Josh says some nice stuff
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Flash Gordon, 11/7/24
The new-ish iteration of Flash Gordon got a shout-out from Uncle Lumpy a few weeks ago, but I’m here to give it my full-time blogger shoutout! The art is great, and the writing is very fun and captures the fast-paced cliff-hanger-y-ness of old movie serials. There hasn’t been too much to make fun of, but I’m going to start slipping it into the rotation here, I think. Anyway, today there are two important developments: we meet the King of the Lion Men and learn that his crown appears to be made from a wildebeest skull (dark!), and once again have the timeless truth affirmed that any sequential art whose storyline would support it at all eventually trends towards erotic furry stuff.
Beetle Bailey, 11/7/24
There’s been a little bit of an attempt in Beetle Bailey of late to upgrade Zero’s character from “dumb farm boy” to “farm boy with certain legitimate skills and his own point of view,” and today seems to be a big step in that direction. Frankly, I would like to see more depth added to all of this strip’s one-note characters. Lt. Fuzz isn’t just an annoying bureaucratic kiss-up: he’s trying to drag Camp Swampy’s administration into the 21st century while showing respect for the current leadership! Cosmo isn’t just a scam artist looking out for number 1: he represents the sort of individual ingenuity that’s always existed in supposedly regimented structures like the military! And Rocky was … in a gang, I guess? Or is currently in a gang? And gangs represent an alternative form of belonging and identity for those living in economically and socially marginal areas that have been more or less abandoned by the state? That’s what I assume he and Zero were talking about immediately before this strip started, and I frankly would’ve liked to have seen it.
Six Chix, 11/7/24
Folks, have you seen Conclave yet? It’s a banger! Everyone’s got Conclave fever! And by everybody I mean at least me and the Thursday Chik. That’s assuming the movie was the inspiration for this strip, that is, which doesn’t make a ton of sense but makes as much sense as anything else, I guess. Anyway! Go see Conclave today!
84 replies to “Josh says some nice stuff”
Thanks to everyone yesterday for keeping it fun and political free. It can often be a funky day (I’m six out of 12 on how I’ve felt), and it’s nice to have a safe space and focus on what’s really important – snark – with our fellow Mudges.
I have not seen Conclave, but another Josh whose content I enjoy — Josh Way on YouTube — did and did a positive review on it! So I guess we can say that the movie is popular among Joshes. :p
FG:
And she’ll have Thun, Thun, Thun, till her daddy takes her T-Bird away….
Grammar is brutal. Some buildings blocks of language such as pronouns or basic verbs define the language and preserve archaic forms as other more ephemeral words change, appearing to be the eternal foundations of a language. And yet the English language smothered an entire pronoun, abolishing the division between second person singular and plural and English speakers find nothing weird about it. It’s like a village murdered one of its members and everyone pretended the member never existed, to the point that confusing “pie” and “thy” can be used as a pun instead of brutal reminder of elimination
@Scratchy Scrotum LXIX:
But always remember — the first rule of Snark Club is “There is no Snark Club.”
Amen to your comment — what a welcome respite.
Beetle Bailey: It’s interesting that this conversation is taking place in an empty white room with a single bed. I assume that’s because drawing a soldier’s barracks is hard — but I’d like to think it’s because this is all actually a dream Rocky is having. In his fantasy, he finally made it to Broadway, and everyone is anxious to hear about his experiences as a singing, dancing gang member in West Side Story (which is why he’s kept that greaser haircut all this time). But soon enough he’ll wake up in a smelly room full of dumb and/or lazy soldiers, and his real day of full-pack hikes and potato peeling will begin.
FG:
I thought Jugrid was Archie and Veronica’s friend.
FG:
The Lion Kids eat up every one of the master storyteller’s quips. Jugrid.
“A neutrino walks in a bar and orders a drink. ‘What do I owe you?’ asks the neutrino. ‘For you, no charge,’ replies the bartender.”
