Post Content

Daddy Daze, 8/15/21

When I first read this strip, I felt an immediate spike of anger when I got to panel four. “Damn it,” I thought. “It’s Superman for whom the ‘secret identity,’ Clark Kent, is the façade. Bruce Wayne is the real man and Batman is the persona. How dare they print this garbage in the newspaper!” But then I took a step back. Do I really care that much about superheroes? No, I do not. Have I actually given this subject that much thought? No, I have not, and upon reflection I may just be repeating sentiments from a David Carradine monologue in the 2003 Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill. “Paul” or “Daddy” or whatever you want to call him is just a sad, lonely man projecting complex semantic meaning onto his infant son’s incoherent babbling, and who am I to criticize whatever coping mechanisms he feels are necessary?

Funky Winkerbean, 8/15/21

A fun thing to remember is that Mason was introduced during the first “let’s film Lisa’s Story” plotline, and at that point he was part of the empty-headed cadre of Hollywood ghouls who couldn’t possibly do justice to the sad story of Lisa dying of cancer. He later evolved into a “good guy” character, a transformation that climaxed him into agreeing to make the right kind of Lisa’s Story movie, but every once in a while the strip remembers “Oh, right, this guy is the sort of vapid movie star that a thoughtful person like Les would hold in contempt,” so despite being blown away by how good the rough cut of Lisa’s Story: A Mason Jarre Joint was, Les still gets to feel superior because Mason is doing social media content for his fans on Instagram, like a whore. Never mind that without those fans this terrible cancer movie wouldn’t have gotten the money to be made at all! Anyway, I like how Cayla seems genuinely dumbstruck to learn that someone might do something to make other people happy.

Post Content

Funky Winkerbean, 8/13/21

So, in case you haven’t been keeping track and/or want to feel a million years old, Lisa’s death in Funky Winkerbean happened [dramatic music sting] almost 14 years ago at this point. And you’d think, in theory at least, that ongoing syndicated media products like Funky Winkerbean would have as a goal, if only an aspirational one, that they have some regular readers today, in the year 2021, who weren’t regular readers in 2007, and would tailor their content accordingly. You’d think that! But then you apparently haven’t reckoned with the sheer dramatic intensity of characters watching actors re-enacting strips from 2007, while expressing no visible emotions of any kind.

Mark Trail, 8/13/21

So Mark is going to punch [checks Wikipedia] the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine? He’s gonna unleash the right fist o’ justice on [scrolls deeper into article] the ballast water of ocean-going ships traversing the St. Lawrence Seaway??? He’s going to use his crushing right cross to get to the root of the problem, which is [keeps on scrolling, surely it’s here somewhere] trailered boat traffic? Can we stop trailered boat traffic, with punching? We’re gonna find out!

Post Content

Crankshaft, 8/9/21

You know, after many years in the comics-mocking biz, you get somewhat inured to the foibles of the daily strips. That’s why it’s good to get a fresh perspective sometimes, like when my wife saw this Crankshaft over my shoulder and said, in tones of increasing incredulity, “Wait, is that the joke? There’s no more to it? Like, there’s not another panel? He just said the wrong word? That’s the joke?” Yes! That is, in fact, the joke. But the thing that makes this a character-driven comic strip is how angry he looks while he says it, for no good reason. That’s our Crankshaft! He’s old, dumb, and mean!

Funky Winkerbean, 8/9/21

At least Crankshaft has a joke, though! Funky Winkerbean is a more story-driven strip, but it really is supposed to have punchlines. Maybe … something from Mason about “unwrapping” some surprise? Never thought I’d be over here demanding a smirk-accompanied sub-pun from Funky Winkerbean, but now I realize that’s the base level of effort I expect from the Funkyverse strips.

Mary Worth, 8/9/21

Mary Worth, of course, doesn’t need anything so vulgar as a “joke” or a “punchline” to be the most hilarious comic strip in the paper. Not sure what’s funnier: that Drew feels compelled to compliment Mary’s cooking even though he wasn’t able to tell exactly what kind of spherical starch blobs accompanied the lamb (“probably they’re … root vegetables? of some kind?”) or that Dr. Jeff is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice — using his highly trained surgeon’s hands to wash the dishes like he’s the help — just to make sure his son gets meddled properly.