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Mary Worth, 5/18/26

A thing about soap opera comic strips is that it’s very difficult to understand how we’re supposed to read the passage of time. Like, Tommy’s big drug storyline happened over literally a few weeks of real-life time and seemingly even less time in-universe: he arrived at his mother’s condo unit, mentally set his intention to become a methamphetamine manufacturer, sold a kid some drugs, the kid immediately OD’d, and then Tommy got arrested. Later, he came back to Charterstone after he did his time and has been doing his thing for years ever since, mostly on the up and up except for a little detour into the prescription opioid scene.

So what’s Dawn’s problem? Admittedly, everyone has been more or less the same age for decades in this strip so you have to imagine that less time has passed for her, but still, she seems to have a real personal chip on her shoulder about Tommy’s bad behavior. Not sure if the blond kid who overdosed on Tommy’s bootleg “stuff” had been in her sights as her next romantic victim, or if he tried selling her some baking soda claiming it was “the good shit,” but either way something happened between the two of them that she has not forgiven.

Heathcliff, 5/18/26

BIG NEWS: Heathcliff has … a sister? Who looks exactly like him except she has a bow in her hair? And the two of them are doing fishcrime together? More on this story as it develops.

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Dick Tracy, 5/17/26

Look, when the Russians launched a huge drone attack against a prison on U.S. soil, I was willing to give it a pass — I mean, who could’ve predicted such a thing? But a second massive drone attack, two months later, against the Neo-Chicago electrical grid? I’m beginning to suspect that whoever the “drone guy” is over at the FBI may not be the best fit for the job.

Mary Worth, 5/17/26

Wow, who knew that Tommy was being held back by his old haircut? Specifically, his long hair was blocking his psionic receivers and preventing him from hearing the thoughts of others. Now that he knows what’s in everyone else’s thought balloons, he’ll be unbeatable! He’ll get that meth lab yet!

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Crock, 5/16/26

This is one of those Rodney Dangerfield-style one-liners that sort of makes sense when you first hear it but just kind of falls apart the more you think about it. You’re tellin’ me the waiter … mails you your fortune? Is that because you’re such a contemptible figure that he doesn’t want to interact with you? But if so, how did you get the rest of your meal? Or, is it because the fortune itself is so toxic and terrifying it needs to be conveyed with the utmost of care? But if that’s the case, wouldn’t mailing it involve more contact with the fortune than just swiftly walking it into the dining area and handing it off to the customer? And why get dozens of innocent postal workers involved? If only the comics were a visual medium that could shed some light on this, but no, according to iron-bound convention, this joke must be relayed by three identical drawings of a guy saying it at us.

Shoe, 5/16/26

I’m all for this wholesome depiction of Skyler and his teammate engaged in the time-honored tradition of remembering some guys, though I’m curious as to whether this other dude just blurted out a commonly known Charles Barkley fact or if there was some lead-up to it. My big complaint though is that they’re sitting in chairs. I know that’s probably “realistic” about high school sports of whatever, but if Skyler is complaining via baroque wordplay about always being on the bench, in the sense of being held in reserve during a basketball game and never getting any playing minutes, they should show him sitting on a bench, in the sense of the big long wooden thing that multiple people can sit on.

Mother Goose and Grimm, 5/16/26

“Old people! They’re our main audience now! Is this the kind of slop you hogs like? I mean, uh, is this the sort of representation you fine people find respectful?” –the Mother Goose and Grimm creative team, I guess