BB: Snorkle’s origin story will be a revelation; the sources of his gluttony and gynophobia, and why, in these enlightened orthodontial times, he still only has TWO TEETH.
RMMD: “Of course I’ll marry you, you intermittent g-dropping old charmer! But only if you promise me we can yodel our vows!”
MW: Muffin cake, ham muffins, muffins au gratin, muffin casserole, mac & muffins, muffins and meatballs, 3-muffin salad. Washed down with a fine muffin wine.
So I guess Jugrid is the Lion People’s mane man? (I’ll see myself out.)
B. Bailey: Rocky was trying to recruit misfits Beetle and Zero into his gang for a Naked Gun style story line, with Lt. Fuzz as Drebin and Private Julius as Enrico Palazzo.
Rex Morgan: That’s a nice drawing of someone throwing up into her hands.
I assumed Rocky was in the hospital for injuries sustained in a turf war between gangs. Because “Beetle is out of bed and someone else isn’t” is a worse violation of established character than “Zero is smart.”
Oh come on, a lame pie pun is downright comprehensible by Mari’lo’ton, I mean Mary Lawton’s, standards.
@Scratchy Scrotum LXIX: Luckily it wasn’t a Funky day! (Although the fact that yesterday’s thread has less than 100 comments suggests either that the people who would be bringing political talk were either too depressed or too busy celebrating to come here, or that it wasn’t as “fun and political free” as you thought and Josh and Lumpy just removed all the political comments.)
I don’t know what pills Josh is taking, but I’ll have a few!
FG: To each their own, but I dislike pretty much everything about this comic’s writing, especially its heavy reliance on tell-don’t-show. For example, today we have the text box triumphantly declaring
the Lion Kingthe King of the Copyright Non-Infringing Lion Men to be a master storyteller instead of, you know, having him actually tell a story and letting us decide for ourselves how masterful he is at it.DT: Sprengstoff must be a foreigner, because an American trying to hide their identity wouldn’t use this many forms of fake ID? I cannot say I follow this logic. Also, calling these cards “fake” is woefully inadequate information. Are they fake as in they’re excellent replicas or they’re authentic but don’t lead back to Sprengstoff’s true identity, or are they fake as in the credit cards are Viza and American Espress?
Luann: “Yes, I have my own mansion in a gated community, but is that really good enough for me?” – a very sympathetic character
RMMD: “Now that I know you’ll take abuse with silent acquiescence, let’s make this domestic.”
There’s character growth and then there’s being expected to believe that someone else is lazing about in bed while Beetle is up and about, and that’s a step too far.
FG: Did anyone esle see ‘Jugrid’ and immediately think “Wow, Archie sure has pivoted hard…”
BB: I like how Zero sat right down to get at Rocky’s level. Is that how you intimidate a pig or something? I don’t have the farm smarts.
6Cx: I guess I’m not the only one who spent time in church as a kid wondering what might be better-tasting than the host (answer: almost literally anything)
Flash Gordon: “NEXT: DOVA“. Wow, DOVA! I can’t wait to see DOVA. The tantalizing hint of DOVA has encouraged me to log into Comics Kingdom and subscribe to Flash Gordon so I don’t miss a second of DOVA action!
Six Chix: I will also say something nice, this is a good pun. I’m fond of the whisk crozier and the tinfoil miter, even if the latter causes me to speculate darkly on what sort of liturgical/kitchen conspiracies Bishop Cook Lady is inoculating herself against. Or is that just so her scalp doesn’t brown prematurely when she sticks her head in the oven?
@pugfuggly: Riverdale did get pretty weird near the end. Frankly it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a storyline where Jughead became king of the lion men.
@Scratchy Scrotum LXIX:
Right on, Scratchy. It was funky, but a time and place for everything, and this was a nice place to visit yesterday.
@Ettorre: What’s even stranger is that because that form has become archaic, surviving mostly in prayers and hymns addressed to God the Father, many people assume that it is the formal second-person, rather than the casual.
