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Hi and Lois, 11/7/04

The list of comics strips that have not used drug lingo is a bit shorter today. I have to admit that Hi and Lois’ place on that list, just above Hagar the Horrible and just below Family Circus, always seemed pretty secure to me, but apparently I was wrong about the extent to which drug culture has infiltrated the funny pages. For the record, the word that’s really alarmed me here is “peaking.” All the other stuff could be derived third-hand from bad movies like Flashback, but “peaking” … it arouses suspicions. I’m just saying.

(Note to my mom: I only learned about the word “peaking” from other kids myself, not from personal experience. Really. Winners don’t use drugs. I’m my own person!)

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Hi and Lois, 11/2/04

Of course, comics should have a slightly (or perhaps extremely) skewed worldview, but they’re best when that worldview is internally consistent. It’s not just funny when people say wacky thing; it’s funny when people say wacky things and other people react to them as if they’re normal.

That’s why this strip fails for me. Not only is Mr. Thurston’s question about cartoon characters totally without context and deranged (were there any cartoon characters running in previous years? Ross Perot doesn’t count), but Hi’s reaction to this question is exactly what your reaction would be: wide-eyed horror. That’s not a joke, that’s just dementia.

Fun fact about Hi and Lois: Mr. Thurston was once referred to continually as “Thirsty” and had the bright red tell-tale nose of a drunk. Now the nose and the nickname are gone, though the slovenliness and dysfunctional marriage remain. Maybe his question comes from a bad case of the DTs.

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Hi and Lois, 10/11/04

The Middletons, 10/11/04

Maybe there ought to be some kind of online database where comic artists can post a schedule of the gags they plan to use. It might prevent embarrassing moments like these. At least the dialogue in Hi and Lois sounds like something a normal human would actually say; “the oldies rock ‘n’ roll” is a phrase that seems to have come from someone who is almost, but not quite, fluent in idiomatic English.

Fun fact about Hi and Lois: Lois is actually Beetle Bailey’s sister. That’s right, Hi and Lois is actually a spin-off, like Frasier or Maude. Lois and her brother haven’t spoken in years, though, perhaps because of her anti-military radicalism.

Fun fact about The Middletons: There are no fun facts about The Middletons.

Today’s linkback goes to a blogger known as leathermessiah, who was nice enough to say that “those of you who have not yet experienced the wonder that is Josh Reads The Comics So You Don’t Have To, I command that you do so immediately if not sooner.” Yeah! Also, today’s most alarming search result, on AOLSearch: “free Miss Buxley Blondie porn comics sex”. America Online: Connecting perverts with smut since 1995.