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Hagar the Horrible, 11/7/19

We’ve done a lot of speculation over the years on exactly when Hagar the Horrible is supposed to be taking place, but I think we can all agree it’s kind of late in the Viking era, right? Like, Christianity is becoming increasingly prevalent, elaborate legal systems are in place that judge matters in terms of guilt and innocence rather than the relative social positions of the parties to a dispute, and, as we learn today, local gentry who previously would’ve put together a team or warriors and gone raiding have instead tied themselves to whichever members of the increasingly powerful nobility they have blood or marriage links to, hoping that instead of a difficult and rugged life on their own they’ll have more strength and protection as part of a Jarl’s forces. It’s all fun and games until your cousin decides he’s going to try to overthrow the king, buddy!

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 11/7/19

Guys. I just. I refuse to accept that the no-carb craze has hit Hootin’ Holler. I know half the joke of this strip is when people say or do things mildly incongruous for the setting, but I just refuse here. Refuse, do you hear me? They’re subsistance farmers, they grow and eat and name their babies after root vegetables, meat is a precious treat, they think low carb diets are ludicrous flatlander affectations and die at age 55 of malnutrition God damn it

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Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 11/5/19

Ah, finally, the reason Silas wears a red armband makes sense: He’s a socialist, here to spread the word that the factotums of electoral democracy are in fact enslaved to capital. And if you’re wondering “why is a socialist the only person in Hootin’ Holler who runs a store,” it sounds like you’re unfamiliar with Marxist theory, which insists that a civilization must pass through all phases of economic development before it can achieve a truely classless society. Silas isn’t going to try dragging this barter-based agricultural community straight into the dictatorship of the proletariat like some kind of common Maoist!

Crock, 11/5/19

I’m just gonna ignore the “what if telemarketers, but in an ill-defined North African setting, where incidentally we’ve previously acknowledged that phones exist” joke here and focus instead on Maggot’s bib. Does it make any sense at all to wear a bib when you aren’t wearing a shirt? If you’re living in a tent in the desert with no running water to wash the food off your chest, maybe? I guess we should really factor in the fact that the bib matches Maggot’s skin color so precisely that it’s almost certainly made from the flesh of a member of his immediate family.

Mary Worth, 11/5/19

The best part about today’s episode of Wilbur’s Drunken Double Date Meltdown is Zak’s genuine smile in panel two. Not only is he (unsurprisingly) not even remotely threatened by Wilbur, but he’s enjoying this is as much as we are!

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Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 10/27/19

Maybe it’s because I’m not a parent, but I don’t really understand the “joke” in this strip, which seems like a fairly obvious solution to a relatable problem? Is it because modern-day middle class safety-obsessed parenting would never allow a baby to sit up on a table where he could fall off and hurt himself, even though the simple but wise folks of Hootin’ Holler know that as long as adults are paying attention he’s in no danger? Or is that this is a wonderment to Snuffy and his father because Hootin’ Holler has only recently mastered “chair” technology?

Rex Morgan, M.D., 10/27/19

“Oh, so they think we’re not doing enough medical education in this strip?” said the Rex Morgan, M.D., creative team. “What if we just went into great detail about all the different kinds of medical tests you can get? How’s that for medical education, motherfuckers? Are you not edutained?”

Family Circus, 10/27/19

“You can tell by how depressed he looks! His heart is always crushed by grief whenever he’s not doing the one thing that brings him joy — watching professional football on television — and nothing, not even tending to his beautiful house or spending time with his family, can cheer him up.”