BB The chances of even a farm kid in 2024 having all three of those specific skills are pretty small, but the writers know as much about modern farm life as they do modern military life.
Flash Gordon panel 3 background: it really does look like the FIRE-DANCING lions are not wearing any clothes (they would catch fire, natch). So yeah, erotic furry action it is. “We’ve sort of met already, last month, it was really fun…” Thun and Dale: “WTF??”
MW: Mary’s eyeteeth reflexively start lengthening in P2. She might want to stop staring at the Doc’s neck.
MW: “The buffet is set up in the dining room. I’ve prepared a ten-course meal for eight.”
“What?! This is extraordinary! How on earth did you manage all this?”
“Oh, I just threw it together an hour or so ago. Enjoy!”
They enter the dining room to find that Wilbur has eaten all the pork chops and half the mashed potatoes, and he has already sliced the cake.
“Mmmphh, srrry mm hmphgry.”
@Scratchy Scrotum LXIX: I’ll scratch to that (scritch scratch)! What a funky week, and I’m not talking about Winkerbeans.
MW: The guests enter the dining room to discover a wide variety of tasty foodstuffs arranged on the floor for Pierre, Odin, Libby, Max, and Greta.
Flash Gordon – The syndicate behind the new Flash Gordon gave a mandate to the new team to renew the intellectual property’s relevance and have it picked up by cosplayers at “the conventions”. While they meant the many Comic-Cons across the nation, the Furry Conventions were also suitable.
Beetle Bailey – On the subject of reintroduction, this feels like the sort of comic that a long-running strip occasionally had to do in order to bring new, younger readers, or readers of newspapers that just picked up the strip, up to speed on the characters and lore. But with the contraction and aging demographics, this is to remind the declining long-time readers who these characters are.
Six Chix – Jesus appears on one piece of toast, and now Thursday Chik thinks she’s God’s gift to baking
6C: Not only is this pie being made just to mock the Lord’s Prayer, but the baker is a woman bishop! Sacrilegiously delicious!
RMMD: ‘Dear God, NO!!!!’ [Wanda’s wig falls off as she runs away screaming]
JP: ‘Okay Sophie, spill. How else am I going to steal him from you if you don’t?’
Zero, if you were really competent at doing agricultural jobs, you would have stayed at home and become a prosperous farmer, not joined the military
@Ettorre: I blame the French.
We all have fun with today’s pun, but tomorrow the “Six Chix” collective will devolve into sectarian violence over the question whether that pie contains God in a material, spiritual or symbolic way
@richardf8: It’s the opposite. The French have a deep respect for the T-V division, formal and familiar. It’s the English that became so obsessed with formality that no one was considered familiar enough to be referred with a thou, despite the good work by Quackers
I blame Rocky ignorance. He could have simply explained that urban communities, just rural communities, have long-term blood feuds, so there is no real difference between Crips-Bloods or Hatfield–McCoy
MW: Mary contributed her specialty, trays full of goop??? Oh man, we’re about to see some carnage here. Or at least, the Charterstone toilets are…
SIMPLE SOLUTIONS
– BF:. Kim, back pain is not a part of getting older. First, check with doctor to make sure you don’t have spine problems. If none, stretch! Do stretches in morning, stretches in the evening, stretches at suppertime.
– BETTY:. Method 1:. Turn off water before changing washers or Method 2:. Avoid cost of home repair by calling a certified plumber.
Let Six Chix eat cake.
New Flash Gordon is perfect, it’s how a reboot should be made, no notes.
DtM: Dennis learns at an early age why henchmen need flunkies and stooges.
Hi and Lois: School lunch debt is actually a serious thing for a lot of families. Kids who don’t have money to pay for their lunch are usually only given a very cheap alternative like maybe a PB&J sandwich and a carton of milk. The Flagston family is in serious financial distress and I appreciate the look of genuine despair on her face here. Finding out Ditto has been running up a tab is giving Lois anxiety.
