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Blondie, 10/11/21

Is it just me, or does Lou look a little downbeat in that last panel? “I thought he’d say that,” he’s thinking to himself. “But a guy can hope, can’t he? Would it have killed him to give me a little specific feedback on the historical accuracy of my Columbus Day special? Or maybe just praise my creativity and craftsmanship? But no, he’s just going to start shoveling food down his gullet, just like every other time he comes here. I might as well just set out a trough.”

Lockhorns, 10/11/12

Gotta respect the way the Lockhorns keep their marriage fresh by constantly coming up with new extremely petty bullshit to criticize each other over. At first I thought that stick of butter meant Leroy is doing the “bulletproof coffee” thing, though I guess that’s for his … single tiny pancake? very flat English muffin? bread disk? Whatever, I’m sure Loretta has something to say about that too.

Mark Trail, 10/11/12

I thought maybe this forest fire bit was a callback to some deep Mark Trail lore, but the last time there was a forest fire in this strip it involved some chump named Wes, so maybe not. Anyway, Mark, Cliff went and fought in a war since last you saw him, what have you done, huh????

Rex Morgan, M.D., 10/11/12

TIRED: Jordan and Michelle’s wedding reception is ruined when the shadowy band of soldiers of fortune that Jordan used to run around with decide that he’s a potential liability who must be eliminated

WIRED: Jordan and Michelle’s wedding reception is ruined when Michelle’s dad meets Buck and the two of them just absolutely will not shut the fuck up about roots country legend Truck Tyler

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Blondie, 10/7/21

This is a perfectly sweet little strip and I’m sorry but I can’t stop thinking about the fact that famous binge eater Dagwood Bumstead is making this proposal to his dog when she’s already chewing her treat. Now I’m just sitting here imagining the unseen fourth panel where he’s yelling “SPIT IT IN MY MOUTH, GIRL! SPIT IT IN DADDY’S MOUTH!”

Beetle Bailey, 10/7/21

OK, I know I said I had long ago dropped the Beetle/Sarge sex jokes, but you can’t deny that Sarge’s smile as he imagines himself haunting Beetle’s dreams is very erotically charged.

Rex Morgan, M.D., 10/7/21

Oh hey, remember how a shadowy cabal tried to pull former military badass Jordan back for one last job, but he turned them down? Well, good news! While the shadowy cabal is disappointed that they won’t get to team up with their good and talented friend Jordan, they respect his right to make his own life choices. I trust this is the last we’ll hear about the subject.

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Mary Worth, 10/1/21

“Ah, mes amis! I realize I have not been keeping you up to date about my adventures with Weelbur. Je suis désolé! You see, what happened is, he has taken me out of his terrible apartment and unclipped me from the leash, and then I said au revoir forever! I shall ‘peace out,’ as you Americans say!”

Hi and Lois, 10/1/21

You know, one of my main philosophical beefs with religions that propose an afterlife of eternal rewards and/or punishments is the disproportionality of it all. Like, what could we possibly do in our finite life on Earth that would merit an eternity in heaven, or hell? Your soul in either place could exist for a billion years, so that your entire mortal life would basically be a long-forgotten blink of an eye, and that still would only be an infinitesimal fraction of what you have ahead of you. Can you imagine an angry Dawg confronting a baffled God, demanding to know why he only got 12 or so years on Earth, when soon everyone he ever loved would be joining him in heaven, and they’ll be happy together forever, as transcendent beings. Unless … the Flagstons are going to hell? They’re bad people, they’re going to hell, and Dawg, who lives with them and knows them intimately, is well aware that his few years on this plane are the only ones he’ll ever spend with them, as they’ll all be tortured for all eternity, for their sins? I realize this has gotten pretty heavy, but if Hi and Lois didn’t want me going down this road, it probably shouldn’t have done a comic where a little girl and a dog contemplate mortality.

Dustin, 10/1/21

The thing I appreciate about today’s Dustin is that Dustin’s dad is still wearing his suit, which means that he spent his evening commute seething in a white-hot rage, confident that when got home he would find that Dustin had once again failed to get a job or do anything productive, and worked himself up into a frenzy so intense that he had to find his no-good son and yell at him immediately upon arriving at the house, without even pausing to take off his tie. It’s funny because his whole life is nothing but a series of disappointments!

Blondie, 10/1/21

Having complimented Blondie’s punchline yesterday, I now feel like I have credibility to point out that today’s absolutely sucks ass. Establishing a whole German backstory for Lou (“Ludwig,” I guess?) just to deliver a gag about an oompah band playing a song not associated with oompah music and also see Dagwood get a pile of goo to eat, which despite his ravenous appetite seems very much not his bag? Terrible, terrible all around. Sad to see the strip blow its entire week’s supply of humor in a single day.

Dennis the Menace, 10/1/21

“I’m sure he’d like to. But he can’t! He can’t communicate with anyone! He’s screaming endlessly, in his own mind!” Menace level: very high.