Something must’ve happened? In this strip? Unlikely
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Andy Capp, 1/31/26
I’ve been reading Andy Capp daily again for about a year now, and on the one hand that isn’t very long, given that the strip has run since 1957, but on the other hand it probably puts me in the top 0.1% of Andy Capp Lore Knowers worldwide. Like, I’ve more or less figured out that Andy doesn’t like it when Guitar Bob offers up his musical stylings at the pub, which is crucial knowledge for understanding the “joke” here (such as it is). But imagine if you, like the vast majority of the human race, did not know that, and you stumbled upon this strip. “Hmm, the pub’s landlord is informing one of his patrons that there’s been a change in the entertainment bill tonight. The regular doesn’t react at all. This must be one of those Ken Loach slice-of-life social realism things I’ve heard about.”
Gil Thorp, 1/31/26
Hey, remember when Fox Used Auto did a promotion where if Goshen beat Milford, they’d offer 50% off all cars, apparently indefinitely, and then Goshen beat Milford? Really tells you a lot about how much markup car dealers make given that they’re still in business, huh?
Judge Parker, 1/31/26
“Like, maybe he came back but he grew a beard so you didn’t recognize him, and he’s still sad about it!”
73 replies to “Something must’ve happened? In this strip? Unlikely”
JP: Actually, Randy’s too embarrassed to answer the door to his apartment after going with that new-age decorator.
JP-Randy changed his name and moved to another comic strip. He is known as Ted Forth now.
RMMD-June self diagnosed it as your appendix so that will be removed instead of your kidney which is the actual cause of the problem.
MW-How many times can one sentence be reworked for an entire week.
FC-Mommy’s just jealous.
Ziggy-“You will be overcharged.” In bed.
“Hey all, I’m Banjo Bill. Mostly do covers and tribute stuff. Who here is ready to rock to some Hoobastank?”
Andy’s countenance remains unchanged. The embolism took him swiftly.
GT – Good to see Guy Fieri has a back up job on the weekends selling used cars
What Randy SHOULD be embarrassed about is those brown shoes with that jumpsuit. Always go cordovan, man!
AC: Of course Banjo Bill’s act isn’t really about his namesake instrument, it’s more about his fancy shirt which causes violent arguments over what color it is.
GT: Oh shit, is the Tiger King out already? Prison did not agree with him.
JP: Yep, that’s the Judge Parker guarantee: if something happened, we didn’t show it!
JP:
“He’s got a lot on his plate, so he’s singing the ‘Fulsome Prison Blues’ !”
Gil looks like a guy who just got a face-full of cologne, and that cologne has a sailboat on the bottle, somewhere.
GT:
” ‘Foxy’ has just scored the lead role in the Milford Players’ forthcoming production of Cheech Marin: The Musical!”
RMMD:
Let’s do a roll call on the Morgan kids, shall we?
— Sarah wants to know why they’re going to “EMERGENCY” just because her brother Johnny is vomiting clear liquid;
— for his own part, Johnny is obsessing about a “spleen” operation when his mother has just said in his presence that he likely has appendicitis; and
— Michael wants to go to the Glenwood Eye Care clinic to see some surgeon slice his dad’s eyeball.
What an assemblage of dotards.
H&L: I’d lose the palazzo pants, Lois. ‘Thunder thighs’ is not the look you should be going for.
MW: Is this arc going to end with Rosie laying eggs and Toby finding out she’s pregnant? Was Sunny just a trial run for an infant? Because we’ve learned that Ian will try to beat and kill his dependents unless they prove themselves useful to him. And considering that babies are useless and known for defecating everywhere, that doesn’t bode well for their child.
I miss the Gil Thorp guest artist already.
GT:
“We’re drawn in a way that makes us look even worse than the used cars that ‘Foxy’ is hawking!”
Andy Capp:
Since we’re looking on at the inside of the bar, shouldn’t the ‘”BAR” signage visible on the inside door be inverted?
Oh. Wait a minute. We’re in England, where everything’s on the wrong side.
