Remembering some guys
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Dustin, 1/15/26
Remember Dustin’s dad from the comic strip Dustin, who’s notoriously kind of an asshole? Well, it turns out he’s also an alcoholic.
Dennis the Menace, 1/15/26
Remember Dennis Mitchell from the comic strip Dennis the Menace, who’s notoriously kind of an asshole? Well, it turns out he was a little too much of an asshole and some other kid punched him in the face. (I’m positing that it’s another kid for this post’s purposes because otherwise my joke is significantly less funny. Well, I guess the strip’s joke is significantly less funny too, but that’s their problem.)
Pluggers, 1/15/26
Remember pluggers, the aging lower-middle-class man-beasts from the comic strip Pluggers, who notoriously are in less than robust health? Well, it turns out they’re falling asleep on the toilet in the middle of the night, which probably isn’t a great sign of how things are going for them.
B.C., 1/15/26
Remember the ant couple in B.C.? Probably not, there’s nothing really notorious about them. I guess you could say they were notoriously like a normal middle-class couple with kids except they were ants. Anyway, they got divorced, and then the husband was killed by an anteater immediately afterwards. RIP male half of the B.C. ant couple, 1958 (?)-2026, you taught me that it was OK to be weird.
82 replies to “Remembering some guys”
Pluggers:
Actually, you’re a plugger if you often fall asleep on the toilet at any time, including in the middle of the day.
I’m supposed to believe both that a small child distinguishes between the real world and online and that he uses Facebook? No.
DtM:
“Margaret belted me because I called her a ‘courtesan’ — I thought that meant someone who spent a lot of time on a pickleball playing field!”
B.C.:
This is what happened in that eerie Twilight Zone episode called “To Serve Ants,” isn’t it.
DtM: Today Dennis learned to use an alias when shit talking online.
Dustin: “Huh, this coffee tastes funny. What’s in it… Shrinking potion!? Oh no! Help me! I’m losing two inches every panel! Save me, before I shrink down into a hated millennial!”
RMMD-“From a guy I know who operates out of a van in a back alley.”
FC-Mr. Pitt the early years.
FC-You are to cut everything up with a fork and knife.
Dennis the Menace-The neighbors have gotten tired of Dennis’ antics and formed a lynch mob.
Someone asleep on a toilet sounds less like a Plugger and more like just a plug.
Dustin: I love the melancholy look that Dustin’s Dad is giving his mug in the final panel. “This isnt wine”, he thinks “why couldn’t it be wine?”
DtM “Not online” I was going to say that that was really unnecessary to add, but then I remembered the median comic readers age…
Pluggers love to mix their pleasures. Once they save up enough for a mini fridge and a little TV to stick in there, it’s really going to be on!
The movie Clerks has ruined toilet sleeping forever for Pluggers.
“Hey! I’m not dead. Now close the door please.“
B. C. : I was under the impression that there were no specific “ant” characters in this strip, and that the running gag with them was that EVERY ant strip ended with them being ZOTted by anteaters?
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Dennis the Menace : …what was this before social media? Something like “I know I’m supposed to say ‘You should see the other guy’, but I’m the ‘other guy’ in this situation.” ?
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Hagar the Horrible : Food kept in disposable brown paper bags + trash receptacles to discourage public loitering = mid-to-late 19th century, AT EARLIEST.
(I’m willing to accept I might be wrong on this, though)************
Pluggers : [Insert tasteless joke about what Elvis and my grandpa have (had?) in common]
DtM: It was a paid hit. It cost Wilson a popsicle.
MW: So, to win Ian’s friendship, just save his life? That’s a high bar for a low reward.
RMMD: Rex does his very best to destroy the healthy curiosity of his children. Because if he’s miserable, EVERYONE is miserable.
Luann: Ah, Jockus Interruptus…
RMMD: Check out that dreamy-eyed look on black-haired boy in panel two. ‘*I’d* operate on you, brother who is not actually blood relations. I’d looove to do that….’
Plugging and Dusting — Can we harmonize these two strips and agree to call the Pluggers’ toilet their “Accept Life Chair”?
