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Dick Tracy, 2/1/19

Obviously Dick Tracy’s rogues gallery skews more towards “seedy underworld” than “powerful supervillains,” but this current plot, involving Splitface, who used to be Haf and Haf, is testing the limits of reader interest in seediness. A couple of hobos in an abandoned factory, arguing over who did more work in ordering a pizza? “I scraped up the money … I called the pizza delivery. Made the arrangements!” bellows Splitface, as if there are any more “arrangements” involved in ordering pizza than scraping up the money and calling in your order. This guy will definitely be a challenging opponent for Dick Tracy, whose only defense consists of dozens of cops, space-age gadgets, lots of guns, and a judiciary system that’s pretty cool about him killing suspects.

Gasoline Alley, 2/1/19

Desperate to keep up with the times and relate to the kids today, Gasoline Alley today reveals that Rufus and Joel’s omnipresent jugs are no longer filled with moonshine, but rather with moonshine’s modern equivalent, purple drank.

Mary Worth, 2/1/19

Is that the slightest hint of a smile Ian’s showing us in panel two? While being complimented by his students (or, really, anyone) is flustering and confusing for him, the position he finds himself in today — being cruelly berated for no good reason — is his comfort zone.

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Blondie, 1/17/19

To me, the best part of this comic, which posits that Dagwood is an animal test subject in some vast, mysterious laboratory, is that he’s failing to validate whatever experiment is being conducted. Blondie might imagine him fulfilling some higher being’s expectations for coffee’s effect on human motivation, but in real life there he is in bed, stubbornly refusing to be chemically motivated. It’s beautiful to me, though surely like all experimental subjects he’ll be disposed of soon enough.

Dick Tracy, 1/17/19

One of the people working on a Dick Tracy-derived performance that involves multiple layers of nostalgia, each resonating with a smaller and smaller audience, feels so unfulfilled by the exercise that he needs to drink himself stupid in order to carry on with it! Hopefully this is not a disturbing look behind the scenes at the strip.

Mary Worth, 1/17/19

MICHAEL [to himself]: “Oh, snap, this chick doesn’t need my help with the assignment, she must really be good at English lit. But how am I gonna get her to sleep with me then? I know, I’ll bust out some big words. Chicks who love English lit love big words!”

MICHAEL [aloud]: “Are you an English literature aficionado?”

Dustin, 1/17/19

Maybe I’m wrong about Dustin not adequately covering both sides of the Boomer-Millennial divide. Sure, the comic makes fun of today’s youths and their habit of just dozing off in the middle of the work day, but it also points out that today’s old people hate their families so much that it’s literally killing them.

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Dick Tracy, 1/15/19

I’m not sure who asked for a Dick Tracy storyline about the little foibles that arise when you’re an old man who knocks up a much younger woman who’s filming a documentary about you, but whatever, they are going for it. Today’s installment, “So You Were Briefly Jealous Of Someone You Thought Was A Sexual Rival But She’s Actually His Goddaughter,” is unsettling par for the course.

Six Chix, 1/15/19

I’ve tried pronouncing “robo-twheat” every way I can think of — does it rhyme with “sweat”? does it rhyme with “sweet”? OK, I guess I can really only think of those two ways — and neither makes sense. Is it robot wheat? That’s the grey stuff outside the window? Robot wheat? Why would you not pay attention to robot wheat? I think if robot wheat suddenly grew (or began functioning, or whatever the hell it is robot wheat does) right outside my window, I’d feel like I should maybe pay attention to it.

Mary Worth, 1/15/19

Oh hell yes, Jannie’s swift heel turn is really doing it for me! Is she vaping? Just leaning sexily against the wall and vaping, driving all the boys wild? I cannot wait for her to meet Mary and get an earful about the addictive qualities of e-juice.

Gil Thorp, 1/15/19

AHHH YES MARTY MOON-B/ROBBY HOWRY SUPERSTAR ANTI-GIL TEAMUP, I AM EXTREMELY EXCITED

Beetle Bailey, 1/15/19

We all knew that, of course, one day the long-running comic strip Beetle Bailey would come to an end, and we probably all knew that there would be a fairly spectacular final strip, but I don’t think any of us guessed that it would involve the main character being killed and eaten by an enormous bird.