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Mary Worth, 11/16/08

Could this be Mary’s most complex and multilayered meddle yet? As our protagonist openly disparages Frank’s parenting/coaching style and instills thoughts of independence in Lynn’s head, she’s clearly set events in motion that can only end in tears, and murder (not necessarily in that order).

I really and sincerely hope that, as the dialog balloon in panel one seems to indicate, Mary actually said “Knock! Knock!” aloud rather than physically rapping her knuckles on Lynn’s door. Also, this strip indicates the extent to which Lynn’s will has been broken; any person with a healthy sense of self would react to the vision in panel two with either wild gunfire or terrified flight into the woods.

Beetle Bailey, 11/16/08

Even with my standards for Beetle Bailey being as low as they are, I have to say that I find Sarge’s cavalcade of vaguely ethnic disguises confusing and unsettling. The fake Frenchman is at least speaking real French, and it does seem likely that a genuine cowboy would know at least a smattering of Spanish, but that clown is creeping me out. Why is he spouting Fred Flinstone’s beloved and almost certainly trademarked catchphrase? And why does he say “thank you” in what appears to be pidgin Italian? Does the author think that Italians are all cartoon-obsessed clowns? Because that would be one of the most obscure ethnic stereotypes trotted out in living memory.

Slylock Fox, 11/16/08

The answer to today’s puzzle is far too small for me to read — I’m assuming it involves boring old science — but I’m frankly less concerned about what Slylock and Max will drink than with what they’ll eat. The fish skeleton on the shore indicates what their first island-side dinner consisted of; the way the tentacles of the no doubt anthropomorphic octopus in the stewpot appear to still be wriggling as the castaways’ makeshift fire boils it alive is profoundly unsettling. That sea turtle will be the next into the pot, followed no doubt by Max himself.

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Gil Thorp, 10/18/08

You know, I think new Gil Thorp artist Rod Whigham is really starting to find his footing in this strip, creating evocative scenes for our Milford heroes. Yesterday, he served up a sort of film noir pastiche, with tough, wise-cracking heroes and the dames that break their hearts; today we go further back, to the Middle Ages, as miserable peasants pull up their rough-hewn hoods for protection from the pelting rain as they trudge back to their leaky, plague-infested hovels. You can tell how hard it’s raining in panel three: it appears that Gil’s flattop has been so thoroughly soaked that it’s lost structural integrity.

Beetle Bailey, 10/18/08

I was about to say that panel one was kind of edgy for a newspaper comic, as it features two men who are clearly drunk — and not happy, wacky drunk, but bleary-eyed, vaguely depressed and irritated, and surrounded by empties drunk. But then I saw panel two and realized that booze was least of this comic’s problems.

Marmaduke, 10/18/08

Marmaduke is about to kill and eat yet another poor soul who’s come to the front door of his house, but at least in this case you could sort of argue that it’s in self-defense.

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Beetle Bailey, 10/17/08

As part of my thrice-annual attempt to be nice about Beetle Bailey, I’ll say this: I find it pretty funny that Otto is so lazy that he’s drinking out of his water bowl through a straw, so he doesn’t have to leave the cozy confines of his neatly labelled box. I’d probably find it even funnier if I weren’t distracted by the fact that said straw appears to have materialized out of thin air between the first and second panels.

Gil Thorp, 10/17/08

Speaking of giving credit where it’s due, I find the line “Wherever girls go after they dump a guy” utterly charming. It has certain film-noiry world-weariness about it, not that that justifies the stupid fedora, Matt.

Momma, 10/17/08

You know, I bitch about the romantic drama in Luann, but it does have this going for it: it never consists of a series of baffling and repulsive non sequiturs, like the romantic drama in certain strips I could mention.