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Crankshaft, 2/15/20

We’ve already seen the 10-years-ahead version of Max in Funky Winkerbean, still running the barely solvent Valentine, so I guess, despite the heavy air of foreboding looming over the final panel of this strip, that he isn’t going to die in a ditch on this dangerous night ride. I can’t remember if we saw Hannah and/or their future child during that sequence, though. Maybe she’s going to die in childbirth? Right there, in the theater? Because Crankshaft doesn’t care about his own safety or the safety of others? It would sure make the failure of the Valentine, his last connection to his dead beloved, all the more poignant!

Curtis, 2/15/20

The “humor” in today’s strip, which involves Greg making a joke, then Curtis getting that joke, then Greg making another joke, is barely worth discussing here, but I do want to say that the overarching plot of the past few weeks has been that Greg threw his back out and is in a lot of pain, and never has the art sold this concept more aggressively than today. The man looks properly miserable in a very visceral way, and I respect it.

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Crankshaft, 2/11/20

Ahh, who could forget Butter Brinkel, the silent-era film comedian in the Funkyverse whose career was ruined when a starlet died under mysterious circumstances at one of his parties? Well, due to the Crankshaft/Funky Winkerbean chronological disjunction, the shocking documentary revealing that the real murderer was a talking chimp is still a decade off, which means that Butter Brinkel is still universally loathed at the time of today’s episode. Maybe holding this comedy festival was a bad idea, and not just because you scheduled it for mid-February in northeast Ohio! But thank goodness Crankshaft is here. I was going to say that Crankshaft doesn’t care if some movie star is “problematic” but actually, Crankshaft cares quite a lot. Crankshaft is frankly only interested in art created by murderers. Being that close to death makes him feel alive, which honestly explains a lot about why he still drives a schoolbus despite being demonstrably bad at it.

Blondie, 2/11/20

Hey, would you like to do a joke about how Kids Today are soft, with their lawsuits and their trigger warnings and their asbestos-free lungs, but also want to do a joke about how kids today have access to dangerous technology like drones, and you worry that they don’t really go together in the same strip? The wildly popular newspaper comic strip Blondie would like to urge you not to overthink it and just go for it. That’s what they’d do!

Curtis, 2/11/20

Or you could do a strip about modern-day technological culture that both pokes fun at its foibles but also recognizes the real warmth and human connection it can foster, like a coward.

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Curtis, 1/14/19

Apologies for not keeping you up to date on Curtis, where the Kwanzaa storyline fizzled out and then there was a whole storyline where Michelle gave him a new hat, which I guess is intended to “update” his look, but then Curtis remembered that his old hat was given to him by his dad, and it was a bonding moment, but anyway what finally has moved me to comment is that Heart-Throb thinks he needs to stand near Curtis and his dumb new hat to win the attention of the ladies, as if he weren’t wearing a hat indicating that he’s the Doge of Venice! What middle school girl wouldn’t want to spend time with a duke elected by the merchant oligarchy of a most serene maritime republic? Baby, the riches plundered from Constantinople in 1204 can be yours!

Funky Winkerbean, 1/14/19

“Listen, Les… I’m going to level with you here: I’ve been typecast in Hollywood. The town only sees me as a handsome action hero who always saves the day, gets the girl, and leaves you feeling better for having spent time with him. But I’m ready with Lisa’s Story to break the mold, to transform myself into someone who’s completely insufferable, a man who lets events wash over him and is chiefly marked by the parasitic sympathy he gains from the suffering of his loved ones. Also, like Charlize Theron in Monster, I’m going to have to spend hours in the makeup chair every day to transform my handsome visage into … you know, yours. Best Actor Oscar, here I come!”

Rex Morgan, M.D., 1/14/19

“Don’t apologize for that, Kelly. Remember, we pay you to look after our kids. No matter how many lives you have to destroy with wild, unfounded accusations, that should always be your first priority!”