@Bob Tice: They certainly do give the trio currently sitting through Career Show ‘n Tell over in ‘Luann’ a run for their money, don’t they?
Crankshaft : this is meant to evoke “Batmobile”, but all I’m seeing is that car Homer Simpson designed in that episode where he ruined his long-lost car magnate brother’s life by designing the worst car imaginable.
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Hagar the Horrible : …I bet some people are thinking “What does the evil cannibal from those horror/police procedural thrillers have to do with elephants?”, I’m thinking “Wow, that’s a small elephant. He’s really gonna try to invade Rome with that?”
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Judge Parker : Ooh, Phantom crossover! Randy is stuck in that prison camp in Ivory Lana that’s being liberated by old Stripey pants!
…I hope that the Jungle Patrol and his fellow prisonners forget him there, that would be funny.
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Luann : Oh, we’re finally resolving who the mystery author of Bernice and Nancy’s favorite erotica is, and it DOES turn out to be Mr Fogarty (with an assist by Mrs Fogarty (née Phelps)!
….
…Baseless hypothesis : this sequence was initially Luann starting her creative writing classes again, with Piro in Les’ place, wasn’t it? Then the Evansii were like “If Luann is actually following Phil’s advice, she’s given up on taking non-practical, non-job training classes”, and it became this “career path” class that doesn’t make sense?
MW: Normally I think the “birds are government drones that spy on the citizens” conspiracy is silly, but I think you could make a serious case for it with these two.
MW somebody give the ChatGPT server a kick, it’s gotten stuck in a loop
Phantom “The bookkeeper!” – you know, I applaud the levelheadedness of these rebelling “muckmen”, because if *I*’d been enslaved, beaten, and threatened, I don’t think I’d be able to track all the fine details of the command structure beyond “in charge” vs “flunky”
JP:
“Ann, the word on the street is that he may have been jailed for malicious destruction of property on account of turning the leather upholstery in his rental vehicle into a series of notched edges!”
“No. Don’t say it, Katherine.”
“Yep. ‘In-car‘ ‘serration‘ !”
Phantom:
[As Chuma’s flunky, Yes Man, departs in a huff]: “They’re going to want you more than me, General!”
[Chuma]: “No, Yes! — er, I mean ‘Yes — no!’ “
MW: Since the parrots are parroting the human pair, shouldn’t Sunny and Rosie also be toasting each other with empty wine glasses…?
MW: Even though the birds are marginally more interesting than the Camerons, enough already.
GT: Wait, Keri can’t possibly do this without ridiculous, giant, electric car-shaped earrings!
Mary Worth: well, the parrot-people storyline has wrapped up. What do you want to bet next week starts a Wilburpocalypse? I mean, what other characters are there in the strip?
GT: Now really, is Foxy any more grotesque than the rest of these characters?
JP: Sadly, Ann did not realize that the laws of the universe demanded that at least one Parker scion be incarcerated at all times.
GT: Glad to see that Captain Kangaroo Pimp got some work after Black Dynamite.
@BeckoningChasm: No, Mary has to strut and gloat for a week, even though she had zero involvement in the story.
C’shaft: Even for Tom Batiuk this is scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Dustin: Come on, kid, aim higher. I mean, look at Dustdad: he has a wife to act as his mother and do all the domestic and mental labor for him, he goes to work but does nothing but hang out in the break room so he can get first dibs on any pastries that come in, and he’s still able to pretend that he’s a useful and productive member of society. He’s living the dream!
MW: Okay, who introduced Karen Moy to Google Translate?
Phantom: “The Bookkeeper!” really should trigger a high-energy title sequence like Monty Python’s “The Bishop!”
MW: God bless Brigman. How many of us could resist drawing Sunny and Rosie toasting each other with miniature wine glasses.
Today’s Andy Capp lands somewhere between Gasoline Alley and Barney Google & Snuff Smith.
Arlo & Janis: Are these two the best depiction of a happily married couple in newspaper comics?
Luann: The people who work at school exist outside of it, and finding that out is a rite of passage for students.
