One-panel Monday (ok that Family Circus is kind of two half panels, fine)
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Mother Goose and Grimm, 10/20/25
Look, I know what I’m about to say is gonna make me sound like a humorless nitpicker, but I promise that I do in fact know that the whole point of “cartooning” is that you draw a person in a funny, unrealistic way that works only when you don’t think about what exactly is going on with the parts you can’t see, under the clothes or under the skin. But I gotta nitpick it when they make you think about it! Like, love handles are just above your hips, and I’m sure the Mother Goose and Grimm house style is to think of the waist of their characters as being comically high, and that’s hard to read when they’re wearing flowing robes like this demon is, but … those are boobs, right? Saggy boobs? They don’t look like love handles at all, I’m sorry, and I’m so mad about it I can’t even go in depth on how the “hell spa” wordplay doesn’t quite work (yeah, I know it’s a pun, but do you think we on the mortal plane go to an “Earth spa,” demon??? c’mon).
Family Circus, 10/20/25
Normally, I would think the “parent makes a big show of teasing a kid when they do something good by implying that there’s something wrong with them” is not really the sort of thing you want to do if you’re really aiming to reinforce good behavior, but based on Jeffy’s face here, there’s no real danger of that, because that is one of the blankest expressions I’ve ever seen. No thoughts, only Jeffy. He is definitely not processing Ma Keane’s complicated little semiotic dance, which I guess is really just for her.
97 replies to “One-panel Monday (ok that Family Circus is kind of two half panels, fine)”
MW: After their SUNSET SAIL on Compensation, Mary and Jeff will dine at the Bum Boat, enjoying the daily special of corny rehash.
FC: Is it weird that I thought that Ma Keane was just sticking that sucker on Jeffy’s forehead, just in case he wants it later?
*FC* I like how Family Circus is unafraid to show that there are kids with developmental and cognitive disabilities, and/or on the autism spectrum – and then there’s Jeffy, who’s just really, really dumb.
FC: Staring ahead vacantly as if he can’t see the candy, Jeffy is still pushing his “I can’t see!” bit from yesterday. Honestly, it’s wearing a little thin.
FC: At first, I thought that Ma was holding out a spoonful of medicine, which left me confused. Was the joke that Jeffy must be sick because he politely refused to take his medicine? Is Jeffy just constantly drinking medicine for fun when he’s healthy, like it’s some illicit treat?
@Guts Dozier: I also thought that was a medicine spoon, and I thought that the second panel was her smashing it into her son’s forehead. Deeply ashamed to admit that Family Circus was too advanced for me. I think it’s time for me to go into the Soylent Green tanks.
MG&G: Maybe “Hell Spa” is analogous to “Health Spa”? That would make a little more sense. Not much, but a little.
@Schroduck: Right there with you and Mr. Dozier. Edit: also the pugfuggly guy, and I’m sure twenty commentators after us.
FC: Jeffy knows it’s a sedative on a stick. He KNOWS, I tell you!
MW: “Snooze” mode for the next five days, while Mary eats salmon, Jeff eats steak, Mary exalts Olive and Jeff exalts Mary.
RMMD: Augie’s agent: The publisher said you’re not novel material but perhaps you have a future writing greeting cards.
JP: Charlotte grounds Neddy after Neddy serves her wine with dinner,.
The Family Circus: Is it a fever, or is it…Satan?!
The Family Circus, alt take: That’s it, Thel, you’ve got the tip of his nose upturned, just a little lower…tell you what, why don’t you grab a pillow from the living room, might be quicker.
Okay wait a minute, it seems like the characters are getting mixed up. Luann is supposed to be the one with no brain and Bernice is supposed to be the one with no heart. Also how are these two best friends again?
Two panels? If The Family Circus is going to start acknowledging the passage of time we might see Thel get a job.
Mother Goose and Grimm: Those look less like hate handles and more like sagging boobs, and less like sagging boobs than “I ate a giant salami and now it’s sticking out of my guts sideways.” In which case — half points — a Hell Spa would indeed by very, very appropriate.
Mother Goose and Grimm:
“Of course, the nearest spa is in the boonies. It must be underwater, too, because it’s in the Styx!”
Mother Goose and Grimm:
“Man, I have to say, I look like hell. Oh…wait a minute….”