DtM – It amuses me to think it was Joey who did that.
DtM: Dennis definitely got that shiner from another kid. When Mr. Wilson finally snaps and physically attacks Dennis, he’s going to leave some SERIOUS damage.
Gasoline Alley: They can skip to the reveal. What does it turn out to be, strontium, cadmium, or lead?
Crankshaft: Yes, more “lawyers are evil, Americans are too lawsuit-happy” crap. How do they keep up with the news like that?
Lockhorns: Loretta needs a parrot who can take the place of the smoke alarm they obviously don’t have.
BG&SS: Wine mom is not the demographic I think of for Hootin’ Holler. Did we somehow wormhole into a Home Goods?
Beetle Bailey can tell Sarge a few stories about Cookie’s lunches and this problem will solve itself.
Wary Morth:
“Ha ha ha, Weelbur fell overboard! Pompous axx! Ha ha ha!”
Wrecks Moregone:
From the smile on Repeater’s face, Peter is going to get his spleen surgery tonight Wrecks he falls asleep.
With a kitchen knife.
DtM – “It all started when he told me to stop following him in the real world and not online. Then I called him a troll, but the under-the-bridge kind and not online. I did not see that whole ‘unfriend’ thing coming, so that’s on me.”
RxMD: You’re heard of man-splaining? Man-spreading? When the newest thing is called “man-spleening.” It’s part of a movement called MGTOW or “Men Getting Their Organs Withdrawn” for clicks and clout.
DT When you are fully capable of a nice architectural perspective drawing in P2 but want to keep the readers on their toes, it’s time to spring a random window orientation in P3. Or it indicates the tenement was an early Gehry project. Take your pick.
MW I refuse to believe that a parrot stops crapping and shredding just because Ian sits down with it, watch the panels for whether Ian’s eyes blink out SOS in Morse code
FC I’ve got a kid going through an overly-literal rule-lawyering manners stage and I’d be tempted to say yep, just for that, for the next week you can practice cutlery use by cutting up your sandwiches, whole fruit, everything!
Dustin: HOW DARE YOU MOCK DUSTIN’S DAD’S PRACTICE OF LATE-NIGHT COMMUNION WITH THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF OUR LORD JES—okay, no, I can’t keep it up, Ed’s totally an alcoholic.
DtM: Joey couldn’t stand being Dennis’ bitch ONE. DAY. MORE.
Also Dustin: St. Ita said one of the most pleasing things to God was a simple life with a grateful spirit. She also said the most displeasing things to God were “a mouth that hates people, a heart harboring resentments, and a confidence in wealth.” That’s Dustin’s Dad’s coworker 0, Dustin’s Dad -3, if you’re keeping score at home (I deducted a point from her tally for accosting random people in the breakroom, very unsaintly).
MW: This is like the ending of The Stepford Wives. Just replace a supermarket with a television, and “Hello” with “HA HA HA.”
@The Quiet Man:Luann: Ah, Jockus Interruptus…
ex machina
No comment about how the Pluggers cartoonist chickened out when it came time to draw one of the Pluggers characters asleep on a toilet? Which character do you think it would be? Probably the fat bear? Maybe the Rhinoceros? Curious now how they would draw a Kangaroo asleep on a toilet.
Dennis the Menace:
Is it, though?
Pluggers: Sort of a roundabout way to say Pluggers have terrible hemorrhoids, but okay, let’s (toilet paper) roll with it…
Luann needs to get over herself. The problem with this whole story is the implication that Phil and Luann’s time are equally valuable. They are not. Her obligations are far more malleable than Phil’s, and also far less demanding. If she wants to schedule nookie time into a crowded day, she’s the one who needs to be making herself available at awkward right-after-work times, not him.
And I’m not being sexist here. If Luann was a nurse and Phil was a perpetual junior college student/part time Weenie Hut table-wiper, then *he* should be adjusting to *her* schedule. The reality of the situation is that his time commitments are more important than hers in every possible way. He’s making more money, working in an actual career, and other people’s lives depend on him.
