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Beetle Bailey, 5/3/22

Man, I really respect the second panel here for unleashing the full-throttle refusal to give a shit that makes Beetle Bailey the strip we all know and read every day for some reason. Just a bunch of people, some of whom we know and some we don’t, standing around a … void? with no furniture? because that’s what a “rec room” is, in the army? I guess???? Anyway, the fact that everyone’s facial expressions range from mild excitement to vague annoyance is just icing on the cake. Bravo, it doesn’t get more Beetle Bailey vibes than this.

Curtis, 5/3/22

“Ignorant,” Curtis? Derrick and Onion clearly paid attention in class when you were supposed to be learning about Greek mythology, which is more than you can say.

Dick Tracy, 5/3/22

“Yes, your honor, we have Stuntman Mike’s evidence on this. No, I don’t know his last name. I don’t know if he’s actually a stuntman, either. I only talk to him on the computer and his face is always blurred out. Look, are you going to give me a no-knock warrant to raid this day care center or am I going to have to start leaking to the press that you’re a soft-on-crime lib the next time you’re up for re-election?”

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Mary Worth, 4/21/22

I hope I have made it very clear on this blog that I love snide, catty Ian much more than I do boring, supportive Ian, and if you need more proof, I didn’t bother to show you yesterday’s strip, where Ian said it wouldn’t be surprising if one of Toby’s students fell for her because she’s so lovable, but definitely wanted to share today’s, when he stares thoughtfully at the spoonful of grey-beige slurry he’s about to try to choke down and says “Oh, yeah, sometimes students flirt with you for grades, that actually makes a lot more sense, actually.”

Curtis, 4/21/22

Friends, I have been reading the comic strip Curtis for most of its 33-year history, and one thing I have always loved about it is that Curtis’s dad works at the DMV. It’s very specific in a way that a lot of comics dad office jobs aren’t, and specific things are always more interesting than vague ones. But I have to confess that I always — always — assumed that he was one of those stone-faced bureaucrats who sat behind the desk and told you that you needed to bring in a different proof of address when you’re trying to renew your license or whatever. The idea that he’s the guy who goes out in the car with you on driving tests has completely blown my mind. Completely! My image of the man is upended, and I can barely focus on the fact that apparently someone puked all over him today.

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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.