FC:
“Hey, grab this sucker. Don’t be a Slo-Poke!”
@Bob Tice: Given that the Styx was the boundary between the underworld and the, uh, aboveworld, I’m going to have to say this is a pretty marginal joke.
Also Mother Goose and Grimm: Hell is
other peoplereading the daily comics.Hell is immortality but you still have to work to stay in shape.
***
I’m less bothered by the love handles or boobs conundrum than I am by the blue sky in the reflection.
MW: “How’s my favorite girl?” I was trying to come up with a worse phrase that would make any woman shudder and think you were holding a vial of poison made just for them.
A sunset sail? It’s not the True Love. It’s a huge ass, noisy, gas guzzling penis extender. And Mary is steering.
Just going to say, The Far Side did the Love Handles joke a million times better, notably because they were on a snake.
@Scott:
On Luann :
Luann is supposed to be the one with no brain and Bernice is supposed to be the one with no heart.
They’re doing that bit where the interpretation of Wizard of Oz is that the companions ALWAYS had the traits they seek the Wizard for, but were unaware of it.
They’re definitely not admitting that Luann is not actually compassionate, and Bernice is not smart.Also how are these two best friends again?
a) They’re the only people who could stand to hang out with the other for more than five minutes.
b) Luann has consumed too much third-rate High School-themed media, and completely internalised that the plucky underdog girl with INNER BEAUTY is best friends with the nerdy girl with no friends, while the mean popular cheerleader bullies them, and thus works to make that her reality. Bernice… literally would not have any friends or anyone to talk to if Luann didn’t let her into her room all the time, so it’s really that it’s THIS or having no social contact ever.
Unpopular opinion : when the strip switched to being “The College Years”, they should have made Luann and Bernice be roommates. Who cares that it doesn’t make sense that Luann could afford/obtain a scholarship for the same college Bernice attends, “Luann and Bernice are hanging out in the same bedroom, talking about random bullshit” is the strip’s MAIN/ONLY THING, and they (briefly) completely got rid of it!MG&G: And the demon’s facial expression doesn’t seem to match with his reflection’s. What the literal Hell?
@Bob Tice:
@I’m Not Cthulhu, But I Play Him On TV:
Personally I feel doing a “I grew up in the Styx” joke would have been much better than whatever the Hell comic we got today.
RMMD It’s his agent saying they have a deal not only for publishing but also Hollywood – as long as they can make it as a Roots Country Musical version
@Charterstoned: At least there’s usually some amusement in seeing how much larger Jeff’s boat is than when last depicted. As I recall last time it was drawn as the usual cabin cruiser, but from the scale of the dots representing Jeff and Mary, it was passenger-liner sized.
Family Circus: What are the flavors in that weird lollipop? Blood and licorice?
RMMD: ‘Hmm, he says he has the standard ‘Fame and Fortune’ contract all ready for me to sign…’ Meanwhile, the students have completely demolished the classroom.
JP: Well $)%^ you too, you little raspberry-haired brat. I’m sure any other kid your age would give their right arm to have a sugar-laden smoothie for breakfast instead of the 100% Bran-ola your grandparents were probably serving you for breakfast, lunch and dinner because they spend all their disposable income on booze (and the occasional diner meal) and all their time drinking said booze.
FLASH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!: Somehow, Ming returned.
Curtis: Curtis gets another job to pay for the broken TV? What, couldn’t wait for summer for the plot line?
GA: Thank whatever deity is keeping Walt alive that the Frank Nelson avatar just lasted a few strips.
DT: The MCU against Mephistopheles? Okay, I’m curious how the Prince of Evil comes to a horrible graphic end at the hands of Dick.
Luann: I’m guessing that this is a riff on the Wicked movies because the Evansii aren’t sophisticated enough to understand K-Pop Demon Hunters.
FC: An already coked out Jeffy foregoes his rainbow fentanyl lollipop.
I’m on the side of the supposed “brats” this morning.
Curtis – I’m with Barry. Curtis hasn’t even said what this lie is, Curtis could throw him under the bus, coming clean is Barry’s only chance to not be dragged into whatever the consequences are. Yes, be honest about when an accident (even one that occurred because of not following the rules) happened. Don’t make it worse with a conspiracy of lies.