GT: Joe “Foxy” Fox is waaay too familiar! Do Gil and Keri have their resting bitch faces on–I can’t even tell.
Lockhorns:Yes, Loretta is heating the whole outdoors.
FC: If it wouldn’t kill BDK to turn up the thermostat, Billy wouldn’t need to huddle with the dog for body heat.
DtM: They’ve used up every sitter in town. Next time, maybe try that handy little drawer at the hospital’s maternity ward for the night.
RMMD: Again with the spleen, Jimmy? I’m beginning to wonder if there’s a shrine to Peter Forster in his bedroom.
AC: “Gutter Bob can’t play tonight; but don’t worry, Catch Basin Bill is filling in.”
RMMD – Calling Doctor Redundancy… “We’ll quickly rush him into surgery post-haste ASAP with as little delay as possible…”
FC: Next day at breakfast Billy asks Jeffy if he knows where all the fleas go in the winter.
“Search me” He shrugs.
“No thanks. I was just wondering.”
When did Gil Thorp start transforming into a moai?
DT: The mirror now has been seen by the hench men and this guy in his apartment. Smooth exit.
GT: the regular artist clearly doesn’t put in the time that the guest artist Jason Margos may have over lined and inked but the layouts showed the action and flow.
These images look like the rough layout thumbnails were used without finishing.
MW: has the writer recently acquired a parrot? It seems there is a case parrot love fever.
JP: okay so Randy last went and threatened the notCIA demanding that they produce April who the notCIA said was not working for them on a mission. To keep him from blabbing they have put him in notCIA black bag prison. Good. Maybe we can all forget this thread. Let JP’s alcohol accelerated dementia finish him off and the strip can transition to Charlotte Neddy the ditsy girls in Norway and horsies.
RMMD: wrong side Johnny. The spleen is on the left in most humans but maybe that it is the twist. Usually right sided low pain is appendicitis but maybe Johnny has a crossed ectopic spleen on the right. A very rare anomaly.
Phantom: Freeze?? Wow American pop TV shows demonstrate their reach. Most would have shot first and the strum up the accountant by his heels.
When I was a kid and it was really hot, I couldn’t wait for winter. And when it got really cold, I couldn’t wait for summer.
I think of that every time we get one of these “Make it stop” stories in Mary Worth.
Before we go back to Wilbur, which will cause us to wish for something else in a week, couldn’t we take a few days to just show Zak plowing Iris?
Banjo Bill is an underrated musician but doesn’t have the broad social media presence that Bob does. Bill’s content is suppressed.
@BeckoningChasm: When I hear the word “Wilburpocalpyse” I picture an airborn virus going around transforming everyone into clones of Wilbur, physically and mentally.
I mean, they did that exact scenario with Homer Simpson a few years back in a treehouse of horror, it was genuinely horrifying. Because everyone on the planet (barring Bart and Lisa) turning into lazy idiots, the world pretty much came to an end with no-one to properly maintain everything.
JP – Randy, there’s a secret passageway behind those two stones to your left! You can tell because they’re on a separate animation cel.
AC – Josh, you don’t need to know any Andy Capp lore to get this joke. The joke is “banjos are terrible,” and everyone knows that!
Don Abundio, translated:
“Good morning, Godinez! So did the office staff rebel against my order that everyone must wear berets?”
“No, Don Abundio, they’re doing it…”
“But they’re not happy about it!”
JP: Ann is out of jail and Randy is in prison. Worst remake of Trading Places, ever.
@Peanut Gallery: I don’t get about Banjos though, the writer could have used “Accordions” or “Bagpipes” and the joke would have probably flowed better.
But being a U.K strip, they actually unironically enjoy Bagpipes over there?
AC: I come to Andy Capp for the humor found in alcoholism, gambling addiction, and spousal abuse, not this Banjo Bill bull.
GT: Fox isn’t a sleazy used car salesman; he’s just drawn that way.
Judge Parker:
Courtroom Drama…Spy Drama… Prison Drama… make up your minds writers!@The Rambling Otter: It’s true, those are more universally loathed, at least here in the States.
