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Curtis, 1/3/05

Once a year, Curtis takes a break from its usual urban tomfoolery to present an opaque Kwaanza fable set in some mythical ancient African locale. This year, though, the strip has moved the seasonal tale to an shameful time in our own history, when six-fingered persons were cruelly oppressed and shunned. Thankfully, we live in more enlightened times, when our digital diversity is celebrated with national events like Polydactylism Week (August 3-9).

Though I can never quite grasp the point behind the plots of the Kwaanza stories, they do feature some of the most interesting art seen in the strip. I like the long first panel here, with the sort of trippy, melty piano-y thing going on towards the middle. I have to say that I’m less in favor of the gratuitous use of quotation marks around words like “knack” and “Joe” and “untouchable.” And the less said about “naturallyier,” the better.

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Curtis, 12/7/04

Boys, Curtis! He’s telling that you’re no good with girls, so you should start dating boys!

At least that’s what I’m getting out of this. Anyone who can offer another interpretation that makes any more sense, please let me know.

One thing I do like in this strip is the sign in the second panel from the left in the bottom row: “No hair cut below the neck.” When will the oppression of Hairy-Backed Americans end?

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Curtis, 11/14/04

Often, it’s not the punchline of a comic strip that makes me laugh the most. In today’s Curtis, the funniest thing was in the first panel of the second row: the evil Dr. Horsehead hides out in a “Co-op of Iron.” Curtis is an urban strip in the literal meaning of that word, and this just screams out “New York” to me in a pleasing and funny way. Were Dr. Horsehead’s parents renting back in the 1960s, and lucky enough to get in on the ground floor when the building went co-op? Do his neighbors complain to the Co-op Board about the constant gunplay, whinnying, and evil cackling? Is there a doorman? A view? And where do the other evil geniuses hang out? In the Condo of Despair? The Penthouse of Terror? The Walk-Up of the Damned?

I also like the pink welcome mat outside Dr. Horsehead’s door. Jeez, Supercaptaincoolman, all you had to do was knock.