JP – Charlotte doesn’t like the “smoothie” idea? Neddy just suggested avocado toast, that smoothie could be some kale and protein powder monstrosity. It also makes tons of sense to start the day with food that works for the kid. Yes, Neddy should have read the notes.
Off topic, but has anyone else been unable to see most of the King Features comics at the Seattle Times for the last few days?
I honestly thought Ma Keane was slapping Jeffy — I know I want to.
I wanted to complain that the demon should keep the extra fat, because it is evidence of Gluttony and Sloth. But then I realised he needs to want to remove it because of Pride and Envy, so well played
MG&G — I think we covered this once in Logic 101–if the devil makes a statement, and the statement would also have been made by a Plugger, then the devil is a Plugger. Can’t remember what grade I got in that class, but I once heard in a movie that Aristotle was a moron. . .
@Banana Jr. 6000:
It might have worked better as “Hellth Spa”
SFx: Bonus appearance by Wade from US Acres. Also, Slylock, just because the Count describes his theory incorrectly doesn’t mean his machine won’t work. This guy’s built a holodeck and a time machine already, along with all sorts of flying machines and submersibles.
Crankshaft: If this were almost any other comic I would say they were landing a decent topical joke.
Gasoline Alley: Howie’s never going to wear a hair cover except at gunpoint, isn’t he?
Lockhorns: There are about three classic mime acts to draw, and we’re expecting too much that one of them gets depicted here.
Dustin: “We’re tanking for better draft picks” was right there.
BG&SS: Why the long face on Loweezy? Snuffy is the hoosegow so often he’s got his own coffee mug in the break room.
MW this week is trying to make me miss the sizzling chemistry of Angie and Summer. And succeeding.
It’s fine that Tel is worried about her son’s health, but a hand on the forehead is no way to check for diabetes!
@Her Father, John Darling: Yeah, I’ve had to resort to the Washington Post site since last week.
Are unsure whether the joke is “love handles”-“hate handles” or “health spa”-“hell spa”? Well, they would be very weak on their own, so they thought that combining two half-assed jokes would result in a good one. They were wrong
DtM: Alice mutters under her breadth: “The open tube of glue sitting right there should have been a clue, Einstein.”
FC – In panel one, Thel suddenly notices that her son has no forehead. In panel two, she massages one into existence. Ain’t claymation wonderful?
Don Abundio, translated:
[Sign: TO STAGE]
“Juan, my wife and I saw your play tonight”
“How nice…”
“And I suppose you want to compliment me on my performance”
“No…”
“You were awfully mean to that poor widow!”
FC – Jeffy knows perfectly well that that lollipop was just in Barfy’s mouth, because it was Jeffy who gave it to him.
FC: Calvin and Hobbes did this joke, with Calvin’s mom realizing Calvin must really be sick when he doesn’t care that it’s a Saturday and he won’t miss school as a result. So, thank you Family Circus for making me remember an infinitely better and funnier version of this gag.
Slylock Fox-Count Weirdly creates a massive storm which floods the entire town.
MW-A typical ending.
Lockhorns: Ah, the classic “Man Screaming For Help As A Squirrel Goes For His Nuts” routine. Nothing like the classics.
Dustin: Sports betting much, kid? I’ll give you 2-1 on Luxembourg.
Dustin “Happiness? What’s that mean?”
“Not sure. Maybe it’s like how I feel when I abuse you for no reason.”
“just for her”? No! It’s for *us*, Josh; for us to *laugh* at!
Luann: Now that I devote a second’s thought to it, it makes perfect sense that Luann’s bed should be the gateway to an alternate world where no one has primary sexual characteristics.
HtH: I see Rocky is there, I suppose working with the moose. Sid, did you arrange this gig?
A lot of endings…
DT: So that concludes The Tess LaKoyle saga and probably the magic energy gel saga and the zap zap gun saga. We get the conclusion that Faust pulled some connections and made a few bribes to make the charges against Tess vanish into the ether. In return he blackmails her into some form of indentured servitude to him and/or Diet Smith Industries. Left unknown is (1) what did Tess need to break into the power stations? Did she really need full power testing? (2) why was she in debt to the loan shark? (3) why did she try to kill the utility workers? Just zap zaping around them would scare most away or just waving the gun at them should do the trick. (3) Is Tess fundamentally flawed and predisposed to bad behavior or is she driven out of desperation? The new art work has been good, but tightening up the plots a bit would be helpful. Is this Sprocket of the Nitrates or some person trying to look like Sprocket?
