Funky Winkerbean, 5/29/20
The thing you really have to respect about Funky Winkerbean is how it’s just always, always upping its game. Like, can you imagine a scenario where someone responds to the inspirational, soul-affirming phrase “We’re all made of stardust” with “And mister wet blanket strikes again”? Funky Winkerbean could. Funky Winkerbean could, and it delivered.
Family Circus, 5/29/20
WELP HERE’S JEFFY COVERED IN DOG BOOGERS, ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND EVERYBODY
Mark Trail, 5/24/20
Hey, kids, you might think that Communism in general, and longtime Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party General Secretary János Kádár in particular, are pretty cool. But would any just political system have made these adorable fuzzy pigs into an endangered species? Say what you will about the authoritarian tendencies of current Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, but the mangalitsa is back, baby!
Funky Winkerbean, 5/24/20
The current story of Hollywood is that mid-budget movies have essentially ceased to exist, which means that directors usually leap directly from tiny indies to huge comic-book blockbusters; this has been the trajectory of Taika Waititi (who went from twee, offbeat New Zealand comedies to Thor: Ragnarok) and Colin Trevorrow (who made Safety Not Guaranteed for $750,000 and then did Jurassic World and almost got to do a Star Wars). But in the Funkyverse, where everything is backwards and people apparently find Les Moore not just likable but admirable, Mason is going to convince his pal to go the other way, from making millions from Starbuck Jones, an exciting movie that apparently many people enjoyed, to directing the maudlin, unwatchable Lisa’s Story, sure, why not!
Dennis the Menace, 5/24/20
Guys, today’s Dennis the Menace, in which Dennis never appears and his parents are the real dog-neglecting menace, tantalizes us with the vision of a version of this strip that’s just day after day of Mr. Wilson coming up with petty acts of revenge on everyone who’s ever wronged him, and honestly? I’ve never wanted anything more.
Family Circus, 5/21/20
Real talk: I was originally going to do a bit here about Jeffy thinking his grandmother was ordering him to strangle PJ, but decided that was too dark even for me, then though about spinning a scenario where Jeffy and PJ were going to “play jail” (PJ clearly being in a prison jumpsuit) with Jeffy giving him advice on which gangs to join and which guards were corruptible and such. But then I decided that nothing could be more hilariously grim than the actually intended reading of this panel, which is that Jeffy is such a dull-eyed literalist that he believes that his grandma really wants him to find some ropes and show them to his little brother, for no reason he can fathom but honestly, how much reason can Jeffy ever really extract from his world, anyway?
Funky Winkerbean, 5/21/20
Funky Winkerbean has been taking a break this week from “Les is simultaneously morose and smug while sabotaging his Hollywood career” to bring us an episode where Funky has some kind of heat stroke hallucination while running and thinks he’s talking to a weird robot, who is instantly the most likable character in this strip. I for one am very excited to watch the strip change its name over the next few years from Funky Winkerbean to Funky and the ‘Bot to Everyone Loves The ‘Bot! (Featuring Funky Winkerbean And Pals) to All Hail The ‘Bot.