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Blondie, 11/16/20

I strongly agree with the consensus here: this is a disturbing daydream! I feel like I need to know more details in order to really gauge the contours of how disturbing it is, though. The “no doors” thing is the most disturbing part by far, and is the key to whole scenario. Like, did they just wake up there together with no way out, slowly coming to terms with the fact that they’re trapped with each other in some Sartre-esque office hell? Or were they dropped down into a roofless office from above, and expected to fight each other to the death for the amusement of a hooting crowd of spectators?

Slylock Fox, 11/16/20

The first time I commented on this strip, I had a lot of thoughts about how Max could maximize his fashion potential at this seaside wedding blowout. But this time around, all I could think was: Max, are you seriously considering upstaging the bride by wearing white? How dare you!

Dennis the Menace, 11/16/20

The most menacing thing here is how grateful the piggy bank looks for Dennis’s promise to never trade him in for a wallet (Dennis is definitely going to trade him in for a wallet).

Family Circus, 11/16/20

I’ve never fully understood what the deal is supposed to be with Jeffy, an actual toddler, wearing cuffed jeans and penny loafers around the house at all times, but I will say that the look is not improved by shirtlessness.

Dick Tracy, 11/16/20

Oh, by the way, Neo-Chicago is blanketed by drones allowing omnipresent, crystal-clear police surveillance of everyone at all times, just in case you were wondering!

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Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 11/1/20

I honestly find Mary Beth’s facial expression in the final panel heartbreaking. Aw, shucks, that’s her man! He’s extremely stupid but she sure does love him!

Blondie, 11/1/20

Dagwood’s facial expression in the final panel of this strip is equally harrowing, but it’s at least somewhat explanatory. Why does Dagwood, a grown adult with two kids of his own, spend an inordinate amount of time with Elmo, a neighbor child to whom he is not related and whose parents he never interacts with? We still don’t know the answer, but it’s clear from his facial expression that he has no other choice.

Shoe, 11/1/20

There are plenty of hints in Shoe that the Treetops Tribune is struggling, and of course there are plenty of problems that the entire publishing industry is up against, but it can’t help their cause that they used the same headline weight for an enormously consequential presidential election, a devastating pandemic, widespread nationwise protests and civil unrest, and the scheduled end of daylight savings time.

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Blondie, 10/30/20

Look, I’m on the record as saying that I don’t actually care that Blondie intermittently acknowledges the coronavirus pandemic, sometimes doing bits with Dagwood working at home but more often than not just ignoring the whole thing and having his white collar commuter life continue on as usual. And that’s fine, because Blondie takes place in a nebulously eternal present and has no continuous “storylines” so it doesn’t bother me even if they’re inconsistent about it day to day. But I refuse to accept an instance where DithersCo LLC’s work-at-home situation suddenly changes in mid-strip, especially when said strip is clearly not in March 2020, but rather sometime in late October.

Dick Tracy, 10/30/20

I’m honestly quite in favor of Dick Tracy lifting Little Orphan Annie and Brenda Starr from their cancelled strips, dropping them into its plotlines, and essentially turning itself into the Tribute Content Agency Cinematic Universe. Now, do I support the implication of the odd silent final panel here — that the beloved Annie herself is a vampire, or at least vamp-curious? I guess I’m willing to wait and see exactly where this goes before weighing in.