GT: Nice artwork – actual believable background for a high school game. Unclears as to how Gil’s decision to fake a handoff and give it to another back would discombobulate the “AI”. Unfortunately while the art is much more solid for high school sports, the plotting is weak and shows a lack of understanding of what is AI and how it is used, as well as American high school football. Faking to one ball carrier and giving or pitching to another one is literally a standard base play of many offenses.
MW: So we conclude the Olive saga. Will we see her again? Anticipate another day or two of filler. Mary will have the fish and the good doctor will order the surf and turf. They’ll be on his large cabin cruiser and watch the setting sun or moon rise and after some platitudes about friendship and love, we’ll move on to the next adventure. The next few days will be like a palate cleanser dollop of sherbert.
JP: Give Charlotte a boy at school who likes her but who is from a tougher background. Call him Sluggo. Have Neddy realize she must focus on taking care of Charlotte more but over time have her fade away, along with the rest of the JP crew. In about a year, rename the strip Charlotte, make the art simpler, more symbolic and suitable for black and white reproduction. Finally, have three rocks because three rocks is funny.
FG: Sadly true observation of human and alien nature!
MW: Sail? No, it’ll be burn up $500-$1,000 worth of diesel to fuel that dreadnaught the SS Blue Balls as Mary takes her usual two week victory lap.
DT: What the hell happened to Sprocket? She used to be good-looking. And what happened to the bearded, pipe-smoking professorial-looking guy she ran off with?
Dustin: Don’t feel too bad guys. There’s over 160 sovereign nations on earth so 24th place isn’t really that bad.
Dustin: Another reason for Swedes to hate on Finns. We’ve got a way better social welfare state than they do, a lot hotter-looking women, and they get first place?
RMMD: It is urgent, Augie. Your agent just found out you’re being sued for plagiarism by some high school English teacher in Ohio named Les Moore.
love is… being perplexed that your toilet won’t flush.
GT: Please, Gil, the whole “Me is SMRT against computers” has been done since the days of Captain Kirk and Original Trek.
Even Ferris Bueller won in a showdown against a computer ready to start World War III.
MG&G – MAHA – Making America Hellish Again….
FC – You can dance if you want to; You can leave your friends behind! The Semiotic Dance….
Adios Amigos, DJ.
DT: So, it’s officially a wrap on Tess LaKoyle and her zappy gun. Any bets on whether or not Diet Smith knows/will ever find out that his VP is holding her hostage on pain of standing trial for murder (probably cutting a plea deal and getting a lighter sentence in the process), or is he too busy traveling through time or something?
Dustin: Question: can you have a World Happiness Index in a comic strip where nobody is ever happy about anything, ever?
GT: Good job, Gil Thorp. You out-thought ChatGPT, a program that cannot correctly identify which states begin with “New.”
JP: Forget that, can someone give Marciuliano notes on whether or not Neddy a) has no idea how to take care of Charlotte or b) is actually better at recognizing Charlotte’s needs than anyone else around her? He’s not just refusing to pick a lane, he’s trying to drive on the grass median.
Luann: There have been so many riffs on The Wizard of Oz through the years, but I think we can say with confidence this is the absolute stupidest.
MW: Okay, props to everyone who called “it’s not over until Jeff and Mary have a sail on the good ship Blue Balls.” We should just admit that’s the new “pool party.”
RMMD: Um, no. You do not “step out for a minute” on your class unless it’s an actual emergency, and even then you get a paraprofessional or even the teacher in the next room to watch them because otherwise you’ll have kids climbing out the windows and setting fire to things inside a minute. Your agent can wait until you’re on your god-damn planning period, Augie.
SH: “I obsessively watch a video of you wearing a wedding gown and a pet collar. This is totally a healthy relationship.”
Dustin: We simply make a deal to get Dustin published on the front page of the Helsinki Beacon-Journal. Within weeks the Finns will be plunged into confusion and despair.