MW: Sunny and Ian enjoy a laugh over some Dad jokes (the TV is not on).
Why don’t eggs tell jokes? They might crack up! “Ha! Ha! Ha!”
“I don’t get it.” Says Toby
Dustin: [Alt Txt] “Can that chair be a toilet?”
Dustin: That’s a helluva way to kick off an Oversharer’s Anonymous meeting, Alice.
Dennis The Menace: Quit talking like Millennials did two decades ago, Dennis! That’s what’s getting you beat up!
Pluggers: I want to thank the artist for taking the lazy route and basically not depicting anything described in the caption.
@richardf8: [Holds pipe and reclines in armchair] Quite…
@Banana Jr. 6000: If Luann got over herself, she’d no longer be Luann we know and… know.
Then she’d be written out of her own strip completely and we’d have ‘The Shannon Show featuring Bwadoni and Smilin’ TJ’. Is that what you want??
Does Dustin’s dad have red wine mixed in with his coffee? Because I’m feeling a strange mix of disgust and awe if he does. You go, Dustin’s dad, be both the best and worst you can be!
***
January 15, 2025: Shocking everyone, today is the day Mrs. Wilson snapped. Mr. Wilson vowed to never complain about Dennis again.
***
It’s a plugger’s prayer to die like Elvis.
Dustin – That better be one comfortable chair, lady. Because you’re a tertiary character (at best) in a mid-funny comic strip.
FC: Billy takes off his shoes and socks but wilts when his mom says; “I dare you.”
“Back in the day, it was opium that brought me sweet succor. These days, it’s only red wine. But I bet your chair is nice, too.”
Pluggers- surprised we haven’t seen this on a Charmin commercial
DTM: “Was it Joey in the schoolyard with the stick?”
“Was it Gina on the streetcorner with her fists?”
“Was it Margaret in her house with a frying pan?”
Buy Dennis the Menace “Clue” and find out!
DT: lots of so-called Dutch Angles! Dick’s got his automatic out – watch out!
Crankshaft: Nice to see everyone is dressed inappropriately for the weather!
GT: Goshen cheer squad in good form, Marty Moon looks human and his microphone headphone set up looks good. Keri is walking the ball up like a team with a 10 point lead. The hoop and backboard in the background is a nice touch. Actually fits into the theme of American high school sports. This is all too good! Too well done. Too professional. Thank you Jason Margos, we will miss you when you go on to better things!
Judge Parker: Be careful Neddy! Charlotte has caught you into a double promise. Now when something occurs – like you know mysterious agents from some international spy/crook might spirit you away or some acquaintance will hire you for a job in Norway.
Phantom: General Chum is a left hander?
RMMD: Finally a kid that seems like a real kid.
MW: OK, now we know that some sort of virus, spirit or other unnatural process has possessed poor Ian and is now maneuvering his body like a giant meat puppet sock.
The Law of Comics decrees that the only proper living arrangement is a nuclear family. No longhouses, harems, or colonies, unless you’re in an army. Today, BC shows the enforcement mechanism : Immediate death sentence.
Phantom: “Well, shoot it, then.”
DT: I thought gun runners did a little better than this, economically. Maybe he runs zip-guns to the local juvenile delinquents and gets paid in Bazooka bubble-gum wrappers.
H&L: I’ve seen videos of service dogs trained not to greet imaginary friends no matter the coaxing to enable Schizophrenics to recognize hallucinations. I guess using your kids is a lot cheaper than training a pooch.
@The Rambling Otter: Mr. Wilson in a ski mask with a sock full of rocks.
Pluggers: “You’re a Plugger if you fall asleep on the toilet in the middle of the night. Or you’re Dustin’s dad. Because of the alcoholism.”
Dustin: At first I was going to say that Dustdad is not sophisticated/pretentious enough to drink non-beer alcohol, but then I changed my mind. He is just pretentious enough to drink wine as proof that he’s superior to the beer-swilling plebs (blue-collar workers, people under 40, etc.), but also so deeply inured in toxic masculinity that he would consider actually knowing anything about wine to be “femmy,” and would never specify a type of wine beyond “red,” “white,” or “that pink stuff I never get because it’s a girl’s color.” So, congratulations to today’s strip for capturing all the nuances of the character’s horribleness.