For the record, I can enjoy all three of these instruments, if they’re playing music I like. But one problem they have in common is that they’re too loud for a small pub. (And of the three, the banjo is probably the least loud.)
GT – Wouldn’t it be something if this guy turns out not to be Joe “Foxy” Fox, but just some random dude who really admires him and doesn’t believe in personal boundaries. “I’m going to go tell Joe you’re here. I’ll be in violation of a restraining order, but he’ll thank me later.”
BF: Hey, they brought muffins!
Curtis: Alternate punchline: “Oh, but this was just the head.”
RMMD: Sorry, we can’t afford to have your spleen removed after you father’s cataract surgery, you’ll have to settle for the 50% off appendectomy special.
@Anonymous: Re: Luann: Can it really be a “mystery” if no one cares? Just saying, it’s not like we were all on pins and needles wondering which long-forgotten character made Bernice and Luann’s mom PG-13 horny. It could have been Sarah from Rex Morgan M.D. for all we cared.
@TheDiva: Sadly, Ann did not realize that the laws of the universe demanded that at least one Parker scion be incarcerated at all times.
You just gave me one hell of an idea.
If at least one Parker scion must be incarcerated at all times, then arrest every single person in the family. Lock them all in an unused prison, and the let them fight to the death for the grand prize of not being murdered, a la the movie Mean Guns. They still get a prison sentence for whatever their misdeeds were, but we tell them “it’s a prison you can easily escape from (chuckle)” and we “totally won’t shoot you for trying to escape (guffaw) because “you’re the one that was carrying the clan all this time!” (stifling uproarious laughter as if I’ve just met Biggus Dickus).”
What a great way to end a comic strip! We could watch every character settle every petty grudge, minor misdeed, and unsatisfyingly resolved story arc that ever happened to them. A strip would be able to do the deepest, most awesome lore dive in the history of anything. And you’d guarantee no sequels, no reboots, no adaptations, no other people using your characters, no more fan works, no more shipping, no other stupid stuff. Tom Batiuk killed off John Darling to try to achieve this; as usual, he aimed way too low.
Imagine if Judge Parker ended this way. Or Mary Worth. Or Rex Morgan M.D. Or Shoe. Or Gil Thorp. Or Crock. Or Luann. Or Pluggers. Or Retail. Or Family Guy. Or The Big Bang Theory. Or The Masked Singer Or Monday Night Football. Or Wheel Of Fortune. Or your least favorite cable news channel.
@2+2=7:
Okay, so it wasn’t really a “mystery”, it was more of a “dropped plot thread”.
a) …Speaking of, you think the strip is ever going to explain/revisit that thing about Tiffany’s window getting broken?
b) …Which, I guess, would mean I was accidentally calling “Hey, wasn’t Luann super into acting and putting on plays and other theater stuff?” a “mystery”,
rather than what it is, which is “Luann (the character AND the strip) immediately gives up on stuff if causes a conflict”Differentiating himself from Joe “Joey” Fox, a rival automobile salesperson.
Are there insinuating there’s something wrong with banjo music? You’d better hope Steve Martin doesn’t read the comics, but he’s a Boomer so you are probably very out of luck there and he is going to be sooo pissed. You should have gone with Sousaphone Sue or Piccolo Pete.
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If Joe “Foxy” Fox smells the way he looks like he smells, I’d be running off that lot screaming if he tried to put his arm around me like that.
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Randy’s just in his scrubs at his secret castle as he rests before continuing his forbidden experimental surgeries on the unwary travellers he has captured.
I kid. That would be interesting.
RwO: Reunited! Yes, it’s everyone’s Favorite Fish Duo returning in a Lockhorns-type domestic comedy! While this is only an introductory one-panel, we’re hoping to get it picked up as a recurring series.
You probably know that Willa and Stellan have been through a rough patch in their relationship and in their respective careers. But they’ve wisely decided to use our couples counseling service to try to get their lives back in the swim. Their therapist recommended they work through their differences, and their anger, with performative art … and we’re seeing it in action today!