DT: Ah, yesterday DID wrap the Case of the Death Ray Dyke. Now Costello (he’s still there!) will thrill us with the latest saga of the lamest Nu-Wave Tracy Villians ever created, except for the hippie guy and the dude with the fish head. PS: Today’s final panel is BB Eyes in drag, something I hoped I’d never see. Thank god he’s not wearing mascara.
JP: After school tonight at cocktail hour, Neddy will teach Charlotte how to stir up a pitcher of Cosmos.
Phantom: Chuma does not seem to have the requisite charisma nor the gravitas to lead a military unit. Wonder whether he’s related to Pete Hegseth.
RMMD: ”Four more rejections came in today, Augie. Go beat one or two of your students.”
The Family Hemicycles
@treetown: So we conclude the Olive saga. Will we see her again?
I’m hoping for the Poochie ending.
@Her Father, John Darling: #34
Yes! I noticed that when I clicked on certain of my Comics Kingdom favorites I had to “subscribe” to see them. The GoComics strips had no such obstacle, however. Nevertheless, I have sought out alternate sources to view my favorites.
@Rube: #42
Me too. Seems to work!
Okay, who’s the wiseguy that packed Baja Gaijin‘s parachute?
FG: the tournament is successful– it exposed contenders to the throne. And note that though the image of Ming was powerless, the words could cause spectators to forget their own alliances and the ban on violence during the tournament.
PHANTOM: The rogue “warrior” may mean well but she hasn’t a clue about what’s really going on.
DOONESBURY: Uh-oh. Ray gets medi-vacced out of combat?
RMMD: After that big build-up by his friends, reality calls.
Mother Goose And Grimm: On this blog, I often mock newspaper comic writers as being severely out-of-touch with the rest of humanity, but I think this might just be the most extreme example of it yet. How socially isolated do you have to be that you don’t know what love handles are and can’t be bothered to look it up or even ask somebody around you for clarification?
Family Circus: The art is so bad it makes it look more like Ma Keane is about to slap Jeffy across the head for not wanting a lollipop, which is admittedly funnier than the actual joke.
GA: about time for T-Bone and Baleen to return from their honeymoon. Or is this just a transition to their new, hatted replacements?
FC: I honestly thought that she was offering him cough syrup and we were watching the debut of Family Circus: Momento.
Mother Goose and Grimm is totally fine today. Everyone knows that gravity pulls stuff towards the ground and Hell, being below the ground, has opposite gravity.
MG&G: As far as Devil jokes go, I preferred yesterday’s Oglaf. Even though I’m not entirely sure what the punchline meant. The necromancer is so freaked out by the pile of deboned skin and organs that he hesitates to make the deal he obviously desires?
(NSFW due to wank pictures of Big Titty Elf Babes pinned to wall of evil magic chamber)
@White Rabbit: ,re HtH: Yeah, WR, we scored big time getting the renowned Rocket J. Squirrel for a cameo here! Gotta say, he’s held up well over the years, as has Bullwinkle, still the most famous Moose of them all! But he couldn’t make the appearance today – said he was going to be butting heads in The Rut this week. Those are his nephews who were available for the gig… I didn’t ask any questions.
I’m tellin’ ya – this deal has gotten me in dutch with Melody Mare! You know she landed a recurring role here as Honi’s pet Horse. Even got a name and everything. She thought she was gonna be a regular Monday feature – Melody Monday, she was calling it – but they went ahead and booked Moose and Squirrel for today instead… maybe because I was able to get Rocky? I dunno. Anyway, I’ll be lying low at my members-only club for a while.
Family Circus: “No, thank you. While it’s hard to tell from this drawing’s perspective, that lollipop is half the size of your hand and larger than my open mouth. Given my dubious level of brain development, I could easily choke on it, then fail to get it out in time, and possibly die. Which, I mean, there are worse ways to go than by delicious sugary candy, right? But still, I think I’ll pass.”
MOTHER GOOSE & GRIMM: Not to MG&G artists: You don’t need to draw (sigh) “hate-handles” if you already make your characters look like doughy potato people in any case. The joke-like by-product still would have work (kinda.) It’s like the forgot the first rule of comic strip cartooning: Never put more effort into a strip then you need to.