Pluggers dream of dying like Elvis.
DtM: In the “Thank God for small favors” dept., Dennis and Wilson bond over Dennis’ new found interest in false teeth.
Dustin – I know – all the Pluggers\Toilet turf is claimed….
DtM – Mr Wilson exhorts Moloch that Dennis be ghosted….
Pluggers – A clear colon is better than a clear conscience….
BC – So…what happened to his suitcase….
Adios Amigos, DJ.
Luann: Ooooh, Phil almost kissed Luann on the cheek! That counts as second base for this strip!
MW: The concept of “Stockholm Syndrome” has been challenged in recent history for several reasons (the behavior of the authorities in the Normalmstrong robbery being so inept that the hostages felt even more endangered by them than their captors, lack of qualified academic study, and accusations of victim-blaming and misogyny). Nevertheless, I hereby appoint Ian as its poster child.
RMMD: “I mean, whoever heard of an organ called the spleen? This is just like the guy I saw this morning for unexplained weight loss who claimed to have a family history of cancer in the pancreas!”
SH: No, Pam, that’s exactly what he wants!
Nancy Day
Classic: Add Aunt Fritzie to the lengthy list of comic strip parents who keep bushels of cookies and gallon drums of jellybeans in the house and refuse to let the kid eat any of it.
Contemporary: Ah, Caroline Cash, we welcome your C-minus joke-writing and kindergarten-level drawing to the funny papers. Oh good, you are also partial to contextless drops of flop sweat flying off your characters. Graduate of the Bianca Xinuse Comics Correspondence Course, are we?
Dustin – “You sit in red wine? That can’t provide much lumbar support.”
Gassed Up Alleycats: We replaced the fine coffee normally served at Corky’s Diner with Chef Meowreese™ brand kitty litter crystals! Lets see if Slim notices.
B.C. – That poor ant just got eaten by a deer!
Dustbin:”You drink wine?” “No I just whine at anyone there.”
Don Abundio, translated:
“You will be pursued by a creepy old millionaire who uses all sorts of underhanded tactics”
“But he’s not very bright and it is easy to string him along and double-cross him”
“Thanks for your help, Swami!”
I wouldn’t think most pluggers would survive falling asleep on the toilet. Oh, dear; I wonder if this is some sort of posthumous acknowledgement.
@Peanut Gallery: B.C. – That poor ant just got eaten by a deer!
______________________________________________________
Bleet. bleet.bleet. bleet. The deer ant eater went bleet. bleet. bleet.
@Dennis Jimenez: BC – So…what happened to his suitcase….
_____________________________________________________
…it went to an ant eater in Hawaii, now who wants to Seinfeld about airline peanuts? (rimshot)
MW-“Where’s my money, Mary,” an enraged Wilbur screams, “I broke into their home and damaged the lights so it could start a fire!”
@The Quiet Man: I guess I was suggesting a way the story could end. The current incident would be a good reason for Phil to decide he’s had enough of Luann. Then Luann can go back to her friends and say “oh boo hoo hoo, the guy I liked dumped me, and I have no idea why.” *That* would preserve the Luann we know and tolerate.
CS: The Funkyverse seems stuck in a perpetual 1988. Which means everybody thinks they’re a standup comedian, and constantly workshop their lame material at you.
DtM: Since this strip is permanently stuck in the 1950s a kid coming home with a shiner like that would just be dismissed as one of those “boys will be boys” things, like an old Norman Rockwell painting. Today it would have parents screaming at school board meetings and threats of lawsuits.
Pluggers: I actually knew someone who died like that. There was this old man who never married and lived alone, well in his 80s, that my dad kind of took on as a surrogate father and helped him out. He was kind of a luddite and his house had no indoor plumbing or central heating. He even cooked on a wood burning stove. We had a 10 acre plot of woods in Columbia Township and my dad made sure he had a steady supply of free firewood. One day he died in his outhouse in mid January. By the time one of the neighbors came over to check up on him after a couple of days had passed he was found frozen solid sitting on the crapper.