Marvin: he’s been watching Triangle of Sadness and wants to recreate the vomit scene with poop instead, that’s the only explanation I can think of
Zits: Rodents do not have sweat glands
Curtis: Look at the size of that phone and her skin tight jeans. Was she hiding it in her anal cavity? Is the word “wupsiie” some new kind of slang word to describe electronic devices that teens put up their butts? The face she’s making in the last panel really sells it.
DtM: Dennis inserts a V into the phonological reduction hafta as a symbol of victory. A convoluted menace to be sure but one worth noting.
FG: That’s Dova right there, in panel three. If I remember correctly, she was the lion serving girl at Aura and Barrin’s royal wedding, and the witness to Flash’s “murder” of Ming Junior. So this is Prince Thun’s version of “going home with a waitress.” She is sporting the “just-fucked” look.
“Eat of this pie, for it is my body . . . hey, what are you doing with that knife . . . I was being metaphorical . . . oh my Me, you cut me, Me damn you, it hurts, this pie is my body and you’re eating my body stop . . . .”
FG: I’m glad they cleared up the Prince – King thing I had wondered about. They kicked Jugrid upstairs to the Philosopher-King position, but he’s still honored in their society. I like the way the Lionpeople treat their old folks. I came into the story late and missed Dova first time around, but everyone’s expression says a lot.
I really like the way the comic is structured, with flash (pun intended) backs to earlier events and the narration boxes making it easier to follow the current action. This is the only comic I now look forward to every day since “something” is going to happen.
And I don’t think we need to hear Jugrid’s storytelling to know whether he’s a master storyteller. I can accept that he is. The Phantom got bogged down for two years with Mozz’s storytelling. I’d rather keep the action moving.
Pluggers – I assume I’ve seen of animals with human teeth before in the comics before; I just don’t know if I’ve ever seen them this close up. Probably not, because I’ve never recoiled in horror at the sight of them like I did today.
RMMD-“Keep talkin’ we’ve got two weeks to fill.”
MW-“Muffins!? That’s all we’re eating!?” “A buffet of muffins,” Mary exclaims.
MW-A buffet of Play-Do in various shapes and colors.
Six Chix-Pies!? Oh no! You take those heathen devil pies from here! We only eat muffins here as the Blessed Mary Worth commands.
Hi and Lois-You own Ditto’s teacher your first born male child.
Beetle Bailey-Gang Turf is the PG version of Gangbang.
MW: Will we finally see the cake again tomorrow? Will they do a flashback of Mary and Jeff making the transfer from her apartment to the car, the slow, careful trip to Ed’s, and then to Ed’s dining room? That could take up a whole week of strips.
FG: So juvenile lion-folk are not known as “cubs”, as one might expect, but as “lion kids”. Is this nomenclature at least somewhat flexible, or is a violation of this protocol considered a disgusting ethnic slur, and do the lions enforce the politically correct usage by eating anyone who slips up and says “cubs”? But is the term “kids” then reserved for young lions, and juvenile people have to be known as “human cubs”? And if you accidentally call a young person a “kid”, do the offended humans eat you? There’s so much to keep in mind, when planning your next trip to Mongo!
Jugrid the Master Lion Storyteller: He’s telling the Lion Children about the old Lion Man from Nantucket.
Panel Three: I’m enjoying how, in the midst of nekkid Lion People reveling in the firelight like Maenads, Flash is leading Dale in a sedate foxtrot like they’re at the Yale Prom.
@seismic-2: Meanwhile, one savanna over to the east, the Goat People refer to their children as “cubs.” Mongo is kind of like Bizarro World that way.
Flash Gordon: Flash dates from 1934 which is why it’s nice to see him and Dale doing a period-appropriate Tango while the characters in the background are anachronistically frugging.
