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Apartment 3-G, 7/13/11

This isn’t something I usually say, but: kudos to both the artist and the colorist for Apartment 3-G, for livening up this somewhat dull installment! The jagged dividing line in panel two does an excellent job of depicting Lu Ann’s sudden panic at having to try to interact with two people at once.

Momma, 7/13/11

I guess it really shouldn’t come as surprise that a strip that thinks of the Tennessee Valley Authority as a universally recognized cultural touchstone would also think of efforts to dredge navigation channels and build enormous dams as a “conservation project.”

Judge Parker, 7/13/11

Boy, I’ve been kind of slacking when it comes to keeping you up to date on the plot of Judge Parker, haven’t I? I don’t have the energy to discuss all the twists and turns, but the fact that things have ended with one of the smug, rich, attractive people who rule this strip receiving the chanting adulation of dozens of adoring proles should come as a surprise to nobody.

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Archie, 6/28/11

I don’t understand the joke in today’s Archie — I guess it’s either “Fashion changes and so clothes that were once nice become less so over time” or “Dames, who can understand ’em” — but panel two is actually an excellent depiction of a young man staring into the face of madness.

Apartment 3-G, 6/28/11

“Oh, Paul, stop teasing Lu Ann — you know that on Groundhog Day I make my special Groundhog Loaf, made from ground-up groundhogs!”

Judge Parker, 6/28/11

It’s really kind of impressive to me that Judge Parker has managed to squeeze an entire day’s strip out of various bland forms of electronic communications.

Hi and Lois, 6/28/11

Lois is horrified that Hi has been talking to the kids about their sex life.

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Luann, 6/21/11

Uh-oh, looks like the DeGroots are on a collision course with wackiness — TJ-flavored wackiness! So, wait, is TJ not capable of paying rent on his own? Doesn’t he have a job? Wasn’t there some whole plotline a few years back that centered on the family trying to figure out what TJ did for a living? Did they ever find out? You know, it’s times like this, when I realize that I actually don’t have some bit of Luann ancillary character trivia at my fingertips, that I realize that maybe I’m more mentally healthy than everyone says. I could just look up the answer, but it would ruin my feeling of triumph and well-being.

Anyway, the fact that TJ will be required by economic and/or narrative necessity to move back home with Brad only strengthens my suspicions that “TJ” is actually just a projection of Brad’s troubled subconscious, and that his entire family has been urged by Brad’s team of psychiatrists to play along with his delusion, a role they’ve tackled with an unsettling degree of gusto.

Apartment 3-G, 6/21/11

You know, if the A3G girls were so keen on getting a psychic reading for Lu Ann, why not just go with Margo’s mother Gabriella, who’s been known to dabble in the mystic arts herself? Of course, since Laura Lea is drawn exactly like Gabriella, that may be what they’ve done, and just asked her not to lay on the accent to so thick for a few minutes. At any rate, Margo’s sweet smile in panel one shows that she’ll always love how easy poor dumb Lu Ann is to fool.

Judge Parker, 6/21/11

Worried that the strip’s core audience of aged shut-ins might find the current storyline involving potential suicide too exciting, the Judge Parker creative team has decided to ratchet things back a notch and are now only showing Abbey and Sophie watching the situation unfold via a no doubt low-quality webcam. Still, they are narrating the action, which might cause stray amounts of dangerous drama to enter the consciousness of readers. Just to be safe, the rest of the week will consist of the two of them staring silently at the screen.