardly 120 Days of Sodom, but the Marquis De Sade would appreciate the spirit of this comic’s turn.” –Philip

“Suddenly this feels like some kind of an After School Special warning against getting hooked on birds. Not a parrot, not a cockatiel, not even a budgie, kids. Not even once.” –pugfuggly

“I initially read that as ‘How do you like your renal care?’, which didn’t affect the ‘joke’ at all.” –Aaron

Tell him I would like to have a boyfriend for more than just the span of one strip where he’s needed for a gag and is never mentioned before or after.” –Peanut Gallery

“Toby’s solution is to never leave Ian and Sunny alone together again. Her life is going to become an ongoing version of the ‘fox-chicken-grain’ puzzle.” –TheDiva

“His spiraling descent into madness complete, Buck signals ‘Touchdown!’, even though there is no football game anywhere in sight.” –Bob Tice

“We can see from the clock on the mantel that it’s … well, 4 in the afternoon would be a weird time for a home visit from Santa, so it must be 4 a.m. I’m guessing the kids were too excited to sleep this close to Christmas, so they woke up early and snuck downstairs … only to find Thirsty in their living room, which he’s secretly been sleeping ever since his wife kicked him out because he got drunk while playing Santa at a party and let inappropriate ladies sit on his lap. So now he’s stuck pretending to be the real Santa, or at least desperately trying to keep the kids quiet before their parents wake up and finally call the cops on him. Of course, then he could threaten to call CPS on them, because what is their baby doing crawling around the house and playing under the Christmas tree with zero adult supervision, anyway? It’s a standoff that’s been years in the making, and we get to see it just in time for the holidays!” –BigTed

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Rex Morgan, M.D., 12/23/25

Oh, I’m sorry, did you think that Buck Wise would decorate his lawn with a boring, pedestrian “inflatable” of the Grinch or some similar garbage? Why, that would be like asking Glenwood’s #1 promoter of roots country/”Ameripolitan” bullshit to jam out to Taylor Swift or the hip-hop music or whatever. Sorry, Buck is getting into the Christmas spirit with the vintage blow mold figures that he drained Corey’s college fund to buy on eBay and whose original and authentically frayed electrical cords represent a significant fire hazard.

Hi and Lois, 12/23/25

Not sure what potential interpretation I like more here: that this is a plan the Flagstons and Thurstons cooked up together that’s gone horribly awry, or that Thirsty simply showed up at his friend’s door, dressed as Santa and visibly drunk, and bullied his way inside to spread a little Christmas cheer to the neighbor kids. Either way the fact that “Santa’s sack” is clearly just an extra-large Hefty garbage bag full of who knows what really adds to the delightfully bad vibes.

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Alice, 12/22/25

One of the distinctive features of Alice comics is the little … title? caption? … that goes in the bottom margin. Usually it just sort of adds to the vibe, but sometimes it’s important for the narrative. For instance, real Alice fans (which I assume include all of you) know that just a few weeks ago she was declaring that new cars don’t need “all that stuff,” and it’s making them too expensive. So you’d be tempted to angrily declare “Alice! I can’t believe you’re backsliding on all the features new cars have!” except then you look down at the bottom of the panel and see the word “backsliding,” so you know she’s being self-aware about it.

Shoe, 12/22/25

Speaking of real fans, real Shoe fans instantly recognize “Madame Zoo Doo,” the strip’s resident psychic, just from her character design. I personally don’t think it’s realistic that she’d bring her crystal ball with her to lunch at Roz’s diner. It’s not necessary and frankly a little insulting to think that we wouldn’t recognize her without it. I demand that my relationship with this syndicated newspaper comic about depressed bird-people be grounded in mutual respect!

Mary Worth, 12/22/25

Wait, is Toby changing her plans because she wants to spend more time with Sunny, and she can’t at her friend’s opening? Because “A semi-professional art gallery in a small California college town has a strict no-birds policy” is actually one of the less realistic propositions Mary Worth has ever offered us.