6C: Personally I’m a committed Cakeist myself. Down with the pastry heresy!
FG: I’m a little disappointed that the cat people names are just generic, vaguely sci-fi/fantasy-style names. I feel like cat people should either have names that resemble cat noises (Mrar, Prissa), or TS Eliot-esque nonsense that sound like euphemisms for bizarre sex acts (Muffletweezer, Rumblebuffus).
9CL: Do you think we should call for a Wellness Check for Brooke? Something is clearly not right with him.
Don Abundio, translated:
“Don Abundio! The Admiral jumped overboard!”
“He’s sulking because I said his sea stories are boring!”
“What should we do?”
“If you don’t come up we’re going to drink all of your Glenfiddich!”
SC: Well, that’s a lot better than Thomas Nast having bishops as alligators trying to eat American Protestant children.
MW: “Thank you for your wonderful contribution of the food,” says the Edbot.
CS: “Do the ads mention that we can steal kids’ lunches?”
FC: “Yes, you can draw goalposts on the side of the house. And then you can run through them.”
The Family Circus Spanish to English.
FG – I didn’t even know this strip existed until now, but to me it’s got kind of a 1980s movie, the Warriors vibe, Can you dig it. CAN you dig it! CAN YOU DIG IT!!!
BB – The Farriers were pretty tough in the Warriors, with their ball and peen hammers leather aprons….
6-C – Pastry Orthodox….
Adios Amigos, DJ.
FC – We know that he’ll draw the goalposts around a window.
Mary Worth – Here we go. Buckle up for the praise Mary chapter of the story. Mary is encouraging him by patting herself on the back. *Eye roll*
Rex Morgan – Serious question: where will the lovebirds live? Is Truck still living at the Glenwood motel, or does he have an apartment? Will he move into Wanda’s place? I suspect that every inch of her apartment is covered with knickknacks, so she’ll have to clear a space for Truck so they have room to move around the place.
Pluggers – Next week: a plugger with missing teeth. Pluggers pay their other bills before they can fix their teeth.
Speed Bump – Baja should skip this one.
C’shaft: Look, if your job requirements include “must be able to endure Ed Crankshaft on a daily basis,” you gotta expect low turnout.
DT: Sam’s not even waiting until January 21st to get going on the mass deportations.
GT: I hate it when comics make me wonder if something has happened to my language processing abilities.
JP: So the current plot is just going to be recapping the last few dumb plots. Like the world’s worst clip episode.
Luann: Kip’s on the college football team, right? He’s got to have more options than this.
MW: For some reason I’m reminded of H.G. Parry’s Shadow Histories duology, a historical fantasy set in the early 1800s where the African slave trade is facilitated by regularly feeding captives a magical concoction which robs them of free will.
RMMD: “Let me think: slave away all day making food for my customers only to come home and slave away making dinner for you, while you sit on your bony rear end thinking of words that rhyme with ‘hillbilly.’ Decisions, decisions…”
Pluggers: I call foul. A plugger would never spend that kind of money on a vanity project like those effete, urbanite metrosexuals. Pluggers are proud of their missing and rotting, crooked teeth.
@Scratchy Scrotum LXIX: I second that. This site is a respite from politics.
@Ettorre: The Crips-Bloods have more teeth than the Hatfields-McCoys.
@TheDiva: Re 6C – I’m a cookieist. I can roll out cookie dough fine, but I can not do pie crust. It always tastes fine but looks like a wreck.
La Belleza Interior, translated:
“…And to make a long story short, stealing your underwear and listing it on Ebay ended up rewarding no one. I trust this seven dollars will smooth over any hard feelings.”
“Omigosh!”
“Listen here: you accept this settlement and we’ll have fought this legal battle for nothing. As your attorney, I insist you at least hold out for tickets to Weenieworld in France.”
“What? You want to see the Rifle Tower, too?”
“Eiffel.”
“”Not with what we’re packing in our luggage.””