Family Circus- Thank goodness a ‘Mudge clarified what Thel’s holding, because I thought it was a spoon with cough medicine, so the joke didn’t completely land for me.
@72 Sid, Agent to the Animal Stars!:
Melody is not back next Monday in Hagar unless you got her disguised as a camel.
Guess Jeff Keene just saw the Dick Van Dyke episode where Laura was convinced Richie was sick because “he turned down his cupcake”.
@The Rambling Otter:
“My substitute ferryperson, Lilith, was acting all bourgeois and entitled, like my usual one does, so I said to her, ‘Don’t be a Charon!‘ “
@Ukulele Ike: #60: re- DT: You’re right. That is BB Eyes. At first glance the cigar threw me off and it looked more like Jerome Trohs in drag.
Guess Jeff Keene just saw the Dick Van Dyke episode where Laura was convinced Richie was sick because “he turned down his cupcake
@Sequitur: Melody is not back next Monday in Hagar unless you got her disguised as a camel.
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Maybe it’s a version of “Some Like It Humps”,Sid.
@matt w: we might see Thel get a job.
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Do the comics really need another Unreal estate agent?
DT: Huh, I was half right yesterday, we are moving onto a new story, but it’s still Costello. On the one hand, there’s a lot about the LaKoyle story that still doesn’t make sense, but on the other, I’m not sure Costello continuing to write about it would have helped.
HtH: Wait, wouldn’t it make more sense for Lucky Eddie, with his rapport with animals, to be the one who somehow persuaded a couple of moose to put up with this nonsense?
SH: While I can accept for the sake of this story not taking a turn for the tragic that Palmtop’s collar stretches safely if she’s still wearing it when she transforms into a human (the 80s ITV kids show Woof! about a boy who turned into a dog had a whole bit about this, which was eventually solved with “the world’s greatest invention — knicker elastic!”), I’m really not sure the tag should stretch as well. But, apparently, when she’s human, it’s about six inches wide!
MG&G: And now a scene from that hot new movie: “The Devil Wears Hip Boobs”
@James: I think the biggest problem is that the two jokes are not analogous. Love/hate are opposite sides of the same coin, while hell/health and hell/earth are not. “My Sad Meal gave me Hate Handles so I joined Nevertime Fitness” would work a lot better. It establishes a clear pattern, and it invokes the rule of three.
@Her Father, John Darling, @Rube, @Daisy: Huh, the Seattle Times site is working the same as ever for me. No idea why, if it’s not for others.
@Sequitur: Melody is not back next Monday in Hagar unless you got her disguised as a camel.
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I’d walk a mile for a Melody cameo.
MG&G: I saw this exact comic a decade or two or three ago. But it didn’t have the hip-breasts. Wish I had the exact date.
@Sequitur: What th–?!? The Camel was supposed to get the Wednesday spot! Intern! I thought you had all the bugs* outta that scheduling app you designed!
*no actual Insects were involved
“These are hate handles, so I’d better draw them in a way I’m sure the audience will hate.”
SlyF – Slylock Fox was able to absolve Count Weirdly of posing any real danger. But when Weirdly received the C&D order from Diet Smith Industries regarding infringement on their patent of “a tube of green goo with electro-zappiness properties,” he knew he was washed up at last.
Mother Goose and Grimm – I think we’re seeing the first case of AI-zheimer’s, where seeing too much AI generated slop breaks the mind of someone and they begin to believe the distorted bodies are real.
Family Circus – Jeffy, the redhead, is a human example of “One Orange Brain Cell” behaviour seen in the strange behaviours of orange cats. Today was not a day he got to use the brain cell.
@GarrisonSkunk: Or his father saw it 60 years ago when the strip first ran.
2 1/2 Mellonheads?
“Hell “(with a lisp)/” Health” is barely a Dolly Keene level spoonerism,let alone the fact that HTT Grandma would slap her for not saying “H-e- double toothpicks” .Is MG&G rummaging through Jeff Keane’s reject pile?
@Human-eared Dragon:
Update!
Grimmy.com has an archive and that comic has been done two more times:
August 30 2019
September 21 1995
It’s speeding up at an exponential rate!
@Sequitur: unless you got her disguised as a camel.
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Won’t work! Melody’s fans can spot her humps no matter how much latex you apply to them.