Archive: Barney Google & Snuffy Smith

Post Content

Gil Thorp, 4/12/22

Can’t believe it’s taken the Milford student-athlete body this long to figure out Coach Thorp’s main weaknesses: he isn’t very smart, and he doesn’t pay a lot of attention to any of his specific individual coachees. If you can trick him into forming a positive opinion of you during a ritual reciting of the names, you’ve got a real leg up!

Gasoline Alley, 4/12/22

Dick Tracy and Gasoline Alley are both syndicated by Tribune Publishing, and with everyone trying to exploit in-house IP to the max these days, it should come as no surprise to see innovative experiments in crossover content synergy like this week’s rapidly escalating Dick Tracy porno. Tribune also owns Gil Thorp, so don’t be surprised to see another special erotic guest star by the end of the week.

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 4/12/22

Ha ha, it’s funny because … poor public health infrastructure has resulted in Hootin’ Holler being ravaged by infectious disease? And it’s hit the children the hardest? That’s the punchline?

Post Content

Rex Morgan, M.D., 4/10/22

Oh, man, big shoutout to Rex Morgan, M.D., for coming up with a plot I never saw coming: Dr. Morgan’s latest patient is a wanna-be superhero, but the old-timey kind, who wears a dashing overcoat and a trilby rather than some gauche skin-tight circus costume, and also he doesn’t have superpowers! Anyway, I have to admit that I’m intrigued by a storyline that’s going to outline the consequences of some light comics-themed vigilantism, both medical (rotator cuff injuries) and nonmedical (getting arrested).

Curtis, 4/10/22

One of my ongoing quests is to make sure that everyone understands that, as the father of an 11-year-old, Greg Wilkins is Gen X at oldest and may well be a Millennial. He would’ve grown up listening to that “rap junk” he despises so much and he also has been using computers his whole adult life and would definitely know what the extremely basic sets of initials on internet posts discussed here stand for. Now, would he be puzzled by TikTok? Probably. Would I enjoy a series of strips where Curtis explains various TikTok cultural phenomena to his father? Almost certainly. Am I going to launch a GoFundMe campaign to pay Ray Billingsly whatever it takes, including a research budget, to produce such a series in time for Kwanzaa this year? Stand by while I consult with my lawyer.

Panels from Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 4/10/22

I mean, it seems likely that Snuffy has screwed up at some point in a way that resulted in an E. coli outbreak, so Loweezy’s question is on point.

Post Content

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 4/4/22

This strip has honestly sent me into a tailspin trying to figure out what the relationship is supposed to be between actually existing Appalachia and the faux-hillbilly cultural biome of Snuffy Smith. The fact that Snuffy is obviously envious of the level of infrastructural development in West Virginia ought to make that state’s inhabitants feel something approaching pride, or maybe relief. It’s also sad to see that Hootin’ Holler does not share real-world Appalachia’s rich heritage of songcraft, because these lyrics do not scan at all.

Slylock Fox, 4/4/22

The operation of law enforcement and the court system in the Forest Kingdom, and where Slylock stands in relationship to either, is always something of a mystery to me, but today’s strip seems to imply that Sly can just drag anyone into court on a whim, and will there serve simultaneously as prosecutor and sole witness. I sincerely hope that he spotted Slick Smitty’s little trick and then immediately arrested him, and that his date is still sitting at the restaurant waiting for the check while this sham of a trial rushes towards its pre-ordained conclusion.

Mother Goose and Grimm, 4/4/22

Absolutely loving the spit-take in the final panel here. This woman is shocked, shocked to learn that women can have jobs now! What’s next, voting?