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Rex Morgan, M.D., 12/16/08

I apologize for not dwelling more on the opening salvos of the current Rex Morgan storyline, because it promises to be a doozy: the cruise line is bankrupt, the crew is in open revolt, and the ship is heading aimlessly into international waters. Rex is a practical man, and it’s well known that, after anonymous gay sex spending time with his wife and child, his main passions in life are ice cream and macaroni and cheese; therefore, it makes sense that his first thought is for how he’ll be getting sustenance on this mutinous hell-cruise. In panel three, he seems to be trying to determine exactly how soon cannibalism will be necessary, and how he can manage not to be the first to feast on his fellow passengers’ flesh but still get enough to eat and not become an entrée himself.

Hi and Lois, 12/16/08

In the spirit of always looking on the bright side of life: I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the current economic meltdown is a good thing; but the collapse of global financial markets did indirectly give rise to this cartoon, in which Hi is sporting a pleasingly gobsmacked expression. No doubt he’s realizing that, as a Generic White-Collar Suburban Cartoon Dad, he has absolutely no skills of the sort that will be useful in the coming post-collapse world (e.g., hunting, agriculture, small-unit tactics). Can any event, no matter how disastrous, that has unnerved comfortable Hi Flagston so completely be entirely bad?

Marvin, 12/16/08

Just as with Ralph the log-fucking dog, Clare’s affections are indicated in today’s Marvin by disturbingly black hearts floating above her head, and for similar reasons: her affections are sick and wrong. In this case, those hearts are there to illustrate the love life of babies. Terrible, gold-digging babies.

Marmaduke, 12/16/08

Guess who’s the bottom and who’s the top in the S&M relationship between Marmaduke and his Hitler-esque owner.

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Apartment 3-G, 11/25/08

You know, most people would be sick with worry for the safety of their loved ones if said loved ones were off on some mysterious but almost certainly dangerous mission way on the other side of the world. Thankfully for all of us, Margo is not most people, but is rather a gorgeous, tempestuous firecracker of a woman held tight in the grips of cocaine-driven paranoia. “The way I see it, Eric is either at the bottom of a ravine with a Chinese bullet in the back of his head, or whoring his way through every brothel in Lhasa — and he’ll be lucky if its the former.”

Spider-Man, 11/25/08

I’m not sure what’s more hilarious about today’s Spider-Man: that Big-Time’s real name is “Bigelow,” or that his flat-top Spidey-impersonator-for-hire is looking on in undisguised terror as he has a catty conversation with his ex-wife on his circa-1986 cordless phone.

(Bonus question: Is “Bigelow” funnier as a first name, or a last name?)

Blondie, 11/25/08

I’m pretty sure one of these guys has finally gotten up the nerve to make a pass at the other, only to have it fly by completely unnoticed; I’m just not certain which one was the passer and which one was the passee, yet.

Lockhorns and Hi and Lois, 11/25/08

In the new Great Depression, all comics will be about huddling together for warmth in the enormous suburban homes whose mortgages are so expensive that we can no longer afford to heat them.

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Mark Trail, 11/13/08

You know that things in Mark Trail are about to get especially awesome when Mark strides into the midst of a gang of rowdy, bloodthirsty hillbillies, armed with nothing but his fists, his self-righteousness, and bold font. The last time he walked willingly into such a hornet’s nest of rustic hate was when he rescued Andy from a backwoods petnapping compound; first he declared his intentions to spring his beloved dog in front of armed hicks, then absorbed a kick to the groin and proceeded to toss his overalled nemesis to the pigs. Today, the clan of sinister yokels he faces is even more numerous, but Mark cares nothing for the odds, and will save yet another pet from yet another terrible fate.

The key part is that it’s a pet (or a PET, as Mark puts it). Wild raccoons: you are on your own, and will do battle with dogs to delight the rednecks for the foreseeable future. It’s nature’s way!

The real punchline of this story will come after Mark returns to the cabin in triumph to bring Sneaky home. Unable to sate the bloodlust he worked up while chained to that log, he’ll drown his beloved family in the bathtub. Mark will find their half-devoured corpses months later when he stops by to visit, and then Sue will finally be able to build that strip mall.

Mary Worth, 11/13/08

There are so many things wrong with Mary’s self-appointed mission as a relentless meddler, but here’s the wrongest: Mary really doesn’t understand human beings, or their emotions, at all. “Sorry for the years of emotional abuse! Here’s this expensive but ultimately useless bauble I purchased at a store. I know that based on the foliage here in upstate New York it’s mid-June, but, FYI, this is your Christmas present, so don’t expect anything in December. Now, who’s ready for another 18-hour practice?”

Luann, 11/13/08

And that’s the day that Luann settled on her future career: phone sex operator.

Hi and Lois, 11/13/08

It had been eleven days since Hi and Lois had forced Chip to join the Army, sold Trixie to the highest bidder, and then got in the car and driven off to parts unknown. Dot and Ditto had eaten the last edible matter in the house. Things were about to get ugly.

Marmaduke, 11/13/08

And by “leave so fast they forget their coat,” he means “are devoured the moment they take their coat off,” of course.