GT: The part of Marty Moon will be played today by the re-animated corpse of Sonny Bono.
Pluggers: You probably thought those arm rails Pluggers attach to their toilets are to assist them in getting up. Actually they’re to prevent sleeping Pluggers from falling off.
@Ukulele Ike:
Be fair to the newcomer. Nancy and Sluggo are under a hot beating sun somewhere. Look at those shadows and the two of them are dressed in black which just soaks up the sun’s radiant energy.
Child-Beating Advice for Mr. Wilson: For god’s sake, don’t leave bruises! Try an old sock filled with gravel.
Alcoholic Advice for Ed Kudlick: Gin. Cheaper, and it hits fast.
@Peanut Gallery:
¿Hay otra salida, Swami?
MW- “I don’t know Sunny, what did Mary say when she heard about Wilbur getting his head stuck in a wrought fence? …’ Not again?’ Ha ha ha ha ha”
DTM- So somebody finally smacked this little freckle faced fuck? I hope it starts a trend!
Dustin: This might be the one and only time I kinda sorta sympathize with Dustin Dad. I mean, how is he supposed to respond to a lady walking up to him and starting unprompted rambling about how she puts herself in timeout like a five-year-old anytime she experiences negative emotion? Might as well weaponize your addiction issues to try and get her to go away.
Mary Worth: You know it’s Mary Worth when the “touching” character development feels more like the characters have been inducted into a cult. “Yes, yes! I see now how blind I was, mighty Miss Worth! Dogs- er, birds are good! Birds are good! Quickly, brothers and sisters! Drink the ceremonial kool-aid before the government comes for us!”
@Ukulele Ike: “Dennis, you’re getting seven across the ass! Don’t ask, I had three of my fingers on my right hand blown off in Korea!” – Dan Avidan
@TheDiva, Pluggers: Looking for the ‘Elvis” comment. Pick up a Kewpie Doll at the stand.
GT: Cheerleaders! We never get cheerleaders in this strip. If we’re all very quiet and well-behaved and finish our vegetables, next week we may be allowed to see leg.
I also thought “Sonny Bono” when I saw panel two, but Sonny never looked that dissipated until he got to Congress. Second thought: Wicked Uncle Ernie from Tommy.
@Ukulele Ike: I heard you’re supposed to use a sock with an orange in it.
BC: I’m glad my fans enjoyed today’s installment. BC is one of the more prestigious platforms in the comics biz and it’s where I had my first breakthrough role. I try to maintain my reputation as The Hardest Working Ant In The Comics™. For today’s production I had it clearly stated in my contract that I would NOT play the male role in the story. You do realize, all worker ants are female, right? We’re the only sex worth employing in the comics. The males are too short-lived – love ’em and leave ’em, so to speak – here today, gone later today. So it fell to a newcomer in the biz, Formicinia Lasius, to play the role of the departing hubby. Don’t worry, it’s completely safe – the anteaters know just to hold the actor in their cheek and then spit her out as soon as the scene is completed. Although … this anteater was a late substitute… I don’t know the circumstances but I presume the ground rules were explained … come to think of it, I haven’t seen exoskeleton nor antenna of Formicinia since … oh no.
@Ukulele Ike: … and if you don’t finish your vegetables, next week you’ll be allowed to see leg with the regular artist back!
DUSTIN: (In Sunny the Parrot voice) “Ha, ha! Dustin’s dad is a ‘wine mom.'” The funny thing is that according to his own retrograde misanthropic view on masculinity (you just know that he went on a rant claiming that “kids today” are soft-hearted sissies) Ed should be wearing heels and Helen’s low-hanging brassieres.
Shoe: Many of us wondered after yesterday’s strip if Roz had left sufficient space between the new bug zapper and the food preparation area. Well, looks like the health department thought otherwise.
Luann – Perhaps we are to believe that Luann’s friends are that clueless that they don’t know what they are interrupting. Totally believable.
However, I believe that Phil told these guys to line up and have a tumble with Luann after he’s done.