FG: The lion kids are thinking, “Not that old wearing an onion on our belt because it was the style at the time story again!”
FG: Technology works strangely on Mongo. The Lion Men have flying saucers capable of becoming invisible but they can’t build flat screen TVs and video games to keep those lion kids entertained.
@Pozzo: #10
“So I guess Jugrid is the Lion People’s mane man? (I’ll see myself out.)”
HAVE YOU NO PRIDE, MAN??????? (hee hee hee)
@Ettorre: The Episcopal Church here in the US has them e.g. the Right Reverend Susan Snook in San Diego: https://edsd.org/bishopsusan/.
@pugfuggly: I guess I’m not the only one who spent time in church as a kid wondering what might be better-tasting than the host (answer: almost literally anything) Growing up, the church I attended used those thin, dissolve on your tongue wafers for Communion. Pretty bland. One summer, I got the “privilege” of spending a few days at a religious retreat. There was a morning Mass every day. The wafers used in that ceremony were thick, whole-grain, almost poker-sized ones that had to be chewed. The Communion wine helped to get those down. Not much of an improvement taste-wise, but great for jaw muscle development.
JP: I think the fact Glen’s father was murdered and Sophie found the body would be of greater interest to Neddy.
Not-so-fun fact: Gangs are a real problem in the military.
6C: It’s an idea custom made for Pi Day, but that’s four months from now and anyway Maritsa Patrinos will be on call for the day, so #YOLO.
@I speak Jive:
Re 6C – I’m a cookieist. I can roll out cookie dough fine, but I can not do pie crust. It always tastes fine but looks like a wreck.
I don’t know if this is some kind of baking secret or if it’s just common knowledge, but I’ll chime in. My wife lays out a sheet of Saran Wrap on the kitchen table, spreads some flour all over it, and then rolls the pie crust on top of the flour. Works for her very well.
@Ettorre: #41
It took me a while to become used to the new art and narrative flow of the new “Flash,” but I do agree the stories are fun to read. I still miss the intricate, vivid artwork of Jim Keefe’s version, though!
And, speaking of the Shark Men, their offspring are “pups.” What are the Hawkmen’s children called – “hatchlings”??
@Daisy:
Oops – this was in reply to seismic-2, #53!
@I speak Jive: re RMMD: I believe Truck and Wanda are already living in sin. There was a scene when his finger spasms began where she was leaving for work and he was lounging around at her place, hoping to “write some songs” that day.
Dustin: Say what you want about Dustin, at least he’s not the one who decided an arrow sign with the word “pizza” on it was an adequate marketing strategy. Which pizza place, you ask? Details, details.
GT: This Chainsaw Man thing apparently has some heavy significance I haven’t figured out and am not going to.
JP: Of course the actual yes was Glen’s little brother, who has pretty much ceased to exist at this point.
Marvin: Granted, Marvin isn’t the one who took a Sharpie and wrote “BOAT” on the side of this not very poolworthy vessel, but he is depicted as being able to read it, and even that I’m not sure I buy. No, I’m very sure I don’t.
MW: “…and one of my specialties.” The sad part is she’s not kidding.
@I speak Jive: Advantage of crack addiction vs meth addiction
@Dennis Jimenez: FG – I didn’t even know this strip existed until now, but to me it’s got kind of a 1980s movie, the Warriors vibe, Can you dig it. CAN you dig it! CAN YOU DIG IT!!!
Booker T responds: “I CAN DIG IT, SUCKKKKKAHHHHHH!”
@Guy Nerdlinger: My all-time favorite churchman: Manila’s own Jaime Cardinal Sin.
MW: Oh I see, the duet at the piano happened after the ceremony, but before dinner. That explains why no one puked.
GT: @TheDiva: LOL, your language processing abilities aren’t the problem here. With the new Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill collaboration, it seems like they does a good job when they doesn’t, and the next day they does a good job when they doesn’t. We can’t have both!