Since insult humor is still a mainstay in the comics venue, we’re hoping this new direction for Willa and Stellan will be a positive move for career longevity. It’s worked for Leroy and Loretta for decades!
Damn it! Clicking post then immediately seeing the typo then is the worst. Fixed…
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Are they insinuating there’s something wrong with banjo music? You’d better hope Steve Martin doesn’t read the comics, but he’s a Boomer so you are probably very out of luck there and he is going to be sooo pissed. You should have gone with Sousaphone Sue or Piccolo Pete.
Luann: The only thing Luann, Tara, and Les should do now is simply walk out of the class. The “Career Paths” class is embarrassing enough, but now they’ve learned it’s being taught by someone who went from high school guidance counselor to novelist to junior college Career Paths instructor. That’s… not how you want a career path to work. Who else applied for the job, Matt Harrington?
A&J: Arlo loves looking at those wet porcelain curves. The tub is nice, too.
RMMD: Have they even done the examination yet? Oh well. Break out the scimitars, boys. The kid says it’s the spleen so the spleen it is. (Hat tip to the Rev. Dr. Scudder)
Phantom: Actually, Accountant…..the Muckmen DO want you more than Chuma.
They need those final paychecks and W4 Forms to file for Unemployment Compensation.
AC: Andy is not kicking up a fuss about Banjo Bill because he knows resistance is futile.
You can’t tie down a banjo man (Hat tip to Richard Thompson)
@Tabby Lavalamp: A tuba player in a pub WOULD be funny.
(We would have also accepted ‘accordion player’ or bagpipes)
“He wouldn’t be away from his daughter for this long….”
Randy has a daughter? It turns out that even though I’ve been following this strip for over a decade via this blog, I literally have no idea which character is which or why I should care.
REX MORGAN M.D.: “We’ll be rushing him into surgery ASAP,,,and by ‘ASAP’, we mean ‘three weeks from now.’ That’s just how time flows in the fast-pace, go-go world of Rex Morgan M.D.”
REX MORGAN M.D. (2): You know…maybe June did jump the gun a little and misdiagnosed her son. I mean, for a guy who’s supposed to “quickly” be “rushed” into emergency surgery, he’s having a blast! “Oops, it turns out you just had a little tummyache and we cut you open for no reason at all! Oh well, enjoy the unsightly disfiguring scars and crippling medical debt!”
AC: Shouldn’t an untalented British guitarist player be named Guitar George? Andy Capp takes place in a 1980s working-class England bar. So there’s no way the jukebox doesn’t have “Sultans of Swing” on it.
Gil Thorp: Instead of her signature star-shaped earrings, Keri’s stapled sugar cookies to her ears. Innovative, but if she wants to pull this off, she’ll need to buy some cookie cutters that weren’t in the irregular bin.
@pugfuggly: AC: Banjo Bill plays in his pajamas?
@Deadly Goon Bugs: At least Andy quit smoking.
@Ca: GT: I thought it was Joe Exotic.
@The Rambling Otter: ‘Idiocracy did it! Idiocracy did it!’
@Banana Jr. 6000:
Once again, this sequence makes more sense if Mrs Fogarty is replacing Mrs Horner for creative writing class; one WOULD lead with “I’m actually the co-author of several bestsellers” (while omitting the whole “they’re mermaid porn” thing) in that case.
Wary Morth:
Wait till Pompous Axx and Toby get back to find Rosie has laid an egg in each of Toby’s new shoes.
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Wrecks Moregone:
Why, yes. It’s your spleen, and the operating room staff will have it for dinner.
Andy Capp: “Play Muddy Boots,Banjo Bill!”
@Ukranazi Stepan: Wrecks Moregone:
Why, yes. It’s your spleen, and the operating room staff will have it for dinner.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
With fava beans and a nice chanti?
Andy Capp: This gag would probably work better if Andy showed any emotion whatsoever about anything happening in it.
Judge Parker: Randy has evidently been in deep isolation to perfect his Rick Grimes cosplay.