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Dick Tracy, 4/20/22

One thing that’s been bothering me about this Dick Tracy storyline is the name of the character who dated the dead real Tonsils and is now dating the live fake one: “Dot View.” Is this … wordplay? Is it a pun? Is it referring to something? There was a gimmicky cell phone accessory by that name in 2015 but since the Dot View character was first introduced in 1952, I assume they’re unrelated. Her whole thing is that she hosts a local TV show, which I guess was enough of a novelty in 1952 that you could get a name out of it. “Get it? Dot View? And you view her? On the television, which you only bought 18 months ago? Makes you think, huh?”

Rex Morgan, M.D., 4/20/22

I certainly hope all these superhero images we’re seeing are flitting Rex’s mind as Buck describes these pathetic do-gooders to him. “Heh heh, some guy in a latex costume that’s doing him no favors shoving a sign that says ‘VOTE’ in my face, eh? I wasn’t going to vote anyway, but I’d tell that guy that he made me turn my back on my civic duties.”

Dennis the Menace, 4/20/22

An innocent child, unaware that the youthful vigor and energy he takes for granted will one day be washed away by a flood of grown-up responsibilities, leaving him in a state of perpetual near-exhaustion? Menace level high … and increasing.

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Dennis the Menace and The Family Circus, 4/15/22

Oh, man, this is it. This is the nadir. The Keane Kids have ruined their parents’ outing to an art museum, Dolly and Jeffy are consumed with self-loathing, Billy is actively furious at the family’s attempt to to expand their cultural horizons. Meanwhile, what’s going on with Dennis? He’s weeping because he stubbed his toe and now his mom is offering to pray for him? Honestly, what the fuck. That is so much less menacing than the Family Circus that the menace levels could not be detected by the most carefully calibrated instruments menace science has to offer. For shame, for shame!

Mary Worth, 4/15/22

Sadly, this whole week has been taken up not by more hilarious dream sequence action but by Toby telling Mary about her little Cal problem in judiciously elliptical detail, which has been significantly less fun. I do like today’s strip, though, as it implies that Ian cares less about Toby’s romantic fidelity than he does about her ability to “handle” sticky situations, which I assume means that either Helen or Cal — or possibly both — will be dead by the end of the week.

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Dennis the Menace, 4/9/22

If, like me, you have persisted in the stubborn belief against all evidence that the point of Dennis the Menace is that Dennis is a little shit who’s either too mean or too dumb to play by society’s rules, then today’s panel is perfection. I genuinely love everyone’s facial expressions here, which are less comical “Ha ha, that’s our Dennis” and more “Oh fuck oh fuck this little kid ruined a wedding, who even invited him?”

Mary Worth, 4/9/22

Ahh, at last, we’re getting to the true heart of Toby’s discomfort. She managed to snag a drunk old husband who can barely tolerate her and certainly wouldn’t want to have to interact with a child in his own home on a regular basis, which means she’s been given permission to opt out of motherhood. But if she gave in to her forbidden desires for young buck Cal, would he someday seek to sire offspring with her? And, more importantly, would he try to do it in a tree, like a common bird?

Rex Morgan, M.D., 4/9/22

“No one can know the truth about my mission to raise my arm over shoulder height. This goes against everything the good doctor told me to do, but the stakes are just too high!”